Never take those limits at face value. For over a month there’s been a profitable play with language similar to the above and the stated limits are actually stated suggestions. Keep in mind that experimenting could net you a few thousand dollars and just take a couple of minutes of your time. Remember ABP: Always Be Probing.
Am I being intentionally obtuse? Unfortunately yes and I apologize for not sharing more on this one right now, but we’ll give a recap at some point in the future to help find similar deals. Good luck!
A store as empty as the direct information in this post.
Let’s talk today about what’s going on with our collective zeitgeist: Getting $10 off at Amazon when using $0.01 in Discover Cashback rewardsPayPal Key has been officially made redundant by its corporate overlords; the is product going away on either April 20 or April 21 depending on which PayPal communication you believe.
I’m not sure that there’s ever a good time to get bad news like this, but it hurts even more coming just a few short days after the zigening. Let’s discuss.
Background
PayPal Key was launched in late 2020 as a weird attempt by PayPal to get into the middle of your credit card transactions for data harvesting and product stickiness. It gives you a virtual card number to use in place of your credit card and you can choose which credit card you want to actually be charged when your Key is used. Of course gamers are going to game, and it was quickly discovered that:
PayPal Key generated virtual card numbers with one of two BINs: 558158 or 520593
Companies like FinTechs, payment processors, tax processors, rent collections, and others often treated one or both of these BINs as debit card BINs
Why is that useful? Fees vary greatly for processing credit cards as compared debit cards. In extreme cases, debit cards might be 0% while credit cards have a 3.5% or higher surcharge.
What I’m Doing Now
There are definitely still plays out there that work, like the more-or-less-public plays for Public.app funding and rent payments. There are naturally several non-public plays too. One of the obvious responses to this news is to hit all of your plays as hard as possible while you still can. Before doing that though, consider the potential collateral damage of turning your PayPal Key shenanigans up to 11:
The service you’re hitting may shut you down, locking you out of future plays
My initial instinct was to go as big as possible on my PayPal Key plays between now and the end of April, but I’ve tempered some of that enthusiasm to try and find a middle ground that keeps my cards and accounts alive while maximizing PayPal Key before it dies. I’d encourage you to do the same.
Let’s hope we all find the right middle ground so that we’re alive when the next deal surfaces!
PayPal’s Executive staff taking care of its P&L statement.
Let’s bring this into context with the current unfortunate zig at Plastiq (from now on, let’s agree to call this the zigening). There were definitely multiple games being played, but one obvious variation was combining the Nearside Debit Card 2.2% cash back with Plastiq’s 1.85% discount from its normal 2.85% fee on debit cards for a net profit of 1.2% on payments. On Wednesday though, Plastiq started charging 2.85% which killed any deal potential.
So, let’s take the advice of internet randos and consider this an annoying opportunity to zag. Remember:
Nearside is not the only card out there
Plastiq is not the only way to pay bills
Bill payments aren’t the only way to effectively use a debit card
Unfortunately Plastiq continues to be running many real debit cards and several “debit” cards at the higher 2.85% credit card fee. If you have a real debit card that’s running at the credit card fee, I’d consider asking Plastiq to fix it in the hopes that everything else is also fixed.
Here are a few things to keep on your radar today:
If you want the new third generation iPhone SE for churning and resale, or just to have, there’s a good deal at Visible right now. (Additionally, cell phone churners should look for a targeted offer from Visible for a $25 Amazon gift card on top of the normal $20 off of a monthly payment for both the referrer and the referred in their email inbox.)
+ $5 first month payment (use a referral link, ideally one of your own) + $25 second month payment (join any Party Pay party) + $25 third month payment (thanks to Austin for nothing the third month is required for the Mastercard) + $429 for the iPhone SE 3 – $200 for a Mastercard gift card – $30 using a shopping portal
= $254 net cost (or $209 if you refer yourself and get the Amazon gift card)
Visible will automatically unlock the phone in 60 days, and the resale value will likely be around $400. In the mean time, you can use the phone number for all sorts of St. Patrick’s day hijinks, or maybe non St. Patrick’s day hijinks in a pinch.
Before we dive in today, a cautionary note: Plastiq has started charging higher fees for some payment types. If Plastiq is part of your arsenal, make sure you’re double-checking what’s being charged before you submit.
Now, let’s talk about a few happier topics to jump into the middle of the week:
Hyatt is having a “private sale” which is open to the “public”, yay marketing. They’re advertising it as 25% off of paid rates at “more than” 975 hotels, which to me means 976 hotels (again, yay marketing). To see the rates, use promo code PRIVATE, book by March 22, and stay in April or May.
Despite the snark there are a few good options so it’s worth checking any paid bookings you’ve got to see if you can lock in a lower rate. (Thanks to iheartpoints via the MEAB Slack)
Do this now:Register for Choice Hotels’ newest bonus offer for between 5,000 and 8,000 points after two stays by May 8. Despite my warranted misgivings about Econolodge there is value to be had in the Choice Hotels program, largely with stays in the Ascent Collection booked on points from Citi ThankYou Point transfers.
Coin season 2022 is starting tomorrow at the US Mint with the 2022 American Eagle Gold Proof Four-Coin Set (22EF). Right now the cost of the coin will be somewhere around $5,000, and commissions are likely to be in the $300 to $400 range. The play is to order a coin-set to your house and resell it to a dealer for more than it cost; typically you lock the price and commitment in before you order.
These are good manufactured spend opportunities, especially because you’re being paid approximately a small credit card bonus sized commission for your trouble. I’m not specifically endorsing any buyer, but the following are reputable and you may want to onboard with them today if you want to take part tomorrow:
– Amit’s Coin Buying Group (email or WhatsApp) – Boxy’s Resale Group (Discord, paid group, but the trial lasts through the coin sale) – DCB’s Buying Group (email or WhatsApp) – Vinh’s Coin Buying Group (Web)
Buy items to ship to buyer’s clubs for reimbursement
Amazon
Buy Visa or MasterCard gift cards
Buy items to ship to buyer’s clubs for reimbursement, especially Apple products at Amazon
Of course there’s always the boring way out, spending on things you need at stores you’d normally go to anyway. But that’s not very (as my daughter would say)#girlboss now is it?
Digging for gift card deals at Walgreens, otherwise known as Tuesday.
ANA round-trip business class (90,000 miles) or first class (110,000 miles) awards to Japan
Delta one-way business class non-stop awards to or from Europe (50,000 – 65,000 miles)
Domestic delta economy and first class awards (various)
This transfer bonus pairs well with item #4 too. (Thanks to DoC)
2. American Express has bumped up the offers on Delta co-branded credit cards, and based on the deluge of articles about it they’ve likely bumped the commission paid to affiliates too. These offers are great for just the sign-up bonus if you’re not looking for Delta status:
They’re less great if you want status though, because typically you get MQM as part of the sign-up bonus for the Platinum and Reserve cards and it’s absent in these offers. If you are going to apply, check for a referral offer from P2 or another friend as a way to boost the sign-up bonus even more.
3. There are multiplereports of Public giving everyone a hard time after loading $5,000 with PayPal Key and then trying to withdraw their money a week or so later. If you’re still going to do this deal, I’d prepare to let your funds sit for a month before you try and withdraw unless you want to fight Public.
Unless you live near LAX or JFK it’s probably interesting for you too. I’d save this list away for when you need a positioning flight to another airport for a big award redemption.
Note: I’ll be on a mostly disconnected vacation this week, and while I’m still planning on posting M-F, expect slower than normal responses from me. If you do write a note though I will get back to you.
There’s a deal that’s been floating around the travel hacking and churning underground since fall, and while it’s a bit fragile for public consumption, I have no doubt a handful of you are taking advantage of it to generate real cash-back (especially Patreons). One of the problems with the play though is that volume eventually gets you shutdown, and because the deal involves a real bank, it’s natural to assume that a shutdown applies to a person and not just to that account.
You can see where this is going from a mile away, right? Sometimes a shutdown is only tied to a particular account login, and all you need to get going again is another login. There’s rarely harm in trying to open a new account after you’ve been shutdown, so don’t be afraid to probe. You might end up with a new account and new spend limits.
This image should really be the site’s mascot. Anyone wanna print up a few mousepads?
