I'm Switching Back from RedBird to Serve - My Local Target RedBird Fail

For all those who are unfamiliar, RedBird is the nickname for the Target REDCard put out by American Express which allows you to put $5,000 worth of credit card spending every month onto the prepaid card for free.  The money can be withdrawn or used to pay the credit card bill.  In the end, you have lost no money and gained 5,000 points.  It's pretty awesome.  That being said, I will now be switching back to Serve from my RedBird.

I want to stress that this is an issue with my local Target stores.  If you have a RedBird, there is no need to panic, unless you live near me.

1 Card, $1,000 a Day

I walked into my local Target (Main street in Hackensack NJ) and asked to load my REDcard.  I was told, "Sure, but I can only let you do 1 card now and only $1,000."  I was surprised, but I find that the best thing to do in these situations is to say OK, load your $1,000 and hope it is a one time issue.  Don't try to fight with them, it's not the cashier's personal policy and you will only bring more scrutiny on yourself.

I came back 3 times in the same week at different times and got the same response.  It seems to be a storewide policy.

Any deal is always subject to managers and clerks allowing it to go through.  This should not affect other Targets.  Though the other Target near me (off route 4) does not allow for credit card loads at all.  

Switching Back to Serve

Unfortunately, this means I will be switching back to Serve (you can't have both accounts) for all the cards I control except one.  It would require 5 different trips per card to maximize the $5,000 in loading instead of 2 trips totals.  That's just too time consuming.

I can still get $20 a month for free with Serve and Fidelity American Express, though I can no longer get SoftServe, which is unfortunate.  I do enjoy that I don't need to get off my bum to do it.

Hopefully, I will be targeted for an extra 1% cashback or 10 cents per transaction from Serve until the end of April.

New Softcard Promotions - 4,000 United Miles and $150 of Amazon Gift Cards

Softcard is a mobile payment system that works on certain smartphones.  Check out eligibility here.

They have been and are being quite aggressive in recruiting new usage.  They have two new promotions that just started at the beginning of November.

1) 4,000 United Miles

This is the more appealing promotion to me due to its relative ease:

Add a Chase United Credit card to Softcard.  Add your United Frequent Flyer Number to the account by following the steps in the link.

Once your card is added, you will get 2,500 bonus miles for your first purchase with the Chase United in November using Softcard.

For every month afterwards until the end of February that you use make one purchase with the Chase United using Softcard, you will get another 500 bonus miles for a total of 4,000 bonus miles.

Terms and Conditions*Receive 2,500 United MileagePlus Miles (“Miles”) on your 8 -digit United MileagePlus Program Account (“Account”) by: (i) provisioning your United MileagePlus® Credit Card issued by Chase Bank USA, N.A. (“Eligible Card”) to Softcard; (ii) registering your Account number for the offer; and (iii) completing a transaction with your Eligible Card using Softcard (“Eligible Transaction”) between November 1, 2014 and the expiration of the offer on February 28, 2015 (the “Offer Period”). Receive an additional 500 Miles for each subsequent calendar month of the Offer Period in which you complete an Eligible Transaction. Maximum award of 4,000 Miles per Eligible Card under this offer. Award Miles will generally be credited to your Account within 6-8 weeks after the end of the calendar month in which the Miles were earned. Offer expires on February 28, 2015, but offer is subject to change or cancellation at any time. Chase Bank USA, N.A. is not responsible for the provision of or the failure to provide the promotional offers. Miles will post directly to your United MileagePlus account and will not appear on your Chase statement.
Miles accrued, awards, and benefits issued are subject to change and are subject to the rules of the United MileagePlus program, including without limitation the Premier® program (the “MileagePlus Program”), which are expressly incorporated herein. United may change the MileagePlus Program including, but not limited to, rules, regulations, travel awards and special offers or terminate the MileagePlus Program at any time and without notice. United and its subsidiaries, affiliates and agents are not responsible for any products or services of other participating co mpanies and partners. Taxes and fees related to award travel are the responsibility of the member. Bonus award miles, award miles and any other miles earned through non-flight activity do not count toward qualification for Premier status unless expressly stated otherwise. The accumulation of mileage or Premier status or any other status does not entitle members to any vested rights with respect to the MileagePlus Program. All calculations made in connection with the MileagePlus Program, including without limitation with respect to the accumulation of mileage and the satisfaction of the qualification requirements for Premier status, will be made by United Airlines and MileagePlus in their discretion and such calculations will be considered final. Information in this communication that relates to the MileagePlus Program does not purport to be complete or comprehensive and may not include all of the information that a member may believe is important, and is qualified in its entirety by reference to all of the information on the united.com website and the MileagePlus Program rules. United and MileagePlus are registered service marks. For complete details about the MileagePlus Program, go to www.united.com.

2)  Up to $150 in Amazon Gift Cards

This is less exciting to me since it requires many more purchases, but it still can be lucrative.


Use any participating credit card through Softcard 5 times before the end of December and you will get a $10 Amazon Gift Card for each 5 purchases, up to $30 of Amazon Gift Cards, which is a total of 15 purchases for the $30.

Up to 5 separate credit cards are eligible for the $30 of Amazon gift cards for a total of 75 purchases and $150 of Amazon gift cards.





HT: Dansdeals, Doctor of Credit and Frequent Miler

Lots of Free $20 Amazon Gift Cards Available Through Adding Credit Cards to Softcard - Ends in 2 days

 

 

 

From now until the end of the month (2 days), Softcard will give you a $20 Amazon Gift Card for adding participating credit cards and making one purchase of any amount.  American Express, Chase and Wells Fargo cards are the only ones accepted right now.

Softcard is a mobile wallet payment system that uses NFC technology.

In order to add American Express cards to Softcard, you have to log in to your American Express account from the Softcard app.  This limits how many cards you can add because you are only allowed to add cards from one account.  However, there is a workaround.




Once you have made a purchase on your card, go to americanexpress.com/softcardremoval and remove each of your American Express cards from Softcard, now you will be able to log in to a new American Express account from Softcard and add those new cards for more free gift cards.


Hurry, this will only last until the end of the month.  I have already been emailed some Amazon Gift Cards for my first purchases.