Military exchanges and reward categories?

[brainysmurf]

Does anybody know how AAFES stores code their transactions? So many cards now have rotating categories, and ZYNC has it's "packs". The exchange accepts Visa, MC, Discover, and Amex. I'm fairly certain that commissaries will code as groceries, but exchanges could be dept or discount; even better if they were also groceries

[john398]

You can always Call (insert your credit card company name here) AFTER a transaction has posted to your account- at that point the credit card provider will be able to see the MCC in the transaction details.

[Anonymous]

I know Discover considers commissaries as a warehouse store like Wal Mart. Previously they weren't included for the 5% grocery cash back bonuses but this year they had a month to get cash back on base, maxed out my limit on that one!

[brainysmurf]

Barclays helped me out, their website actually gives the description.

5399 Miscellaneous General Merchandise

That's not at all what I wanted. I was really hoping for a dept store code to justify zync + style pack.

[Anonymous]

I always use Mil-Star with AAFES, but I suppose if you use another card you could earn points the same as if you shopped with any other merchant. 

[Anonymous]

AAFES, NEX, and MCX    ...    these exchanges does not fall in under the Dept. Categories.

Commissary   ...  this is DECA and does not fall in under the Grocery Store category. 

When you are not sure about which category will be, it is better to make a test purchase with small amount.   Then call your cc to find out which category is.  

Note: Make sure to write down the information for future purchase 

[brainysmurf]

Great advice on the small purchase to find out. Of all my cards Barclays is now my favorite for testing catagory. The web site doesn't give the actual MCC, but it gives the description, worded exactly as it would be on an MCC list. The NEX is Misc General Merchandise, and DECA (comissary) is considered a wholesale club.

I was wanting to have my cake and eat it too. No sales tax combined with a higher rewards category would be very nice.

gangof4, I hadn't even looked at the star program in quite a while. I do like the Chase offering. It gives 2 points per dollar on base and 1ppd of base. Now that my scores are okay I want to get the cards that actually help me, but it seems every week I'm finding a new one that would be a better fit.

[Anonymous]

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@brainysmurf wrote:

I was wanting to have my cake and eat it too. No sales tax combined with a higher rewards category would be very nice. 

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Yes, I agree ~

[LTomBerry]

Digging up an old thread...

So the Comissary here reports to my USAA MC as "Grocery Stores & Supermarkets". It reports to my Discover as "Supermarkets" and I have gotten 5% cashback there during the months groceries were in season for Discover. DW just went there and spent $130 on the shiny new Blue Cash Preferred, and to my horror it shows up as "Merchandise & Supplies - General Retail". Guess I can kiss that 6% goodbye unless I can convince the manager to fix their AmEx account.