People ask me all the time what the best way to earn miles/points is, and for me it’s a very easy answer. I of course start with “credit cards” and point them to my Beginners Guide to show them the power of miles and points. But many people are looking for something beyond credit cards.For those people, and particularly for those that are weary of getting so many hard inquiries on their credit report, there’s one relatively simple method that I recommend: Gift Cards from office supply stores plus Bluebird.
Why? A couple reasons. First of all, even with the $6.95 fee on $200 gift cards, which are the biggest cards you can purchase, it’s still a pretty good deal when buying with your Chase Ink card. With that 5x earning, you’ll earn 100,000 Ultimate Rewards points for under $672 if you scale up. That’s not bad.
But the real reason I recommend this method is because office supply stores, mainly OfficeDepot/OfficeMax and Staples, frequently offer $20 off the purchase of $300+ worth of gift cards. If you pick up 2 $200 gift cards, your fee is $13.90, and with $20 off you earn a profit of $6.10. You also earned 2,070 miles during that transaction with your Chase Ink card.
Quite simply, you get paid twice for doing a bit of legwork with gift cards. For those same 100,000 points you’ll earn a profit of $295. That’s hard to beat.
Are there better ways to earn miles and points? Maybe, but really this is your best bang for your buck. It’s a deal that’s come around frequently for a couple of years, so it’s reliable and once you get into your rhythm it’s very easy.
If you haven’t heard, Staples happens to have one of these same deals starting 5/24 and ending 5/30.