I wrote on January 13th how my CVS trips were restricted to credit cards with no past luck with gift cards. Times they are a changing

Howie convinced me that at all costs I should try again with the Visa gift cards and Katy and I made the trek to Savannah and our closest Office Depot. With three Ink cards in our possession we bought gift cards earning five points per dollar on office supply purchases. If worse came to worse, we would just use the gift cards for our ordinary spending. almost everybody takes Visa gift cards.

On the way back from Savannah, being the tenacious guy I am I tried two separate CVS stores and lo and behold, this time I could buy Vanilla Reloads. In fact at one store the clerk didn’t know how to process the gift card as the register came up with a field saying it was not an acceptable means of payment. I was sure that store would be out of the question but when she called the manager, he told her just process it as a credit transaction and it would go through.

I’m all smiles again and can now pay some business bills with my Bluebird card and get back into the highest returning opportunity out there.

I got an email from a reader several days ago, accusing me of being one of those that killed the deal. I know for a fact that my posts and activity were not instrumental in closing down vanilla reloads at OD. I do the deal for my own business expenses, have money on deposit with Chase and use their products for other non-bonus purchases as well as an occasional trip to the office supply store.

Each one of us has our individual limits and moral compass. I’m comfortable in mine and hope you are with yours.

So on January 13th when I thought I’d be doing mostly SPG points with this deal, the game has shifted yet again and I’m back to racking up Ultimate Rewards. The key for me is go with the flow, have points in numerous programs and live within your means. For all I know, the game could shift back again any minute, or we may find another bonanza that is entirely new and uses other currencies to reduce our travel costs.

You can do this. All the answers won’t come in your first blog reading. It takes time, patience and the ability to try different things within your comfort level. Enjoy the ride. My next trip is on Singapore Air in an A380 in Business Class, thanks to the tricks of the trade.

Enjoy yourself and learn learn learn