Tuesday, November 29, 2011

$400-$500 of Free $ With Minimal Effort













I have been keeping an eye on the Slickdeals.net Hot Deals Forum for Cyber Monday extended sales and came across an interesting offer.  Check out this post for the specifics.  And as they always say on the forums, YMMV (Your Mileage May Vary).

The way I understand it is this....

1)  Apply for a Rapid Rewards frequent flier account on SouthWest airlines website and try using Promo Code GNAVRPDRWDS.  That may give you an extra 250 reward points.  I'm not sure, since I already had an account.  After you fill out the info, write down the account number that appears on the site when you are done.  If you already have a SouthWest rapid rewards account, just keep your account number handy.

2)  You then sign up for a Visa Rapid Rewards Credit card via this link and if approved, you would receive the card in 1-2 weeks, make 1 purchase of any amount and then shortly afterwards they'll give you 50,000 points.  You will then receive those points in your Rapid Rewards account, which you can use towards airfare, or more importantly, any number of other stores/online retailers such as Amazon.com.

It caught my attention because of everyone mentioning that currently those 50,000 points would allow you to redeem for $600 worth of Amazon gift cards.  That's at a current special rate on the Rapid Rewards site of 4,000 points being equal to $50 Amazon gift card through 12/15/2011.  The regular rate is 5,000 points for $50, so if that promotional rate goes away by the time you get your points, you'll still be able to cash those in for $500 worth of Amazon gift cards.  There are tons of other retailers/vendors on there that you can redeem your points for, so if Amazon doesn't appeal to you, check out this page for other options.

So what's the catch?  The only real catch is that I believe it is a limited time deal and there is a $69 annual fee for the card, which you will be charged right away for the first year.  But that is just a one time fee, assuming you just cancel the card within a years time, which is what I will be doing.  So based on the current deal for Amazon gift cards, you would get $600 - 69 = $531 for a few minutes worth of hassle.  Even if the deal for points for Amazon gift cards goes back to the regular rate, you would be getting $500 - 69 = $431.  If you ask me, getting between $431 and $531 for a few minutes of hassle is well worth it for me!  And if both you and your spouse/partner sign up you would get $862!  And if you don't want to bother for yourself, you could redeem the points for Walmart gift cards instead and donate them to a worthy cause!

Additionally, applying for a credit card may affect your FICO score ever so slightly, so if that is a concern for you, read further about that on the myfico.com website.

I signed up for this deal for both myself and my wife and was approved for both online with no issues.  Several others in the forum post mentioned they did not get immediate approval, just a notice that it can take up to 10 days, so that is just something to be aware of.  I think that could be affected if the information you provide on the online form does not exactly match your credit files or you haven't been at your current residence or job for a long enough time, but not sure.  

Keep in mind, I have not actually gone through the entire process fully, since I just applied today, but several others in the forums have gone through the process and redeemed the points for gift cards already, so it should work as planned.  I'm just trying to pass this along to pay it forward and I hope it all works out as expected.  Good luck!

12/30/2011 UPDATE:  I ended up getting my points on 12/14, just in time to get the full $600 in Amazon Gift cards.   Here is a picture of the 24 cards to prove it!  You can also use them for other vendors, roundtrip airfare, etc.  What a great deal and my gift to you to start out 2012 with some cash money!



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