Here are some tips for maxing out your $4,500 of Freedom 5x category in 2016 on gift cards.
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Maxing Freedom 5x Category
The Chase Freedom card offers 5x rewards at Wholesale Clubs on up to $1,500 each quarter this year, including Q2 which ends in a few days, Q3 which runs July through September, and Q4 which runs October through December. All told, we have $4,500 bandwidth which can earn 5x rewards in 2016. Let’s look at maxing this out with gift card purchases.
Note that you do need membership to shop at Costco, BJ’s, and Sam’s. Samsclub.com allows you to buy without membership by adding a 10% fee. Sam’s also offers one-day passes in-store to try them out. And through July 4, Costco members can use their Costco membership card to shop at Sam’s at no cost at all.
Bear in mind that there are other categories alongside the Wholesale Category, and maxing out at Wholesale might not be necessary for you.
Buy Costco or Sam’s Gift Cards
First we’ll start with the most basic idea: If you plan on doing lots of regular shopping at Wholesale Clubs, you can max out your quarterly category by buying $1,500 of gift cards, thus locking in the discount on your future purchases.
All three stores sell their gift cards in-store. Only Costco and Sam’s sell their gift cards online, not BJ’s. You can contact them, however, and process a purchase of BJ’s gift cards without going into the store; hopefully, that will work to trigger the 5x too.
Buy Gift Cards for Gas
Another thing to keep in mind is that all these Wholesale Clubs sell gas too, usually at excellent prices.
While the Freedom category clearly excludes gas, it’s been noted that you can simply buy Club gift cards and use those to buy gas. This  works for Costco and for Sam’s (Sam’s or Walmart gas), and it might work for BJ’s too.
Buy Mastercard Gift Cards
Another option is to buy prepaid gift cards at Samsclub.com (some of you might remember this from the good old days). Currently, I only see the $200 denomination in Mastercard, not Visa or Amex.Â
Any denomination less than $200 is probably not worth getting, and even the $200s are mostly useful for those who have an easy way to liquidate (PIN should work, from memory) or for those who place a high value on the points.
If you go in-store, you should be able to find $200 cards at Sam’s and possibly the others too. (Maybe there’s even $500 cards? Not sure.)
Buy Discounted Gift Cards Online
All three big Wholesale Clubs sell third-party gift cards online. Consider using that to max out the category-spend.
- Sam’s Club Link They sell Disney, Southwest, iTunes, restaurants, and more.
- BJ’s Link They sell Disney, restaurants, XBOX, and more.
- Costco Link They don’t have typical gift cards for sale, more specific-use cards.
Milesforfamily made the observation that you can buy discounted gift cards at Wholesale Clubs, even online. For example, Disney gift cards are discounted by 5% at BJs.com and Samsclub.com also has them for the around the same. Pick up iTunes for 5% off or score a few percent off various restaurant gift cards at Sam’s. There are lots of other discounted options too.
And these discounts are all on top of the 5x points that you’ll get on the purchase.
There may be other ways to get better discounts on these gift cards, so consider your options. Check out the options at the above links to see if there’s anything that makes sense for you.
Use Sam’s Gift Cards for Walmart
Lastly, it’s worth remembering that Sam’s gift cards are interchangeable with Walmart gift cards. Even if you don’t shop at Wholesale Clubs, you can make use of the 5x category to buy up Sam’s gift cards for Walmart use. If you don’t have Sam’s membership, you might be able to go into the store with a relative or using a one-day pass and buy up $1,500 of gift cards to use at Walmart.
Related posts:Â
- Free Sam’s Club Membership Trial for Costco Members
- Chase Freedom to Offer 5% at Wholesale Clubs for Remainder of 2016 [Quarterly Categories]
- BofA Cash Rewards Increases Category Limit to $2500 & Adds Wholesale Clubs [Up to 3.5% at Costco, BJ’s, Sam’s]
- Roundup of Q3 2016 Quarterly Categories on Freedom, Discover, Dividend, U.S. Bank
I been able to buy variable load Amex and Vanilla Visa GCs cards at my local (Michigan) Sam’s Club. I have been paying with my Discover It card. (And during the Sam’s Club Amex Sync offer that ended 12/31/2016, I paid with Amex.) Fees are averaging about 1%.
I just use the GCs for ordinary spending. I have been able to use them for some surprising things, like my annual car registration fees. I haven’t gotten a PIN for the cards and don’t know if one would be available.
1) Do Costo and Sam’s Club giftcards expire?
2) Buying their $500-$1000 giftcards online with Chase Freedom would trigger 5% Cashback?
3) lastly how to swap Sam’s club giftcards to use at Walmart? Do i need to go to WM and get them exchanged physically (no service fee charged) or I can use Sam’s club GC at WM just like a WM giftcard? Please explain
1) No
2) Better to buy in store. Your order might get delayed or canceled for fraud concerns.
3) No swap. Works at both stores.
Just bought a $500 MC at Sam’s Club using my Chase Freedom. Cashier said gift cards have to be rung up separately from anything else. She didn’t know what to do and was scanning my groceries with the little gun thing and nothing would ring up. Other customer service lady told her to do it separately.
Is it possible to simply cash out the Costco Cash cards?
Haven’t tried, a little strange, but I could of swore I read that someone once
Not sure
Per Data Point, may at least be able to cash out some of your Costco Cash Card. YMMV
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/manufactured-spending/1791476-does-costco-gift-card-count-towards-manufactured-spend.html
Sub
Are there any non-Bancorp Visa GCs available at any of these clubs? I have not seen any myself.
FYI for people mixing in Regular shopping at Sams Club along with GCs….all the cashiers have told me that I have to do gift cards in a different transaction than my regular purchases. So If I buy 2 GCs and my regular groceries I had to split them up into THREE (3) different transactions.
Great info. Thank you!
Want to know if anyone is having trouble loading U.S. Bank M/C gift cards at Walmart?
I know the tricks that have worked in the past.. but now… no go at all….Visa cards are fine however.
Also…how to find Post #! ? Did not receive an email with link.
I tried buying the $500 gift card during the costco membership promotion and could not go thru. The cashier kept rejecting it. The lady said that it’s most likely because I was using the costco membership promotion and was not allowed to purchase the gift card. This was in Cleveland areas.
Too bad this could not work. Let me know if someone was able to buy the $500 gift card during the costco membership promotion.
Perhaps, I should just join the Sam’s club membership…
The weekly membership ends on 7/4/2016.
You go to QFC to buy money order to liquidate you your $500 Vanilla Master Gift Card. It’ll cost you $.75 for a $500 money order.
What is QFC? I tried buying money order at walmart but didnt work.
Quality Food Centers, it’s a food store, when you buy the money order, you need to tell the manager/cashier that you want to charge $500 using the gift card and the $.75 using another debt card or cash. Walmart won’t work because it no longer accepts Bankcorp Gift card.