When Target stopped accepting credit cards for Redbird reloads, I decided to close Redbird and open Serve. I thought which one to open (Bluebird or Serve.) After some research, I have chosen Serve over Bluebird. Serve is the only card that you use credit cards for online reload. They used to accept any credit cards. But now, they only accept Amex credit cards. And if you use Amex-issued credit cards, you can’t earn the reward. To earn a reward, you have to link non-Amex issued credit cards, such as Fidelity Investment Rewards American Express Card. I don’t have any non-Amex issued credit cards now, but I will apply in the future.
I made a plan when Target changed the rule of Redbird reloads. Here my original plan goes:
- load Redbird to the limit by 5/10
- unload completely by 5/12
- wait 3 to 5 business days for the last transaction (it’s most likely a withdrawal to my bank account) to complete
- As soon as the last transaction completes, close Redbird and apply Serve
- load Serve to the limit by the end of this month
However, I found it too busy to load Redbird. It took more time than the plan, and probably there was no enough time to load Serve. So I decided to do this next month.
Now, I have time to reconsider Redbird benefits over Serve. Here is some benefit of Redbird:
- Target is the store I go very often
- Target accepts Vanilla VGCs
There are only two benefits, but they are enough reasons for me to keep Redbird. I had once changed my mind and decided to keep Redbird. However, Target store in my neighbor applied their own rule. They don’t accept prepaid cards. Probably, this rule has been applied since May 6th, the date all Target store in the U.S. stopped accepting credit card for reloads. On the top of that, they don’t accept PayPal Business Debit card, which my name is embossed. A clerk said, “We only accept cash or debit cards issued by major banks, Chase, Citi,…..”
At that moment, my mind’s made up, I will close Redbird and open Serve for sure. Because of this store’s own rule, the closest Target store that accepts GCs for reload is now 20+ miles away. (there are seven other stores within that range, and they had already stopped accepting GCs even before May 6th.)
If you can buy Vanilla VGCs with credit cards at drug stores, or somewhere else, Redbird still has the advantage over Serve on that point. But my local drug stores don’t accept credit cards for payment of a large amount of GC purchase. The place I can comfortably buy is target.com. $400 VGC charges $6 fee; it’s 1.5%. You can use AmexGCs for the purchase and buy multiple GCs at a once. Keep it in mind, it’s always better to have many options for your MS. I may be going to use for Serve reload via Family Dollar. (I haven’t been to FD since I closed Serve for opening Redbird. I hope this option is still alive.)
Will I double-MS next month?
There was a forum post. It said that he or she had to wait for 30 days to apply a new card (Serve) after closing an old one (Bluebird). I used to have Serve and closed it for opening Redbird. As soon as the last transaction of Serve completed, I closed Serve. And then I applied permanent Redbird. It was about 10 minutes after closing Serve and was succeeded. So I was able to double-MS that month. In terms of switching Redbird to Serve, I couldn’t find the specific information. But big deal, I will close Redbird, anyway. For a possible double MS, next month, I will need to load and drain Redbird as soon as possible.
