It’s been an open secret that certain types of debit cards give cash back, and a slightly less open secret that some cash-back debit cards are friendly to manufactured spenders by design. Yesterday, one of the recent favorites was nerfed for nearly all useful plays and now small spenders and heavy hitters are wandering through the stages of grief from a lost revenue source. Once you’ve moved through the stages, take stock and do the following:
Realize that the same plays work with other similar products
Remember what worked here for future probing
Look for alternative plays that work with the nerfed product under its new constraints
I’m sure there are still opportunities with the nerfed debit card, and I’m sure that other debit cards will step up and take its place. Keep looking, and have a nice Thursday!
Remember that even the lessons of being Bonvoyed can lead to new opportunities.
The Citi Shop Your Way Rewards Mastercard, an original MEAB Unsung Hero, now allows for points redemption to Visa e-gift cards at the same redemption rate as other gift cards, making this the new best points cash-out option and making the card even more valuable.
Lowe’s has an in-store promotion for a $15 Lowe’s gift card with the purchase of a $200 Mastercard gift card. The Mastercards are Pathward and have an activation fee of $5.95 to $7.95 depending on the variety, and the resale rates on the Lowe’s card are between 82% and 84% making this a profitable deal without considering credit card rewards.
There’s a limit of two per $15 Lowe’s cards per email address, but someone told me it’s possible to get more than one email address. I know, sounds weird right?
The action item on this one? Start thinking up new names for the Bilt rewards program and share them around your circles. I can’t wait to hear what you come up with.
You’d better sit down for this, because I think you’re going to be blown away, err, wait. The opposite actually:
Staples will be selling fee free $200 Visa gift cards in-store starting Sunday and running through the following Saturday, limit eight per transaction. As usual, try for multiple transactions back-to-back to minimize the time spent in a 12,000 square foot store manned by two employees, one of whom is in the back room watching TikTok.
American Express’s Delta co-brand cards have increased sign up bonuses:
– Personal Gold: 75,000 SkyMiles after $2,000 spend in six months – Personal Platinum: 75,000 SkyMiles and 10,000 MQM after $5,000 spend in six months – Personal Reserve: 100,000 SkyMiles and 10,000 MQM after $5,000 spend in six months
AmEx used their random number generator with these offers so if you don’t see them, switch browsers, go incognito, connect to a VPN, try mobile, yell at Richard Kerr between lawsuits, or something similar until you do see them. (Thanks to rep-swe)
Have a nice weekend!
The real surprise isn’t Staples, it’s what’s at the bottom of the slide.
There’s been recent discussion on both reddit and MEAB slack about American Express no-lifetime language (NLL) links, but information is scattered and not always consistent. So, let’s discuss:
Generic No-Lifetime Language Links
There are a few different flavors of no-lifetime language (NLL) business links out there. First, the generic versions which are always around and were last discussed here in April of last year:
The generic links are worth checking periodically, sometimes not a single one will work for a given account one day, and then all of them work the next day; American Express’s targeting changes quickly. It’s easy to pick out a generic link because the full URL is readable, something like:
I consider generic NLL links as completely safe for any account because they’re targeted, and American Express will prevent the application from processing if you’re not targeted.
The main distinguishing factor is the number at the end of the URL, an offer or marketing code. These links fall on a range from safe to scary.
It can be tricky to tell where a given link lies on that spectrum, but the scariest ones are “post-targeted” links, meaning that the link bypasses the targeting check part of an application workflow. You can typically tell if a link is post-targeted because the application flow doesn’t have anywhere for the popup to appear, it’s a single page with a submit application link at the end that doesn’t even need you to login.
Clawbacks and Shutdowns
What does unsafe mean when you’re using a link? It means one of two things:
A single card or your entire card portfolio is closed
I’m unaware of any shutdowns from using generic NLL links, ever. I am aware of of shutdowns for using offer code specific post-targeted NLL links, but the last confirmed data point is a couple of years old, which seems to mean that American Express cares less about post-targeted links than they used to for some unknown reason.
Going Plaid
This wouldn’t be MEAB if we didn’t discuss the possibility of a bit of shenanigan-like behavior, so let’s dive in friends: If you stumble upon an offer code specific NLL and you’re targeted for a generic NLL at the same time, you can probably be approved for both on the same day. Additionally, if you stumble upon a few different offer code specific links, you can probably be approved for both of those on the same day too. Always be probing!
As I’m sure you’re all quite aware, 2022 is turning into either a pumpkin or into a potato in the next week and a half (depending on your preferred metaphor), and that means you’re nearly out of time for finishing off annual spend thresholds, bonuses, and credits. So, mind the following gaps:
Spend through any of your remaining American Express, Chase Ritz Carlton, Bank of America, or PenFed Pathfinder airline fee credits, and consult this post for ideas if you’re not sure how to use them. If United TravelBank is your preferred method, do it today because last year TravelBank went offline in the last week of December and it could happen again this year.
Check for any annual fees that posted and call the bank for a retention offer, or just chat online if it’s is American Express. I usually say something like: “I’m thinking of closing this card because of its high annual fee, but before I decide what to do I was wondering if there are any retention offers or spend bonuses.” If you get an offer, don’t forget to add: “Are there any other offers available?” Sometimes there are better offers if you keep asking.
American Express specific note: If you accept a retention offer, plan on keeping that card for 12 months to avoid getting popups that deny credit card bonuses in the future.
Spend any $10 American Express Personal Gold dining credits. My go to is the local coffee shop for a coffee and a crepe which jumps just north of $10 on GrubHub. Buying physical gift cards at a ShakeShack or Cheesecake Factory is another option.
Cancel any cell phone burner accounts that you’re done with (and for which you didn’t use a virtual credit card number that already expired).
Finish off any Q4 5x bonused spend on Chase Freedom cards, Discover IT cards, US Bank Cash+ cards, Citi Custom Cash cards, or similar, and don’t forget the emu farm option.
Book any American Express Fine Hotels and Resorts (or The Hotel Collection) stays with your $200 Platinum credit for upcoming travel next year, even if it’s speculative. Historically American Express’s systems lose some of their memory after the calendar turns; it’s not guaranteed but it’s worth a shot at gaming.
Use your Chase Sapphire Reserve $300 travel credit with a refundable travel booking if needed. Yes, this credit is now tied to cardmember year instead of calendar year, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t knock it out now if you haven’t already done so.
Check for any credit card spend bonuses that you may want to hit before the end of the year, like:
– World of Hyatt Visa free night certificate after $15,000 spend – American Express Hilton Surpass and Honors Business free night certificate after $15,000 spend – American Express Hilton Aspire and Honors Business second free night certificate after $60,000 spend – American Express Delta Platinum MQM boosts after $25,000 and $50,000 spend – American Express Delta Reserve MQM boosts after $30,000, $60,000, $90,000, and $120,000 spend – British Airways Visa companion ticket after $50,000 spend – JetBlue Visa Mosaic status after $50,000 spend – AA status with Loyalty Points
– Explorist members: AAdvantage Platinum (equivalent to most airlines’ Gold / 50k status) – Globalist members: AAdvantage Platinum Pro (equivalent to most airlines’ Platinum / 75k status)
To maintain the status for the next elite year, Explorists need to earn 25,000 points and Globalists need to earn 42,000 points within the four month window. Both can earn Executive Platinum status by earning 67,000 points in those months. Likely the easiest non-shenanigan way to earn loyalty points is 3x at giftcards.com and buy with an AA credit card for another 1x.
Of course there are always shenanigany ways to earn Loyalty Points for probers.
United has coach award flight deals to Europe, Asia, and Australia for 30% off if you hold elite status, a Chase United card, or both. Book by December 2 for travel between January 9, 2023 and March 21, 2023.
“Man prepares for shenanigans” – In real-life sepia.
If you were a programmer at a bank and you had to code a bonus category for a particular vendor, say like earning 32x Membership Rewards points on flights to Mars booked through Deep Discount Mars Trips, how would you do it? You’ve got a few decent options for how you might award a bonus based on:
A particular merchant account and payment processor
A particular merchant category code (MCC)
A specific merchant name, like “DEEP DISCOUNT MARS TRIPS LLC”
Of course you don’t have to pick just one of those, good banks and good programmers will do two or all three. Of course, there are some FinTechs out there that take the easy way out and do the bare minimum, for example, searching for “MARS” in a charge’s name and awarding 32x if the letters are found in the charge description. When that happens you’ll earn 32x at:
Marsha’s Grab and Go
Cactus and Marshes LLC
The Marshmallow and Vacuum Emporium
Often the FinTech programmer figures out that they’ve made a mistake and will fix the bonus award by implementing a blocklist instead of fixing it the right way, so the logic is: Award 32x if “mars” is in the charge description, but not if the description is “The Marshmallow and Vacuum Emporium”. Because of course they do.
Well, in the cat-and-mouse game with FinTechs, there are often ways to name-mangle your merchant description to side-skirt blocklists, for example by paying with a service like PayPal which will prepend PAYPAL MARK* to the front of your charge description, leading to 32x again.
It should probably go without saying, but let’s say it anyway: bonus street cred if you use one FinTech product to mask the charge for another FinTech. Happy hunting!
The Marshmallow and Vacuum Emporium, ripe for earning 32x.
Miles discovered a new variety of Target Redcards, the Target Redcard Reloadable. It’s mildly interesting for the $40 + $40 sign-up bonus, but probably more interesting for shenanigans other reasons in the same vein as the Target Redcard Credit Card.
So far it appears to be a Serve/BlueBird like product on the Visa network. It also appears that anyone that has a Serve or BlueBird gets denied during application, so ymmv. (Thanks to Miles via MEAB slack)
AA’s partner card-linked program SimplyMiles and Citi Merchant Offers are again conspiring to help you earn loyalty points for getting luke warm food delivered or for a first class car ride to the airport in the back seat of a 2003 Chrysler Sebring. The offers:
– 465 AA miles on a $25 Uber Eats order, one time (this earns loyalty points) – 235 AA miles on a $15 Uber ride, one time (this earns loyalty points) – $10 back on a $25 Uber Eats, one to three times – $5, $10, or $15 back on a $15 Uber ride, one to three times
The SimplyMiles offers mention that taxes and fees are excluded, so make sure the base cost meets the threshold in case they actually enforce that.
Do this now: Decide which of these you like better: Alaska Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Hilton, and then link your Lyft account to the appropriate one:
– Alaska: 2x miles per dollar spent at Lyft through December 31, then 1x – Delta: 2x miles per dollar spent at Lyft on airport rides, 1x otherwise – Hilton: 3x points per dollar on most Lyft rides, 2x on shared Lyft rides
Personally I’d just link to Alaska and be done with it.
Southwest has 30% off of flights booked by today to and from Hawaii for travel from December 1 through March 8 of next year using promo code GOHAWAII. Double check existing bookings, and make sure to pack a meal when you fly unless a bowl of stale pretzels and some off-colored crackers float your boat.
– 20% bonus to British Airways (use for short haul AA flights or transfer to Qatar Avois for business class redemptions) – 20% bonus to Accor hotels (don’t use)
Astra Finance, a popular tool for manufacturing direct deposits, will stop working on December 16. (Thanks to ChurnChurnChurn)
After a car-wash and some duct tape, your Uber Eats driver will deliver your cold Whopper in two hours or less; but most importantly, it’ll be delivered in style.
There was temporary glitch that allowed for massive overdrawing of fuel points accounts that lasted several weeks, and a few end-users took accounts extremely negative
We’ve seen multiple reports of continued overdrawn accounts since the glitch, but in small balances unlike what had happened in the past
With that in mind, what caused Kroger’s systems to go from effectively zero policing to massive shutdowns? Only the folks at Kroger HQ in Cincinnati know for sure, but there are a few possibilities:
Significant money was taken from Kroger’s balance sheet during the redemption glitch, so putting an end to reselling became a significant business decision and staff was allocated specifically to monitor and lock accounts
Kroger may have implemented facial recognition technology as an anti-reseller technique
Kroger may be successfully fingerprinting reseller’s electronics devices and shutting down accounts associated with those devices
Reactions
We’ve seen varying reactions from the community to the increased account shutdown activity:
Gift card and fuel point resale rates have rocketed above 100%
Many end-users can’t logistically work under the current constraints and have exited
Some fuel points brokers have instituted same day redemption policies and have indemnified buyers from loss within a certain timeframe
Many gift card and fuel points resellers have stopped buying all together
The Future
My crystal ball isn’t any better than average, but I think that as the fuel points resale market dwindles in efficacy, rates for bulk third party gift cards which are normally partially subsidized with fuel points will climb, buyers will continue to pull-back, and potentially new workarounds will emerge; frankly that was an easy prediction though because all of those things have already started to happen.
Special thanks to Eugene, DCB, and several other anonymous brokers for providing background information and consulting for this article. Good luck out there!
The glitch made gas so cheap that end-users could afford to use it to water their cement.
