Search Results for: citi shop your way

1. Hertz is extending elite status through June 2022, but only if you opt-in via a link they sent via email. In case you can’t find that message or it never made it, you can make your own opt-in link by replacing XXXXXXXX with your Hertz loyalty number and pasting it into a web-browser:

https://pub.emails.hertz.com/TierExtension?&MemberNumber=XXXXXXXX

(Note for the tech-geeks out there: Yes, this URL’s query string doesn’t make sense, but that’s how Hertz sent it and it does work. Hertz generally has the dubious distinction of “Worse IT than Citi”, so at least it’s on-brand.)

2. Serve cards can again be loaded with debit cards fee-free at Family Dollar and Dollar General. I don’t really get involved with this one because there’s a limit of $500 per store per day and I’m nowhere near any of them. But it is a decent way to unload BlackHawk gift cards in a fee-free manner. Bonus: You can also pick-up some candy hearts from Valentine’s 2021 in case you’ve been missing them.

3. Most of the people that I chat with assume that the Rakuten’s only use is as shopping portal rebate, and while that’s partially true, there’s another play that’s been largely under the radar for several years: Rakuten’s in-store card linked program. Over the past several years there have been a handful of useful plays, but most of them dried up in early 2021.

Fast forward to late 2021 though and it looks like we might be returning to the good times, as Rakuten has added Staples as a partner for in-store purchases at 2.5%. It’s probably worth spending five minutes to link all of your Chase Ink cards to your Rakuten wallet. (Thanks to jerseyguy195 on reddit)

Update: Reader Tom wrote in to offer a warning that you could be shutdown as he was a few years ago if you push too much gift card volume through. YMMV.

4. Simon has 55% off of purchase fees for bulk Visa and Mastercard bulk gift card purchases using code NOV21JOY55. I guess for some of you it’ll pair well with item 2. Remember that American Express cards don’t earn points and purchases don’t count toward minimum spend at Simon.

Happy Tuesday!

Pick one of these beauties up while you’re reloading!

Gift card sales are picking up in just about every way right now, but let’s narrow today’s discussion to a few fun Visa/Mastercard deals (and don’t forget the current Office Depot / OfficeMax deal going through Saturday):

1. GiftCards.com has a Halloween sale for three $250 virtual Visa gift cards with $75 off using code TRICKORTREAT, for a total cost of about $693 for $750 worth of cards. To make this even better, Citi has a targeted merchant offer for 1.5x at GiftCards.com, you can add it to your card at this link. (Thanks to GC Galore)

Make sure you go through a shopping portal to get to this deal. As of this writing, Alaska is at 4x which would payout at around 2,770 miles. In theory the deal runs through Halloween, but it will probably sell out sooner so jump on it while you can.

2. Simon Mall has 50% off of purchase fees using promo code OCTSCARY50. These are great for their large denominations (up to $1,000), and especially great for running up balances on a Citi Double Cash. Just don’t use an American Express card, they don’t pay out points on Simon purchases.

3. Kroger has $3 back on purchases of Visa or Mastercard gift cards via digital coupon. This one is unique because it reportedly works with variable load and fixed load cards, but only if the face value is over $50. Kroger sells US Bank Visa and Mastercard gift cards which tend to work better in many places than the alternatives.

You have a few Kroger accounts, right? You can create a new one in less than two minutes.

Virtual gift cards in action, but watch out: I have a sneaking suspicion that the printout probably won’t work at a Walmart register.

You’ve got today and tomorrow to finish off any September/Q3 deals and now is a great time to do housekeeping. Here’s what I’d make sure you check over the next day:

1. The Chase Pay-Yourself-Back increased redemption as we know it ends tomorrow as advertised. It may be extended until December 31, but it may not be. Make sure you cash out any excess Ultimate Rewards not set aside for future travel by tomorrow to be safe.

2. The American Express transfer bonus bonanza also ends tomorrow. Now is a great time to plan for your spring award bookings and get more bang for your Membership Rewards.

3. Spend any American Express credits in Uber Eats or Uber by tomorrow night.

4. Check for any annual fees that posted this and call the bank for a retention offer. My script: “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.” As usual, bonus travel hacker points if you say: “COVID has made it really hard to use the benefits, I wish it would end soon”. Don’t stop at the first offer they give you either by the way, there may be more. Always say: “Are there any other offers available?”

American Express specific note: If you accept a retention offer, plan on keeping that card for 12-13 months to avoid getting popups that deny credit card bonuses going forward.

5. If you have an American Express co-branded personal card (Marriott, Delta, Hilton), make sure you’ve attached the dining offer to your card and that you’ve spent it by tomorrow night. The easiest way to do this from home is to buy an exact value DoorDash gift card on Fluz. Amazon Meals is another decent option. As always, find a Fluz referral from a friend to make their day if you don’t have an account already, they’ll earn something and so will you.

6. Spend any American Express co-branded business card wireless credits by tomorrow night, but make sure you’ve added the offer to your cards first.

7. Make sure you’ve spent any $10 American Express Personal Gold dining credits. My go to is the local coffee shop; a couple of lattes and a croisshark pastry, which jumps just north of $10 on GrubHub. Buying physical gift cards at a ShakeShack is another option.

8. 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).

9. Finish off any Q3 5x bonused spend on Chase Freedom cards, Discover IT cards, US Bank Cash+ cards, Citi Custom Cash cards, or similar.

Finally, remember that Q4 gift card reselling, physical goods reselling, grocery rewards deals, and travel deals kick into high gear really soon, so rest while you can. Before you ask: No, reading Flyertalk until 2AM doesn’t count as rest.

An image of a woman asleep sitting up in a laundry basket.
Pictured: Resting up after Q3 housekeeping.

I know most of you use credit cards, shopping portals, points, and gift cards as part of your overall travel hacking strategy. Maybe my sample size is just too small, but I don’t really know of anybody including cell phone burners in that strategy regularly, and I think that’s a mistake. All you need to start with cell phone burners is an unlocked phone and some cheap SIM cards. I’m guessing a lot of you probably have an old, cracked-screen unlocked phone already in your junk drawer so you don’t even need to use your main phone for SIM swapping.

Here’s why cell phone burner numbers are useful to a travel hacker:

  • Uber Eats gives new accounts $25 off of orders, and $10 off for referrers. (A new account really means a new phone number).
  • DoorDash gives new accounts 3x$10 off of orders, and $15 off for referrers. (Remember, new account really means new phone number).
  • CashApp gives new accounts $5 and the referrer $5, but more importantly, you have more access to some of the excellent CashApp boosts. (New account = new phone number, blah blah blah.)
  • Fluz gives 3×35% off vouchers for gift cards to new accounts, and 1 voucher to the referrer. The referrer also gets a very small percentage of the commission on gift cards purchased by accounts that they referred.
  • Deals come up all the time that require an existing number. When you’ve got an existing number that you don’t use, you can it take advantage of that right away without affecting your main phone number. A recent but not representative example of this deal was buying 10 Xfinity iPhone SEs for $15/mo total ($1.50/phone). Lots of times, the deals only need a single phone number for port-in or trade-up, they’re not all this complex.
  • Are you banned by a store or an airline? Using a name variation, address variation, and a new phone number, say from a burner, will usually get you jump-started and back in the game.

There are always deals like the above coming up, and having burners lets you take advantage of them at scale.

Here’s why I’m writing this today: BestBuy and Target are both selling Ting SIM cards with two months worth of credits for $0.99. With each SIM card, you can get a new burner number. You don’t have to use them right away either; you can buy a couple now and put them in your sock drawer for when you need them or want to use them in the future.

When you set up the Ting SIM card, give them a Citi Virtual Account Number card or similar that expires before they try to start billing you for the third month so you don’t have to remember to cancel. If the number is useful, you can keep it for $5 per month by porting it to Tello. (Don’t forget to use a portal for $10+ back from Tello when you port.) I’m sure there are other ways to keep a phone number for even cheaper, but I haven’t needed to find them.

My suggestion to you: Buy least two of these sim cards for $1.98 out of pocket, then incorporate them into your travel hacking at your leisure.

a cellular phone dropped into a toilet bowl
One man’s crisis is another man’s opportunity for a burner.