Money Orders for Miles
 

I've been doing it since I found FT, and am wondering how many of you are buying money orders for miles with miles producing credit cards?

I have 2 sources at present for 500 miles its either $1.49 or $1.75.

I don't over use it, maybe 5,000 miles a month, when I'm driving by one of my stores. The best was a grocery store that took Am EX for the double Delta miles.

So anybody else want to fess up???

hey thanks for the tip...never gave it any real consideration, but now that i'm debating the idea of getting a new AMEX...it may just be worth it...

Can you further elaborate how you use Amex for money orders? Do you use the PIN to withdraw cash first, then purchase money order or what?

Where are you able to get money orders that aren't counted as cash advances (and thus not earn miles)? I thought Amex counted money orders as a cash advance.

Don't leave us hanging.

May I suggest that posting the details of such a deal here would be a very bad idea? It would cause excessive use of it, which, in turn, would kill the deal. No one would benifit from such a post, and the poster would lose the deal.

Given that the OP is paying almost 3 cent per mile, I'm not sure that it's that good a deal worth protecting.

Mike

Edited to add: Oops, I'll just blame this one on my calculator. It's $.003 per mile.

Try your math again
 

It's $.003 per mile. I'm surprised at the responses to this thread. Go to your LOCAL stores that sell MOs and ask, or buy a candy bar and Try It. And it does not have to be a Am EX. My LOCAL store that took Am EX stopped it, but I still have 2 stores that take MC and Visa and treat it as a purchase, and have for the last 3 years. I'll ask again, anybody want to fess up??? ;)

Think small and think consistent.

I believe things like this SHOULD work for all, and yet I do tend to agree with PGary these days. Every time I have ever done any gift card or deal like this, the more people who know of it, the worse it gets. Not because too many people know about it, but rather, too many people who know about it don't follow the tips and tricks that make it work the right way! (too often, FTers don't know the difference and they point fingers at the wrong people in the wrong way when the chips fall) The sad solution to this problem has been to (A) keep such deals hush hush, (B) to be mean to each other in posts, and (C) to muck it all up anyway because one or two people in here or on the sidelines get way too greedy and screw it all up anyway.

How? Well, someone could do this gig with such agressiveness, that their actions trigger a patterns seen by internal management of whatever bank or CC that is being utilized. As well, some don't just do it for miles, but actualy to figure out and implement workable ways to commit monetary fraud and get away with it! This thereby destroys all things associated with these programs for those of us who would rather use FT as a way to SHARE GREAT IDEAS ON TRAVEL AND MILES!

Too bad.
Now I have been an agressive gift card and mile churning user in my forum lifetime, but I am also always giving ideas on how we should all cooperate or stay under the radras of these marketing or money managers at banks, while still actively participating in all these gigs. Some misunderstand my efforts and some do not. I am not saying I am the best at it or the only one who thinks that way, but again, I feel that if these deals SHOULD be for everyone in here--and I think they should--then it is in everyone's best interest to find the best way to do them and then share it and maintain it.

therefore, if you have a way that works and you feel compelled to share it, tell the whole story and dont just be cool and hip by saying "I got a great thing but no one else can see it! ha ha ha"

Fessing up, by the way, is something that many may do privately until there's proof this thing actually works. I have been looking but have not really found any store that will (A) take Amex for money orders (B) give out money orders bigger than $500 without a huge fee, except one or two but they dont take Amex (C) treat this as a purchase.

This is why people BUY the gift cards first, and then cash them out, but they have a fee too. So I guess it is up to YOU to tell US ALL the details, mate!

go for it... together we will all make sure all others in here use it wisely, that is, if you really wanna give up this little secret for us to also benefit from!

And thanks for that if you do, and if it works.
I have to say, though, I have my doubts. Proove me wrong, Ingy, and you will be the winner in my book!

;)MM

I loved flipping savings bonds and big stacks of CO GC, never had to leave the comfort of my home. But driving around buying small MOs for a fee, getting them to the bank, worrying about whether they will be charged as purchase or cash advance -- seems like way too much work for me! LOL.

But I would like to hear where they accept credit cards for MOs. Gift cards, maybe, but money orders? Those are clearly cash or cash equivalents.

Are these convenience stores or grocey stores, if you don't mind sharing?

yeha... Please share.

Thanks

safeway charges it as cash advance, they only accept debit cards, NOT CC's.

I inquired at several US Post Offices when buying stamps and MOs a while back. They accepted credit cards for services, products, stamps and postage but not for money orders.

No store is going to deliberately accept credit cards for money orders because they're out the merchant fee. You may find some stores where the clerk will ring it up as such, but this is a procedures/training issue.

Flipping large numbers/amounts of money orders could also get you flagged for money laundering.

Interesting post pgary... Is your website that selective in posting such mileage earning opportunities?

Please tell me that the camaraderie I have come to love about FT has not deteriorated because of a few new members asking about "error" fares. :(

Hopefully this remains a "sharing" community. ;)

Look for the standard logo's. "If you don't know what I mean, then you haven't searched on google.com for money orders" The small suburb that I live in, has 5+ I can use this way, some convience, some grocery, some retail. Just pick someone that sells money orders and call and ask them. or just by it with a pack of gum. :)

DO NOT POST THE DETAILs. Someone always screws it up..... Much like on a MR Forum. Posting AA MCI-SFO $100 all in is sufficient if someone gives it two minutes of effort. Put a couple minutes into it, it is so simple it just requires 5-10minutes to find a place that will do it.

Dup post

Not for me...
 

This thing must depend on getting someone to ring you up that simply doesn't know or abide by the guidelines. I tested this at lunch today and went 3 different places and they all looked at me like an idiot when I told them I was paying with credit. Every single one said 'cash or debit only'. So...I'm curious if you're finding companies that don't have this policy or just teenagers ringing you up that don't know the policy.

agreed...jst got back from there and they said they could not accept credit card for the purchase...

Safeway VONS policy does not allow it.
Albertson's policy does not allow it.
WalMart does not allow it.
USPS does not allow it.
Kroger Ralphs does not allow it.

Had success on average 1 time out of 20 b/c cashier didnt follow procedure, but mostly they dont know how to process the transaction and ask someone who says that you must use debit or cash.

Some smaller chains or stores that havent been hammered in the past may not have created a formal policy or fully trained all employees to policy.

Read Post #16
 

ALL the answers are right there, and as suggested DON"T overdo it.

It aint easy at a major grocery chain unless you are in BFE. I tried many times with a candy bar, even with a cart full of groceries, and was told must be cash for the MO amount.

Has anyone suggested it has to be a mojor grocery store chain???? Thimk small and local. Don't overdo it and it will last forever. :) PS several others have responded success in areas I wouldn't consider BFE

Yes. I have many little known offers posted on my site. But if it is obvioius to me that posting a deal would kill it, obviously I don't post it, since doing so would benefit no one.

It is, and so is my website. But most everyone knows not to share in a huge public forum if doing so would kill the deal.

I used to go on my Money Order Mileage Runs on late Sunday afternoons. This seemed to be when the new hires were working the money order counters. I actually went 3 for 3 once about two years ago, and I was using a SkyMiles Amex card so I got double miles. On this particular Sunday afternoon it was 9000 miles for less than $7. Unfortunately I have not found anyplace that will take a credit card for money orders for about a year, and I ask whenever I am in a place that sells money orders. I can still remember the rush I would get when rather than a questioning look with “that is a debit card ?,” the friendly clerk would say “debit or credit?”

What on earth is the purpose of this post? I think it's time to close it down. Unbelievable!

Indeed, I also strongly agree. There are many other ways of wasting time.

OR, as I tried to say, DO post all the details but be clear and thorugh so that NO ONE CAN screw it up. If we all do trial and error, only then will someone figure it out but not do it right. BUT if we share the idea, then sure, more people will know about it, but at least it will be more correctly executed by all so as to allow everyone to gain the maximum return from the process when it is being carried out.

;)MM

I see some people nervous and wanting the thread closed, don't want that cash cow to disappear :D

I actually have never done it, mostly because I don't know how, but my wife thinks it's crazy ;)

It sounds like the only detail is finding a local store that's dumb enough to take credit cards for money order purchases. Or to "confuse" the clerk by purchasing other items along with the money order. In either case, it likely wouldn't work at any of the major stores, unless you get a real clueless employee. So you've got to look for the smaller places.

then in my opinion, this is no "system" or thing that we can all get savvy to and let run for a while and make tons of consistent mileage from... Rather, it is a one off once and a while scheme that may work here and there and is not even big enough to be such a worry.

My thinking is that many great FT threads carry a system with intricate steps and tricks we co-develop over time. Someone new to such a thread has to reread old posts to get it. But those who have stayed with it are "in the system" and so it lives on itself in that fashion. And THAT is the most glorious type of FT community thread, in my mind.

Thoughts on this concept?

:)MM

Call it a system or not.
 

There are people who are getting 5,000 to 20,000+ miles a month using this system, (or non system) for about $.003 per mile or less. I thought I'd share this after 3 years of success. It does NOT go away because you are probably the only FT doing it at the little store you have found. If you'll take the time to find one and not over use it.

It seems funny that no one said "Thanks for the idea" and the ones that have been successful for a long time, have emailed me and want the thread closed, or voiced that opinion here.

So now 2,000 people have viewed the thread. If you haven't got it by now, you're either too lazy or afraid of losing what you already have. ;)

Moderator, Close the thread if you'd like.

If it won't go away because you're the only FT doing it at your little store, as you say, then what harm could come from posting the "details"? In other words, if the whole idea is to find a small, local store that allows CC payments for MOs, then why would people want the thread closed?
Why not just say "I can buy MOs with my CC at 'Mom and Pops Grocery' down the street"? Are people worried about FTs in their area taking away their stores, so to speak? Or is there more to it...

It is not a new idea. Innumerable threads on FT and FW have talked about these plans to get miles/rewards from ccs by buying something that can be converted to cash to pay off the bill.

Buying m.o.'s with a cc may be possible in certain circumstances, but the T&C of virtually all cc's treat that as a cash/cash equivalent. If you are able to buy a m.o. as a purchase, it is a fluke and clearly violates the normal terms.

I think it is funny that you don't seem to know the difference between the legal and ethical use of a transaction (buying savings bonds or gift cards with a cc, no longer allowed) and exploiting an illegitimate use.

using things like VisaBuxx and a bunch of since defunct gift cards, I have and still do yeild about that many miles per month on 3 cards right now. AND the threads for these things are and have been accessible by all for some time now. But this one is not clear to me because it requires a thing that only some stores may be able to do by mistake. I have looked--maybe not as much as I can--but I have not found one who sells money orders who can take it as a credit card purchase. Some of them see the card and say no, debit OR credit. Some have caps, and some have costs that make it not worth it anyway. So what gives? I feel way too teased. Yes, I may not be focussing on that and not the owrds between whatever lines I am missing, but I am still not seeing it and yet I AM looking.

I DO thank you for the thread but like you said, if people have figured it out, why even tell it? I mean it seems like you are preaching to the converted, and only maybe one or two have secretly said "AH HA!" and quietly moved on from reading here except to be amused by the rest of us who are left in the lurch. Or am I? Could I be one of them simply posing as a loser?

;)MM

guys
thanks a bunch!! i tried it for the first time with 2MOs $500 each and it worked at a drug store - even better - double miles on DL-Amex!!
my wife is also getting a couple of MOs from her workplace this evening:-)
this is really cool...$1 for 1000 miles...
cheers!!

Did the vendor take the credit card as payment? Sounds legit to me :D

Ken in Phx

7-11, store 24 and even the other mom and pops in my area do NOT take credit cards--and a few wont even take debit cards--for money orders. ALL ofthem cost way more than any other source, like the USPS. And they only take debit.

No stores near here. The local supermarket near work used to but wont now. Only cash. I work and I live in a town, take a highway between the two... that's it. NO off roads just to get to banks or stores, etc unless they are in that path.

No one has yet brought up the fact that, aside from the fact that these purchases are technically against the policy of virtually every single money order merchants - these mom and pop stores are losing money on each and every transaction. Even if a merchant is getting a very favorable credit card merchant rate of 2 percent, the people exploiting this are causing the merchant to spend, possibly, hundreds of dollars per month in fees on transactions that they only earn a few dollars at the most.

(Consider 20,000 miles = $20,000 in money orders. The merchant paying 2 percent eats $400 in fees on those transactions. And the 2 percent is a fairly high-level business - many smaller businesses may pay an extra percent above that.)

Given the sheer amount of loss involved for the merchant, and the fact that money order companies generally disallow the usage of credit cards for MO purchases, I think there is very little justification for anyone who knows these facts, yet persists in buying money orders from small merchants. Doing it from Wal-Mart with gift cards, IMO, was bad enough. This one, given the ultimate victim (the small business owner), is inexcusable.

Mike

It saddens me too to see those FT members who go from exploiting program rules and policies, which is ok by me, to seeking out and exploiting businesses and employees where they know they are violating policies and rules.

I wonder what these people tell their kids.