Walmart Blocks $200 Gift Card Reloads to Bluebird
Thank to Choi for pointing this out.
I just got back from my local Walmart after failing to load 2 $200 MasterCard gift cards. I added a PIN to both cards last night (bought at Staples with my Ink Bold). At Walmart, I was able to swipe the gift card, enter my PIN, and the screen even said approved. But the cashier handed me a little slip of paper that said “tender not approved.”
Before I assume that all $200 gift card reloads are dead, I need more input from my readers. Have you successfully loaded a gift card to your Bluebird Card in 2014?
Please let me know which gift card you tried, what store you bought it from, and the amount on the gift card.
Thank you all for your help. If you have any questions, please leave a comment below.
A PIN converts gift cards into debit cards. Buy money orders at Walmart to deposit into your bank. $1,000 max per MO. Pay 68c fee in cash.
Have you tried that in the last few days?
$1000 max per MO using giftcards with PIN (aka debit cards?)
So if you had say $2000 in giftcards, you’d have to get 2 MOs?
Yes I believe so
Just loaded a $100 MetaBank (Giftcardmall) Visa GC this morning, no issues as normal.
Thanks Jason, I think I have some of those GCs with me but didn’t try to load them.
Loaded 2 x $200 MC MetaBank gc’s yesterday w/o issue. This was in Tampa.
Thanks H, seems like Metabank gift cards are working still.
@Grant – What bank issued your $200 card?
It is a gold colored $200 MasterCard gift card purchased at Staples, issuer is US Bank.
I did three MC on December 31st. The MC giftcards seem to have some period of time between registering/setting PIN and being able to use them (it seems unrelated to purchase date). I have gotten the same message every time I have tried to load them within 48 hours of setting the PIN/registration.
I don’t know the exact timeframe they need to season, but I wouldn’t be alarmed. I also don’t know if it is the PIN selection, the registration, or both that is the problem. Just try again in a day or two.
That’s definitely possible but I have been buying these gift cards and loading them to my Bluebird Card the same way for months. It could have something to do with the gift card merchant, there are many possible reasons.
The ones I have had problems with are all Mastercard issued by US Bank from Staples. Never had a problem with Visas bought same store and sometimes same transaction as the MC.
Thanks Bill, I have been buying only MC GCs at Staples. Those have been working fine until today. I might have to switch to Visa GCs now.
Been loading $500 vgc everyday, no problem
Thank you Robin.
Have you been able to continue loading visa gift cards to bluebird?
Not lately, but last time I was successful. No problems last time?
Grant: Have you read this yet? https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/manufactured-spending/1514089-problem-loading-bluebird-vanilla-visa-gc.html I had the same issue as described in the link, but my VGC was $500. Strangely, mine loaded 12 hours later at another store with no problem O.o
On a side note, love your blog. Keep it up. It’s good to hear another SoCal local =)
Thank you RV3. Strange things happen at Walmart. I’m planning a get together with Travel Summary for the second Saturday in Feb. More details to come.
This happened to me a month ago. I had a $250 mastercard and a $100 visa card. Then I realized I already reached my $5000 limit for the month. Finally was able to load the visa but the mc was still not budging so I just used it on groceries. I don’t wanna deal with mastercards anymore.
I might switch to Visa gift cards too.
I started having issues at WalMart on Alton (Irvine) and Foothill Ranch in November; the assistants started to ask to see the card I was using – saying it needed to be a debit card.
Fortunately, I was able to unload the few remaining Ralph’s gift cards (which I’d been buying for months) at the Irvine WalMart. But I’ve not tried since.
I work close to the Foothill Ranch WM and never had any problems loading my gift card until today. I will try again next week and buy some Visa GCs to try also.
Can you still use multiple $200 gift cards to buy a money order at a Money Center kiosk? Also, can you still load $200 gift cards onto Bluebird at a Money Center kiosk machine? Grant, it seems like your problem is with loading it at the register, and using a Mastercard gift card. You should check if it’s still possible to load a $200 Visa gift card to Bluebird at a Money Center kiosk machine.
I will purchase some $200 Visa GCs today and try to load them at WM.
Loaded $500 MC bought at Vons , no problem at Walmart (southern Cal location)
Glad you were able to load your $500 gift card.
I just loaded 4 x $200 Visa Gift cards and 1 x $200 MC purchased at the recent Staples deal at Walmart. This was done at the Money Center Kiosk.
Thank you for sharing. Sounds like you had better luck than I did. There is no Money Center ATM at my WM, so I have to go to the customer service counter.
My WM has a money center ATM but it never works. Don’t think I’ve ever gone to a Walmart that had a working money center atm
I’ve been to one WM that had one. Too bad it’s an hour away…
I just loaded a $200 MC bought from Staples w/o problem last night (Jan.2). But the cashier told me that she just received a notification that Amex products would have a loading limitation $500 per day. Anyway, she allowed me to load my $200 MC after a $500 Visa gift card was loaded, and it was successfully approved. So I am not sure what is going to happen at our Walmart, and I will try to load more cards tomorrow.
I will try to load a Visa GC on Monday before work.
I just got back from WM in Riverside and tried to load a MC $200 GC bought at Staples without success. There was a error code 76 or something so I tried another GC, a visa this time from Vanilla and it worked just fine. Any idea how I can now liquidate these? I decided to use one for purchases but I have another one I’d like to load to BB.
Aside from that I was told by the customer service lady that I could load BB at any cashier in WM. That would help when the ATM is out of order and the customer service counter line is long.
Yes, all cashiers can load a BB card (assuming they know the steps) along with customer service. I go in the morning before work when there is no one in the store so I’m not holding up the checkout lane. I will definitely try a $200 Visa GC on my next trip to WM.
Sorry if this might be off topic but still related to credit cards.
I am a newbie to this thing and I am planning for a trip to Europe. Can you please tell me what is the best way to start for me to go to Europe from San Fransisco, CA? Like what credit cards should I apply for to collect the best miles to go to Europe from NorCal. FYI I only have Chase Freedom and SW Premier and Plus cards now. Just a short answer like Citi Thank You Premier, Hawaiian Airlines Card , etc. will suffice and appreciated.
I am also wondering, is Chase Ink Business Card churnable? for example: I apply Ink Plus this month and meet the spending limit within 3 months, then after 3 months I apply for Ink Bold and meet the spending limit within 3 months, then 3 months again I applied for Ink Classic, then 3 months again I applied for Ink Cash. After I got all the cards then without closing the first Ink card (Ink Plus), then I apply for another Ink Plus again and go on….then cancel each of cards before the second year annual fee’s hits.
Is this doable and I would still get all the bonus sign up points?
Thank you so much in advance.
Good afternoon David, it would depend which cities you want to fly to in Europe. In general, you would do well with a Chase United credit card, a Citi American Airlines credit card, and a Bank Of American Alaska Airlines credit card (can use miles to fly on American Airlines). The 4 Chase Ink Business credit cards are not churnable, but you could get all 4. Unless you have 4 different businesses, Chase will probably not approve you for 4 business cards in the same year. You cannot churn Chase cards, even after closing a card and waiting a few months/years.
Good evening Grant! Thank you! Wow I am amazed by your blog and how responsive and caring you are for the community, this is exactly what makes the blog going strong and I also subscribed to your newsletter/newsfeed.
Ok so now I know I have to focus on Chase United and Citi AA cards to make my dream travel to Europe into realization. I am thinking of visiting London, Paris, and Rome mostly. Do I have to fly to other city in US first that serve as major international hub for flight to London? and will New York is the best place for it? what airline credit card that offer best miles/points that I can use to fly to NY (or other cities in US that has flight to London).
“Bank Of American Alaska Airlines credit card (can use miles to fly on American Airlines)”===> How about Alaska Airlines card that are issued by Barclay, can it be used to fly on American Airlines too with same good transfer ratio???
So the Chase is kind of one in a lifetime bonus and not churnable, That’s a bummer since they have the best credit card offers available.
Both United and American/British Airways fly to London, some flights are non-stop and some have a connection. It doesn’t really matter where you stop over, since it will still cost 30,000 miles each direction. The thing to note about London is that you will pay several hundred dollars ($300-$500) round trip in taxes/fees on an award trip to/from London.
The Barclays card you are referring to is the Hawaiian Airlines credit card issued by Barclays. You would need 60,000 HA miles to book a round trip, but the credit card sign up bonus is only 35,000, so I would skip the HA credit card.
Yes, the Chase cards are the best and it is too bad that they can’t be churned.
Hello Grant,
If Chase cards can be churned, can I re-apply for same card after cancelled it? to be safe, how long /how many months should I waited from date of cancellation before I apply for it again? For example right now I have Chase Southwest RR card, I only plan to get companion pass that valid until next year 2015. Can I cancel the card on October 2014 before the 2nd annual fee hits and reapply for it again.
Do you have link to current best promo offer for Bank Of American Alaska Airlines credit card and the United 50,000 mile offers?
There are 2 personal and 2 business Southwest Airline credit cards, you can apply for each of those and still earn the sign up bonus. I don’t have any good affiliate links, I only have some for Barclays (US Airways, Lufthansa, and the Arrival). You can find the latest and greatest links on FlyerTalk: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/credit-card-programs/1177334-special-credit-card-offers-master-thread-subscription.html
Edit: **If Chase cards canNOT be churned.
Also, is Barclay card churnable? I am interested to apply the Barclay USAirways card that has 35k promo offer since it can be used on American Airlines….do you think is worth it?
I would apply for the US Airways credit card, the miles can be used on American Airlines when the 2 airline frequent flyer programs merge.
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Thanks Grant, and I do have 2 Chase Southwest RR cards now, both are personal plus and premier. What I want to know is will I be able to get apply and get approved for same cards again if I cancel before 2nd year annual fee hits? if so, how long should I wait?
Thank you, I will apply for the Barclay USAirways….and does card issued by Barclay churnable?
On a side note, I have an idea, do you know that Chase Freedom rotating 5x bonus category for this month is applies for gas purchase. As we know that Valero is a gas station and they have a store in each gas station. Can I buy Vanilla Reload cards at Valero with my Freedom card and earn that 5x bonus? since we know Valero is a gas station so maybe it falls under the category. Just my thought…..
https://www.vanillareload.com/index.php/where-buy
Unfortunately, you will not be able to get the sign up bonus in the future if you cancel your Southwest Airlines credit cards. Maybe after the AirTran merger there will be a new credit card that you will be eligible to receive the sign up bonus.
Barclays credit cards are churnable, some people are able to get the same card multiple times, even with the same card still open. I have no experience with Barclays since they won’t approve me for any credit cards :(
If Valero sells VRCs and you can pay with a credit card, go ahead and use your Chase Freedom card to earn 5x points.
Thanks Grant….hmm that’s weird…why wouldn’t Barclay approve your app?
They have very strict rules on who they approve. They generally do not like to see many recent credit inquires. I have been unsuccessful in all of my reconsideration calls :(
Sorry to hear that, keep trying and I hope one day your perseverance will pays off and they will approve you!
By the way, if I apply multiple different credit cards that are issued by same bank in same day, would that be counted as one hard credit pull and less hurt for my credit score since all are issued by same bank? For example: I applied Barclay USAirways and get approved then I apply for Barclay Hawaiian Air or Barclay Arrival credit cards on the same day, using different browser/incognito trick…… Is this doable and would I get approved for 2nd Barclay card on the same day if my 1st application was approved?
Usually multiple credit inquiries from the same bank will be combined into one if done on the same day. If you got approved for one Barclays card I would go for a second. If I got approved for two, I would go for third. Keep going until you don’t get automatically approved.
Just got approved for Barclay USAirways card. Now I am thinking of going for 2nd, which one you think is more worth it for beginners like me, Arrival or Hawaiian Air? or is there any other version of Barclay card that has lucrative sign up bonus offer right now? If you have the link it would be great, I want to use your referral link as way of saying thank you.
Thank you David, I just sent you an email. I appreciate it. Have a great day!
By the way please send email to my primary email, since the email that I put earlier was not my primary, please send it to:
Thank you David, I just sent you an email. I appreciate it. Have a great day!
Thanks, got it! Btw the Lufthansa one only have 35k bonus, the 50k bonus is expired?
The Lufthansa 50,000 offer might have ended. Haven’t heard about it lately in the blogosphere.
Loaded 5 $200 Mta Bnk V GCs to my BB at WM today. Purchased GCs at Staples last night. They had a 6/22 expiration. Newest GCs I’ve seen so far.
Good to hear. Visa GCs seem to work better. I’ve seen exp of 12/22 for at least a month at my Staples.
Has anyone used or ever had (or heard about) an issue with using a One Vanilla card and loading at WM? My local gas station sells them and appears to accept CCs. Thanks much.
As long as you can add a PIN to the gift card, you should be able to load to your Bluebird Card.
The error your got was because it was less than 24 hours. I had the same message. I loaded the MC us bank ones on jan 21
I learned my lesson and will wait more than 24 hours before lading the gift cards onto Bluebird.
So I get 6x points when using my Hilton Surpass Amex in a grocery store…they have visa gift cards there, but not sure who they are offered from. Does the only thing I need to look for the ability to add a pin number? I am not sure of the meaning of the ‘Vanilla’ in all this talk….is it a brand of prepaid card?
Most times you will hear Vanilla, Vanilla Reload, VR, VRC, or something like that. It is technically not a gift card, but a card you load (one time, not reloadable), which had funds that can be instantly transferred online to a Bluebird Card.
Ok, so it’s not a specific type of card. Just a basic 1 time use card? And not a debit card, either a gift card or prepaid one?
Yes, its just a way of moving funds from your credit card to your Bluebird Card.
Hello. I was wondering why you needed to move the funds from a GC to a Bluebird account? Why can’t you buy Money Orders directly with a GC with PIN at the kiosk? Thanks for your help.
This method is free, while gift cards cost money.
Ok thanks for you reply. But is it still possible to buy a Money Order with a Visa Gift Card from a Wall Mart Kiosk?
I’ve never done that, so I am not sure. You should be able to if you were in the past.
Grant, same thing happened to me. I tried 200 x 2 visa gift cards from Office max to load on Bluebird. Gave error and my gift card amount was deducted. Walmart says it will be refunded in a day or two. Did your amount got deducted from GC. ??
I haven’t been to Walmart yet. Tried to load the gift cards to my Target AMEX but the POS system wasn’t working this morning. Will try again tomorrow morning.
Update: Money got reversed, will try again loading bluebird with visa GC at diff Walmart.
Good luck with try #2.
Tried today with Visa GC bought from Staples and no luck. First 2 loaded fine. Then the third wouldn’t load despite multiple attempts. Error code 12. Anyone have a similar experience? Is Bluebird starting to limit to $500/day?
Are you maxed out on your monthly Bluebird reload limit?
Just checked. Apparently I am! Thanks Grant. I thought I was way under.
Don’t worry. It happens to us all toward the end of the month. I have a spreadsheet so I can manage 3 Bluebird cards. I’m almost maxed out on all 3 cards for March. Gotta wait until April 1.
Hey Grant,
I live in SoCal as well(South Bay) and the lack of VRs around here at CVS is concerning. Have you had success loading Visa prepaid debit cards at Walmart(i.e. is your problem now solved)? Is the $5000 limit a moving month limit or a calendar month limit?
Thanks
It’s based on calendar months, so you will have to wait until April 1 to load more funds to your Bluebird Card.
Hey Grant,
Are you able to load BB with US Bank gift/debit cards (have pin) from Staples recently?
I have 2 Visa gift cards that I got at Staples, will stop by Walmart tomorrow morning. I will share my results tomorrow morning.
Hi Grant, any luck?
I used a different Visa gift card this morning and it loaded fine. I haven’t tried the $200 gift cards from Staples lately.
Thanks! What was the value of the visa gift card you used to load?
I had a $1,500 Visa gift card that I bought online. Did 3 separate transactions.
Where did you buy your gift card online? I feel like that is way more convenient than trying to find a gift card that’s pinnable and a store that will allow me to pay with CC. Can you put a name on it as well? Walmart Moneycenter employees sometimes ask for a debit card with a name on it.
The gift card I buy online doesn’t have your name on it, so that won’t help if they check the card at the register.
But where did you buy it from?
Just want to let everybody know that $200 US Bank MasterCard is still loading fine at WM. Sorry for the scare.
However, it just dawned on me that registering the cards are probably not a good idea. You can’t delete the info once the card’s $ are depleted. Anybody can login with all the necesary info on card itself. Pain in the arss to help to shred it every time. Unless I am missing something…
You can use the cards without registering your personal information to the cards. You just need to set up a PIN be firing using them at Walmart.
Grant, thanks for all the great info. I’ve been able to load Visa Gift cards from Meta bank & OneVanilla without issues at Walmart.
BTW, Would you mind sharing where you purchased a $1,500 Visa gift card online? All the ones I know have a limit of $500 or less.
I am not supposed to share the link, I promised a close friend. I’ve been having issues with this company as of late, I ordered a card 10 days ago and still haven’t gotten it. I might not buy any more, its not worth the hassle and wait.
So you asked the register attendant to load your bluebird in 3 separate $500 transactions. And there was no issue with that?
It usually goes like this:
Can you do one more $500 reload?
…
Can you do one more $500 reload? I promise this is the last time.
I go to Walmart between 7:30-8am and there is no one in Walmart so they have no problem helping me.
Just had an interesting issue…. Bought Visa debit giftcard ($500) and right after I bought it, I went to WM. Tried a BlueBird load but it was rejected :( I setup the pin while driving by calling the 800 number on the back. Not sure if it was rejected because it was too soon – 5 mins after purchase? I tried that same kind of card bought from the same safeway a week ago without any problems…. anyone face this issue?
I believe most gift cards, with the exception of the One Vanilla Gift Card, take a few hours for the PIN to be registered to the gift card. You might have to visit Walmart a couple of hours later, or possibly the next day.
As a follow up, I do have a rather simple and maybe dumb question: the $5k limit on BB is that for monthly added funds? or the balance? i.e – can I keep on adding funds as long as I don’t have 5K balance (say i move that money to another bank account) or can i only add $5K irrespective of my balance?
Bluebird has a $5,000 monthly calendar reload limit. It doesn’t matter what your current Bluebird balance is. You could have possibly already maxed out your April reloads. Double check your account and see how much you have loaded since April 1.
uhh yea i totally misunderstood it, clearly i’m new to this. I already deposited 5K since April 1st. Sorry for the confusion / scare people. Thanks for the replies Grant
No problem, that just means you need to get another Bluebird. Ask your friends or family if they can get one in their name and you can load it up. I have one for my mom and dad.
So is there any proof that new walmarts are having the cashiers swipe the ‘debit card’ themselves? I got one opening in my town and it would be a real bummer if that was the SOP for new stores.
I would say: I prefer to swipe the card on my side, I get nervous handing my debit card over. Is that ok?
That should work if I ever needed to try.
Are you able to reload $200 MasterCard Gift Card to Bluebird now with the cashiers swipe?
Yes. As long as you set a PIN for the gift card before using it in Walmart.
Thanks for your good news. However I am having trouble to reload $200 Vanilla MasterCard Gift Card to Bluebird. There is no option online to set the PIN. The instruction online says: “Use your card the next time you shop and select DEBIT, Enter a new 4-digit PIN of your choice and your PIN will automatically be reset”. It doesn’t work at Walmart.
For gift cards bought at Staples, you have to call the number on the back of the card and you can set the PIN that way. For online orders at Staples.com, you have to activate the gift card when it arrives and then you can set the PIN online.
Thanks for your reply. My cards were bought from walmart.com. You can clear the PIN online. But can’t set up the PIN online. Suppose to use any 4 digit as the PIN when you first use it.
Hi, Grant. It looks like this conversation stops on May.
Do the meta bank gift card still work? cause i found $500 meta bank card.
please answer , what kind of card still working to load bluebird.
looks like one vanilla card is not working anymore..
Yes MB cards still work.
I have not been able to load $100 and $200 Visa gift cards to my BB account at two different WM, either at the register or at the kiosk. Can someone direct me to a relevant thread anywhere which discusses tis problem? Thanks in advance.
What is the issuing bank for your VGC? Where did you purchase the VGC from?
These are the standard Metabank GC’s that I have purchased for years from Staples and NEVER had a problem before this recent batch. I checked online and all the cards have been activated and the funds are on the cards. I used one of the cards to purchase a MO at my local Shell and the transaction went through fine so it has to be an issue with Walmart. I just can’t find any info anywhere where anybody else is having the same problem. If so, this obviously would be a big deal.
One of the Walmarts also wouldn’t let a Billpay go through to either MC or Visa so I thought it may have been an issue at the store. However, I went to another store and the Billpays went through(using a different prepaid card) but these Metabank cards could not be loaded to either BB or GoBank at the customer service desk or at the money machine. It looks like the card is initially accepted because the screen showed “APPROVED” but when it came to print out the receipt the transaction was denied and said I needed to use a different form of payment. These Metabanks also didn’t go through when trying to buy a MO at Walmart.
Thank you for sharing Bob. That sounds very strange. I would wait a few days and try again. Sometimes that does the trick. Worst case scenario, Walmart is blocking Metabank GCs from being used. It is possible, since Walmart blocked all Vanilla GCs from working. It is too soon to tell, so let’s wait it out and see what happens next.
Grant,
Great blog you have here. I’ve been lurking and have to say it’s great to see how thorough you are with everything. I keep reading on Flyertalk about guys only being able to load $49.99 at time onto there BB or Serve accounts, is this an issue that you’ve heard of? I registered for Serve yesterday as I want to be able to get into this but I’m a bit turned off by the idea of having to do multiple transactions just to unload a $500 gift card.
I have been approved for the Chase Sapphire Preferred and should receive it any day now. Is it even a benefit to use the Sapphire for MS after I spend the $4,000 within 3 months and get the 40,000 points?
What Visa gift cards are good for loading serve? I see so many at retailers and I’m a bit intimidated by which ones will actually work when going to Walmart for my loads onto my Serve account.
I currently have Chase Freedom (going to take advantage of the gift cards at the grocery store for 5% cash back in 1st quarter! I plan on transferring these points to my CSP card as I’ve heard you come out ahead instead of getting the cash back.
I also have the Sallie Mae World Mastercard with the 5% gas, groceries and Amazon.
The oldest account I have is with C1. They issued me a Quicksilver some time last year. I use the QS for odds and ends when my transaction doesn’t fall into the category for the other cards. You can’t beat the 1.5% cash back! Although I’ve heard some good things about the Citi DoubleCash at 2% cash back so maybe that’s better than the QS?
If you can recommend any other credit cards I’d be interested to hear!
Thanks for answering!
Thank you Josh, you can load up to $2,500/day at Walmart with gift cards. You can use $500 Visa Gift Cards to max out your daily limit. I have not heard anything related to reloading, other than some cashiers won’t let you use gift cards. It varies from one Walmart to the next.
The CSP is hard to MS on, since you only get 1x for everything that is outside of restaurants and travel. It can be done, but you might be better with another approach. As for the type of Visa Gift Card, don’t buy anything that says Vanilla or has the ice cream cone on the front. Most Visa Gift Cards sold at grocery stores work fine.
I recently converted another Citi card to the Citi Double Cash. It doesn’t get much attention since there is no sign up bonus, but the 2% cash back is very good.
I would definitely use your Sallie Mae to buy Visa Gift Cards at your local grocery store, earning 5% cash back on the purchase. Play around with your current credit cards and see how they do with MS. If you have any questions, please let me know. Have a great evening!
My name is Andrew Weigner and was awarded two $500.00 gift cards and I filled out the surveys and completed them about twenty times it just kept going back to the beginning from wall mart
Congrats on your VGC winnings. Set the PIN and unload them to Bluebird.