Giant (and Stop&Shop) typically don’t allow you to earn gas reward points on Visa or Mastercard Gift Cards.
The good news is this week they are advertising 2X gas rewards points specifically for purchasing Visa or Mastercard gift cards.
Their circular even specifically states they accept credit cards for the purchase of Visa, Mastercard, and American Express gift cards.
This offer is valid from 10/13 thru 10/19/2017.
My Experience
Today I grabbed four of the $500 variable load MetaBank Visa gift cards from the rack ($2000 worth). There is a $5.95 fee for each.
I took them up to customer service to purchase since the standard registers need a manager’s override for any total over $500.
The employee ringing me up asked for my drivers license and took down some information in a binder they keep locked behind the desk.
While he was doing this, I asked him if there was a limit on the number of cards I could buy. He said the daily limit is $5000 but they take information down on an amount less than $5000, but didn’t specify the amount that targets this.
So I went and grabbed another $2000 worth of Visa gift cards. He rang them all up quickly and scanned my rewards card.
I was in and out in 5 minutes!
Liquidating the Visa gift cards
Next you will need to cash out the Visa gift cards – this is pretty simple.
Head to Walmart and at the money center ask to buy two money orders – the first should be for $1000 and the second should be for $998.60.
Walmart charges 70¢ per money order so your total will be $2000 exactly.
Now pay the $2000 using four $500 Visa gift cards. Be sure to tell the cashier that you would like to pay with ‘4 swipes’ or ‘split transaction with 4 debit cards’.
The registers allow a maximum of four card swipes so you can only buy two money orders at a time if you using $500 Visa gift cards.
Then just deposit the money orders to your bank account. I’ve found a few banks that allow you to use their mobile app to deposit at home – simple!
The Math
My total was $4047.60 ($505.95 x 8 Visa gift cards)
The purchase fees added up to $47.60, but I earned 8000 gas points worth $8.00 off of fuel (100 points = $0.10/gal).
To maximize the savings, wait until your fuel tank is almost empty so you can fully fill it. If the fuel tank holds 15 gallons, you save $120 ($8.00 x 15).
The money orders will cost $2.80 (70¢ x 4)
Earnings
$120 saved in gas – less $47.60 Visa gift card purchase fees – less $2.80 money order fees = $69.60 profit!
And more importantly I also earned 9309 credit card points (I used a card that earns 2.3X points per dollar spent).
Since I like to get at least 2¢ per point value from credit card points, I value those points at least $186.
So that’s over $250 profit for about 15 minutes (5 minutes in grocery store and 10 minutes in Walmart).
Notes
- Gas points expire in 30 days so only buy as much as you will use
- Don’t forget to scan your Giant rewards card before paying
- Buy before 10/19/2017
- Some locations may limit you to using $1.50 per fillup
- Giant will allow you to fill up to 20 gallons
What other grocery stores do you know of that offer fuel points for buying Visa gift cards?
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I followed the instructions here. I got told by Walmart that I can’t use visa gift cards for money orders. I asked to pay with 4 debit cards. The cashier asked to see my ID and cards I was paying with. How do I go about unloading these now. There is no other Walmart close by
Just buy one MO at a time (for $499.30) – and use one visa gift/debit card. If they ask to see your ID and debit card – hand over your ID and your regular bank credit card. When they give it back, just quickly swipe the visa gift card instead.
My Walmart knows the drill and is fine with it – when I say I want to buy two money orders – they say ‘for $999.30 each?” – I say ‘yes’, then they say ‘4 swipes, $500 each?’, I say ‘yes’.
You can also buy money orders at the post office and grocery stores – some places will ask for your ID and debit card to match names to prevent fraud especially if you are ‘splitting the transaction’ with multiple payment methods.
Also – check this out: http://pointchaser.com/manufactured-spending-everything-to-know/