Questions and Answers

I read an article last year and was wondering if it is truly a viable strategy to quickly gain massive points on a airline credit card. This traveler uses his airline credit card to buy thousands of dollars in gift cards and pays off the credit card. He cashes in the gift cards for money online (apparently there are websites that allow you to do so) probably at a slight cost to what he paid for them, but he claims to redeem almost all of the cost of the gift cards in this way. He repeats the process as often as he wants until he has the points he needs. Is this really possible? It sounds too easy. Thanks!

[QUOTE=”art, post: 9952″]It sounds too easy.[/QUOTE]

That was the key phrase, and it ain’t easy at all in practice. It’s certainly [I]possible[/I], but takes a lot of time and study. You could easily be stuck with thousands of dollars of gift cards that you can’t liquidate.

Neither Ben nor I really manufacture spend like that, but maybe someone else can chime in on the best details/resources if you want to consider something like this.

It does take a lot of time but for those of us who don’t travel all that much it’s a way to pad our points balances. Another Boarding Area blog, Travel Codex, has a whole forum section dedicated to manufactured spending. It’s free to join and as you contribute more, additional areas become available to you.

If you have more questions, just ask and we can try to point you in the right direction!

I’d also suggest Doctor of Credit and Frequent Miler to start and then there are more specific blogs that really hone in on these strategies. Like Tiffany said, it can be tricky business and involves a lot of risk and detailed follow up.

It all depends on what way you decide to be best for you.
Along with interest, ease and time, your geographical location matters a lot too.
When you said “liquidate online” you need to know what that means? In MS, Where/How/When matter the most.
If you are doing the Serve route loading at WM, you need decent cashiers and that is where the geo aspect comes in. That is only one example.

Also, the trick that is working could stop working overnight and you cannot expect notice. In that case, you should be prepared for getting stuck with GCs that you cannot liquidate at the rate you intended to. Be prepared, start slow test the waters and then decide.
Sounds easy, but do not take it for granted. Also do an honest self assessment of how organized you are.That is v.imp
Value your time, gas, headache as well.