I remember the first time that we completed a full round of credit card applications. Between the cards that Jasmine and I were approved for, we needed to spend $10,000 in three months to get all of the bonuses. At the time, that amount seemed overwhelming. Thankfully it didn’t turn out to be nearly as difficult as I had envisioned.
A couple of weeks ago when I posted about the Citi AA Executive 100,000 mile deal, several readers asked me how they could possibly meet the $10,000 spending requirement. Most of these people were either casual readers or personal friends. In other words they aren’t into credit card churning or manufactured spending.
While there are dozens of obscure and often difficult methods to manufacture spend, the average person doesn’t need to use any of them. By utilizing Amazon Payments & Bluebird, anyone can easily meet high minimum spends such as the one with the Citi AA Executive card.
Amazon Payments
Amazon has a payment service called Amazon Payments. They allow a person to send up to $1,000 per month to another person for free. That’s right. It doesn’t cost anything. Simple and easy. A free $1,000 of spending per month. It really is that simple. (For example: a husband sending $1,000 to his wife. A brother to a sister. A friend to a friend.)
Bluebird
There are two main ways to load a Bluebird card to meet spending. If you remember, I showed you a few weeks ago how to load Visa/Mastercard gift cards onto the Bluebird card at a Walmart kiosk. That is the 1st and more complicated way to do it.
This first method involves buying a Visa or Mastercard gift card at your local grocery store or office supply chain and loading it onto your card. These cards tend to have fees that range from $4.95 to $6.95. Not too expensive and pretty simple overall. The only downside is the time it takes at that darn kiosk.
The second and easier way to feed your bird is to buy Vanilla Reload or VR cards at CVS. A Vanilla Reload is a prepaid instrument that can be loaded with up to $500 for a simple $3.95 fee.
To get a VR, simply walk into a CVS, tell the cashier how much you want to load, pay with a credit card and then go to their website to load the funds on to your Bluebird. (Note: Not all CVS locations will allow you to pay for Vanilla Reloads with a credit card.) You can then use the Bluebird online bill pay system to use the funds to pay your bills.
Homework
I am going to have a post in a couple of days detailing how to load a Vanilla Reload to Bluebird and how to use Amazon Payments. Before I do that though I want you to do a little homework. The following three Flyertalk threads deal with these strategies. Try to skim through them to gain a better understanding.
Doing this homework will take a little time, but when I go through each method step by step, everything will be easier to grasp. I promise! Soon you will see just how easy it is meet minimum spending which will open the door to some incredible credit card sign up bonuses.
Threads:
Conclusion
The Bluebird card can be loaded with up to $5,000 per month via either gift cards or Vanilla Reloads. If you combined that with Amazon Payments, you can generate $6,000 per month of spending for almost no money. This is more than enough for the Citi Executive card and whatever else you decide to apply for.
Later this week I will show you exactly how this all works. Don’t forget to do your homework!
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[…] few months ago I advocated a simple MS strategy that I believe works for most people. It involves using a cash back credit card with 5x category […]
I’m still amazed that Amazon Payments hasn’t shut this down, I guess all the manufactured spending looks good for their bottom line.
I guess the $1,000 limit works for them. This has been going on for over 4 years I believe!
[…] per month for free. You can use it to pay friends or relatives or even your bills. As mentioned before, I highly recommend reading through the Flyertalk thread for more advanced […]