Get a $1000 Visa Gift Card Now!

Get a $1000 Visa Gift Card Now!

I sometimes buy gift cards to complete the minimum spending requirement on credit cards and then use the gift cards for my regular spending.  But they are typically for $500 in value and have a purchase fee of ~$5.It can make sense to buy these cards with a credit card which earns a bonus when used at grocery, drug, office supply or gas stations.  And then use the gift card either for your regular spending, to buy money orders, or to load your American Express Bluebird at Wal-Mart.  Remember, you can pay your loans and bills using American Express Bluebird.

However, not ALL versions of gift cards can be used to load your Bluebird, so always start with a small amount as a test.






Load your American Express Bluebird at Wal-Mart and pay your mortgage and other bills with Bluebird
Buy money orders at Wal-Mart, grocery stores or other locations to pay loans etc.
Pay bills at the Wal-Mart money center
Buy pre-paid cards from stores which don’t sell them with a credit card, but let you use a debit card
Potentially pay a lower fee ($2.99 to $3.95) when you pay your federal and state taxes with a debit card onlinGift Card Mall sells a $1,000 Visa gift card – with a PIN! – for only a $3.95 purchase fee.  You can buy this gift card with any credit card and you will earn miles or points for the purchase.  That said, I haven’t tested buying the gift card with a Citi credit card so do a small test to make sure that you aren’t charged cash advance fees because Citi usually charges cash advance fees.

Assuming you pay $3.99 for USPS shipping which is trackable ($2 more than the cheapest shipping option with no tracking), your total costs are ~$8 to buy a $1,000 gift card ($3.95 purchase fee + $3.99 shipping fees).

This means that you are paying ~$8 in fees to earn 1,008 miles or points.  So you’re paying 0.8 cents per mile or point ($8 in fees/1,008 miles and points).  0.8 cents per mile or point is a good deal for most airlines, Hyatt and Starwood hotel points, etc.

This is much less than the cost of buying lower denomination gift cards elsewhere!

Frequent Miler writes that you can even buy American Express gift cards though Big Crumbs and get cash back and then use those gift cards to buy the $1,000 gift card from Gift Card Mall to eliminate the purchase fees.  But that is too much work for me!  And be careful to NOT use a Citi credit card when you buy gift cards directly from American Express because you may be charged a large cash advance fee.You can actually enter your name on the $1,000 Visa gift card!  This makes it seem more like a real credit card or debit card when you use it.Be careful to enter your billing address exactly as it appears on your credit card statement.  Otherwise, your order may not process and you may not be able to place another order for 30 days!  You can look at your credit card statement online and enter your name, middle initial and address exactly as it appears online.





I got an error message after my first order (and a warning that I couldn’t re-order for 30 days).  But my second order (30 seconds later) went through, though I got a fraud alert from the credit card company.I’d personally pay a few dollars more and choose a shipping option which can be tracked, just in case anything went wrong.  Here are the shipping costs for the different options.