Citi SYW Online Purchases Promotion Questions

[hrolo]

I have completed this promotion in the past. I've seen others prepay utilities and have it count as an online purchase. How is this done? I've used PayPal bill pay, but noticed that doesn't count. I've had SoCalEdison count paying through their online portal, however, they don't let you prepay. Are others using Plastiq? I've seen one post mention it, but read they charge a percentage fee which may be worth it if I can't naturally spend. Another question I have is how are returns handled? For example, purchasing from Amazon and returning it during or after promotion.

[hrolo]

Also, what is the best way to track progress? I noticed I only get one follow up email about my progress which happens very early on. That's how I confirmed SoCalEdison worked.

[ptatohed]

I have paid SoCal Edison, SoCal Gas, and Elsinore Valley Muni Water District online at their website and they have counted as both utility and on-line satisfying two separate offers.  I think EVMWD let's you over-pay and is the only one who doesn't charge a cc fee.  I think SCG allows overpayment but charges a fixed fee (which I don't like but is definitely worth it).  But our gas bill is not that high so I can't prepay hundreds and hundreds.  SCE charges a fixed fee too but I think they don't allow overpayment.  

There is no great way to track progress but I hope they are working on something.  It looks like the Offers page in the SYW cc website shows some (yes, only some) of your active offers and they added a tracker but, for me anyway, the tracker always reads $0.  I hope they get it working.  

[hrolo]

@ptatohed Thanks for the insight! When you say you pay SoCal Gas using their website, are you talking about "Pay by Credit or Debit" on https://www.socalgas.com/pay-bill/ways-to-pay? 

[ptatohed]

Correct, it takes you to a 3rd party site.

https://paybill.com/consumer/?ClientId=SoCalGasGuest

[hrolo]

Thank you! I paid using that site, hoping to verify with their progress email, but it didn't post in time. They send the progress email too soon!