Good morning everyone. Yesterday at work, my coworker mentioned the recent round of AMEX Offers (yes, I work with people who are miles and points collectors too). I told him about my recent gift card score at Home Depot ($75 of Panera Bread and $75 of Starbucks Gift Cards) and then I told him that there were no third party gift cards at Whole Foods. He told me that I could reload my Clipper Card (card used for public transportation around the Bay Area and to/from SFO and OAK airports) at Whole Foods. Really? This was too good to be true, so I had to test it out. After work, I took my Clipper Card “shopping” at Whole Foods to find out.
When I got to Whole Foods, I went to the checkout line and told the cashier that I wanted to reload my Clipper Card. He asked me how much and I told him I wanted to load $75 (the minimum amount to activate the Whole Foods AMEX Offer). After paying with my AMEX Old Blue Cash (5% cash back at grocery stores too), I took my receipt over to the Customer Service desk. I also received the AMEX Offer email shortly after swiping my credit card.
From there, the cashier took my receipt and Clipper Card. I’m not sure exactly what happened, but after a minute, he hands me another receipt showing my new Clipper Card balance increased by $75.
After I got home, I checked my Clipper Card transactions online and I see the $75 reload at Whole Foods.
So what do you do if you do not live in the Bay Area or take public transportation? Good question, maybe your local Whole Foods partners with another local organization or public transportation network. It never hurts to check. If you have any questions, please leave a comment below. Have a great day everyone!
Awesome post of the day! Thanks for sharing Grant, I was losing my hope on how to use Amex Offers for Whole Foods since I don’t really shop there and they only sell their own gc.
Will stop by later to load my clipper.
Out of curiosity, do your coworkers who are also miles/points collector already start this hobby a while ago or you introduced them to this hobby? do they also read your blog? :)
I don’t know if every Whole Foods offers this service, it might just be those in SF. My coworkers already knew stuff before I started. I’m not sure who reads my blog.
The Austin Lamar location has cooking classes so that may be another option.
Nice, that sounds more fun than paying for public transportation. Thanks ATX for sharing.
Thanks for sharing the creative way of making use of the whole foods deal.
You’re welcome, glad you can use the Whole Foods offer.
Is there any way one can check online if a particular Wholefoods (not in SF but in bay area) offers to load clipper cards?
Just call your local Whole Foods and find out.
I talked to the Whole Foods in Walnut Creek and they can load Clipper Cards, so it looks like stores outside SF can load Clipper Cards.
This is a great tip! Love your posts! :)
Thank you. I hope it helps save you some money.
Grant, just to be sure, I can buy regular Whole Foods GCs and get the credit, right?
Correct. Just go to the customer service counter to buy the GC.
Sorry, I’m just getting into MS: Why not just load Clipper directly with the CC, instead of buying a GC? Were the GCs discounted, or was there a category spend bonus?
I am loading my Clipper Card directly with my Amex credit card. No gift cards are required.
Can i pay the bill using clipper card in whole foods
No, I don’t think so. Clipper card only works for public transportation in the Bay Area.