AAA no fee Visa Gift Cards for members

[David R]

I called AAA New York and was told that the fee is not waived this month in this region's AAA offices.

Here in PIT they did NOT have the offer. I took the plunge and forked over the $4.95. It's a one-time fee and future loads are free. Is that not how it works in NY?

AAA New York has two types of Visa cards: Visa TravelMoney® Card and Visa Gift card. The former is reloadable, the latter is not. For the reloadable card, the AAA New York web site says "Reload fees may apply. Consult your local AAA office for details." Let us know if you are able to reload your reloadable card for free and pay with a credit card and if it appears on your credit card bill as a purchase or a cash advance.

[sam i am]

I believe reloads are free in stores, and probably do not let credit. Online costs $10 per 500, max 1500 for $30.

[sam i am]

Here in PIT they did NOT have the offer. I took the plunge and forked over the $4.95. It's a one-time fee and future loads are free. Is that not how it works in NY?

You paid with cc? How much did you load?

[Freddie]

You paid with cc? How much did you load?

$100 as an experiment. $100 was the minimum load. It coded as CA.

[lunatic]

$100 as an experiment. $100 was the minimum load. It coded as CA.

Which cc? Citi?

[Marco Polo]

$100 as an experiment. $100 was the minimum load. It coded as CA.

Were you able to lower your CA to $0?

[Freddie]

Were you able to lower your CA to $0?

I should have.

[Freddie]

Which cc? Citi?

Irrelevant. It is AAA system that codes it as a CA. They even run it as two separate charges: the fee is a purchase and the load is a CA.

[sam i am]

Irrelevant. It is AAA system that codes it as a CA. They even run it as two separate charges: the fee is a purchase and the load is a CA.

This is what I thought. I bought one last year. They said debit only. I experimented to see whether it could be reloaded with cc. But they closed me down because I bought too many GC's - maybe 8 lol. I just went today and was told max was 2!

[ejhirschberger]

I bought 2x $500 Visa "Gift Cards" from a AAA "Mid-Atlantic" branch in central Jersey with no Fee.  I bought another 2x $500 at a "North Jersey" branch for $3.95 each.  I have had a hard time cashing them out.  They will not load online into my Serve card, AAA will not accept them for Traveler's cheques, but you can buy MO at Wal-Mart if they don't see the card.  Must register the card online to assign Debit PIN.  I used Chase Credit Cards both times, posted as purchases, not Cash Advance.  I'm told the Visa Travel card, or Traveler's cheques would be CA.

[Mutty]

I'm confused about this purchase. If I buy the AAA gift cards, is it a cash advance on your credit card or not? It also seems, from reading the post, that I should only take 1995 (each time?). If that all works out, I never used any blueberry or any other methods of using the gift cards for bills except for Evolve, which seems to be useless now. Where should I go now to use these gift cards? A pointer to the right post would be enough if I don't have to read 800 pages. The reason I'm doing all this is because I got offers for United credit card with 50,000 points and will need a 4000 spend (two cards) when I do it. Hopefully I'll get them before deal disappears. Any help would be appreciated.

[Freddie]

There are two different products. The gift cards and the travel cards which is basically an electronic traveler's check. (Remember traveler's checks, Mutty? Karl Malden? The good old days?) The traveler's checks are somewhat understandably hardcoded on AAA's end as a CA.

Anyway, I hope this clarifies. Now let's stop talking about this.

[David R]

I'm confused about this purchase. If I buy the AAA gift cards, is it a cash advance on your credit card or not? It also seems, from reading the post, that I should only take 1995 (each time?). If that all works out, I never used any blueberry or any other methods of using the gift cards for bills except for Evolve, which seems to be useless now. Where should I go now to use these gift cards? A pointer to the right post would be enough if I don't have to read 800 pages. The reason I'm doing all this is because I got offers for United credit card with 50,000 points and will need a 4000 spend (two cards) when I do it. Hopefully I'll get them before deal disappears. Any help would be appreciated.

Gift cards should be a purchase, not cash advance. The person who takes your credit card should be able to confirm that for you. If you can set a PIN, you can probably use the gift card to do a bill payment at Walmart or to buy a money order at Walmart or elsewhere. You can probably also use it with the PIN to load Bluebird.

[Mutty]

Gift cards should be a purchase, not cash advance. The person who takes your credit card should be able to confirm that for you. If you can set a PIN, you can probably use the gift card to do a bill payment at Walmart or to buy a money order at Walmart or elsewhere. You can probably also use it with the PIN to load Bluebird.

Thanks. Guess I'll have to read up more on Bluebird.

[David R]

IME, you don't need to be a member of the AAA club in the region where you make the purchase in order to pay the lower fee for members; you can be a member of another AAA club. For example, as an AAA New York member, I bought cards at AAA Mid-Atlantic this month with no fee.

[shidduch]

Is this offer still good to get fee free gift cards?

[David R]

Is this offer still good to get fee free gift cards?

Yes, until June 30, 2015.

[bb1836]

anybody recently load the GC onto RC?

[David R]

I was able to set the PIN by calling the phone number on the back of the card. Is there any place to set the PIN on the web site?

[Iz]

anybody recently load the GC onto RC?

Yes, no problem. You just first need to call the # on the card to set the PIN.