Experimenting With Fuel Everywhere Visa Gift Cards
There was a great deal at Office Depot a few weeks ago offering $15 off of $300 in Visa gift card purchases. And it was an instant discount instead of a rebate which means you could usually get multiple discounts if you were willing to go to different stores etc.
I had been stopping at any locations that I passed during the week but on Saturday I decided to hit a couple stores before the offer was over. Both stores I visited had empty racks where the $200 Visa gift cards usually sit. I wasn’t surprised but they did have some Fuel Everywhere Visa gift cards. I was out of discounted gas gift cards so I decided to give them a try and see what happens.
Fuel Everywhere Info
The Fuel Everywhere cards are much like the dining everywhere, grocery everywhere etc. versions of Visa gift cards. Those sell in $200 quantities and a few varieties work at Walmart in the money center. Some people prefer them because they have a slightly lower activation fee. But others have run into issues by purchasing the wrong kind and then are stuck with something that is difficult to drain. Because of this I have usually stayed away.
I don’t think anyone has written about the Fuel Everywhere version of the cards probably because they have a maximum purchase of $100. They come with a $3.95 activation fee as well. Without this deal they are completely worthless cards but since they were what was left I decided to give them a go.
Figures
I purchased 3 of them for a total of $311.85 which triggered the $15 instant credit. This brought my out of pocket total to $296.85. I also earned 1,484 Ultimate Rewards points for the purchase.
The instant discount gave me 1% off the purchase price and the 1484 UR points are worth $22.26 (with a 1.5 cents per point valuation). That gives me a 8.5% discount on my gas purchase. Not too bad – I could just use these at the pump and be on my way. This is also slightly better than just buying gas gift cards at the office store because of the instant discount. But I wanted to do better.
Stacking the Deal
I went to Speedway to purchase a gas gift card with my Fuel Everywhere card. You can earn Speedy Rewards points when you load a Speedway Fuel card. Speedway gives you 10 points per dollar on purchases made inside the store. I earned 1500 points for the $100 load (you get 500 bonus points for $100 loads). You then earn more points when you pay for your gas with the card at the pump.
Speedy Rewards points are worth just under $0.0009 a piece so those 1,500 points are worth about $1.35. If you did this with all 3 cards you would have another $4.05 plus a few points that you earn at the pump.
But let’s say you prefer not to use Speedway’s fuel. They also sell gift cards, including Amazon, and they even offer bonus points on gift card purchases from time to time. You could get 750 points for every $25 eBay gift card purchase you make right now.
I purchased a $50 Amazon gift card with the Fuel Everywhere card no problem plus earned 500 in points for the purchase. This is a better discount than just buying the Amazon gift card from the office supply store directly and you may want to load up with the death of online purchases.
You can then use those discounted Amazon gift cards to purchase 3rd party gift cards for resale. This could increase your profits even further. Or you can use them on regular purchases.
Conclusion
This is a deal that has a very limited time frame and bandwidth since you need a sale to make it work. But it is a good option if you want to mix it up some or if you dread going to Walmart to cash out the regular Visa gift cards.
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Unbelievable, this is the worst Visa debit card on the market. I have no other option than to hang on to this card, it does have an expiration date on 01/27. I am a full time college student and do not drive, and money is very limited. It is inconceivable that I am not able to get a full refund even with a receipt. After all, the Fuel Everywhere Visa Debit card is a bank card and linked to Metabank. I really do not fully understand why I am not allowed to use this debit card anywhere Visa debit cards are accepted.
If you go to a grocery store chain that has a gas station attached you should be able to purchase 3rd party gift cards with it. Many gas stations also sell 3rd party gift cards like Amazon etc. There are ways to get around it.
Can Fuel Everywhere Visa Debit cards be used at Walgreens to buy other gifts cards? In addition, do Currency Exchanges accept Fuel Everywhere Visa Debit cards for purchasing money orders?
It wouldn’t work at Walgreens since there is no gas station attached.
I’m planning a road trip between US and Canada and was wondering if the Fuel Everywhere card is worth it. My country taxes are over 6% for credit card purchases abroad so I avoid using it. I usullay travel with cash and for the fueling part I have to go inside and pre-pay for the amount of gas I need and that’s not the best/fastes experience. Do you recommend the Fuel Everywhere card or any other gift card for the purpose? Thanks.
I am not sure if they would work outside the US to be honest with you. And I am not sure if gas station fuel cards bought in one country would work in the other etc. Cash is probably your best option or you could purchase gift cards once in the country with cash and then use them at the pump going forward that way.
[…] Everywhere Visa – works inside Speedway stores, and they sell gift cards there (1), and works at some grocery stores that have gas stations attached […]
[…] Fuel Everywhere Visa – works inside Speedway stores, and they sell gift cards there (1) […]
[…] you know that your liquidation options for these are limited, you may want to check out this write up that Mark Ostermann recently did at Miles to Memories as he found a pretty good way to maximize the […]
[…] Experimenting With Fuel Everywhere Visa Gift Cards […]
Yes, it stinks, but someone has to test the waters!
The shelves were bare at office depot last week except for an abundance of Style Everywhere and a few Movies Everywhere. I’ve had good luck liquidating Grocery Everywhere and Dining Everywhere, so I bought a Movies Everywhere hoping it would work at Walmart since they sell DVDs, but it didn’t work
That stinks…part of the reason I have stayed away since they are temperamental. Even the Dining Everywhere has worked at one Walmart and not another for some people.
Mark,
Just wondering how you’re draining the regular Visa giftcards at Walmart these days? Money orders or do you still have a live Bluebird/Serve card? Have you tried GoBank?
Strictly MO
any reason why you dont use gobank or bb/serve? it is same procedure for the cashier and I personally think it is easier than MO
Following this thread
Can’t speak for Mark, but for me, BB/Serve were long since shut down, and GoBank requires $500/month bank deposits to waive fees, and that puts me off.
I find the barrier of entry the easiest for MO since you don’t need to sign up for anything or do anything extra. Plus Serve/BB are always on shut down watches. I just find it to be easier but I can see why someone would go those routes as well.
Finding a good bank or two is the key to MO though.
Can you still unload Visa cards at Walmart? How?
You can still purchase MO at many Walmarts with VGC – but it can be YMMV depending on the store and cashier.
Buying a Speedway gift card with the Fuel Everywhere card is a great idea. I steered clear of the Fuel Everywhere cards because you can’t drain them without going inside to pay for gas, but Speedway gift cards can be drained outside at the pump.
Wow didn’t know you had to go inside…lucked out there 🙂
As a data point…bought a Fuel Everywhere and was able to use it at the pump. It was at a Quiktrip gas station and when I swiped the card at the pump, it asked if it was a debit card, I said yes, then put in the PIN (last 4 digits of cc #). All good.
Excellent – thanks for the info!
I usually use smaller denomination visa gift cards at Costco Warehouse as long as what I get in rewards is better than the 2% I would have gotten with the Costco Visa. I do this when I run out of cash cards purchased with a card with a 5x rotating category.
However, I’ve never purchased any of the “Everywhere.” Do these cards work just like all other visa gift cards for regular purchases or do the fuel ones only work at gas stations, the grocery ones at grocery stores, and the restaurant ones at restaurants?
Each one is a little different and they are only supposed to work at the areas where they are labeled. But some have found the Dining to work at Walmart because they have a Subway etc. or things like that. There is a lot of info on them on flyertalk. They are more restrictive than regular Visa GC but they usually can be used at a few more places than you think because cross over like the Walmart situation.
I’ve found that the dining everywhere card works at most places that sell food including grocery stores, Sam’s Club, and Costco.
Good to know.
Thanks,