Bye Office Depot

On Thursday, I talked about how Vanilla Reload cards were getting weird at Office Depots near me. On Friday, I shared reader comments about how I was paranoid. This weekend, Office Depot took Vanilla Reload cards out of their stores. The lesson? MileNerd knows all.

Here are other things we know:

  • Vanilla Reloads are still available (CVS, Walgreens, 7-11, Dollar General, Family Dollar, and other stores). Just go out and search a little bit and you’ll find them.
  • You only get 5 times the points when you buy Vanilla Reload cards from office stores with an Ink card.
  • You can still buy regular gift cards at office stores (including Office Depot) to meet your minimum spend. You can use an Ink card for 5 times the points.
  • Summary…the worst-case scenario is you don’t have an Ink card, you still have to get a Bluebird, and you need to search for a store that carries Vanilla Reload cards near you. That means with a little bit of effort, you don’t have to worry about meeting minimum spends anymore. That’s the worst-case scenario. You’re in good shape.

4 To End The Week

  1. Lots of email about my Vanilla Reload post yesterday. The consensus was, “Chill out MileNerd!” Apparently, showing ID at Office Depot is no big deal. I also got an email from Sean, who spotted Vanilla Reload cards at his local CVS. He’s a happy nerd paying his rent, student loans, and credit cards with his Bluebird. .
  2. If you want to take maximum advantage of Bluebird, you really need to get an Ink card and shop at Office Depot. 5 times the miles on Vanilla Reload is huge. An Ink should definitely be the next Chase card for many of you. And the minimum spend for Ink cards has been cut in half to $5,000 here and here.
  3. Get 250 Delta miles for every $125 spent at the Delta mall here. Earn 2,500 miles max.
  4. I got a postcard for Citibank’s latest checking account offer. A pain if you ask me. Up to 30,000 American Airlines miles here with code CYSP. Some people don’t have a big amount to deposit and are ok paying a $30 monthly fee for some miles. If so, make your minimum spend, do a direct deposit for 2 straight months, and close the account as soon as the miles arrive.
    1. Spend $750 with a Citigold account for 30,000 miles
    2. Spend $375 with a Citibank account for 15,000 miles
    3. Spend $125 with a Basic Banking account for 5,000 miles

Vanilla Reload Update

Just a quick FYI. I visit 3 Office Depot stores for Vanilla Reload cards. One of them is asking for a copy of my driver’s license if I buy $2,000+ worth of cards. Another one has stopped stocking Vanilla Reload cards altogether. The third one is still cool (for now).

Europe For 20% Less Miles

Fly round-trip to Europe for 48,000 United miles here (coach only).




American Airlines Day

  • Earn elite status with American Airlines faster here
  • 30 miles per dollar at FTD
  • New dining members pick up 1,000 miles with their first meal 
  • 2,500 miles from Netflix 
  • 1,000 bonus miles on car rentals with Alamo
  • Latest bonus for purchasing miles here
  • 500 American miles for $100 Hurricane Sandy donations here 
  • You can also get 6 JetBlue miles per dollar donated here