Depends on your SCO

Further Trouble Using BHN MCGC to buy Vanilla/SecureSpend on new SCO
 

https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...5deacb235.jpeg
https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...24993843b.jpeg


Press partial payment button, then input $200. No option to choose credit or debit, machine just directs me to swipe. I swipe and it denies tender.

Any ideas?

For Visas at least, the option to skip PIN / debit is after you swipe. Sounds like for MC it's doing something different.

Guess I'll have to give it a try with Metabank BHN $200 VGCs

Staples VGC work at these (with the BHN velocity limit).
But if the goal is to end up with $5.95 Vanillas, it is more efficient to just go to a supermarket and buy direct with a 4x card rather than faffing around at WM liquidating these $200's
Alternatively use a 3x card at CVS

Time has a cost also, not to mention there is risk of drawing unwanted CSR attention if you are clogging up the SCO all the time

think OP tries to look for a different method for liquidating the BHN VGCs other than organic spend

OP talks about using Staples to buy Vanillas, hence my post.
If thats the goal, there are more efficient ways to get there.

Its ok as a niche strategy, especially to get rid of troublesome cards but in no way is it scaleable

soy Thanks, very informative and you are correct. Refer to my post here for more context: https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/manu...l#post35442219

To clarify, I'm trying to:
1. Consolidate a bunch of miscellaneous GCs with various denoms
2. Maximize cash back. Buying the BHNs at Staples/OD using 5x with CIC, then converting those to a liquifiable Vanilla is a higher return than 4x at Krogers. Also, I'm trying to amass UR instead of MR.

When you mention the BHN velocity limit, are you referring to the $99/swipe limit or a certain # of swipes? I'm not familiar with the latter.

Talking about the number of swipes one can do in an approximate ten minute period, which appears by multiple DPs to be two or three. Added to the limit on amount per swipe, that limits the amount of a MO to appx. $479.
Sorry if I got the exact numbers incorrect, but I don't do MSing in this fashion.:(

What's a more efficient way to earn effectively fee-free 5x UR return on spend? During the ODOM sales, even paying the 4.95 WM fee per $500 Vanilla conversion, you still come out ahead and get free, or almost free, UR points.

What card gives 4x UR points at grocery stores? And what Amex card, for that matter, gives a large volume of 4x at grocery stores? 25k/year limit is tiny, compared to the 75k limit I have at office stores between my two Ink cards.

It's not really that much work, I'm in WM anyway for liquidation, takes just 5 extra minutes to buy a few 500 vanillas. And those will result in a speedier, more efficient liquidation.

You're doubling the retailers you annoy in the process. More steps are at risk to go wrong, and the regular panic posts here are a good illustration.

Is this your process? Please correct me if any step is wrong.

1. Buy $200 BHN VGC from Staples/OD using Chase Ink Cash
2. Buy $500 Vanillas from WM using those $200 BHN VGCs

If so, how do you convert the $200 BHN to Vanilla? Are you able to swipe for the full $200 on each card?

Thankfully, most BHN visas I get are of the -everywhere variety, so I don't need to jump through this extra hoop. But sometimes there's no stock, so I either waste time leaving empty handed, or buy the Visas that have 99/swipe limit at WM. It's pretty fast to use 200x2 + 100 swipes to pay for the $500 vanillas, which I can then liquidate more efficiently. I still come out ahead during the ODOM sales.

Yeah I agree, OD sales are really easy when Everywheres are plentiful. However, all cashiers in my area won't split payment so I am limited to 1x $200 which is way too slow.

Staples is tricky. They only sell the $200 BHN VGC (yellow). So you're saying that you limit yourself to $99 swipes during the vanilla conversion? Then it becomes 5x $99 + 1x $5?

What do you do with the leftover $2 on each card?

No, during Vanilla conversion I use up the whole 200. That's the point of doing this extra step, is to avoid the tedious 99 swipes and increase volume per visit, at the expense of 4.94 fee.