Contact Grant

I am always looking for new material to write about, so if you have any travel or credit card questions, please send me an email or leave a comment below and I will do my best to answer your question or write a blog post answering your question.

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137 thoughts on “Contact Grant”

  1. Paul

    Hey Grant,
    I got a quick question. I usually buy my visa gift cards from Walmart $500 for $4.95 fee. Today I was told that only cash or debit is accepted. I don’t know if this is happening at all the Walmarts or not. Anyway, the only visa gift cards that I know you pay $5 fee for $500 is Walmart and vanilla. Vanilla obviously you no longer can load to bluebird.Also, I know Simon mall visa gift cards are $4 but they’re far from me. It’s not worth the drive. Walmart visa gift cards were my only options for me to load to bluebird. Do you know any other place that sells visa gift cards for $5 fee for $500 that can be loaded to bluebird??
    Thanks

    Reply ↓
  2. Adam

    Hi Grant, I just used 160,000 united points to book a trip for me and my wife to Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire for 3 weeks this summer. Then on the way back we will stop in Paris, France to visit some family for 5 days. Thanks for all the help in getting all those points!

    I have traveled internationally a few times before and I have only needed to get a visa in advance once. The one time I needed a visa in advance I used Travisa, and it was in the spring of 2013 to go to Cote d’Ivoire. At that time it ran about $150. I just looked them up again and it was $303.64….. Do you know of any other trusted visa services that are cheaper? I might end up sending it directly to the Ivorian Embassy in DC, but that could take a long long time to get completed.

    Please let me know if you have any insight into this area.

    Thanks again for all your methods and help,

    Adam

    Reply ↓
    1. Grant

      Hi Adam, glad to help you accumulate the miles and points for your trip. I don’t travel to exotic destinations, so I have never needed a Visa. I will send an email to my friend Stefan @ Rapid Travel Chai, he would probably be able to help you more than I. Have a great trip!

      Reply ↓
  3. Nathan

    Hi, I would be very interested in a topic about using various programs points “on the fly” for hotel rooms. For example: If I were to make it to the Bahamas but had not booked a room, but have points from various hotel cards like ihg/spg/marriott/Hhonors. How easy would it be to get a room using points the same day? Are there hotel reward cards that allow you to pay with points after the fact? Can one go into a hotel, get a room, then get on the hotel wifi and pay with points? things like that. It could be a very interesting topic. I thought of this as a way to kind of free rome exotic locations but find shelter using points at the end of the day with various points I may have saved up. Although I have made a ton on points I haven’t actually delved into the travel side until now. I have my honeymoon in December and free roaming the Caribbean just sounds less stressful then trying to line everything up perfectly now (since I can’t convince her on a cruise lol).

    Reply ↓
    1. Grant

      Good question Nathan. You could use Hotel Hustle to fund nearby hotels available on points. If you travel to destinations that are very popular, the rooms may be sold out. That would be terrible. It is better to redeem points for hotel stays before you arrive at your destination. That is much more stress free Ryan your approach.

      Reply ↓
  4. aron

    Hi Grant,
    I have some Questions for the Great mind:
    1. Does Walmart accept USBank Buxx card to buy money Orders?
    2. Can I load Serve with my USBank Buxx?
    3.Where else can I load out form my BUX Card? PS. I live in NYC

    All the best,
    Aron

    Reply ↓
  5. Tim Wilkins

    Hi Grant,

    I frequently purchase Vanilla Visa GC’s, drive across town and load to Serve at Family Dollar. The last two times the transaction ceased at the very end of the process with a ‘Declined’ message on FD’s POS. When I look on VanillaVisa.com at the transaction history for the GC it says 970200:Denied. Delayed Redemption.

    Have you encountered this? Can you shed any light on it? I have searched FT and several blogs but can’t find any points on this.

    Any help appreciated. And keep up the blog! Great reading!

    Tim Wilkins
    (Email removed for safety)

    Reply ↓
    1. Grant

      Hi Aron, I am not sure if Walmart will accept the US Bank Buxx Debit Card, I haven’t tried. You can load Serve Card at Walmart with a US Bank Buxx Debit Card. You can withdraw funds from certain ATMs for free with US Bank Buxx Debit Card.

      Reply ↓
  6. Paul

    Grant,

    I went to walmart today to load simon VGC and I received the error message “Debit not approved Call authorizer”. I have not reached my limit for the month yet. Have you heard of anyone having problems loading BB lately?

    Reply ↓
  7. Paul

    I was able to load $100 of the gift card to red bird. I had $100 left on my $5k limit. I am gonna try other walmarts to see what happens. Have you loaded anything to BB as of today?

    Reply ↓
    1. Grant

      Hi Greg, no update yet, still trying to plan my next Sacramento meetup next and then I will go back down to Fremont. Keep checking the blog and you will see the next meetup dates. Have a great weekend!

      Reply ↓
  9. Frank J

    Here’s a tough one… I am going to get $2000 of elective surgery (hopefully to improve my looks) and of course the doctor will only take check/cash. The Proper loan group they use for those who don’t have it charge near 5% even with perfect credit and you can pay back only electronically from your bank.
    Any ideas how I can get the work done and still get a little return on my $2000 investment?

    Reply ↓
  10. murtuzazoeb

    Hi Grant,

    I am in bay area and have not found any WM to load the One Serve with VGC / MGC. Can you direct me to any on the Easy Bay/Fremont or SF which are MS friendly for Serve loads?

    Reply ↓
    1. Grant

      I’ve never loaded at FD, so I don’t have any info. I would try going early in the morning since I think the system gets messed up if someone loads their Serve Card before you do at FD.

      Reply ↓
  12. Holly

    Hi Grant,
    I really just discovered your blog, and a bit chagrined I’m missing the get together this week. We’re off to Tokyo (3 of us in SQ suites) tomorrow, but perhaps I can make the next one. I’m in the East Bay, and happy to know of a group in the area.

    Reply ↓
  14. Ann

    Hi Grant, I’m a long time reader. Just wanted to comment that some of the new posts by your new writers have me about ready to unsubscribe. Boring stuff.

    Reply ↓
    1. Grant Post author

      Good morning Ann, thank you for the feedback. I’m sorry you do not find the new writers’ posts interesting. What type of blog posts do you enjoy reading? I give my writers a lot of freedom to write about whatever they want as long as what they write about interests them.

      Reply ↓
  15. Rufus

    Grant,

    Have you set up link between AeroMexico and Amex MR for transfer? if so, did it take a long time? I’ve submitted the link request 3 different times over 2 months and it is still not link. Meanwhile, Amex and AM are pointing fingers at each other. Any thoughts? TIA

    Reply ↓
    1. Grant Post author

      Hmm, I haven’t linked Aeromexico to my AMEX MR Account. Very strange that the linking process is not working correctly. Which MR CC doe you have?

      Reply ↓
      1. Rufus

        I have the business Platinum. Also as a test, I tried linking my wife’s MR to her Aeromexico account , and its been 3 weeks and it is also not link. At first, MR told me I have to wait up to 2 weeks before they can start a inquiry, and then the story changed to 14 business days. After almost 2 months, and 3 delink and relink, I told them I wanted an inquiry, MR basically told me there’s nothing more they can do and there’s no such inquiry exists. The last time, I tried email and calling up aeromexico , and getting their Club Premier number was an adventure in itself, and they said they have nothing to do with the linking account process. If you were me, what would you do?

        Reply ↓
        1. Grant Post author

          Sounds like that is a dead end. Can you book the same route using KLM/AF miles or DL miles? I’m sure that AeroMexico has a better price, but maybe it’s not worth the extra headache :(

          Reply ↓
          1. Rufus

            Thanks Grant,

            Yea, AM has way better pricing and availability. Other problem with DL is the phantom seat with the AM inventory. I just don’t want to transfer a bunch of miles over and end up not being available.

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