FWIW I've only had one purchase take longer than 2 days recently, and I think that was from a third party seller. From what I've noticed, if they know it's going to take longer than 2 days with a particular item/seller they definitely let you know before you put in the order.

As for the original topic, I'm not sure Amazon would lose all that many customers by going Visa only. Customer loyalty seems to be pretty strong, especially when you take other products like Prime Video into account. That said, I see them doing more of a Target-like approach, where using one of their cards will result in discounts on top of whatever rewards one gets (with the possible addition of providing a lesser discount if you use a debit card, but that'll depend on whether merchants succeed in their quest of being able to discriminate based on card type).

seems the issue is always figurative vs literal

referring to certain values/deals, not "travel rewards"

many do abandon loyalty and status though

They might lose me and other people who don't want any "automatic" charges for Prime renewal to be on a Visa.

My Visa purchases on Amazon tend to be only Freedom when it has a quarterly category bonus (which is never when my Prime membership renews in summer) or a new card I'm doing minimum spend for a signup bonus (and then likely never using at Amazon again) or an existing Visa card from some other bank (most often US Bank in my case) that has a temporary targeted spend bonus, but again typically at the wrong time of year for my Prime renewal.

So the only cards I want to put automatic billing on are MC or Amex, not Visa.

And then there are all those people who don't have a Visa at all (only MC and/or Amex and/or Discover). How many of them would get a new card, vs how many would just drop Amazon? (We're talking about the opposite of FTers here!)

I'm buying Amazon gift cards at the grocery store to get the quad points on my Amex, so it's fine with me if they go to one brand of credit card.

Where and how are you doing this??

I live in Brooklyn, and this game is virtually impossible here. Apparently, every store, large and small, places restrictions on purchasing gift cards with credit cards. They're very nasty and defensive about it too.
One particular clerk in a Rite Aid in my neighborhood was downright hostile when I inquired about this. Her cynicism suggested she had extensive experience with people trying to game the system.
It's disheartening [for a miles/points junkie] how New York is always several steps ahead of the rest of the country. What's possible everywhere else is prohibited here.

Sounds like using American Express Gold at Whole Foods Market to buy Amazon Gift Cards. I prefer to buy Amazon gift cards at Staples with Chase INK Cash to earn 5 points per dollar.

I'm doing what has worked for me for the past several years:

- Waiting at least 90 days between app-o-ramas
- Applying for cards on the same day to limit hard pulls
- Being cognizant of the new rules imposed by the banks (24/5, 1 bonus per card per lifetime, etc.)

On my last application round, I even applied for cards that I never touch, just to mix things up a bit (e.g. low value hotel cards, etc.).

What more can I do?

Bear in mind, my credit score is well over 800. But, this doesn't appear to impress the banks anymore, as they have each adopted other methods of evaluating one's creditworthiness that are often abstruse and proprietary in nature.

The purpose of applying on the same day was to prevent each issuer from seeing the other new applications, but that no longer works reliably because credit bureau databases can be updated in real time. It doesn't reduce the number of pulls unless you apply for multiple cards from the same issuer, in which case the bureau may discard some as duplicates, but (example) applying for business and personal cards from the same issuer will typically not be seen as a duplicate.

For Amazon gift cards, or just Visa/MC gift cards? :confused:

Those are totally different, and the person you were replying to was talking about Amazon gift cards only.

And you inquired about buying Amazon gift cards with a credit card??? :confused: I've never heard of anyone "inquiring" about that, they just either buy Amazon gift cards or not. It's Visa/MC gift cards I hear about people inquiring about.

I'm talking about the fact that it's impossible to buy ANY gift cards with a credit card in brick-and-mortar stores in NY.

Impossible or just very difficult?

I highly doubt that. Are you saying that if you walk into a grocery store, and add a $25 AMC Theatres gift card to your basket or cart of groceries, and then use a credit card, they'll decline because you included a $25 gift card? Really?

I've bought non-Visa/MC gift cards (in other parts of the country) only once in a Walgreens and otherwise always at grocery stores, and often (but far from always) mixed in the with groceries. (For Visa/MC gift cards, it was always mixed in with groceries.) You didn't mention trying grocery stores (and mixed in with groceries), and you didn't mention whether it's only over a certain gift card amount or even for $25 gift cards.

That's a pretty sweeping statement to make if you haven't tried these things I mention in multiple brands of grocery stores in NYC.

FWIW, I added a $25 Amazon GC to a Shell purchase a few months ago. Turns out that the cashier wasn't supposed to sell it to me in the first place, never mind with a credit card. (I was able to get a refund in the end.) I attribute that more to issues with their POS/activation system, but I can see how smaller merchants might not want to lose the 3% or whatever.

That said, I haven't attempted it enough at multiple types of places to know whether it's systematically frowned upon.

Go to my nearby Publix, grab an Amazon (or Hulu, or Ebay, or gas station) gift card off the rack, check out with my groceries, and pay with my Amex Gold. I've bought Walmart gift cards on credit cards (at Walmart) as well. I do have a recollection of trying to buy a gift card somewhere in the past, and being told I had to pay cash, but that was years ago.

This is not about New York being "ahead" of everybody. This is about New York being New York. A lot of things are just harder there (in my experience, as well as my New Yorker friends, who have sometimes said, "You really have to WANT to live in New York.")

If you haven't tried recently, maybe try again? Just throw the gift card in with your groceries. I never try to buy the card by itself.

You can literally quadruple dip when buying hulu gift cards, all online, from anywhere in the country (including digital download of the gift card) without paying a cent in fees.

This is not the beginning of the end of anything.