Buying Cash to Max Out Your Credit Card Rewards
Remember when I suggested buying $1 coins from the US Mint to max out your credit card rewards? No? Well, I did. At the time, the problem was that they were out of stock. The idea then fell off my radar, but I was recently reminded of it when my son brought home a one dollar Presidential coin from school the other day. When I checked the mint, I was pleased to see that they have several versions in stock, and shipping is still free.
Here’s the Deal
Just hop on over to the US Mint and order $250 or $500 worth of coins. They come boxes of 250, with a limit of two boxes. You can pay with a credit card and, as noted above, shipping is free. Also note that there’s no explicit limit on the number of orders that an individual can place, so you should be able to do this over and over.
If you have (for example) an Amex Blue Cash rewards card, this strategy will generate $7.50 in rewards for every two boxes purchased (1.5% rewards on $500 in purchases). If you don’t want the coins, you can always spend them or just deposit them at the bank.
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What a clever idea. I never thought this was possible. Thanks for the tip.
Comment by Corporate Barbarian — Feb 25th 2009 @ 1:27 pmHi Addict,
I don’t see that shipping is free. The standard shipping option which takes 1-2 weeks costs $4.95
I tried ordering 2 of the 2008 Circulating $1 Coin Direct Ship Rolls – Andrew Jackson (Y07).
whoops, nevermind the shipping is deducted on the next page.
Comment by Vaughn — Feb 25th 2009 @ 5:42 pmGood idea, but just be sure that the transaction doesn’t get recorded as a cash advance by Amex. I’m not familiar with Amex Blue Cash Rewards, but I know some CC issuers treat buying travelers checks, for example, as cash advances rather than point-of-sale purchases. Apparently people were purchasing travelers checks and depositing them into their accounts just so they could get the cash back reward. If the transaction is treated as a cash advance, not only does the cardholder not get the cash reward benefit, but he or she then winds up being hit with the immediate high interest charges and fees. Not sure if that applies here, since this is purchasing coins from the US Mint and after all, they print the money! So who knows? Someone please update as to how it works out–thanks–
Comment by Anon — Feb 27th 2009 @ 12:47 pm