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-   -   AAA - no processing fee giftcards (https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/manufactured-spending/1517391-aaa-no-processing-fee-giftcards.html)

HikerT Nov 20, 2013 10:54 pm

Was told today by AAA Washington they couldn't sell any more to me and the max per member was 5K. They were apologetic. I told them I would no longer have any use for the membership I purchased 2 weeks ago and got a refund. No promo here in WA other than $2.99 fee per card for AAA members . Not really worth it IMHO as you waste more time that it is worth buying these at AAA, not to mention have to set PIN. Would much rather go to Walgreens, RiteAid, etc. pay a couple more bucks and be in/out in 1 minute with no need to call and set PIN.

RFDMinnesota Nov 21, 2013 2:40 am


Originally Posted by tuphat (Post 21823224)
@RFDmn: Just be clear: You are only being blacklisted from further purchases, right? Cards previously purchased by you and not yet spent are still good?

I think driver here is not how many cards someone purchases, but rather how fast they're being liquidated. Gotta believe if the liquidation was more measured, you wouldn't be banned from future purchases.

Edit to add: I have purchased close to $15k worth of these cards so far, including $2k today, and no one has given me any grief. I have liquidated via MO purchases, $1k here, $1k there, etc.

1. I already cleared all of mine out so I'm not sure what they even tried to do.

I think spending on different things probably does make a difference. 8.5 of my 9.5K went to BB, the other 1K to MO

RedTeam10 Nov 21, 2013 7:39 am

Groupon

In case anyone was waiting for a little bump to make the plunge. Get two years for the price of one.

KYBOSH Nov 21, 2013 12:50 pm

In the southern region I was told that an email from corporate was sent out saying that purchases were to be made with cash/debit/CC only. No more of this buying GCs with a GC business. Bought a large amount recently and no word about a cap (yet).

I imagine some wannabe HHers have been screwing the pooch on the downlow racking up massive spend. No way Metabank is going through all this trouble bcos of a few churners who have only reached 10k-15k since the beginning of the month.

MilesGator Nov 21, 2013 4:34 pm

Someone earlier in this thread said that the only benefit to having a AAA membership is getting a discount on buying GCs (making it 2.99 with AAA membership). Wouldn't this be even cheaper than buying VR? Is AAA the new CVS?

KYBOSH Nov 21, 2013 7:20 pm

I didn't even realize the sold cheap GCs but the process is so cumbersome that you can really scale it like you want. At drug and grocery stores checkout is designed to be efficient. Buying GCs at AAA takes 2-3 different screens and a lot of wrangling on their part. Im sure they can establish a flow if they do it often enough but definitely not an in and out type of transaction.

sgideons Nov 22, 2013 12:41 pm


Originally Posted by sgideons (Post 21822651)
I'll be in downtown Chicago this weekend, looks like there are a fair number of AAA offices, I plan to go nuts, will report back.

Bought 4x$500 at the AAA office at Michigan and Wacker/South Water. No fee.

FYI you call the number on the back of the card to set the PIN. Phone prompts: 1 for English, 1 for card holder, card number, #, security code, PIN, 1 to confirm. I don't mean to spoonfeed, but I find it genuinely confusing which kinds of GCs you set the PIN online and which you call in to do so, so hope that helps.

Now off to Walmart!

Tofe Nov 22, 2013 1:00 pm

got turned down today at AAA. no reason given - lady just said they were instructed by the bank not to sell any more to me and gave me the number to call them. Fwiw, I got $7000 in GC over two visits but have only liquidated half. I wonder if it even makes sense to check other branches at this point.

RFDMinnesota Nov 22, 2013 1:14 pm


Originally Posted by Tofe (Post 21834668)
got turned down today at AAA. no reason given - lady just said they were instructed by the bank not to sell any more to me and gave me the number to call them. Fwiw, I got $7000 in GC over two visits but have only liquidated half. I wonder if it even makes sense to check other branches at this point.

I tried 2 other branches after my initial turndown and the answer was all the same. I don't think it's worth your time

KYBOSH Nov 22, 2013 2:07 pm

For those who are getting turned down... are do they recognize you as soon as you walk in the door or are you being turned down once they hop on the computer and start pulling up your info?

RFDMinnesota Nov 22, 2013 2:15 pm


Originally Posted by KYBOSH (Post 21835066)
For those who are getting turned down... are do they recognize you as soon as you walk in the door or are you being turned down once they hop on the computer and start pulling up your info?

They were all people I had never seen before. They asked for my AAA card and cross referenced it with an email they had printed out

jk2 Nov 22, 2013 2:24 pm


Originally Posted by RFDMinnesota (Post 21835119)
They were all people I had never seen before. They asked for my AAA card and cross referenced it with an email they had printed out

How much you bought in total? I made only 2 trips - $1.5K first and $2K - second. I am not sure I want to go thorough such trouble if they counting how much you bought already.

RFDMinnesota Nov 22, 2013 4:47 pm


Originally Posted by jk2 (Post 21835174)
How much you bought in total? I made only 2 trips - $1.5K first and $2K - second. I am not sure I want to go thorough such trouble if they counting how much you bought already.

2K, then 3.5K, then 4K

ntjane66 Nov 22, 2013 5:20 pm

When they got on the computer

Tofe Nov 22, 2013 9:22 pm

I can confirm it is something alerting them once they swipe your AAA card. I dealt with a completely different person who would not recognize me. Thanks for the heads up RFD, i will not waste my time going to a different location as it will more than likely be the same outcome. I was able to meet min. spends on 3 cards - it was good while it lasted.. onto the next one i guess.


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