Anyone have any luck finding these cards in the Phoenix/Scottsdale area?

Are there even any Targets that still allow you to register these cards still? I thought recently people have been reporting that when the cashier scans it, it says "Do Not Sell" and doesn't prompt the registration screens. I assume that message is not regional but nationwide. Even if you do find some, I am not sure if you will be able to buy them.

Why is this? Are they being phased out or is that because of the security breach?

Nope...it has nothing to do with the security breach in 2013. It is because Target has introduced a new reloadable prepaid product called the Target Prepaid Redcard (aka. Redbird) which is similar to BB/Serve. That is the direction that Target is going so it only makes sense to them to phase out further AFT registration. The Redbird product is much better than the AFT card anyways due to no fees associated with loading and unloading on the card vs. the fees for loading and unloading on the AFT card. When the Redbird card was announced back in Oct 2014, that should have been a signal to you to pick up the AFT cards while you still can and now it is too late. Oh well.

Hey guys, quick question.

I had some issues loading my AFT. I tried using my OM discounted US Bank Master Cards to load and when I tried swiping my card, the error message basically told me to give the card to the service clerk and have them swipe. I have never seen this issue with any other of my rebate cards from Visa (I use AFT to get rid of random rebates cards) nor the random OV that I had (however it has been a while since I've loaded).

Any idea? I'll try a different target later, but it was at a customer service desk.

Planning next week's trip
 

Deleted.

CSR could resist. I just hand both my cards to the CSR and ask to load both my cards. Sometimes they just do both loads at once, sometimes they set up 1 to load and say "that'll be $1003." If the latter, I politely ask if I can load both at the same time and mention that my credit card has issues if I have to swipe multiple times for large amounts. They've always been fine with that.

Are the AFT cards still being sold/activated? I used to see them often at my local Targets but its been over a month and there are no signs up them. I know it appears that stores may be getting ready for the RedBirds, but just wondering if anyone has seen them, particularly in SoCal. I need to have my wife pick one up.

Nope..So Cal doesnt sell them anymore. I always check the targets where I bought my AFTs and I dont see the stand anymore. The stand has been replaced with those netspend and GD prepaid cards.

I was at the Target City store near me, So Cal, and I didn't see either AFT or RedBirds.

Now if I could just get Citi's Fraud Protection to back off or catch on when I try to load my cards. It slows down my rhythm!

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Every time I foolishly trick myself into using this product, I am always reminded of how expensive and time consuming it is.

I don't have access to any cheap ATMs, so every $400 costs me $5 to $6 in fees.

What's worse, the fee and the weird $400 limit makes the balance on the card uneven, so if you deposit $1000, it requires 2 withdrawals and you're left with a balance of $19x odd dollars.

Then once you withdraw, you have to lug that cash into another bank and deposit it. Which is another time consuming factor.

Because of that, even if you had access to no fee ATMS, I am still not sure this method is worth it.

Please don't reply with "to each his own". I understand some of you guys may like it, that's cool. But I am just warning others, this thing is a pain in butt. It's less time consuming to just buy some $500 GC for the $4.95 cost and unloading them normally.

To each their own is a very appropriate response to you. Utilize the MS methods that work for you. I have a fee free ATM and an ATM at work I can deposit cash at with my local CU. So I end up spending about 1% in fees and get to keep the rest. Not worse than any of my other MS methods (aside from RedCard but it's amazing that I can do both in one visit!)

Agreed. I just take the cash to WM and use BP as I'm leary of depositing so much cash at times. Or at times I use the ATM and CU in my office building for withdrawal/deposit.

I'm also not sure whether or not I should go heavy on AFT. I've had my AFT for about 2 years and stopped loading it for about 6 months. But now that I currently have 2 RBs that I manage, I go to Target frequently anyway. In addition, there's a university credit union ATM about 1 mile from my home that charges no fee. However, parking can sometimes be annoying and it's about a 5 minute walk from the car. Here's the math if I buy AGC.

Cost
$8 in card fees, but no shipping for $5K in AGC (I signed up for the premium plan when it was free)
$15 in load fees at Target
$34.50 in AMEX ATM fees (First withdrawal free, then $3 for the next 11.5 withdrawals; 25 withdrawals over 2 months, the 2 of them free = 23/2 = 11.5)
Total cost in fees = $57.50 per month + gas + time

Benefit
$75 ($5000 x 1.5%)
5000 points/miles

Net cash is +$17.50, which I think basically takes care of gas. So true net 5000 miles/points, or $100 if I use a 2% CB card. Is that worth 12 trips to the campus ATM and the anxiety of waiting for $5000 AMEX GC to arrive on unguarded doorstep? Not to me. But I'm wondering if I should go bigger with my AMEX OBC (5%) to buying $5K in VGC at grocery stores. The math here is:

+$250 - $60 in fees = $190 in cash back
-$34.50
-$15
Net cash is about $140. I would no longer have to deal with the anxiety of someone stealing my AGC, but now I'm spending time going to the grocery stores and risk GC fraud (already happened to me once). All in all, I think I'll just load AFT once every couple of months and leave it at that.