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THE OFFICE DEPOT VISA GIFT CARD DEAL
Office Depot/Max is back with their regular deal on discounted gift cards. This discount is only available for in-store purchases from February 19th until February 25th, 2023.
With this deal, $15 is instantly deducted from your bill if you purchase at least $300 worth of Visa gift cards in-store. Heads up, though, that online purchases will not trigger this discount.
This is a wonderful opportunity to help you meet the minimum spending requirement of a new credit card you just got approved for, as long as that card is not an American Express Credit Card.
Earn 5X Per Dollar With The Chase Ink Business Cash
We recommend using the Chase Ink Business Cash® Credit Card, which gives 5X Ultimate Rewards (UR) points per dollar at office supply stores.
I love accumulating Ultimate Rewards points for free travel and hotel stays, and I always try to take advantage of office supply promotions whenever they come around.
This promo can add about 1,500 Chase Ultimate Rewards (UR) points to your stash per visit. If you visit a few times this week, you can easily double or triple your earnings
For some context, a round trip to Europe in economy via United is roughly about 70,000 Ultimate Rewards Points, and the $1,500+ room I booked at Ventana Big Sur was 30,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points per night (40,000 points as of May 22,2022).
STACKING OPPORTUNITIES
STACK 1: DOSH (Possible Account Shutdown)
The cashback app “DOSH” also offers a 2% cashback for purchases at Office Depot/Max.
Although Dosh states that gift cards do not earn cashback, my experience has been the opposite. However, add a few random items to prevent an audit.
Just be mindful that Dosh can claw back any cashback bonuses they’ve given at any time, so YMMV (your mileage may vary).
This deal is a fantastic opportunity to get travel points and earn a $15 discount simultaneously, but the possibility of receiving cashback from Dosh makes this deal even more lucrative.
If you do not have DOSH yet, feel free to sign up by clicking the button below (referral link).
Make sure you link the credit card you plan on using to your Dosh account before making this purchase.
Some data points (DPs) indicate that you would need the card linked 24 hours before your purchase, but my experience has been quicker.
The cashback is usually instant and the maximum cashback from Office Depot per day is $10.
STACK 2: PAYCE
Another cashback app that you can use at office supply stores is Payce. The critical thing to remember with Payce is that you must activate the deals each month to trigger the cash bonus. You also need to link the credit cards on the app before your purchase.
STACK 3: CHASE OFFERS
After setting up DOSH and PAYCE, check Chase Offers to see if they have cashback opportunities with Office Depot or Office Max.
They also typically offer these cash-back deals from multiple Chase credit cards – both consumer/personal and business cards – so check all your Chase credit card accounts.
EASY STEPS
STEP 1:
We announce these gift card deals on our Travel Miles and Points Facebook Group. It is free to join.
STEP 2:
- Set up Dosh by linking a card you plan to use (e.g., Chase Ink Business Cash or a credit card with a sign-up bonus. Link your card once).
- Set up Payce by linking the card you plan to use (e.g., Chase Ink Business Cash or a credit card with a sign-up bonus. Activate the offers every month).
- Add/Activate any Office Depot/Office Max
STEP 3:
You have two options: Buy two (2) $200 Visa Gift Cards (VGC) from Office Depot for a total of $400.00 or purchase one (1) $200 VGC and one (1) $100 VGC for a total of $300.00.
Heads-Up: $200 MC Gift Cards have an activation fee of $6.95, while $100 MCs charge $5.95.
Update: New Cards now have an activation fee $7.95.
| Options | Total Cost | With discount | Profit | Chase UR points if using Chase Ink Cash (5X) |
| A. Two (2) $200 Visa gift cards for 206.95 each | $413.90 | $398.90 | $1.1 | 398.90 X 5 = 1,994 Chase UR |
| B. One (1) $206.95 VGC and one (1) $105.95 VGC | $312.90 | $297.90 | $2.1 | 297.90 X 5 = 1,489 Chase UR |
STEP 4:
Get the $15 discount, instant cashback from Dosh (and periodically, Chase Offers), and credit card points with just one swipe of your linked card.
STEP 5:
Since you are only eligible to get the $15 discount once per visit, you can potentially repeat the process a few times during the promo week to accrue more travel points.
Pro-Tip: If no gift cards are left on the racks, ask any employee to check the back office. Sometimes, they just forget to replenish when the cards on display run out.
EVERYWHERE VISA CARDS
Everywhere Visa gift cards are another type of Visa gift card that is eligible for this promotion. While not as flexible as regular Visa Gift Cards, some points enthusiasts might find the Everywhere Visa gift cards more budget-friendly as their activation fees cost $1 cheaper ($4.95)
There are several “Everywhere” Visa Gift cards that are available in store, but I only purchase two:
- Everywhere Grocery Visa Gift Cards – can be used at supermarkets including Costco
- Everywhere Dining Visa gift Cards – can be used at restaurants, and may be accepted at Costco
HOW TO USE THESE GIFT CARDS
You can use these gift cards to cover any of the below expenses:
- Estimated Taxes
- Medical Bills
- Utilities: Electricity, Water, Internet, Phone, Garbage, etc.
- Groceries
- Gas (you need to pay inside)
- Auto Insurance
- Home Insurance
- Car Repair/Maintenance
- Restaurants
- Shopping (in-store and online)
- Costco Gift Cards
- Buying Groups
Caution: Only purchase the number of gift cards that you can comfortably use in the future. In this post, I will list the best ways to redeem these gift cards later. Also, since these purchases are charged to your credit card, please be mindful to purchase an amount you can quickly pay in full once your credit card statement comes around. It is NEVER a good idea to pay banks hefty bills. Hence, do not employ this strategy if you anticipate difficulties settling your bill in full on or before the due date.
WHICH CREDIT CARD TO USE?
OPTION A
Use a credit card that gives a category bonus in office supply stores, specifically the Chase Ink Business Cash® Credit Card, which gives 5 Chase Ultimate Rewards points per dollar in office supply stores.
The Chase Ink Cash Credit Card currently offers an all-time high bonus of 75,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards after spending $7,500 in 3 months. And it has zero annual fees.
Aside from earning 5 points per dollar at office supply stores, it also gives 5 points per dollar on internet, phone, and cable charges. It is truly an incredibly rewarding no-annual-fee business card!
Refresher: 1 Chase Ultimate Rewards Point from a no-annual-fee card like the Chase Ink Cash is equivalent to only 1 cent if you withdraw your points as cashback. Alternatively, if you have one of the three premium Chase cards (Chase Sapphire Reserve, Chase Sapphire Preferred, or Chase Business Ink Preferred), you can transfer your Ultimate Rewards Points accrued from the Ink Cash to these premium cards to access more lucrative redemption options such as transferring to airline and hotel partners. If you want to know more about how to transfer your Ink Cash points to the aforementioned Chase premium cards, here is a step-by-step guide on how to do it.
Fraud Alert
If you are using your Chase Ink Business Cash® Credit Card to buy gift cards for the first time, make sure you have your phone with you, as Chase may send you a fraud alert via text. Chase will approve the transaction once you verify who is making the purchase, but the cashier may have to scan the gift cards again.
OPTION B
Meeting a minimum spend requirement for a credit card you recently got approved for.
But do not use an American Express Credit Card as AMEX claws back bonuses if spending requirements were met by buying gift cards. Instead, use your new AMEX on your daily organic purchases.
ALERT: CHASE INK CASH HAS AN ANNUAL CARDMEMBER LIMIT OF $25K ON 5X CATEGORIES
If you plan to frequently use the Chase Ink Cash card to spend on 5X categories, such as phone, cable, office supply, and internet, then you need to be mindful of your total 5X spend. Chase has a $25K cap per cardmember year on 5X categories, and any spend that exceeds this amount will only earn 1X.
The related article below will walk you through calculating your total spend on 5X categories, so you do not exceed this limit.
FINAL THOUGHTS
I am a huge fan of these promotions and try to take advantage of them at every opportunity.
I highly encourage you to do the same, mainly if you are accumulating Chase Ultimate Rewards points or meeting a minimum spend requirement.
However, a gentle reminder is only to purchase the number of gift cards you can comfortably pay once your credit card statement comes around.
It is never a good idea to keep a balance on your cards and consequently pay high-interest charges. That will defeat the purpose of this hobby, which is free frugal travel.
Do you plan to swing by Office Depot/Max this week too?
Hat Tip: Frequent Miler & Doctor of Credit
EDITORIAL DISCLOSURE – Opinions expressed here are the author’s alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, hotel, airline, or other entity. The content has not been reviewed, approved, or otherwise endorsed by any of the entities included within the post.”
DO NOT TRAVEL WITHOUT TRAVEL INSURANCE. GET A QUOTE HERE.
So, 2 x $7 fee, + 1 @ $6 fee = $20. Discount = $15, so net cost is $5.
$320 – $15 = $305 charged.
@ 5x = 1525 CUR. Those are worth what, $23.
—please verify my math—
Is all the headache worth it for $23?
For some reason my replies came out as a new comment… I replied below.
Thanks for asking.
The post has a table that illustrates what you’ll earn.
I would only buy 2 x $200 VGCs = $1.1 return (after activation fees & $15 discount)
Dosh Cashback = $7.96 ($398 x 2%)
Total cashback = $9
Chase Ultimate Rewards = 398 x 5x = 1990 Chase UR, which is about $30 if it’s 1.5 cents / point.
Since I look for redemption options that are way more than 1.5 cents, those 1990 UR can have a value of over $30.
Total revenue : $39
Personally, it’s worth the headache since I use those points for premium cabin redemptions and Hyatt stays. But of course that is dependent on your travel goals. If you prefer cash back then this may not be worth the hassle at all 😉
Was able to do 4 200$ cards, 2 different transactions at my local OD with no issue. Got the 15$ discount on both orders and payed both with the same ink. They had no problem with me doing multiple and they had plenty in stock. Will definitely visit more often now.
Congratulations! That is quite rare! I need a store like that in my neighborhood 🙂 thanks for sharing your win!
Did you stack with Dosh? You could have gotten a maximum of $10 cash back with those purchases. I hope you did 🙂
I sure did!! Doing the same thing today, once I get off work.