It’s back! Simon Mall is running their $1 off Visa gift card promotion again and we all need this right now. With GiftCardMall temporarily out of the picture (unless you’re ok with your credit cards being compromised), I’ve been looking for an alternative gift card churning source.
The $1 off Visa gift card promotion takes place between June 10 – 30, giving you tons of time to take advantage. HUGE thank you to @depplif for sharing the news. I have no idea where he found this photo, but I’m happy for the advance notice
@PointChaser pic.twitter.com/sF3OcG10sE
— Deppilf flippeD (@deppilf) June 6, 2019
Simon Mall Gift Card Fees
As you all probably know, Simon Mall sells Visa gift cards in $500 increments. Each gift card normally costs $3.95, though with this promotion you’re paying just $2.95. You can buy up to $25,000 worth of Visa gift cards per day. I normally buy $9,500 worth of gift cards, unless I’m in a rush to stock up.
$1 Off Adds Up
While $1 off a $3.95 fee may not sound like much, it can definitely add up. I personally plan on purchasing at least $50,000 worth of gift cards during this promotion. I’ll save $100 in Visa gift card fees.
Is It Worth It?
So is it worth buying Simon Mall Visa gift cards at $2.95 per $500? If you recall, this was originally how much Simon Mall sold their cards for, before increasing the fee to $3.95. They have run $0 fee promotions in the past, but unfortunately, I haven’t seen one of those in about three years.
While $1 off isn’t the best deal out there, it’s definitely going to save a lot of folks a nice chunk of cash. Especially if this is their only option for buying Visa gift cards.
But is the $2.95 fee worth ~500 miles? I think so. Let’s say you’re saving up for a roundtrip business class ticket to Europe. That will set you back around 115,000 miles.
If you’re earning just 1 mile per $1 spent, you’ll need to buy 230 of these Simon Mall Visa gift cards. Total cost, including gift card and money order fees? $779.70. Not bad for a flatbed seat. Especially considering that’s what some people pay for economy class.
Cheaper Alternatives to Simon Mall
I mentioned $2.95 per $500 isn’t the cheapest way to buy Visa gift cards. There are definitely cheaper options. For starters, you can buy $1500 worth of Visa gift cards from GiftCardMall for just $2.85. With the recent fraud issues being reported, I’m going to avoid GiftCardMall for a while. After all, I had to dispute almost $3,000 worth of fraudulent credit card charges in the last few weeks.
Another cheaper way to buy Visa gift cards is through Staples and OfficeMax. Both stores have run promotions in the last few weeks that not only waived the purchase fees but made it profitable to buy Visa gift cards.
Even without a promotion, Staples Visa gift cards are a cheaper alternative if you have a card that earns 5x points at office supply stores. Like the Chase Ink Plus card, for example.
You can order up to six $300 Visa gift cards online at a time. You’ll earn 9,265 points at a cost of $53.70. That works out to about $2.89 per 500 miles earned. Again, slightly cheaper than buying Visa gift cards from Simon Mall.
Is This Promotion Worth It?
Despite the cost and cheaper alternatives available, I do think the Simon Mall $1 off Visa gift card promotion is worth taking advantage of. For starters, you shouldn’t buy all your gift cards from one place. Especially not if that place has “gift card” in the title. The banks will suspect you’re using your card for manufactured spending and it could result in a shutdown.
It’s always a good idea to diversify your spending and this promotion is a good opportunity to do that while paying less in fees than you normally would. That being said, keep in mind that shut-downs could happen regardless.
There have been reports of American Express shutting people down or not rewarding points on purchases made at Simon Mall. I used an Amex Marriott Bonvoy card for Simon Mall gift card purchases last month and the points did not post.
My Plan to Profit Simon Mall’s $1 Off Promotion
I personally plan on maxing out all my Discover It Miles Cards and Fidelity Rewards Visa to earn 1.5 – 2% cash back. I can liquidate these Visa gift cards fairly easily and turn a cash profit. GiftCardMall doesn’t accept Discover cards, so I always used those cards at Simon Mall anyway.
My local Simon Mall, like pretty much all others, is very ms-friendly and the cashiers have known me for a few years. I don’t have to worry about being people suspicious that I’m buying all these cards. This promotion is a no-brainer for me, since I have the means to buy and liquidate Visa gift cards fairly easily.
That doesn’t mean it’s great for everyone. If you have limited options for liquidating gift cards, then you should probably sit this one out. After all, the point is to save money by liquidating cards quickly and paying off your credit cards before the statement closing and due date.
That being said, I’d love to know how you plan on maximizing this $1 off promotion at Simon Mall. Are you also going to focus on earning cash back or will you stock up on specific rewards currencies?
Ariana,
Do you go to the mall to buy them? I have one really close and I was wondering if there is an option out of online world.
You can buy them online, but they charge a shipping fee. And I don’t think the $1 off applies to online purchases.
Anyone w experience using usb alt reserve at Simon? Just swiping at 1x not 3x mobile? Anyone?
Thank you very much
For sharing!!!
I’m curious what card will you use for Simon GC to get roundtrip business class ticket to Europe needing 115,000 miles?
That’s just an example. You can book a RT business class ticket for 115k using miles from American, United (110k), Alaska (technically it’s AA first class for 115k), etc.
Some blogs warn not to use Amex at Simon as the purchases will not earn points and will not count towards minimum spend. Can you confirm/deny based on your recent experience?
Amex will not pay out points at Simon Mall. I mention that in the post.
Can Simon Mall VISA be used at WM for money orders? (I haven’t been to a Simon in a while.)
Yup!
Sweet!
They can be used in theory, but if your local WMs won’t accept gift cards (many WM don’t), make sure you start small and have an alternate cash-out method.
My local WM’s manager said the policy is you can’t use GCs for MOs. So YMMV depending on the store and management.
I have an 1800 dollar bill today and they will accept a money order. Do you have a post to tell exactly how to do that with Simon Mall? I thought Wal-Mart would only do up to just under a thousand dollars per transaction.
Ellen, the limit is $1000 per money order. You can do up to $2000 on one transaction if using Simon Mall gift cards (although some cashiers and some walmarts set their own arbitrary limits). So you could buy one MO for $1000 and one for $800 in the same transaction if that is what you need.
Walmart can only print up to $1,000 on each money order. You can buy one for $1800 (it will be issued to you as $1,000 and another for $800) by splitting your purchase across four cards.
I was just at the Gilroy outlets yesterday…bah. next time i guess
You’ve got plenty of time!
Ariana, you said “you shouldn’t buy all your gift cards from one place. Especially not if that place has “gift card” in the title.”, ho w is buying from GCM gone under the radar? credit card statement doesn’t reflect the merchant as GCM?
P.S. always enjoy reading your posts.
Thanks JP! GiftcardMall is my preferred gift card vendor (i.e. it’s cheaper) but buying from them makes it too obvious that you’re MS’ing. “Simon Mall” on the other hand could just be a retail purchase. It’s not foolproof, but I incorporate both merchants into my MS routine so if someone looks at my transactions, they don’t go “why is she buying tens of thousands of dollars worth of gift cards from GCM?” and concluding that I’m MS’ing.