What to buy?
 

Thanks to y'all, I've recently been approved for credit cards with travel promotions that will keep me happily flying for the next year. I happen to be very frugal :::squeaksqueak::: and have had to think hard about how to spend five thousand $USD to qualify for those promotions. In case anyone else is in the same boat ...

A quick analysis of my Quicken files reveals that I spend mostly at Costco and at my favorite gasoline supplier (not Costco). As it happens, both of these vendors offer gift cards. So I'm buying gift cards for about 6 months of expenditures at these vendors.

Hope this helps someone else.

I would check out the various long discussions on buying either coins from the mint (at face value) or visa/amex gift cards through a cash-back web site. Buying gift cards at Costco is fine, but it just kicks the can down the road.

See the first "Sticky" in this Forum. It's an easy way to pile up points/miles in your favorite program. Easy to order $1000 in coins every 10 days, put them in your savings acct., and then use them to pay your bill when it comes.

You could buy gift cards but i don't see a point as if you were to purchase products/gas there with the credit card you would still earn points. Also, depending on the card, some cards offer additional bonuses when pumping gas.

But the previous posters are right, definitely check out the coin thread as it's the best bang for your buck! =]

You can easily qualify the 5grand spending with no "real" money out of pocket by doing the coins, in less than two months you would meet spending quota!
Good luck

Are there any other cash-similar offers that people have come up with, in lieu of buying the coins from the mint? I need to spend $1500 on my AmEx to earn a 50k bonus and I guess I could do the coins but I'd rather not, if there's another option out there.