Sharing the tricks and tools of better travel
Given the absence of Vanilla Reloads in the Pacific Northwest, purchasing gift cards at a grocery store is the next best thing to reload my Bluebird card. I can purchase them using a variety of credit cards, including some that earn bonus points at grocery stores, and then assign a PIN to make them function like any other debit card. I've never had … [Read more...]
Megan is planning her bachelorette party in Austin this summer and asked for my help researching a place for her and her bridesmaids to stay. Without me there, my elite benefits with various chains were useless. (I offered to tag along and confer said benefits when I heard there was a lingerie party, but my generosity was rebuffed.) Instead, I … [Read more...]
I talked on Wednesday about the recent ability to assign a PIN to some prepaid debit cards, making it possible to use them to reload a Bluebird card at physical Walmart stores. At the time I had only tried using a gift card issued by U.S. Bank National Association, purchased at a QFC (Kroger) supermarket. But I have done more research this week … [Read more...]
Living in the Pacific Northwest has its benefits, but access to the tools for manufactured spend on credit cards is not one of them. Attentive readers will have picked up by now that it is virtually impossible to buy Vanilla Reloads in Seattle. There are no CVS stores in the entire state of Washington ...or Oregon, Idaho, or several other states … [Read more...]
I've been at the Chicago Seminars this weekend, meeting all the readers (and other bloggers!) that I've only known by their screen names. I've also learned a few new tricks, some of which require prepaid cards. American Express is known for provided fee-free prepaid cards around the major holidays, available yet again now through January 31 … [Read more...]
