Visa gift card

Things You should know before buying Visa Gift Card from giftcards.com

Posted on October 1, 2015December 3, 2015 by admin

Visa gift cards are available to purchase online at giftcards.com. The highest denomination is $500, and a purchase fee is $6.95. (It used to be $4.95. It’s increased recently.) And they also charge a shipping fee. There are several options for shipping, and I will show the details later.

Update 11/18/2015, Giftcards.com removed $500 VGCs from the option about a month ago. The highest denomination of VGCs is now $250 with $4.95 activation fee.

Update 11/27/2015, Giftcards.com put back $500 VGCs! A purchase fee is the same, $6.95. I don’t know the exact date they were back.

First of all, I’ll show the details of the gift card itself.

Features

The card is issued by the Bancorp Bank. It’s the same bank as Vanilla brand gift cards, but the cards from giftcards.com are NOT Vanilla. You can use them at Walmart. So far, I have been using them for only reloading Amex Serve, and they were accepted at Walmart kiosk, Money Center, and Family Dollar.

Design

Your name, expiration date, and card# are embossed. On the top right corner, there is a small print “Gift”.But it’s so tiny that you can remove it by a knife, sand paper, or conceal it by a sticker.

The card needs an activation at giftcards.com or over the phone. You will see or be told a pre-set PIN at that time, and you can change it to your own PIN later. Unlike VGC from Staples, there is no way to register your name and address. I think it’s already registered because my name is on the card and accepted at Walmart. So, I don’t really care.

Fees

The minimum cost per card is $6.95 (purchase fee)+ $1.99 (USPS first class mail) = $8.94. Before they raised a purchase fee, there was always a promo code to waive a shipping fee (UPSP first class mail only), but I can’t find the code anymore. I think they stop offering free shipping codes. All I can see now are codes for free personalization or free greeting card. For your information, you can check current promo codes on the activation page of the website. Activate (Enter a card number of) any VGC from giftcards.com (it doesn’t matter if the card has been activated) and it shows one promo code. Refresh the page to have it changed to a different code. I used to do this until a free-shipping code showed up, but now it never shows up.

There are several other shipping options:

$7.45 USPS Delivery Confirmation
$16.56 FedEx Express Saver
$18.08 FedEx Two Day
$45.00 FedEx Priority Overnight

All these options are charged per order while $1.99-USPS First Class is charged per card. Now that they don’t offer a free-shipping promo code, you’d better order 4 or more cards and choose $7.45-USPS Delivery Confirmation. (There is no option of $1.99-USPS First Class when you added 4 or more cards to a cart, anyway.)

Besides, I had a bad experience with this option on the last order. I bought two $500 VGCs. A purchase fee was $4.95 per card back then, and shipping fee $1.99 x 2=$3.98 was weaved by a promo code. A week later, only one card arrived. I waited for another week, but the other one didn’t arrive. So, I sent an email to a customer service. They told me that I needed to pay $4.95 for a re-issue fee. I called the customer service to make sure, and their answer was the same. The envelope might be lost in transit. Or, it is possible that giftcards.com forgot to send one envelope in the first place. Either way, it is not my fault. But, I’m the one who has to pay the extra money. I don’t think it’s reasonable. So, I canceled the order and received a refund of $500 ($4.95 didn’t come back.)

From this experience, you should avoid $1.99-USPS First Class. Order 4 or more cards at a time and choose $7.45-USPS Delivery Confirmation. If you order four cards, the shipping cost is $1.86 per card. And a purchase fee is 6.95. The total fee is $8.81 per card. It’s expensive for $500 VGC, but “G-Money” will reduce the most of it.

G-Money

You can earn G-Money Points on every order at giftcards.com. Earn 1 point on every $1 spent. 1 point is worth 1 cent, and you can redeem for future purchases. That is to say, it’s 1% back loyalty rewards program. The points are redeemable at giftcards.com only. However, since you can redeem for VGC purchases, you can consider them as cash. And, a purchase fee and shipping fee are also eligible for the reward points. For example, when you bought four $500 VGCs with $7.45 USPS Delivery Confirmation, you pay $2035.25 and earn 2035 points. When you repeat this transaction, you earn and redeem around $20-worth of GMoney on every order. ($2035.25-20)/4=503.8125. The fee will be less than 1%!

Update 11/18/2015, A purchase fee, Shipping fee, and G-Money redemption are no longer eligible for G-Money. If you buy $250 VGC, you earn 250pts=$2.50. When you redeem this points on the next $250 VGC purchase, you will earn 247 or 248 pts. Here is the calculation of $250 VGCs version when you buy eight VGCs. A total cost will be $254.95*8+$7.45=$2047.05. You will earn $20-worth G-Money on the first order, but if you keep using G-Money for the following orders, you will earn a little less than $20 G-Money. But, let’s make it simple, say you earn $20 G-Money every order, you pay $2027.05. $2027.05/8=253.4375. As you see, the fee is now more than 1%.

Update 11/27/2015, I also found that there is 1% cash back deal from some shopping portals, Simply Best Coupons, ShopAtHome, and Panda Cash Back. I just checked out four cards via SBC’s link. However, it seems you can’t earn G-Money on VGC purchases, instead.

And, there is a promo code for free shipping. It’s valid for USPS First Class mail only. So, I don’t recommend using it.

Summery

Card#, expiration date, and your name are embossed on VGCs. The highest denomination is $500 with $6.95 fee. The cheapest shipping cost is $1.99-USPS First Class Mail. There used to be promo codes to waive this fee. It may be available sometimes in the future, but I wouldn’t use it. $1.99-USPS First Class Mail isn’t reliable. You’d better choose $7.45-USPS Delivery Confirmation. Giftcards.com offers their own rewards program. It gives you back 1% of every dollar you spend at giftcards.com. And most importantly, VGCs from giftcards.com are WM, TGT, and FD friendly.

Amex Serve at FD

Posted on June 29, 2015 by admin

In the last few days, I have visited to many Family Dollar stores. Some stores allow debit card load, and some don’t. I keep receipts of reload to remember which store allows debit card load for the future. A result was better than I expected. I have visited 15 stores and found 7 stores allow debit card load. 4 out of 7 are the store I found additionally with these visits, and the rest are the store I visited last year and confirmed they still allowed debit card load.

I’ve used VGC by Meta bank and Bancorp so far. I haven’t used MCGC by US Bank that I couldn’t use at Walmart a few days ago. There are many other stores I haven’t visited yet. I will go and see if they allow debit card load.

As for online debit card load, I decided not to call Amex. According to some forum posts, it seems it’s better not to call to draw their attention. Although I received an email from Amex regarding of a linked debit card, my Serve account doesn’t show any error message. It looks OK to load online. But to be cautious, I will wait for a few weeks. I gave up loading this month.

$10 off on $200 Visa Gift Card at Staples.com

Posted on June 29, 2015 by admin

Daily Deals from Staples.com offer $10 discount on $200 Visa gift card purchase, limit to 3. You can buy up to $2000 worth of gift card at a time, but the discount offer is limited to 3. It’s better to click through a link of shopping portal sites because I received emails from DD for the recent purchases of gift cards (not Visa, and not yet posted.)

Amex Serve at WM&FD experience

Posted on June 28, 2015June 28, 2015 by admin

The closest Walmart store from my home has a kiosk. A month ago, (when I decided to switch from Redbird to Serve) I visited to see if a kiosk was in a good shape. At that time, it was working well. To make sure, I actually swiped my reloadable prepaid cards (Mango and PayPay prepaid) and proceeded until it prompted me to swipe a card of payment. And then I canceled because I just wanted to make sure it was working, and for both cards, it charges $3.74 reload fee.

Today, I visited there to load Serve with VGCs and MCGCs. My plan was to use five GCs. But, a kiosk was not working. The kiosk was surrounded by many shopping carts and put by a few plastic tapes. It wasn’t turned off, though. A display showed “Approval Needed”. Reportedly, it causes by loading a lot of money in the short period. (According to the forum, the limit is $1999 in 10 mins.) I have seen it frozen many times, but I have never seen it blocked by shopping carts and tapes.

There was no choice. I had to give up using the kiosk and tried to load at cashiers. I used an MCGC issued by US Bank, and it didn’t go through. The system treated the card as credit. A display of PIN pad prompted to sign for a moment and then automatically canceled the whole transaction. I asked a cashier to do it again. I tried to hit the cancel button to change from credit to debit. But other clerk or manager came up from behind and saw me using a gift card. He told the cashier they couldn’t accept gift cards for reloads. I gave up loading today and left the store.

After that, I headed to Family Dollar. The store is very close to Walmart. I have visited once and loaded with a Vanilla VGC. That was about a year ago. As the store I went yesterday, I was worried that they stop accepting debit cards for reloads. But they still allow it. I successfully loaded with $400VGC from Target.

There are many FD stores in my neighborhood. I’m going to visit all stores and see which store accept debit cards for reloads.

I remember that I was able to use MCGC by US bank at a kiosk. But I don’t remember how long ago. Maybe, the system updated to block these cards by now, or it happens only at a register. Or, if I hit cancel on PIN pad right after a swipe, does it give me a chance to choose between debit and credit?

Today, I got a bad news from WM and good one from FD. Since a reload with Vanilla VGC via FD is still working, I went Target.com to buy more VGCs, but they were sold out. However, I found an incredibly great new item. Click here to see it yourself.

Goodbye to Redbird, Say Hello to Serve again

Posted on June 17, 2015 by admin

Closing Redbird

The last transaction of Redbird just completed. It was a withdrawal of remaining balance to my bank account. It appeared in my bank account history. So, I logged in Redbird account for the last time to close the account.

Background: Reasons for closing

My local Target stores have their own rules to restrict types of payment for reloads. Some stores had the rules before the change on May 7th, some stores had ones after the change. In most stores in NYC, you can’t load Redbird with prepaid debit cards. (I have never loaded at stores in Manhattan and Bronx. So, I don’t know their rules before and after the change. Click here to see more details of my local stores)

Procedures for closing

I used to have Serve. I closed last year to open Redbird. The way of closing Redbird is the same as Serve. You can find a button for closing all the way down in Profile page.

Choose a reason for closing and left some note.

Just like Serve, Redbird showed this crying face.

Registration of Serve

Soon, I went to Serve.com and finished a registration. They sent an email with a link for verification. After the verification, I can log in my Serve account. I tried to do some things, but nothing is possible until activating the card. They give this message in all pages.

According to the email, the card will arrive in 7 to 10 business days. There are a lot of things to do after the card arrives.

Activate the card
Link PayPal Business Debit card – I have two cards. One is linked to my PayPal account that balance is always zero and set PP Extras credit card as a backup funding source. I couldn’t use this one for online-reload of Redbird. I was able to link, but the transaction never went through. So, I have been using the other one that is linked to another PayPal account in which always have some balance. It may be the same result, but first I try to use the first one for Serve because I could get a reward from not only PP debit card but also PP credit card.
Load VGCs from Staples, BBY, BBB, and supermarket – All these are issued by MetaBank. You can register your name, address and set PIN as you like. There is no worry of decline when you load at Walmart ATM.
Load VGC from Target – It has the same features as Vanilla VGC. It charges $6 purchase fee per $400 denomination card. The fee is a little more expensive than $500VGCs, but you can buy it online with any payment methods except for TargetGCs. Since it is a Vanilla VGC, you can’t use for reloads at Walmart. But you may be able to use at Family Dollar. When I had Serve (first one before opening Redbird), I had loaded with Vanilla VGCs sometimes. I need to check if it still works.
Check Amex Offers – Currently, I can’t see any offers. The message is here, too. I need to activate the card first of all.

That’s all for now. Among three Amex prepaid cards (BlueBird, Serve, and Redbird), Serve is the only one with which you can link credit card for online-reload. But a card has to be Amex, and Amex-issued credit cards can’t earn a reward through online-reloads. To earn a reward, you need a non-Amex issued Amex credit card. And I don’t have it yet. I am going to apply Fidelity Amex credit card in a near future.

I hope the card arrive soon so I can have enough time to load fully this month.

Official Announcement from Amex about Redbird Reloads

Posted on June 13, 2015June 13, 2015 by admin

I received an email from Amex that announced a change of rules for Redbird reload. Here is the email,

Dear my name,

We wanted to let you know that you will no longer be able to load your Target Prepaid REDCard® by American Express at Target stores with a Target GiftCard or a non-Target branded credit card. You can continue to load your card with cash or debit at Target stores.

You can also add money to your Target Prepaid REDcard® by American Express online through direct deposit or transfer from your linked debit or bank account.

For more information about your Target Prepaid REDcard® by American Express, click here.

At a glance, my first thought was that they banned me from in-store reloads. But I continued to read,and found that it was just about a change of rule a month ago. I checked other blog posts and forums to confirm that it was sent to all cardholders.

A reason I was scared at first is current status of my Redbird. I have loaded $5000 in store and $1000 online last week. And this week, I rushed to unload by spending normally, paying bills. Then, yesterday I withdrew to my bank account to make the balance zero so I can close Redbird.

Target stores in my neighbor (NYC) don’t accept prepaid debit cards. So, I needed to go to Nassau County for reloads since the change. And surprisingly, even two stores in Nassau didn’t accept prepaid cards. I used PayPal business debit card in those stores. (my local stores don’t even accept PP business debit card.) These are enough reasons to switch back to Serve so I can load with prepaid cards at Walmart ATM. Click here for details.

The email says something strange,

……you will no longer be able to load your Target Prepaid REDCard® by American Express at Target stores with a Target GiftCard or a non-Target branded credit card…..

Target GiftCard? You weren’t able to use Target gift cards for reload from the beginning. non-Target branded credit card? It sounds like that you could use Target credit card for reloads, but I doubt it. That’s because the system doesn’t allow to use credit cards for reloads. Even if you can use it, there is no benefit by doing it, anyway.

I received another email. It is almost identical to the first one, just replacing “Target Prepaid REDcard” with “American Express Target Card.” What is Amex Target Card? When I saw “account ending xxxxx” in the email, I noticed this email is regarding of “American Express for Target.” The change from last month has been applied to Amex for Target, too. But I didn’t care. I used this card for a month or so, then I found it useless to me. I haven’t been using ever since. Did they change the name of the card, Amex for Target to Amex Target Card? …. I don’t care that, either.

Now, I am waiting for the last transaction of Redbird to complete. As soon as it completes, I will Redbird and open Serve.

Close Redbird, Open Serve due to more restrictions to reloads

Posted on May 25, 2015May 25, 2015 by admin

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.

Target No Longer Accepts Credit Card for Redbird Reloads

Posted on May 7, 2015May 7, 2015 by admin

Overview

A new rule was reported in many forums and blogs on May 5th, and it’s implemented on May 6th in all U.S. Target stores. It’s hard-corded. The POS system won’t allow credit cards as a payment for Redbird reloads.

Background

Before this new rule, several Target stores in my neighborhood already had their own rules. For examples, “Cash or Debit Only” “No Credit Cards” “No Prepaid Cards (gift cards)”, etc. However, there are many other Target stores in my neighborhood. So, I didn’t have much trouble reloading Redbird until yesterday. Loading with credit cards was the main benefit of Redbird for me (and I suppose, for the most cardholders, too.) I mostly used AmexGCs for reloads. It was really easy to reload $1000 without worrying about a decline by a bank. You didn’t have to deal with fraud alert as long as a GC has enough balance on it. Now, the benefit is gone, and this new rule is hard-corded and nation-wide. There is no way to get around it.

Current Accepted Payment Methods

Target accepts Cash or Debit for reload. Reportedly, the system allows PIN-enabled gift cards. But I think some stores don’t accept gift cards because of store-specific rules. And I don’t think split payment works anymore. When I asked split payment, transactions of each card were treated as credit. (see details here) So, from now on, you will need to make separate transactions with each gift card.

What is the best now? Redbird or Bluebird or Serve

The main benefit of Redbird is gone. I’m going to close Redbird and open Bluebird or Serve. I’m still thinking which one to open, but I’m sure I will close Redbird. The new rule makes Redbird inferior to Bluebird and Serve for the following reasons.

Too Mush Hassle for reloads

You can’t use AmexGC anymore. For MS, the only option is to use PIN-enabled gift cards. I will use many $200 VGCs from BBY. 25 reloads ($200×25=$5000) every month are too many hassles. Besides, most local Target stores allow to reload at guest service only. Regular cashiers are not allowed, or simply they don’t know about Redbird. Each store has only one guest service. This means I have to go and ask the same clerk for multiple reloads. It’s not comfortable. Bluebird and Serve can be loaded by a kiosk at Walmart. You need to separate transactions with each gift cards, but it’s not a big deal because what you deal with is a machine. Even if a kiosk is out of order, regular cashiers know how to load.

5% REDcard discount isn’t that great

5% instant discount sounds nice, but you can get more discount by purchasing TargetGCs from gift card resellers. It’s not difficult to find 5% or even 6% discounted GCs. If you buy those GCs with reward credit cards, an overall discount would be more than 5%. In case discounted TargetGCs are all sold out, keep in mind that Staples sells e-codes online. If you have Chase ink business credit card, you will earn 5x bonus reward on the purchase. So, 5% discount is not exclusive, and even more discount would be possible.

Amex Offer

Recently, Bluebird has been able to be connected Amex Offer via Twitter, Facebook, etc. And Serve has been also able to do it quite a while. Only Redbird can’t. Maybe in the future, but I don’t want to wait for something uncertain and miss good Amex Offers.

My Plan

I used to have Serve. I closed it for opening Redbird. From my experience, you can apply a new one right after closing the existing one. In order to close the account, you need to unload the card completely, by bill pays or withdrawing to linked bank account, which takes 3 to 5 business days. For this month, I have already done $1000 online reload, but in-store reload is only $1400 so far. I will load as much as possible in this week and unload completely next week. Then I will close Redbird and open Bluebird or Serve. There have been some minor changes to these cards since I got Redbird. So, I will need to review all benefits of both cards to decide which card is better for me.

5% REDcard Discount no longer applied to GC purchases

Posted on April 12, 2015July 12, 2015 by admin

It happened for a few weeks in April. 5% discount IS applied to GC purchases, except for Visa, MasterCard, Amex or Target.

Overview

It seems that Target implemented a new rule on gift card purchase. 5% REDcard discount is no longer applied to ~~any~~ GC purchases.

Target Gift Card

5% discount had been never applied on Target GCs purchases. So, the change doesn’t affect on Target GCs purchases.

Visa Gift Card

A few weeks ago, Target started selling high denomination of Target Visa gift cards ($200 and $400) online. And 5% discount was applied to these purchases. I believe this deal had been available for a week or two after their debut at Target.com. However, this deal ended last week. The VGCs of other denominations have been available since way before. But 5% discount wasn’t applied on these GCs purchases.

MasterCard Gift Card

The available denominations of Target MasterCard gift cards are $25, $50, and $100. It had been several months that they sell MCGCs, and 5% discount was applied when you check out with REDcard. This deal have ended at the same time as $200&$400VGCs’ deal ended.

3rd Party Gift Card

The 5% discount had been applied on 3rd party GC purchases for years, but ~~it’s ended as well~~.

Cash Back from Portals

Generally, you don’t get cash back on GC purchases. Back then, ShopDiscover ( a former version of Discover Deals) paid cash back on GC purchases except Target GCs. I used to buy a bunch of VGCs through it. After ShopDiscover stopped being a partner with Target, I couldn’t find any cash back portals that pays on GCs purchases until yesterday.

I purchased one 3rd party e-GC yesterday. The main purpose of this purchase was to make sure if I can still buy 3rd party GCs with Target GCs, and just in case I clicked a link on one portal site. The order went through successfully. And the portal site sent me an email that told me I earned cash back. I checked my account and saw a pending cash back posted.

Soon after, I purchased one $400 VGCs with a regular credit card, via the same portal site, hoping for the same result. I received an email as well. This time, however, it clearly says that the amount of cash back is $0.

Summary

5% REDcard discount is no longer applied to ANY GC purchases. You can still use Target GCs for GC purchases except Visa and MasterCard. So, you can still save money on GCs (again, except Visa and MasterCard) by paying with Target GCs which you buy with discount at eBay, cardpools, etc. Cash back deals vary by portals and GCs you purchase.

This story is limited to online purchases . I don’t know outcomes for in-store purchases.

Updated 05/02/2015 – I noticed that 5% REDcard discount on 3rd party GC purchase is back again. I haven’t actually checked out, but the discount appeared in a cart after I choose REDcard as a payment method. I did that for several 3rd party GCs and confirmed that the discount was applied. Unfortunately, it didn’t applied to Visa, MasterCard, and Target GC purchases.

Stop&Shop Promo 2X Gas Reward for Visa GC purchases

Posted on March 22, 2015 by admin

Overview

This week (3/20-3/26), Stop and Shop supermarkets has a promotion of gas reward. You can earn 2X gas reward point on Visa gift card purchases.

Basic of Stop&Shop Gas Reward Program

Save 10 cents per gallon for every 100 points. You can earn 1 point for every dollar spent at Stop&Stop. Points will expire in 30 days. It’s redeemable at Shell gas station, up to $2.20/gal discount for a single fill-up (limited to 35 gallons.)

Details of the promo

S&S occasionally has a promotion on VGCs purchases. This time, it’s only 2X gas reward point. Last year, there was 5X and then 4X and then 3X. It’s getting lower and lower, but it’s still a good deal. You should look for $25-$500 variable VGCs and load max $500. A purchase fee of variable VGCs is $5.95. If you find a store that allows to pay with your reward credit cards, it’s much better. $500 VGC purchase gives you roughly 1000 pts (=$1/gal, up to $35 saving.)