Negative Cost Visa Gift Cards
Vons, Safeway and other related brands that use the “just for U” rewards program are offering a digital coupon giving $10 off instantly with the purchase of $150 or more in Visa gift cards.
Key Terms
- Limit 1 per transaction.
- Expires: 12/19/2015
How to Load
To load the digital coupon to your account, simply log-in to “just for U” and navigate to the coupon section. The Visa gift card coupon can be found in the “Special Offers” category. Click to add it to your card and you are all set!
Analysis
These stores sell variable loads Visa gift cards issued by Metabank. I actually have quite a lot of experience purchasing these cards and they have always worked fine to load to Bluebird or Serve at Walmart. They should also work at Family Dollar and Rite Aid for Serve as well. The pin is the last four digits of the card number.
Math
In my opinion, the best use of this coupon is purchasing a $500 variable load Visa for $5.95. This would result in a $4.05 profit plus any credit card rewards.
- Cost: $505.95
- Instant savings: -$10
- New Cost: $495.95
- Profit: $4.05
This deal is very good for meeting minimum spend requirements or at least knocking out a portion of them. It is also fantastic if you have a card that earns bonus points in the grocery store category.
Scalability
While this coupon is limited to one use per account, don’t forget that every person can have their own account. I’m not sure if using your friend or family member’s phone number at checkout is a violation of the terms, but if not then you can see if they’ll load the coupon if they aren’t going to use it. Again, check the program terms to avoid issues.
Conclusion
I really like deals like these which provide an instant discount since you can purchase, load and move on without having to wait for a rebate to come. For some with access to multiple loyalty accounts this could be a really great opportunity, while for others it still could be a nice way to pickup a chunk of spend at at a negative cost.
HT: Doctor of Credit
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I went into my Vons account and didn’t see that offer. What did I miss?
That is strange. Everyone I have spoken to has it. Someone I know even signed up for a new account and has it listed there.
Anyone know if this deal is offered at Acme?
Wait I’m confused, is this for purchasing physical gcs in store at Safeway? Because my local Safeway does not allow credit cards to purchase the variable load gift cards
Although this could still be good for a fixed $200 gift card
Yes it is physical gift cards in store. The corporate policy is to allow credit cards to be used, but each store has their own policy as well. Like you said, this could still be used for $200 fixed value cards which would still be a decent deal.
The two Safeway’s near me are very hit and miss. It’s one of those things where unless I’m already planning a trip there it’s just not worth it due to the failure rate. Half the time I’m told it’s cash only for variable load cards.
It’s obviously a good deal if you’re confident you can buy and easily unload to serve. IMO everyone needs to factor in what I call the PITA factor (pain in the ass) though.
Always!
too bad, those supermarkets are not in texas
Dan, Randalls in Texas used to be Safeway, and this offer works there. I used it yesterday, and bought a few groceries as well to use the digital $5 off $30 coupon at the same time and not have it look as if i was just buying a debit card. Used my new Wells Fargo to help meet minimum spend and also get 5% grocery cash back. So the card was $505.95-$10 = $495.95 + (.085% x $5.95 = $.51 sales tax) – (.05% x $496.46 = $24.82 cash back from the Wells Fargo credit card). Putting all of this together, I got a $500 visa debit card for a total of $471.64, including sales tax and not including anything for the bonus for meeting minimum spend on Wells Fargo.
Kris, for me it was $5 off on $30 and it was targeted. I used it on groceries rather than trying to use it on the debit card.
I buy variable load Visa cards regularly at this Randalls and have never been told I need to pay cash. the Wells Fargo card will give me 5% back at grocery stores for 6 months. It’s nice to be able to pay property taxes, etc at 5% off.
I was able to stack this with the $3 off $20 in groceries coupon that was offered through the app! Even tho the terms of that promo say no gcs, it triggered at checkout. Got my $500 gc for $492.95!
Great to know!
Is the $3 off $20 in groceries offer a general one or targeting you? I see there are a lot of offers but didn’t fine such one for me. How did you find it in your app? Thanks.
I don’t have a Safeway in my area. Can I register online and order online?
I believe it is in-store only.
But….which credit card that you recommend to use for maximizing this deal? If one doesn’t have amex old blue card …. and we can’t use Ink for this since doesn’t trigger 5x.
A lot of the Amex cards have grocery bonuses. The Everyday, Everyday Preferred and even the HHonors Surpass are good options. Of course this could also be a way to meet minimum spend or you could use a 2% card for a ~$14 profit.
Sallie Mae is another one. Granted it’s $250/statement but if you have two cards (wife) you can split tender. It also codes more merchants than amex (target and Walmart got example – super varieties). I typically reserve it for actual groceries but nonetheless it’s a great card.
I think you said it best though in that the real value is if you’re meeting sign up bonuses and don’t have easier means of meeting minimum spend.