Points from gas stations

[bangminton]

rich, I don't recall when RBC Shoppers Drug Mart credit card was cancelled but Loblaws acquired Shoppers Drug Mart a number of years ago and I think they did not want to have competing products with PC Financial being Loblaws' bread and butter.

Not directly related to what we are discussing but there was a recent story from CBC Marketplace how Loblaws employees tricked unsuspecting customers into signing up for PC Financial MasterCard, through various methods. I understand the onus is on the consumers to do their due diligence but I still find this practice reprehensible.

[tshi2015]

Esso has the worst rewards, I think it's 0.6% or ish

Even Shell is better, 1.05% with air miles. I have no problem with CC at shell.

Petro canada still the best, I also use the points to buy CAA membership, and it's a nice deal.

[mlansky]

Mlansky, the Petro Canada station I frequent does not have Best Buy gift cards but the clerk told me a $25 gift card requires 25K Petro-Points so 50K for $50 gift card, so on and so forth.

Come to think of it, I have not seen these Best Buy gift cards around much anymore so availability may be an issue.

bang,

Thank you for your replies and for the great discussion regarding redeeming Best Buy gift cards with Petro Points. I know the Petro Points required for a $500 gift card at Best Buy had gone up since 2015, so I should of purchased my gift cards for Best Buy using Petro Points some time in the 2014/2015 timeframe. I know in hindsight, it's always easier said than done. On August 10th, 2016 (since I wrote the date down), a $500 Best Buy gift card was going for 750,000 Petro Points. I don't know what the price for a $500 Best Buy gift card closed at when Best Buy Buy left the Petro Point program.

Now I'm guessing the best way to go about this is to just purchase pre-paid Visa's and use those cards at Best Buy for purchases unless I can find Best Buy gift cards at a Petro and purchase them directly there with Petro Points. Since what you're saying is Petro will have Best Buy gift cards in-store that you can purchase with your Petro Points Card and then you can use that Best Buy gift card at Best Buy (in-store) as you wish?

I don't use Petro as much as I used to since they really stick to their limits per store now. I never used to have a problem with Petro until up to a couple of years ago. Now if I go there, they won't let me go over the maximum limit per store and to put it bluntly, they've been real dicks to me at times as well which is fine. I know the employees there are just doing their jobs and more importantly, don't want to lose their jobs but I never understood the attitude.heh. When I used to go there more frequently, it almost felt like I was committing some sort of crime! Anyways, I did however rack up some quality points when I was going there. So I just want to be able to redeem and use those 'hard-earned' points at Best Buy when I see fit and choose to do so without any complications.

Thanks,
mlansky

[bangminton]

Mlansky, the Petro Canada station I frequent does not have Best Buy gift cards but the clerk told me a $25 gift card requires 25K Petro-Points so 50K for $50 gift card, so on and so forth.

Come to think of it, I have not seen these Best Buy gift cards around much anymore so availability may be an issue.

bang,

Thank you for your replies and for the great discussion regarding redeeming Best Buy gift cards with Petro Points. I know the Petro Points required for a $500 gift card at Best Buy had gone up since 2015, so I should of purchased my gift cards for Best Buy using Petro Points some time in the 2014/2015 timeframe. I know in hindsight, it's always easier said than done. On August 10th, 2016 (since I wrote the date down), a $500 Best Buy gift card was going for 750,000 Petro Points. I don't know what the price for a $500 Best Buy gift card closed at when Best Buy Buy left the Petro Point program.

Now I'm guessing the best way to go about this is to just purchase pre-paid Visa's and use those cards at Best Buy for purchases unless I can find Best Buy gift cards at a Petro and purchase them directly there with Petro Points. Since what you're saying is Petro will have Best Buy gift cards in-store that you can purchase with your Petro Points Card and then you can use that Best Buy gift card at Best Buy (in-store) as you wish?

I don't use Petro as much as I used to since they really stick to their limits per store now. I never used to have a problem with Petro until up to a couple of years ago. Now if I go there, they won't let me go over the maximum limit per store and to put it bluntly, they've been real dicks to me at times as well which is fine. I know the employees there are just doing their jobs and more importantly, don't want to lose their jobs but I never understood the attitude.heh. When I used to go there more frequently, it almost felt like I was committing some sort of crime! Anyways, I did however rack up some quality points when I was going there. So I just want to be able to redeem and use those 'hard-earned' points at Best Buy when I see fit and choose to do so without any complications.

Thanks,
mlansky

Yes mlansky, if you are set on redeeming Petro Points for $500 Best Buy gift card, the best approach at this point, IMO, is to find a Petro Canada gas station that carries Best Buy gift cards and redeem to your heart's content!

You don't necessarily need to redeem them in 1 shot, if they don't have a $500 Best Buy gift card available e.g. you can redeem Petro Points for 5 $100 Best Buy gift cards or 10 $50 Best Buy gift cards, so on and so forth. It all depends on availability.

The next best course of action is to redeem your Petro Points for $500 Visa/MasterCard which you can use at Best Buy. I can confirm what Kappa said earlier is correct. There is a fee to activate those pre-paid gift card (I believe it is $6.50) but you will have to decide if it's worth it to you, especially if a Best Buy item that you are eying is on sale (or on sale at a competitor that you can price-match). My case is different, I needed to pick up something for my nephew's birthday. I did not have any winning ProLine ticket at the time to redeem for cash to buy said item at Best Buy and since I have enough Petro Points, I got something for my nephew without paying anything out of my own pocket but like I told rich, everyone's situation is different and you have to evaluate your own.

Hope the Petro staff does not give you a hard time when you come in to redeem your Petro Points

[mlansky]

Mlansky, the Petro Canada station I frequent does not have Best Buy gift cards but the clerk told me a $25 gift card requires 25K Petro-Points so 50K for $50 gift card, so on and so forth.

Come to think of it, I have not seen these Best Buy gift cards around much anymore so availability may be an issue.

bang,

Thank you for your replies and for the great discussion regarding redeeming Best Buy gift cards with Petro Points. I know the Petro Points required for a $500 gift card at Best Buy had gone up since 2015, so I should of purchased my gift cards for Best Buy using Petro Points some time in the 2014/2015 timeframe. I know in hindsight, it's always easier said than done. On August 10th, 2016 (since I wrote the date down), a $500 Best Buy gift card was going for 750,000 Petro Points. I don't know what the price for a $500 Best Buy gift card closed at when Best Buy Buy left the Petro Point program.

Now I'm guessing the best way to go about this is to just purchase pre-paid Visa's and use those cards at Best Buy for purchases unless I can find Best Buy gift cards at a Petro and purchase them directly there with Petro Points. Since what you're saying is Petro will have Best Buy gift cards in-store that you can purchase with your Petro Points Card and then you can use that Best Buy gift card at Best Buy (in-store) as you wish?

I don't use Petro as much as I used to since they really stick to their limits per store now. I never used to have a problem with Petro until up to a couple of years ago. Now if I go there, they won't let me go over the maximum limit per store and to put it bluntly, they've been real dicks to me at times as well which is fine. I know the employees there are just doing their jobs and more importantly, don't want to lose their jobs but I never understood the attitude.heh. When I used to go there more frequently, it almost felt like I was committing some sort of crime! Anyways, I did however rack up some quality points when I was going there. So I just want to be able to redeem and use those 'hard-earned' points at Best Buy when I see fit and choose to do so without any complications.

Thanks,
mlansky

Yes mlansky, if you are set on redeeming Petro Points for $500 Best Buy gift card, the best approach at this point, IMO, is to find a Petro Canada gas station that carries Best Buy gift cards and redeem to your heart's content!

You don't necessarily need to redeem them in 1 shot, if they don't have a $500 Best Buy gift card available e.g. you can redeem Petro Points for 5 $100 Best Buy gift cards or 10 $50 Best Buy gift cards, so on and so forth. It all depends on availability.

The next best course of action is to redeem your Petro Points for $500 Visa/MasterCard which you can use at Best Buy. I can confirm what Kappa said earlier is correct. There is a fee to activate those pre-paid gift card (I believe it is $6.50) but you will have to decide if it's worth it to you, especially if a Best Buy item that you are eying is on sale (or on sale at a competitor that you can price-match). My case is different, I needed to pick up something for my nephew's birthday. I did not have any winning ProLine ticket at the time to redeem for cash to buy said item at Best Buy and since I have enough Petro Points, I got something for my nephew without paying anything out of my own pocket but like I told rich, everyone's situation is different and you have to evaluate your own.

Hope the Petro staff does not give you a hard time when you come in to redeem your Petro Points

bang,

Thanks for the reply, it is much appreciated. The next time I'm at Petro, I'm going to check if they have any Best Buy gift cards and then check to see how much a $500 Best Buy gift card would cost using Petro Points or any smaller denomination as you alluded to in your previous post. When I'm ready to buy the Best Buy gift cards, I'm going to call Petro customer service to see what store(s) may have Best Buy gift cards available. If that doesn't work I guess I could also call each individual Petro in my city to see what store has the Best Buy gift cards available. I would rather use that approach for redeeming my Petro Points for Best Buy gift cards rather than redeeming by purchasing a pre-paid Visa/MasterCard. If the first viable option is not available then I may have to resort to the pre-paid Visa/MasterCard method when I'm ready to purchase the Best Buy gift cards.

I'm sure they'll be fine if I come in to redeem Point Points. Anything would be better than me using my credit card to pay for PL tickets. They loathed that!

Thanks again,
mlansky

[tshi2015]

DEAL ALERT

25X air miles right now! until Mar 22

[richhhh]

DEAL ALERT

25X air miles right now! until Mar 22

Plus ebay 3X. We will kill the future of this type of deal.

[Biffalo Buff]

I too just saw this. I also saw that the terms now exclude gift cards:

1. AIR MILES® reward miles are only earned on legitimate Winning Bid or "Buy It Now" transactions in eligible categories. The following categories are not eligible for reward miles: eBay Motors (including Vehicles, Motorcycles, Boats, and Powersports; excluding Parts & Accessories), any form of Real Estate, all Gift Cards, Bullion, and Heavy Equipment within the Business & Industrial category.

To the best of my knowledge gift cards have not previously been excluded. Tshi2015, richhh if you take the chance please post back if, months down the road, your miles are credited.

Between stores enforcing the $100 limit, LLEs, and fewer gold stars in the first place, I still have a small pile of unused gift cards from before. I'm not sure if I'll take the gamble.

I could always use extra Airmiles though. Not long ago the air miles website had a surround sound system that retails on a few sites for $1000 listed for 1680 airmiles (a clear price error). I ordered one and shortly after they caught their mistake and adjusted the cost to 6800 or so miles. But sure enough they shipped it and I am now the proud owner of a surround sound system for which I have absolotely no use and have no extra time to sell. Still, I shoulda ordered more than one.

[richhhh]

Below looks similar to what I read in the past . I did look for this before purchases. What you posted seems different which is worrisome.

1LIMITED TIME OFFER: Get 25x AIR MILES Reward Miles on qualifying purchases of $20 CDN or more, excluding shipping, duty and taxes, made in a single transaction between March 16 and March 22 2017. Offer applies to the total base reward miles earned on qualifying purchase amount excluding shipping, duty and taxes. Base offer may vary per store, click on store logo at airmilesshops.ca for details. Collectors must sign in at airmilesshops.ca before purchasing in order to earn reward miles. Offer can be combined with other Bonus reward miles offers. This offer is valid on the purchase of gift cards only at online retailers who regularly offer reward miles on gift card purchases. See airmilesshops.ca for details. This offer does not apply to purchases made at Texture by Next Issue, or made at travel online stores (including travel bookings, car rentals, and hotels). Bonus reward miles will be posted to your Collector Account within 75 days after the promotional period.

[tshi2015]

yeah after reading airmilesshops.ca I think they definitely changed their criteria!

had to cancel my order. good thing the seller cancelled before it was shipped

sorry guys, I should read the fine print next time lol