Middle_Seat and Djlawman, excellent idea!! More important than the miles, this is a fantastic way to make cash advances overseas without any fees!

When my last credit card with no-fee overseas ATM withdrawals introduces a fee on June 2, it'll be good to still have a method for getting cash in the US.

Well, AAA will let you charge TC's to a credit card, but they process it as cash advance, so you get zapped with the cash advance fee. At 2 percent, I believe, that can rack up extra fees quickly. But the WorldPerks Visa caps your maximum fee at something rather low, about $25. I once was 'in a pinch' and used my Citibank AAdvantage Visa and paid the price (Citibank was as ruthless back then as they are now--no limits on how high the fee goes).

I don't know about the Australian Post Office, but major companies here in the US don't trust the USPS for critical, trackable, time sensitive, important packages.

This is with good reason, the private companies do a better job than a bloated government bureaucracy.

Mac

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¡Viaja con Dios!

I don't know about the Australian Post Office, but major companies here in the US don't trust the USPS for critical, trackable, time sensitive, important packages.

This is with good reason, the private companies do a better job than a bloated government bureaucracy.

Mac

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¡Viaja con Dios!

I don't know about the Australian Post Office, but major companies here in the US don't trust the USPS for critical, trackable, time sensitive, important packages.

This is with good reason, the private companies do a better job than a bloated government bureaucracy.

Mac

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¡Viaja con Dios!

Does anyone know if buying and using Home Depot gift cards for small purchases repeatedly is violating any affinity card rules? Home Depot is near my office and I could literally do this every day without much trouble.

Many credit cards offer a warranty extension, and a 90 day buyer protection warranty against breakage and theft. You do not have this warranty when using a gift card. Buying other items that you aren't worried about - but small appliances - I'd want the buyer's protection and extended warrantly. To get miles at Sam's club, I buy a gift certificate at Wal-mart and use the gift card at Sam's. But I don't usually buy items for which I would want the buyer's protection. Now, the same concept occurs at grocerty stores that sell gift certificates. But they only give you up to $5.00 back in cash.

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DtG

Duplicate Post

[This message has been edited by Karmann (edited 05-22-2001).]

On the subject of Home Depot....

I was in there the other day exchanging something. They had a large sign at the returns counter that read "Only one gift card return per person per day". I asked the lady what that was all about. Apparently, there is one of those "legal" gaming (slot machines) places close by. Since they can't give out money as a prize (as a means of staying legal), they give out Home Depot gift cards. The players, in turn, take them back to Home Depot and cash them in. "So they're basically using you as their bank?" I asked. She shook her head yes and voiced some frustration at having to deal with the whole thing.

My first thought was (in true miles-hungry fashion)- Whoever owns that "casino" must be racking up miles like crazy! If they're buying them on the Delta Skymiles card with "Always Double Miles" at home improvement centers, that could really add up. As a follow up to the earlier posts, why even buy a 93 cent item? Just buy the card on your Amex, walk it over to the returns counter and get your money. Tell them it was a gift (as gift cards tend to be) and they can't put it back on your card.

Surely Home Depot (or Amex) is going to catch on to this. Although they may get the money for a few days, I can't imagine they would make enough in interest to offset the fee charged by Amex at the time of purchase.

>>To get miles at Sam's club, I buy a gift certificate at Wal-mart and use the gift card at Sam's. <<

Excellent! So glad I kept reading this thread!

? Forgive my ignorance ... you can buy Sam's Club gift certificates at Wal-Mart? (I have not been in a Wal-Mart in a while) What about CostCo? I would love to do this if I could since CostCo makes you use your CO/Chase debit card as an ATM card and won't let you use it as a credit card. I'd like to double-dip on all those nutri-grain bar purchases if I could.

Tends to be true of standard post in Australia too. However, Australia Post has other services, such as a guaranteed-next-day-delivery service and registered mail, both of which can be used to PO Boxes. Credit cards and other valuable things are often sent that way.

Going back to the topic for a moment, AMP bank's Amex card in Australia allows 6 balance transfers per year from other cards, so that gives free (except for the inevitable interest during the transfer, which they do by paper!!) points up to ones credit limit x 6 per year.

Wal-mart and Sam's Club are owned by the same company. Most Sam's Clubs only accept Discover Cards. Wal-mart accepts them all. So I buy a rechargeable gift card at Wal-mart and pay for my purchases with my gift card. When it gets low, I recharge it the next time I am in Wal-mart (they are next door to one another) and charge it to my AMEX. Costco accepts AMEX, so you might want to get a Starpoints card to use rather than a debit card. I am not aware of Costco being owned by another store.

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DtG

Costco is it's own publicly traded company (nasdaq ticker cost)They have some deal with amex only to except amex cards (which is really annyoying being a co flyer). I belive they dont even accept optima but not sure about that part.
-howie
ps.they have there own no fee amex not sure if you can piggyback MR with that.