Vanilla Reloads
This is perhaps the most well-known and most popular type of reload card. They have a $3.95 fee and can be loaded up to $500. That means that without taking bonus points into consideration, your cost per dollar of manufactured spending is about 0.8 cents. This is a relatively low cost and a good value.
This is perhaps the most well-known and most popular type of reload card. They have a $3.95 fee and can be loaded up to $500. That means that without taking bonus points into consideration, your cost per dollar of manufactured spending is about 0.8 cents. This is a relatively low cost and a good value.
Where to Buy Vanilla Reloads
They can be purchased at a wide range of stores. The most popular place to buy it is at CVS. At CVS, as of April 1, 2014, you can buy up to $5,000 of Vanilla Reloads per day. They are sold in a variety of stores such as drugstores, grocery stores, convenience stores, and truck stops. Click here to go to the Vanilla Reload website and see the list of stores. In Tuscaloosa, I've seen Vanilla Reloads on the rack at CVS, Marathon/Kangaroo Express, and at the TA truck stop. It might also be available at Murphy's gas stations. In my home state of California, I've seen Vanilla Reloads at CVS, Lucky Supermarket, 7-Eleven, and at a TA Petro. I've heard that Save Mart Supermarket also has Vanilla Reloads.
There are great bonus category options for buying Vanilla Reloads. At CVS and other drugstores, probably the most lucrative category bonus is the old Amex Blue Cash card. This card offers unlimited 5% cash back at drugstores. What this means is that by buying one $500 reload card at CVS, you pay $3.95 and get about $25 in cash back. This is a profit of about $21 for each reload card. For more information about this card, read Free-quent Flyer's post.
Another big bonus category option for buying Vanilla Reloads is at gas stations and convenience stores. In Alabama, there are Vanilla Reloads at Marathon/Kangaroo Express. In California, there are 7-11 convenience stores, but unfortunately, many of those stores have stopped letting people buy Vanilla Reloads using a credit card. Two credit cards that offer double points at gas stations are the Chase Ink and the United Mileage Plus Business Card. Also, on the US Bank Flex Perks card, you can choose to get double points for either airline purchases, gas stations, or grocery stores. If you buy Vanilla Reloads and get double points at gas stations, then your cost per point is 0.4 cents. That's a very good deal. There is also an assortment of other credit cards that earn bonus points at gas stations.
Third, if you can find Vanilla Reloads at Lucky or another grocery store, then you can earn a grocery store category bonus. On the old Amex Blue Cash credit card, you can earn a similar 5% category bonus as mentioned above at grocery stores. Also, you can get double points at grocery stores on the Amex Premier Rewards Gold, and you can choose to get double points at grocery stores on the US Bank Flexperks card. By buying Vanilla Reloads and getting double points at grocery stores, you're earning points at 0.4 cents each.
For more details on category bonuses, see Frequent Miler's Best Category Bonuses page.
List of Prepaid Debit Cards That Can Be Loaded With Vanilla Reloads
There are great bonus category options for buying Vanilla Reloads. At CVS and other drugstores, probably the most lucrative category bonus is the old Amex Blue Cash card. This card offers unlimited 5% cash back at drugstores. What this means is that by buying one $500 reload card at CVS, you pay $3.95 and get about $25 in cash back. This is a profit of about $21 for each reload card. For more information about this card, read Free-quent Flyer's post.
Another big bonus category option for buying Vanilla Reloads is at gas stations and convenience stores. In Alabama, there are Vanilla Reloads at Marathon/Kangaroo Express. In California, there are 7-11 convenience stores, but unfortunately, many of those stores have stopped letting people buy Vanilla Reloads using a credit card. Two credit cards that offer double points at gas stations are the Chase Ink and the United Mileage Plus Business Card. Also, on the US Bank Flex Perks card, you can choose to get double points for either airline purchases, gas stations, or grocery stores. If you buy Vanilla Reloads and get double points at gas stations, then your cost per point is 0.4 cents. That's a very good deal. There is also an assortment of other credit cards that earn bonus points at gas stations.
Third, if you can find Vanilla Reloads at Lucky or another grocery store, then you can earn a grocery store category bonus. On the old Amex Blue Cash credit card, you can earn a similar 5% category bonus as mentioned above at grocery stores. Also, you can get double points at grocery stores on the Amex Premier Rewards Gold, and you can choose to get double points at grocery stores on the US Bank Flexperks card. By buying Vanilla Reloads and getting double points at grocery stores, you're earning points at 0.4 cents each.
For more details on category bonuses, see Frequent Miler's Best Category Bonuses page.
List of Prepaid Debit Cards That Can Be Loaded With Vanilla Reloads
There are many prepaid debit cards that can be loaded with Vanilla Reloads. Unfortunately, most of them have a monthly load limit, and most have high risk of shutdowns. However, if you get multiple prepaid debit cards, then you can definitely manufacture spend tens of thousands of dollars per month (at least in the short term). Below is a list of the names of these Vanilla-reloadable prepaid debit cards, and then their descriptions. It's in alphabetical order. In a way, this whole list is pointless, because Frequent Miler has a good list of Vanilla Reloadables here. However, I give my perspective on each prepaid debit card. I personally recommend trying to get each prepaid debit card on this list, either at the same time or over a long span of time.
Amex Bluebird
Amex Serve
Amex Prepaid
H&R Block Emerald Prepaid Mastercard
JH Preferred Visa
Momentum Visa
MyVanilla Visa
NetSpend Mastercard or Visa
PayPal Mastercard
Amex Bluebird
Amex Serve
Amex Prepaid
H&R Block Emerald Prepaid Mastercard
JH Preferred Visa
Momentum Visa
MyVanilla Visa
NetSpend Mastercard or Visa
PayPal Mastercard
Amex Bluebird
Load limit: $5,000 per month with Vanilla Reloads, can be loaded an additional $1,000 per month online using a debit card
Fees: none
How to sign up for it: It's on the shelf at Walmart and some other stores. You can also sign up for the Bluebird online.
How to Liquidate: online bill pay, checks, ATM withdrawals, transfer the money to your bank account
Notes: This prepaid debit cards is part of the fundamentals of manufactured spending. Its variety of features and no fees make it a great prepaid debit card.
Load limit: $5,000 per month with Vanilla Reloads, can be loaded an additional $1,000 per month online using a debit card
Fees: none
How to sign up for it: It's on the shelf at Walmart and some other stores. You can also sign up for the Bluebird online.
How to Liquidate: online bill pay, checks, ATM withdrawals, transfer the money to your bank account
Notes: This prepaid debit cards is part of the fundamentals of manufactured spending. Its variety of features and no fees make it a great prepaid debit card.
Amex Serve
Load limit: $5,000 per month; includes up to $1,000 per month of online credit card loads
Fees: essentially none
How to sign up for it: Get it on the rack at CVS or 7-11. Alternatively, you can sign up for it online.
How to Liquidate: bill pay
Notes: You can't have a Bluebird and a Serve, you have to take your pick. There's a debate in the frequent flyer community over what's better. Bluebird has more options for loading and liquidating, while Serve's advantage is that you can load it for free using a credit card at the register at CVS or 7-11. It's also an advantage that you can use a credit card to load Serve online.
Load limit: $5,000 per month; includes up to $1,000 per month of online credit card loads
Fees: essentially none
How to sign up for it: Get it on the rack at CVS or 7-11. Alternatively, you can sign up for it online.
How to Liquidate: bill pay
Notes: You can't have a Bluebird and a Serve, you have to take your pick. There's a debate in the frequent flyer community over what's better. Bluebird has more options for loading and liquidating, while Serve's advantage is that you can load it for free using a credit card at the register at CVS or 7-11. It's also an advantage that you can use a credit card to load Serve online.
Amex Prepaid
Load limit: $1,000; I don't know if that's per month or per day
Fees: ATM withdrawal fee of $2
How to sign up for it: Get it at a store like CVS
How to liquidate: ATM withdrawals
Notes: The lack of good, cheap liquidation opportunities is the Amex Prepaid's weakness. It's not the best Vanilla Reloadable prepaid debit card.
Load limit: $1,000; I don't know if that's per month or per day
Fees: ATM withdrawal fee of $2
How to sign up for it: Get it at a store like CVS
How to liquidate: ATM withdrawals
Notes: The lack of good, cheap liquidation opportunities is the Amex Prepaid's weakness. It's not the best Vanilla Reloadable prepaid debit card.
H&R Block Emerald Prepaid Mastercard
Load limit: $5,000 per month
Fees: 95 cent bill pay fee, $2.50 ATM fee, $5 cash advance fee
How to sign up for it: in an H&R Block branch, although it's hard to sign up for this prepaid debit card if you aren't an H&R Block client
How to Liquidate: bill pay seems to be the best liquidation option
Notes: It's a useful prepaid debit card, but the biggest challenge is getting it.
Load limit: $5,000 per month
Fees: 95 cent bill pay fee, $2.50 ATM fee, $5 cash advance fee
How to sign up for it: in an H&R Block branch, although it's hard to sign up for this prepaid debit card if you aren't an H&R Block client
How to Liquidate: bill pay seems to be the best liquidation option
Notes: It's a useful prepaid debit card, but the biggest challenge is getting it.
JH Preferred Visa
Load limit: $5,000 per month
Fees: $5 cash advance fee
How to sign up for it: online, or at a Jackson Hewitt tax service location
How to liquidate: cash advances, money orders at Walmart, Walmart bill pay
Notes: It's a good card with no fees, and easier to get than the H&R Block Emerald Prepaid card. However, there's been someshutdown reports for this card.
Load limit: $5,000 per month
Fees: $5 cash advance fee
How to sign up for it: online, or at a Jackson Hewitt tax service location
How to liquidate: cash advances, money orders at Walmart, Walmart bill pay
Notes: It's a good card with no fees, and easier to get than the H&R Block Emerald Prepaid card. However, there's been someshutdown reports for this card.
Momentum
Load limit: $2,500 per day; on the surface, no monthly load limit
Fees: either $1 transaction fee, or $10 monthly fee, depending on which version you choose
How to sign up for it: at a Money Mart physical location. Click here to find the nearest Money Mart to you.
How to liquidate: with PIN-based methods such as money orders and Walmart bill pay
Load limit: $2,500 per day; on the surface, no monthly load limit
Fees: either $1 transaction fee, or $10 monthly fee, depending on which version you choose
How to sign up for it: at a Money Mart physical location. Click here to find the nearest Money Mart to you.
How to liquidate: with PIN-based methods such as money orders and Walmart bill pay
MyVanilla Debit
Load limit: $9,999 per month
Fees: 50 cent transaction fee, $1.95 cash advance fee
How to sign up for it: buy a card at CVS or other stores
How to liquidate: through PIN-based methods such as money orders and Walmart bill pay
Notes: The high monthly limit is a great aspect of this card, as well as the ability to have 2 MyVanilla Debit cards at the same time. However, this prepaid debit card is notorious for shut-downs. If you get the card and then are eventually shut down, then at least it's valuable while it lasts.
Load limit: $9,999 per month
Fees: 50 cent transaction fee, $1.95 cash advance fee
How to sign up for it: buy a card at CVS or other stores
How to liquidate: through PIN-based methods such as money orders and Walmart bill pay
Notes: The high monthly limit is a great aspect of this card, as well as the ability to have 2 MyVanilla Debit cards at the same time. However, this prepaid debit card is notorious for shut-downs. If you get the card and then are eventually shut down, then at least it's valuable while it lasts.
Netspend
Load limit: $15,000 per month
Fees: $1 bill pay fee, $2 debit transaction fee
How to sign up for it: online, or at some grocery stores or drug stores
How to liquidate: bill pay, PIN-based methods like money orders and Walmart bill pay
Notes: It's a good card for short-term use, but it's notorious for shut-downs. It's not a dependable prepaid debit card.
Load limit: $15,000 per month
Fees: $1 bill pay fee, $2 debit transaction fee
How to sign up for it: online, or at some grocery stores or drug stores
How to liquidate: bill pay, PIN-based methods like money orders and Walmart bill pay
Notes: It's a good card for short-term use, but it's notorious for shut-downs. It's not a dependable prepaid debit card.
PayPal Prepaid Mastercard
Load limit: total limit for all Bancorp products is $15,000 per month
Fees: $4.95 monthly fee
How to sign up for it: online, or at CVS
How to liquidate: PIN-based methods such as money orders and Walmart bill pay
Notes: This card is like Netspend in that it has a high shut-down risk.
Load limit: total limit for all Bancorp products is $15,000 per month
Fees: $4.95 monthly fee
How to sign up for it: online, or at CVS
How to liquidate: PIN-based methods such as money orders and Walmart bill pay
Notes: This card is like Netspend in that it has a high shut-down risk.