AMAZING NEWS: Simon Mall is going to sell $1,000 Visa gift cards for $3.95 this month. Remember the false alarm I covered a month ago? Well, I was able to confirm that Simon Mall will offer $1,000 Visa gift cards to manufactured spenders between July 17 – August 4.
That’s right, you do not need to be a corporate customer: Just walk in, tell them you’re buying $1,000 Visa gift cards for MS purposes (make sure you put that into the “purpose” field too) and walk out with up to $25,000 worth of Visa gift cards.
This is a great opportunity to earn a ton of points and miles at minimum cost. Normally, Simon Mall sells $500 Visa gift cards for $3.95, so you are effectively cutting your gift card churning fees in half.
$1,000 Visa gift cards will save you time
You’re not just saving money during this Simon Mall promo. You’re also saving time. This promotion will allow you to cut down the amount of time you’re going to spend in line at Walmart.
As you all know, Walmart lets you swipe up to four gift cards per transaction, meaning the maximum you can buy is $2,000 (four $500 cards) with the $0.88 cent fee per month order factored in.
Now, that number is doubled to $4,000. You’ll be done and out of there after just two transactions. This is a good time to make some friends and reconnect with family members who would be willing to spend quality time with you, liquidating gift cards super fast.
Which credit cards should you buy $1,000 Visa gift cards with?
In anticipation of this promo, you’ll want to get all of your credit cards paid off ASAP so you can take full advantage. Except for your Amex cards, since those are no longer earning points at Simon Mall.
I personally plan to put tons of spend on my cash back cards like the Fidelity Rewards and Discover It Miles Card (email me if you’d like a referral link). In addition to my MS friendly credit cards, mainly ones issued by Citi. I’ll also use this opportunity to complete some of my annual spending bonuses.
Of course, I’ll put a good amount of spend on my Chase cards as well as the U.S. Bank Korean SkyPass card. I just try to be more careful with Chase. Be sure to read my post about avoiding shut-downs due to MS for how I do this.
Aside from earnings miles cheaply, this promotion is also a good opportunity to earn some cash back. Put $25,000 on a 2% cash back card and you’ll pocket about $400 cash after all the various fees. Not bad for a single purchase and quick trip to Walmart!
How to prepare for this promotion
If you plan to go all in on this promotion, there are a few things you gotta do.
1. Pay off all your credit cards now
You have three weeks to take advantage of this promotion, but you want to be prepared right off the bat. Pay your credit cards off so you have enough credit to maximize the promotion.
2. Be aware of statement closing dates
While you have three weeks to buy $1,000 Visa gift cards at Simon Mall, you do need to keep your statement closing dates in mind.
For example, if the cards you’re using all have statement closing dates on 7/18, it’s not a good idea to max out your credit card on Day 1 of this promotion. Wait until after that closing date to use that particular card.
This is something you should be conscious at all times, but since this is a such a lucrative promotion, it’s easy to get caught up in the excitement and forget this important step.
3. The promotion starts next Wednesday…don’t try to get in on it earlier
Inevitably, Simon Mall is going to be inundated with calls from manufactured spenders, asking about this promotion. Some people will get slick and try to get the cashiers to let them apply the promotion over the weekend. Leave the poor cashiers alone. Follow the rules and don’t try to get thems to make exceptions for you until the promo starts on July 17.
This Simon Mall $1,000 Visa gift card promotion is just about the most exciting thing that’s happened in this hobby for a while. Not only does it cut manufactured spending fees in half, it eliminates the amount of time we spend on liquidation. That’s AMAZING news for just about everyone who manufactures spend via Visa gift cards.
Are you excited for Simon Mall’s $1,000 Visa gift card promo next week? What are you doing to prepare for it?
A Simon mall rep called me today and told me the great news! Also my husband and I both went into Walmart together to liquidate giftcards. They told us 2 people from the same household couldn’t liquidate more than $2000. I got heated and left.
How do they know you’re from the same household? Are they taking your license information. Just let one customer go in between you. Even if they’re looking at your license, I doubt they’d remember the address or name.
“Got heated and left”.
Atta girl! You showed them!
smh
That happens sometimes. Keep trying at other stores.
I live near a SImon Mall, but have not used them for MS. How do I get one of these cards? Are they in a central kiosk, in individual stores, available by phone or mail order?
They sell them at the customer service center. They all know about “gamers” so just tell them that’s what you’re buying them for.
Wonder how many MS will be given the boot by the CC Companies.
Why is it only for a limited time?
+1
No idea. Probably compliance/legal issues. Also, let’s face it: If it was continuous they’d need to hire an entire horde of staff to deal with us alone.
Is it safe to use this opportunity to meet minimum spend on a new Chase Sapphire Preferred card? My daughter has a brand new one…..
In general, I don’t like to meet spending requirements via ms anymore. But if it’s your last resort, then go for it. Just don’t do like $3k on the card at once. Also, no Amex cards.
I called my Walmart when I was contemplating using the Staples promotion to buy gift cards and they shut me down and said that they don’t accept VGC. Not trying to be offensive but the employees there are not the most astute, so I’m curious if I can almost definitively use any Walmart?
That was your mistake. NEVER tell them you are using a GIFT card. Tell them you are using DEBIT cards.
YMMV. It varies by store and you have to build relationships with the cashiers. Also, telling them you’re using gc’s off the bat most often gets a “no.”
Not to be offensive, but you don’t sound that astute either. Why would you call Walmart to ask about it? And why would you specifically ask about gift cards? Do some research and read up. Google is also your friend. And NOTHING about MS is “definitive.”
Dan – just try it and see if it works. It varies by location and even employee. Nothing in MS works perfectly for everyone every time.
Can they be bought online like $500 Simon Visa’s are?
According to Frequent Miler, they are NOT available online – in mall only.
No, in-store promo only.
This is gonna be fun!
Ariana, do you cycle your CLs for a deal like this? If so, how many times are you comfortable with over the 3 week promo? Maybe just spread everything out onto as many different issuers as possible instead? What’s your game plan?
For this, I probably will with the Fidelity and Discover It Miles cards. Definitely not Chase though.
Would it be safe to put up to $15,000 on my CFU just one time if the credit limit is $20,000? Unfortunately, Chase Ultimate Rewards are my main points I’m accumulating.
Sudden increase in balance has been given as a reason for account audit/closure. If you value your relationship with Chase I’d tread carefully.
I actually called Chase and told them I was planning an unusually large purchase in the $10,000 to $15,000 range. The rep thanked me for calling and notifying them and noted it in my account. Don’t know if that was wise or not, but it was suggested in another post I read.
I’ve done that before. I personally will probably do that at least once during this promo, but just keep in mind that YMMV. Just because it hasn’t happened in the past, doesn’t mean we won’t get shut down.
How is Citi in this regard?
They’ve been pretty MS-friendly in my experience. YMMV.
Last time at my Simon Mall (Brea) the clerk told me that Citi cards would come back declined, and didn’t know why. I tried my Premier and sure enough it wouldn’t work. I called Citi and they said “we don’t accept payments at that merchant.”
Wow, really? I’ll reach out to my Simon Mall contact and report what I find. Hopefully it’s just bad info from the rep.