Laboratory Preparations

34

image_thumb4High on my Laboratory to-do list is to figure out which merchant gift cards are easily upgradeable.  As I discussed in the post “The Art of Gift Card Churning,” some merchants will let you use their gift cards to buy other gift cards.  I’ve done this successfully many times at Kmart, Sears, and Walgreens, but I’d like to find more options.  The more options we can find, the more we can save money and/or earn points and miles.

Today, I ran over to Walgreens and used a Walgreens gift card to buy Marshalls, Best Buy, and Bed Bath & Beyond gift cards.  I plan to visit each of these merchants to see if I can use their gift cards to buy others.  Here are a few others I plan to try:

ToysRUs: I’ve been told that you can buy gift cards with ToysRUs gift cards.  So, I’ll go through uPromise to ToysRUs to buy a gift card.  Hopefully I’ll earn 5% cash back.  Once the gift card arrives, I’ll go to ToysRUs to see if I can upgrade.

OfficeMax: Can OfficeMax gift cards be upgraded in-store?  One reader said “no,” another said “yes.”  I just need to try it myself.  First, I’ll go through the UR Mall to see if points are awarded (probably not).  Second, I’ll pay with an Amex business card with OPEN Savings to see if I get 5% back (10% back for $250 or more).  Finally, I’ll take the gift card to OfficeMax to see if I can upgrade.

Michaels: A few people have told me that they were able to buy gift cards with gift cards at Michaels.  I’ll find a good deal through GiftCardGranny.com and order a Michael’s gift card.  Then, I’ll take it to the store to see if I can upgrade.

I’m looking forward to trying out all of the above.  As always, I’ll let you know how it turns out, and I’ll update the Frequent Miler Laboratory.  Do you know of other stores that should be tested?  Comment below.

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