Maximizing points / Cashback earned during gas station qt.

[goldengopher1991]

I was just at a gas station and this got me thinking. They sell these visa or American express cards but I'm not entirely sure how they work, so I wanted to see if anyone has experience or has done this.

I buy one of these visa debit cards and put $500 in, and the card cost about $4.95 to purchase. I then use the card to make my daily purchases, and pay bills, etc. I do this to maximize the Cashback and points earned during the gas station quarter bonus, say for freedom I get 5X points which would equal 2500 a card rather than 500. Will this work?

Thoughts and comments welcome.

[mongstradamus]

If you are lucky enough to have an gas station that will sell you visa gc with credit card that would potentially work . 

[Anonymous]

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@goldengopher1991 wrote:
I was just at a gas station and this got me thinking. They sell these visa or American express cards but I'm not entirely sure how they work, so I wanted to see if anyone has experience or has done this.

I buy one of these visa debit cards and put $500 in, and the card cost about $4.95 to purchase. I then use the card to make my daily purchases, and pay bills, etc. I do this to maximize the Cashback and points earned during the gas station quarter bonus, say for freedom I get 5X points which would equal 2500 a card rather than 500. Will this work?

Thoughts and comments welcome.

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Yes, this is (a form) of MS.   Commonly done on the Freedom because of the value of UR points, but capped at 15K points per year on that.   As always, some risk

[goldengopher1991]

The cashier I talked to didn't really know how it works and I asked if I could pay with a credit card and they say yes but from the way they said it they didn't seem very convincing or sure themselves either . What kind of risk are you referring to?

[Anonymous]

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@goldengopher1991 wrote:
The cashier I talked to didn't really know how it works and I asked if I could pay with a credit card and they say yes but from the way they said it they didn't seem very convincing or sure themselves either . What kind of risk are you referring to?

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Issuers don't like the purchase of cash equivalents, where a purchase is made simply to get the rewards (or where it looks that way).   So if your card didn't give rewards, you obviously wouldn't purchase the gift card and incur the extra fee (unless you intended it as a gift).

In the worst case, the issuer will close all the cards you have with them, and blacklist you for a period of time (which could be forever).

Now with small amounts it's unlikely that you will get attention, but if your account is reviewed for any reason, someone might ask "Why did you spend > $500 at a gas station?"

As I said, somewhat unlikely that anything will happen but be aware of the slight risk and weigh it against the gains.   (There is a segment in MS who think, for this reason, if you do it at all, do it "big".  Getting shutdown after earning $30K is ok, getting shutdown after earning $30, less so!)