For the month of September, Chase Sapphire cardholders can get 10 points per dollar for shopping at Bloomingdale’s as long as they start in the Ultimate Rewards Mall. In the post “September experiments in progress,” I described how I launched an experiment testing whether it was possible to earn 20 points per dollar through a double-dip: go through the mall to buy a gift card (for 10X) and then go through the mall a second time to use the gift card (for 10X again).
On September 2, I went through the Ultimate Rewards Mall and bought a $10 e-gift card from Bloomingdale’s. Once I received the e-gift card, I went through the mall a second time to use it to buy merchandise. I used my Chase Sapphire Preferred card to pay the balance. My hope was that I would get points both for buying the gift card and for using the gift card.
Results are in
About a week ago, points posted for my merchandise purchase, but I have not received any points for buying the e-gift card. This means that you can get the full 10X points for using gift cards at Bloomingdale’s, but not for buying them. It is still possible that points would be awarded for buying physical gift cards (rather than e-gift cards), but I haven’t had a chance to test that theory.
Leveraging the deal
10 points per dollar is, in itself, a great deal so if you want any Bloomingdale’s stuff, now’s the time to get it. You could save a bit more by buying Bloomingdale’s gift cards on the resale market (search GiftCardGranny.com). Once you get the gift cards, go through the Ultimate Rewards Mall to Bloomingdale’s to make your purchase using the gift cards.
Caution
Some merchants award points for purchases made with gift cards only if at least a small part of the purchase is made with a credit card. I don’t know if this is true with Bloomingdale’s, but if you can work it out to pay a small part of the total with a credit card that might be safer.