My CVS Story

January 13, 2013 - Rick

Each of us are motivated at different levels and have different travel goals. The longer I have played this game, the more focused I have become in my activity and the more I expect out of each play that I make. I don’t play for 50 points for TopGuest and could care less about 100 Hilton Honors points. I’m not saying I’m right or wrong, that is just my own personal threshold. I’m looking for a bigger payday. Here is my CVS story.

I live on an island with two CVS stores. My closest Office Depot is one hour by car. I had no problem driving that hour with Katy and our three Ink Bold and Plus cards to buy Vanilla Reloads in rather large quantities When that option disappeared I needed a new strategy but wasn’t willing to drive the hour to test it out with gift cards then into Vanilla Reloads at CVS. I needed easier proof of the outcome.

I used my Blue Cash Preferred card for 6% cash back from a local grocery store to receive the cash back and bought two $500 Visa gift cards. I took them to my local CVS and they would not accept them as payment. These are gift cards that have been activated and have valid cash on them? I was confused to say the least. The CVS would only take my credit card Well OK, I can live with that. But now what card do I use? Is it the Hilton card for 6 points per dollar? Or the SPG card for one point per dollar? And how much to I hit them up for each month? I have one big bill each month that I am reimbursed for so I will make that payment with my Bluebird and be constantly reimbursed. It will be with my SPG card and Katy’s as well. I’ve done $1000 on each trip at a cost of $7.90 per 1000 spg points or .0079 per SPG point. $80 equals 10,000 SPG points. The clerk asks for my drivers license and credit card so she can actually swipe my credit card.

Is it as good a Office Depot? Heck no, but it is 4 blocks from my house, not one hour away. I can’t drive that hour to buy gift cards I can’t dump.

Think of the changes it makes in my future travel plans. Transfers to AA miles instead of Ultimate Rewards points and United. Hotel stays at Starwood properties instead of Hyatts. I’ll still need to crank up Hyatt points for the Grand Hyatt Kauai.

Each month we’ll add to those SPG accounts. Reevaluate our trips, airlines, and hotels. Just because of one little pharmacy our focus changes again.

http://twitter.com/mctschanz matt

Rick – not sure how quickly you went from grocer to CVS. I made a “similar” trip and was denied purchase. After calling gift card org they said it takes ~70 minutes before it can be used — even though cash is on the card.
Steve

I’ve had similar experiences. The use of visa GC has nothing to do with there being available $$ on the card. Cvs is just very stingy about forms of payment for security reasons.
On a side note. When are you going to the gran Hyatt Kauai? My wife and I are going this fall.
Steve

I’ve had similar experiences. The use of visa GC has nothing to do with there being available $$ on the card. Cvs is just very stingy about forms of payment for security reasons.
On a side note. When are you going to the gran Hyatt Kauai? My wife and I are going this fall.

Richard Ingersoll

mid march and probably first week of December

Steve

cool. I’ll either be going the week before or the week after thanksgiving. If it’s the latter maybe I’ll see you there!

SgFm

I used my Visa GC @ CVS to purchase a Vanilla RL ~10″ after I purchased it in a grocery store.
jeff444jojo

I have been cleaning up on vanilla cards at CVS, plus buying other stuff while I am there, just to keep things legal looking on my card…plus, CVS has some good sales. I have Bluebird accounts from me, my wife and mom and fill them with $5000 each, each month. Mostly use our Hilton cards and we are already turning those into hotel nights. Have met some minimum spends as well and a bit on SPG Am Ex. I am grateful to CVS for continuing this program. It turns into real money for us!
Carl

Chase Freedom offers 5 points per dollar this quarter for drug stores, in addition i can usually get an offer each quarter from Citi and BofA for 3 points per dollar. Granted these all have $1,500ish limits, but i just use the Vanilla reloads as part of my ordinary living expenses.
puck

I’m still able to buy Visa GCs at OD with Ink Bold and then go right to CVS and buy Vanilla reloads. However , 90% of the time , the CVS cashier tells me that don’t think they can accept the GCs for the purchase and have to call the manager who always tell them if the register accepts them ,its fine, and so far, its been fine.
http://www.batteredluggage.com/ W Brian Duncan (aka IPBrian)

My local CVS seems to be more forgiving. I have used Amex prepaid (temp) cards to purchase VR with no problem. I even tell them I want to pay the 3.95 in cash and put 500 on the card. They tend to look at the card funny, but have thus far completed the transactions. Not sure how long this will work, but….well you know.
Rob philip

I save the cashier the trouble of worrying abut the gift cards. Show her that you’re going to use a credit card (I also ask that they check the ID to hammer it home to them) and buy the first VR with that card. Put $495 on the VR. Then, for the next couple of transactions just use the $500 gift cards for $495. They never look after the first credit card.

You’re then stuck with a couple of gift cards with $1.05 on them. But there are lots of ways to use that. My water company lets you pay your bill fee-free. I’ave added $1.05 to my prepaid balance a bunch of times now…
Dale Rausch

Hi Rick,

Amex for Target is an easier method for generating rewards points on a 1 dollar to 1 point ratio. They charge a flat $3 fee and you can charge up the Amex Target card directly with your credit card. No need to use gift cards as an in-between. I am using Amex for Target to meet my minimum spend quickly and easily.
disqus_w3dN5NsuJi

Rick – is the idea with buying gift cards you meet your minimum spend more quickly. If I’m going to spend $2000 a month on bills and grocery, why would it matter if I’m paying directly with my Credit card (and getting the points) or if I’m buying a gift card? I admit to being new to the game, and maybe I’m just missing an essential step! Thanks
http://twitter.com/PatMikeL PatMike

OD has 2 types of Vanilla Visas –

1. The “gift cards” in the fancy package (silver or gold) that say “a gift for you” on the front of the card and the account # is “printed” on …and

2. Vanilla Visa Debit cards, which have the card # “embossed” on and just has the word “debit” on it. It really does resemble a debit card, although it is missing a name.

If you get those, you can legitimately say it is a debit card and even the most discerning clerk should accept it…
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My CVS Story

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