Vanilla Reloads Are Dead: What Now?
This article may contain references to some of our advertising partners. Should you click on these links, we may be compensated. For more about our advertising policies, read our full disclosure statement here.
As many of you know, CVS stores recently decided to stop allowing customers to buy Vanilla Reloads with a credit card. At first, I was disappointed because I literally have eight CVS stores within 5 minutes of my house, and all of them were Vanilla Reload goldmines. On the other hand, life goes on. Most good things do come to an end, and the fact that some people were buying 5K per day probably wasn’t helping matters. The good thing is, I was only using Vanilla Reloads to meet the minimum spending requirement on a specific card. Now that that’s done, I couldn’t care less about Vanilla Reloads.
If you’re still looking for other methods, you’re in luck. My friend The Point Chaser highlights them on her blog all the time. I won’t get into every method she uses, but you can buy One Vanilla Gift cards or Visa Gift cards and use them to buy money orders. There are also Reloadit cards, MoneyPaks, and Paypal Reload cards. But don’t take my word for it. Check out her best blog post on the topic, “How to Meet $40,000 in Spending Requirements Next Month.”
I’m Still Earning Plenty of Rewards
Vanilla Reloads were an attractive option for me since I’m practically surrounded by CVS stores. Visa gift cards, on the other hand, not so much. Even if I didn’t mind going to the Walmart Money Center to buy money orders (I do mind), I don’t have the time to do it very often.
The good news is that I’m still earning plenty of rewards with my regular spending. Including groceries ($500), gas and miscellaneous ($200), and health insurance ($393), we’re able to put almost $1,100 per month on credit. That’s enough to meet almost any sign-up bonus requirement without doing anything drastic or crazy.
I’m Keeping It Simple
I have to be honest, it was a hassle to constantly buy Vanilla Reloads, transfer them into my Bluebird account, then pay my credit card balance. Now that Vanilla Reloads are dead, I am no longer spending time doing any of those things. Sure, my ability to earn credit card rewards has been compromised, but I don’t mind not having to move money around all the time. The truth: It was a pain.
My New Credit Card Rewards Strategy
My new credit card rewards strategy is much like my old one, just at a slower pace. We signed up for a Citi Aadvantage Executive card and a Marriott Rewards Visa card last month, so we’re taking things slow for the moment. So far this year, I’ve already booked an entire trip to Europe, flights for four to Las Vegas, and flights for two to New Orleans for FinCon, all with points. For the rest of this year, I plan to continue building up my reserve of points for 2015. I haven’t made any plans yet, but I want to be prepared when I do. My goal is to take Greg, my two children, and my parents on an overseas trip for Spring Break, all with points. We’ll see what happens.
Were you upset when CVS quit letting people buy Vanilla Reloads with credit? If so, what’s your new credit card rewards strategy?
I’m not upset. It was bound to happen sooner or later. Companies are in the business to make money and they simply were not. Looks like I will be moving over to serve until Amex decides to shut that down too. Then I might move onto the next thing. In the end I’m almost too lazy for this.
I think I might be too lazy too…at least when it comes to going to Walmart!
I was like 2 seconds away from jumping on the bandwagon…but, you’re right, keeping it simple is probably less of a headache. Although I’ll still check out The Point Chaser to make sure there is nothing I’m missing, LOL! Happy Friday & Happy Easter Holly!
I would definitely check her out! She has a lot of detailed information!
Wow, you will gave to keep us posted on how you do on paying for that spring break trip next year!! That would be pretty awesome. I’m sure you can do it!
I already have free flights (except for the taxes) on Southwest as long as we go to Aruba, Montego Bay, Cancun, etc.
Since I never had reloads, I don’t miss them, but I am also taking a little break from Bluebird after a huge push to get points for all our tax payments. I think we are alike in how we can get a little over the top when something good comes along, like earning points. I’ll still use Bluebird but I don’t want to step into Walmart for at least a month!
I’ve had such mixed experiences at the Walmart Money Center. It’s either completely empty or has a line full of people!
I’ve not really played the points game yet (not with credit card signup bonuses anyway). I’ve so far gotten all mine through actual flying/hotel stays (thanks work!)
Hey, that works!
When one door closes, another one opens. A few years back it was buying coins at the mint and now it’s these prepaid cards. I was tempted but never did either one of them, it seemed complicated and a bit of a hassle. I’m like you…just need to meet the minimum spend to get the bonus. I’m not usually doing more than one card at a time anyway so Amazon payments and normal spend…plus maybe buying a gift card to a place I go to anyway is enough.
I have never signed up for Amazon payments! I always forget about.
I was pretty darn close to jumping on the bandwagon with the Vanilla Reloads, but I guess all good things come to an end. We’ve had several major purchases this year and a couple more over the next month or so, so that has made it relatively easy to hit the minimum spends on our cards. We charge quite a bit each month anyway, around what you do I think, so it usually isn’t a big problem for us. Sounds cool on the plans for next year, I need to get working on something like that for next year as well.
Yeah, we can charge plenty each month so we can always earn a signup bonus. That’s probably the “right” way to do it anyway.
I still haven’t signed up for a travel rewards card, but I plan to this summer! If I could get even one trip out of it, I’d be thrilled. Definitely have to check out the link you mentioned for ways to earn points.
You will definitely get one trip out of it!
Amazon payments is already too confusing for my husband to participate so I don’t think I would have ever gone to Vanilla Reloads.
I work in non-profit and we’re lucky to pay 2.25% per credit card transaction. I found out that reward cards actually charge a higher per-swipe fee than non-reward cards, so I’m sure CVS was paying tons in fees from all of this. Unless they’re like Amazon, who I swear must pay a flat rate monthly to credit card companies so they don’t care about Amazon Payments stuff.
I also have a soft spot (lol) for CVS since Walgreen’s bought out Duane Reade, a NYC drug store chain, and now Walgreen’s (who also owns Rite Aide) is all over this damn town.
I was just thinking I needed to start using these! Oh well, on to the next thing.
I never used it because it sounded like too much trouble.
Well, since I never got my stuff together enough to try the Vanilla reloads, I guess I don’t know what I am missing, which is probably for the best because I am feeling as though I can’t add one more “new” thing to my list at the moment or I will explode. I love that you have a goal for your rewards usage, like anything in life, goals keep us focused and it’s easier to accomplish them when we know what they are.
ӏf some one needs experdt view аbout blοgging and sitе-building
acter that i recommend him/her to go to seee this blog, Keeρ up
the good work.
I definitely wasn’t upset. I couldn’t do it at the CVS stores near me anyway. I am just using Amazon payments right now, which gives me $1,000 a month. On top of my regular spending, I have no issues hitting spending thresholds.
I never liked this, so the end of the vanilla reloads doesn’t impact us at all. We’ll just keep doing what we always have.
Vanilla Reload is alive and well. Look harder. CVS isn’t the only one who sold them.
Wish you all the luck to have a successful trip using your credit cards. Its always a good idea to spend time with family especially during a vacation or trip overseas. Saving money using the method you mentioned is good because a penny saved is a penny earned. How to retire a millionaire though when the mindset is about saving some cash here and there.
Yeah, it’s a shame the VR game had to end, although I am hearing from some people that they can still be found out there… it just involves a lot more work.
I’ve accepted it and moved on to the debit card approach. Not as convenient, but I have too many minimum spends to clear…
Point Chaser’s methods are great too. I’ve had luck with the money orders…