Update looks like the GoC link is no longer working.
- New Gift of College page that sells $500 gift of college gift cards found by elliearroway26.
- First Republic is offering student load refinancing from 1.95% APY. There is a $40,000 minimum. I asked if people were interested in posting about this sorts of deals on Twitter and the answer was yes, I’m not intimately familiar with First Republic’s offering so feel free to share your own thoughts and experiences in the comments.
- Now You Can Rent Homes With Hyatt – With a $100 Discount by Running With Miles. Properties are relatively expensive so your $100 doesn’t go far, but could still be useful to some.
- FlyerTalk Member Survives Airplane Crash in Maldives by The Gate. Glad to hear everybody survived.
Link is Back up, $300 limit. Equates to 2% fee each card from home. With Plastiq being done with Amex, good second option.
Fellow pharmacist here, just stopping in to say hey.
GoC link is back up…but with a $200 card limit, unfortunately.
Bummer, looks like the GoC link is down already, can anybody still access it?
It is down for me as well.
link stop working now
I don’t have a student loan but I can personally vouch for First Republic. I bank with First Republic and they are an amazing bank. There promotions are honest and straightforward. I refinanced my mortgage with their Eagle Community program and there where no surprises. I received my amazing 1.9% 15 year rate and they covered 95%+ of refi cost. It was virtually a no fee refi to a much lower rate. They do make me keep the atm rebate account. It does have a high requirement but if you live near a branch, the main benefits are not listed. I can call the branch and they will messenger over $300 cash and or pick up my deposits from home or work. They cover all ATM fees, so you can use any one you want, but I don’t ever even need an ATM. Their customer service is phenomenal. You can be straightforward with them also. Opening 40+ credit card accounts doesn’t hurt your chance as long as you are honest. They let you deposit money orders also. The bank won’t close your account without discussing with you what you are doing. They actually have people that listen and understand. They are amazing. I hope they are successful. I don’t know if their level of personal attention is sustainable. And their branches have warm cookies!!
Chaser123, when did you get the 1.9% 15 yr mortgage rate? Was that recent? or back in the glory years of 2010-11?
Cant find their mortgage rates online. Would be awesome to know what ranges they are offering this yr and see whether it can beat the rate I am having now (sub 3%)
Awesome–thanks! Has anyone reported this being tracked as a cash advance, or do I not need to worry about that.
There’s a lot of discussion about gift of college on reddit, and I haven’t yet seen any reports of these purchases tracking as a cash advance. That being said, I can’t speak personally to this newly discovered website. I live really close to a Toys R Us, so I just buy them there.
I have bought GofC gift cards online and never was charged a cash advance fee. If you have your CC company set your cash advance at $100, you will never have to worrry about it since any charge that is considered a CA would be declined. (I’ve never done this but still think it is a good idea!)
What’s the best card for buying the GoC cards if you aren’t trying to meet a minimum spend requirement?
That’s really up to you how you value points/cashback and which cards you have. It’s like asking people do you like Porsche/lambo/Ferrari etc.
With that said, a 2% cashback card or higher, or something like the chase freedom unlimited to get you 1.5, or one of the Amex cards that get you 2 MR points etc.
At the end of the day the cost of purchasing the GC is 1.19% so anything higher then that and you profit.
On that page, GoC requires you to select 1 out of 2 “images” that appear to be associated with two specific 529 or loan accounts. Also on the “image” of the GC, there are redemption instructions that are different than normal GoC GC redemptions. The $5.95 load fee is the same as in Toys R Us. Has anyone purchased a GC from this link and used it for their own accounts?
Good catch, I see what you mean. A quick google search of those institutions show they only offer CDs or savings accounts, and it appears those GoC cards are only good for those institutions. Maybe ok if you live in the limited number of states that those institutions qualify for tax deductions for contributions, but otherwise not useful.
Bought two last night, emails showed up this morning (like all GoC eGC), and successfully applied to my GoC account towards my loan.
@Jeremiah Awesome, thanks
Great datapoint, thanks for the info!
Great to see a new GofC $500 site! One less trip to TRU for me! Hopefully this one sticks around a few months (not holding my breath though).
Does anyone know how the credit card charge for the Gift of College gift card link above codes? I.e. trying to figure out if it fits any bonus category on a certain card for extra points? I was about to go to Toys R US because I got an Amex Offer for an extra point on Toys R US charges through 12/31/17, so I’m thinking buying at Toys R US for the next few months is still the better deal for me.