It’s finally here! The day Simon Mall rolls out $1,000 Visa gift cards just for the manufactured spending crowd. Some of you have asked me which credit cards I plan on using during this promotion, especially now that we’ve established this promotion isn’t the cheapest way to buy gift cards.
American Express doesn’t issue points at Simon Mall anymore, so that’s out of the window. Fine by me, since I want to keep my accrual cost on Amex cards as low as possible.
That leaves a pretty big selection of credit cards to choose from. But again, the point-accrual cost is higher than GiftCardMall’s, so I’m going to use this promotion primarily to diversify spending and generate cash back.
I’ll charge a couple of thousand dollars to Chase credit cards. My Citi Prestige Card will rack up some points before it becomes completely useless. But I won’t cycle my credit line and that’s partly due to caution on my part and a lack of time to buy the actual gift cards.
My gift card churning goal
Being realistic about my churning abilities, I’m setting a goal of $100,000 worth of gift card purchases during this promotion. The only obstacle is the fact that my Simon Mall now closes at 6 PM, so I won’t be able to buy gift cards during the week since I work until five and commute an hour out of town.
If I only make it there on weekends and buy $25,000 worth of gift cards, I’m confident I can hit $100,000.
That being said, I’m going to focus largely on cash back credit cards. I don’t normally cycle credit lines, but I’ll probably do it this time around with the Fidelity Rewards and Discover It Miles cards.
Fidelity Rewards Card
The Fidelity Rewards Card earns 2% cash back on everything. Chances are you have an equivalent card in your wallet. At 2% cash back, you’ll earn $200 for every $10,000 Visa gift card purchase. Subtracting the $48.30 in gift card and money order fees leaves you a $151.70 profit.
Discover It Miles Card
I kept the Discover It Miles card after the double cash back bonus ended because of the annual $30 in-flight wifi credit. That perk was discontinued recently, but I still keep the card because I have a pretty high credit limit. It comes in handy during promotions like this.
You’re probably wondering how lucrative buying $1,000 Visa gift cards with the Discover It Miles Card is. It’s definitely nothing to scoff at.
On a $10,000 purchase, you’re paying $39.50 in fees and banking $150 worth of cash back rewards. Your total profit comes to $101.70 after liquidation fees.
Other credit cards
Keeping the cost in mind, if you’re going to use non-cash back cards to buy $1,000 Visa gift cards during this promotion at $3.95, I recommend using cards that pay out more than 1 point per $1 spent or help you complete annual spending bonuses.
Some good options include the Chase Freedom Unlimited, the Southwest Rewards credit card, Radisson Premier Rewards Visa, etc. It all depends on what your travel goals are.
Why the Radisson Premier Rewards Visa? To give you an example, earning enough points for a top-tier Category 7 Radisson award, would cost you just $115. That’s a pretty great deal on hotels like the Mayfair London, where rates can easily top $600 per night.
Factoring time spent
As Rick recently explained, it’s important to calculate your rate of return related to manufactured spending activities by establishing an hourly rate.
These $1,000 Visa gift cards will cut my liquidation time in half, since the 4-card swipe restriction at Walmart will allow me to buy $4,000 in money orders at a time instead of $2,000. So now I can do two transactions per visit and be out of there.
Since things will wrap up so quickly, I can also manage a couple of $1,000 GoBank card loads. If I embark on one of these trips on my own, I can churn these cards in about two hours. However, since I only have three weeks to milk this promotion, I plan on getting help on the liquidation front, cutting my time down significantly.
Projected profit
If I manage $100,000 worth of Visa gift card purchases, I can earn $1,517-$1,017 cash back during this promotion. And if I bring along four helpers, I can liquidate these cards in two visits. That last part is wishful thinking, but I’ll report back as usual.
Which credit cards are you going to use during the Simon Mall $1,000 Visa gift card promotion?
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