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redman042

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Jun 13, 2008
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It occurred to me that it might be possible to get 3% cash back on amazon purchases by buying amazon gift cards at Walgreens using Apple Pay, then loading these into your Amazon account.

Am I missing something?
 

JBGoode

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Jun 16, 2018
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Technically you're still only getting 3% cash back at Walgreens but if you want to look at it that way then sure. :)
 

redman042

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Original poster
Jun 13, 2008
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Technically you're still only getting 3% cash back at Walgreens but if you want to look at it that way then sure. :)

If it works, it’s a way for someone who makes a lot of Amazon purchases to get 3% back on them. Walgreens is just a pass thru to get there.
 

JBGoode

macrumors 65816
Jun 16, 2018
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If it works, it’s a way for someone who makes a lot of Amazon purchases to get 3% back on them. Walgreens is just a pass thru to get there.


Yes it works in that you'll save 3%. I was just pointing out that technically you're not getting 3% cash back on Amazon purchases as your post states, you're getting 3% cash back on the card you bought at Walgreens. You're still paying full price at Amazon.
 
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redman042

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Original poster
Jun 13, 2008
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The 3% only applies to "eligible" purchases. I bet gift cards do not fall into this category.

That’s what I was wondering. Whether they will actually flag a gift card purchase for no cash back. I might have to test it.

At least our local Chevron station finally put NFC readers on their pumps so I can get 2% on gas purchases, and be a lot more secure on my transactions at the same time.
 
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myscrnnm

macrumors 68000
Sep 16, 2014
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Seattle, WA
How do you get 3% back at Walgreens, since Apple Pay purchases are 2% back and only Apple purchases are 3% on Apple Card.

There are easier ways to get 3% cash back on Amazon. I just use the Bank of America Cash Rewards card and select online purchases as my 3% cash back category, then with the 1.75x Platinum Honors multiplier, I get 5.25% cash back any time for Amazon or any other online purchase.
 

levander

macrumors 6502
Jul 21, 2011
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There are communities of people online who do everything they can to exploit credit card reward programs. They call what they do “manufactured spend”.

Buying gift cards at a store you get better rewards at is one of the standard tricks. Kroger is often a target of this because not only can you get credit cards who pay higher rewards for grocery store purchases, but Kroger also gives you those fuel points.

But as mentioned previously in this thread, you have to make sure gift cards aren’t explicitly excluded from the rewards program. And even if they are explicitly excluded, a lot of times the stores don’t have the computer systems in place to track whether or not it was actually a gift card that was purchased. You just have to buy a gift card to see. And if it doesn’t work, maybe try buying a candy bar along with your gift card to see if the computer system still catches it.

This is a lot of work though to save 3% at Amazon. Amazon has their own credit card that gives 5% for Prime members and 3% for everyone else, Barclays has the Uber card that gives 2% for all online shopping.. And if you make your Amazon purchase with a gift card, you lose all the features a credit card may provide, like extended warranty, purchase protection, etc..
 
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