Total Value of Inking at Staples?
 

I was wondering if someone can check my numbers on the total annual value of inking at Staples.

• Each $200 GC carries a $7 fee, = -$35 fees per $1K in cards
• Potential for 1% cashback using Visa Savings Edge program = +$10 per $1K in cards
• 5% UR points from Chase for office store = +$50 per $1K in rewards
• The net gain is +$25 per $1K spent.
• Max allowable rewards = $50K spend per year.
• Max gain = $50*$25 = $1250 annually
• Assuming $2K per trip, that is one trip every two weeks, and a liquidation of 250 gift cards, annually.

Does this seem accurate?

If so, I can see the value if meeting minimum spends. But it seems to be an awful lot of work (and risk for Chase shutdown) to do sustainably.

You left off the cost of liquidiating GCs (money orders, etc.).

However, I don't think very many doing this are taking straight cash back from the 5%. Common transfers are going to be to United or Hyatt where people routinely get 1.8-3c per point in value.

For me, I look at going the Ink route as allowing me to get in Cat 6/7 Hyatt properties for $160-200 a night in cost rather than paying $400-1,000 a night.

Example: If you Inked the full 50k (which I wouldn't personally do), 250k UR points = 250k Hyatt points. That is eight nights @ PH in Paris which goes for $1,000 a night routinely. An extreme example, but it gives you an idea. 250k United miles is pretty much two round trips business class Americas - Japan (Saver award) (which I imagine runs at least $2.5k a seat RT most times).

Well, the value of 5x UR points (max 250K) could varies depending on how/which program you redeem it in. On UA MP that could be 2x saver biz class from NA to Europe that could be valued at a few Ks for example.

Yep, ink and staples is a cheap way to buy chase UR points.

"But it seems to be an awful lot of work (and risk for Chase shutdown) " I've done this very consistently and never heard a peep from chase.

Thank you all for the quick reply. Silly me. I was so focused on dollar value that I didn't factor in cost-per-point in transfer programs. I'd probably easily get plenty of value out of United transfers.

I am trying to do this for each card that I have - how much for both sides versus cost benefit.

Lately all I have been doing is meeting minimum spend but now I am at the point where I need to make a plan going forward

Yep yep, I've done this now that I've got a stack of cards I intend to keep long term. It helps me set a total per card for MS and I focus on cards I get the most benefit from. Include annual fees, any spending threshholds (30k for PRG, etc.), etc. For non-MS spending, I just put it on the card that gets the category bonus.

After each statement close I update a progress report for my cards on how my spending is going towards those totals I set.

I agree that UR are worth more than the 1.0 cent minimum, but 1.8 cents IMHO is way too high given the devaluations and the fact that many of us would never pay that much for hotels/flights. For me, the free stopover and the two open jaws are where the value is, not the cabin. Maybe a bit of extra credit since UA notifies flyers of devaluations beforehand. I'm at 1.5 cents for UR, and I think that might be still be a tad too high. I had UR at 1.8 cents prior to Feb 1st.

1.2 cents for US/AA miles during the US share promo was worth it to avoid the MS hassles. But I'd pass if it was offered at 1.5 cents. Especially since US-North Asia in business was silently increased to 110k last week. UR is not convertible to US/AA miles, but they're similar. I'm just giving you an idea of why I value miles so low.

Finally, it's important to get out of the thinking that the vacation is free. It's not. Far from it. Aside from expenses in buying GC and liquidating, you also have to deduct the use of a 2% cashback card plus fees/taxes for booking flights plus miles you would have earned to find out if it is really worth it

Yea, I am in that phase now - trying to figure out where to focus on for the most value. CVS must be tired of me - I know the drill better than the cashiers.

As another data point, I transferred UR points to United yesterday to purchase an Economy ticket for ICT>NRT. I spent 52,500 points on a ticket that I could have booked for $1,680. That's a value of just a hair over 3 cents per point. Now, I got all of these points for cheaper-than-free with the OfficeMax promo a few months ago, but if I had inked all these at Staples, the fees would have cost roughly $265 after VSE savings - 16% of the cost of the fare.

The only time I have used UR points directly instead of transferring was when I needed a ticket from SFO>LAX. With the 20% discount, cheap hoppers like that cost fewer UR than a MileagePlus redemption. Unless you never travel, using UR for straight cash back is wasteful.

You forgot to add the final step.
- Chase shutdown.

Why don't you buy their FAR crap?

Really, how often has that happened?

FAR is great if you have use for the crap, but the biggest problem is that FAR actually costs you sales taxes which pretty much takes away you margins. If you use 5%CB from being a staples reward member plus the 5% from CC minus the 6-9% sales taxes depending on the state still only gives an average margin.

I prefer using a portal to do my Staples inkings.

True dat.