In MilesAbound’s presentation this past weekend, he stated that you should look for manufactured spend opportunities all around you. He was able to find an opportunity to save on his children’s swim lessons with a grocery store/gift card reload opportunity that was specific to his region/swim program.
That being said, if you are not necessarily interested in traveling for one reason or another or just looking to save money by using cash back cards or just looking for other opportunities to save for a specific purpose, you never know what might be out there until you start searching.
So when I received an email from Chevrolet and I saw this, I had to click to find out more…
I know these types of cards have been around for decades where you can earn cash back to be applied towards a new car but curiosity gets the best of me.
This Power Buy card from Capital One has a no annual fee and will give you 5% cash back on the first 5k in purchases and 2% unlimited cash back the remainder of the year. There is no limit to the amount of cash back you can earn or redeem on a new vehicle and your earnings don’t expire.
So the MSer in me asked…How much would I have to churn in 1 year to get myself a new Chevy Malibu?
The below stats are assuming you buy Visa GC at $2.95 per $500.
Yes I agree that is a whole lot of cards to churn but this is doable with dedication. $6,520 in fees for a new car is a pretty darn good deal. This is of course not factoring in the time you spend MSing or the TT&L once you make the purchase.
Now I’m not saying go and apply for this card. I’m just pointing out that there are other opportunities besides traveling with which you can apply your MSing techniques. So keep your eyes peeled for opportunities that may benefit you. Its kinda fun to think about isn’t it 🙂
That’s certainly one way to expand the aperture! Of course, the downside is, then you have to drive a Chevy! (I kid!). I have to wonder at which point they would try to shut you down, too… But hey, for ~$7k – not a bad deal.
Great to meet you in CLT. My bank is offering a new car or $20,000 in tuition if you can get 100,000 points in their rewards program.
https://www.first-state-points.net/myrewards/enduser/claimprize/viewPrizes.do?prizeLevel=10006&lang=en&ts=1399997215156883693419
Earning structure here: https://www.first-state-points.net/myrewards/enduser/earnmorepoints/begin.do?ts=1399997230336883693419
You get 375 points for each referral that signs up for a new checking or savings account.
If If you could get 266 friends to sign up for a checking account, you’d get the $20K in tuition or new car. MIght be easier than spending $1.1 million on the cc.
Great to meet you too! That is a pretty neat promo and another way to think outside the box! Thanks for sharing 😀
Interesting promotion, will have to look into this one further.
Hmmmmmmmm….
I see the wheels turning lol!
Remember the business card version gets 3x at office supply stores, gas stations and restaurants… that could help the math a bit.
http://saverocity.com/bighabitat/12-4-13-staples-ups-the-price-of-the-square-stand-to-10-billion-dollars-the-3-office-supply-restaurant-gas-bonus-card-that-nobody-blogs-about/
It looks like you already explained this one months ago! Thanks for the post link 🙂 Fun to think about huh :p
My question is where are you getting $500 Visa gift cards for $2.95?
Simon Malls has Visa GC for 2.95. Note that not all malls will accept credit card or have Visas but I suggest you check here to see if there is one near you. http://www.simon.com/search
These rewards are a “rebate” and thus reduce the cost of the car before taxes are calculated, so keep that in mind. It’s really more than 5/2% cashback that way, however you’re stuck HAVING to use that cash towards a new vehicle. 5% Amex BC all the time to me makes a lot more sense. I did think about this very hard though as I’m in the market for a new truck.
I agree w this although the concept is great, and also, making one dedicate ones self to it via the use of a single purpose card is often helpful for attaining goals.
As well, if a person has say a low limit on blue or other uses for the cb, then having a card like this gives that person yet another ms vehicle (no pun intended)
Yep, agree with it being a good alternative thing to low CL on BC.
Forgot to mention, that you also have to watch the details on using these rewards. I don’t remember now, but I thought there was a maximum that you could use in general.
Also, a family member is a GM of a GM dealer and he said that frequently there will be a “power up” type of period where if you have ANY rewards, they will bump you up to say $1500 total rebate. He had one customer with $25 credit on their GM card and got bump up to $1500 with that promo. He’s seen them go as high as $3-4k, but on those higher levels you may need to have $1-2k reward credit already banked.
I’m still considering changing our Venture card over to this if Cap1 allows since Venture is not needed anymore and it’s highly likely we get a GM car.
That is interesting to hear about the power up promos. That makes this better IMO. My Cap 1 card is currently collecting dust…too many other good cards out there 🙂 I’ve never owned a Chevy but I could be persuaded for the right price 😉