The Smart and Final Gift Card Run Story part 2

If you didn’t read part 1, stop and start there.

Stop 5 – 2720 Beverly Blvd, Los Angeles

If you’ve never been to a SF store before, imagine a Costco but 1/10 the size and without the expensive jewelry.  This store was fairly small and it was PACKED!  There were 2 checkout lanes open when I walked in, and a line 10 deep.  Luckily, they opened up a 3rd lane, but I still had to wait a bit.  Seeing the line, I decided to only buy 4 cards at this store.  The good thing about SF is that the checkout process is pretty fast.  The CSR scans the GC, you swipe your card, the CSR has to then push a key, you sign, cash register opens, they close register, receipt prints.  It probably takes 30 seconds with a fast checkout; with a slow checkout, maybe a minute because they forget to push the key or too slow to close the register.  The young gal was FAST just because there were so many people waiting behind me.  It dawned on me as I was leaving that so many people were shopping at SF today because 1) it was a nice sunny day, so they are probably having a BBQ or 2) they are preparing for the MayPac fight.  At every store, either the person in front of me or behind me was buying a 24 pack of Modelo or Corona.

Stop 6 – 939 N. Western Ave, Los Angeles

The young gal here kept checking to see which credit card I swiped and making sure I swiped the exact same card.  She wore a white shirt, so she might have been an assistant manager.

Stop 7 – 1041 Fuller Avenue, W. Hollywood

As you can see from the address, I was making my way towards the nicer part of town.  This was in an affluent neighborhood.  My cashier was a young gal named Natalya, who of course checked my credit cards and ID.  I was beginning to think I should go back to the less affluent parts of LA since they seem to not care as much.

Stop 8 – 5555 Wilshire Blvd, Los Angeles

Well, back to the less affluent neighborhood I go.  I chose the young male cashier, and sure enough, he never even checked my cc or ID.  I start to suspect that males may be better than females.  While waiting in line, I see a guy in front of me buying 3 x $50 Visa gift cards in separate transactions.  I start to wonder why I don’t just buy VGC’s instead of all these Arco, Lowes, and Home Depot gift cards.   Also, the guy behind me looks like just Lenny Wilkins.  I wanted to ask him but didn’t do it.

Stop 9 – 4550 West Pico Blvd, Los Angeles

This was in a weird 3 story shopping complex where Lowes was at the bottom and SF was at the top.  This was probably the nicest SF all day.  It looked like a Whole Foods.  Seeing as I was successful with male cashiers, I decided to pick the male cashier’s line.  After a couple of minutes, he tells me the line next to me was open.  I didn’t want to go, but thought it would seem odd if I didn’t move over.  The cashier was a young Zooey Deschanel with glasses.  I had 7 cards in hand, and told her I’d go back in line after 3 cards.  Notice how I altered the number of cards I’d buy depending on how busy the store was.  I didn’t want to be THAT guy who stalled the line with 10 cards.  I also did each card on separate transactions because I had read that over $100 or $150 requires a manager approval, and I didn’t want unnecessary attention.

Stop 10 – 2929 Crenshaw Boulevard, Los Angeles

By this time, I was pretty tired.  As I was driving here, I saw a guy and girl in a Ferrari behind me.  My first thought – “he probably wouldn’t be doing this.”  Just like that, I’m back to the less affluent neighborhood.  It was so nice going to SF stores that didn’t have gates and security guards standing by the door.  The middle aged lady here didn’t care what I swiped.

Stop 11 – 3607 S. Vermont Ave, Los Angeles

My cashier here was a younger gal who knew the game.  As soon as I told her separate transactions, she goes, “Oh for the AMEX discount, right?”  FINALLY!  Another cashier who knows what I’m doing.   After she scanned my first GC, she apologized for the ink on the back of the gift card.  I was confused, but said, “Oh don’t worry about it.”  I bought 6 cards from her, then went back to my car.  I then decided, “Oh, she knows the game.  I can probably buy more from her.”  I then went in to buy 3 more GC’s from here.  As I was standing in line, I noticed my hand had ink on it and a part of my wallet had ink too.  Now I knew why she apologized about the ink.  Bored, I looked at the back of the Home Depot GC’s and realized they had been scratched to reveal the PIN already.  HOLY CRAP!  I went back and got 3 unscratched cards, and now wondered if any of my other gift cards had been tampered with.  Luckily, none were tampered with, but this did give me a little scared.  Just because I’m making a nice profit for the day doesn’t mean I should be careless.

Stop 12 – 8137 S. Vermont Ave, Los Angeles

This store had gates and security guards and also had Amazon gift cards.  I brought 6 Amazon GC’s up to the young female cashier.  After she rang up the first one and I swiped my credit card, she goes, “Oh, I think these are cash or debit only.”  She then calls the manager on the PA.  The 5 people in line behind me groaned as did I.  The manager approaches and says, “Sorry, store policy.  Cash or debit only.”  I walk out of the store both dejected and more reinvigorated.  I was just glad this didn’t happen at the beginning to dampen my mood.  I looked at my tally and realized I was 7 swipes away from 80 total swipes.  I HAD to get 7 more.

 

Stop 13 – 10100 S. Crenshaw Blvd, Inglewood

This SF looked to serve a more affluent black clientele and it was PACKED!  There were only 3 lanes open and there must have been 10 full carts deep per lane.  I didn’t even bother trying and just left.  On the way out, I see THIS:

Now all kind of thoughts go through my mind – first was, “Did I do that?  I don’t remember doing that. Did I not notice this before?  Why didn’t I do a walkaround when I picked up the rental?  So careless of me.”   Then I think about how when I parked the car there and was jotting down notes, I heard a weird noise and then a black SUV drove up next to me.  There was a cart blocking their stall, and so the mother had the son come out and move the cart.  She finishes parking, then smiles at me as I get out of the car.  “Did that lady hit me?” I thought.  Then I thought, “I wonder if my Chase United Business card will cover this?”  The card comes with primary insurance, but I had read it has to be a “business purpose” on the rental.  “Did this whole road trip constitute a business trip?  Will Chase cover this?  What’s that sticker doing there next to the ding?  It can’t be a coincidence that that sticker is right next to the ding…”  Feeling down after having struck out back-to-back, I just wanted to get back to the airport.  I decide to make one last stop.

Stop 14 – 1575 Centinela Ave, Inglewood

Since this was my last store, I grabbed 7 gift cards.  There were 3 lanes, and I picked the lane with the mid 20’s gentlemen.  The 2 guys in front of me were asking why their 3 cases of Modelo beer was more expensive than advertised.  The cashier tells them “limit 1.”  They decide to split the transaction.  Smart guys.  When it’s my turn, I read his name tag, “Assistant Manager.”  This can not be good.  He asks me how I am paying.  I tell him “credit card.”  Then he asks to see my cc and ID.  He’s looking at my ID like a club bouncer looks at a 16 year old.  Then he asks me, “Do you have a California license?”  Me, “No, I don’t live in California.  I only have a Washingon license.”  He thinks about it for a couple of more seconds and proceeds to let me buy it.  I told him I’ll buy 3 now and get back in line to buy the other 4.  He gave me no grief as I went through a second time to buy the last 4, not even checking to see what card I was swiping.  FINALLY, MY SMART & FINAL GIFT CARD RUN WAS OVER!!!

 

6:00PM – Stop by the In’N’Out on Sepulveda.  That’s always a must.  I do a Google search if the sticker on the car meant it was a previous ding, and some people on Tripadvisor mentioned that car rental companies do put stickers on previous dings.  A tentative sigh of relief.

6:30PM – Before returning the car, I stop to fill in gas, using one of my Arco gift cards I had bought of course.  I return the car at Hertz.  As I’m busy packing up my stuff, I don’t notice if the guy makes a loop around the car or not.  He scans my car, asks if I want to pay with the same card, and then hands me the receipt.  I don’t know what’s going to happen with the ding.

7:00PM – Watched the ending of game 7 Spurs-Clippers.  I was rooting for the Spurs, but everyone else in the Alaska lounge was cheering for Clippers.

11:50PM – Home sweet home!

Total Haul

• 80 swipes x $25 = $2,000 profit (but remember, I do have $4,000 worth of Amazon, Lowes, Home Depot, and Arco to use up.
• Car parking = $11
• Car rental – $24.92
• Plane ticket – $11
• Gas – $7
• Net Profit ~$1946

 

Conclusion

I realize most people would assume I was nuts for making this gift card run.  Even my wife rolled her eyes at me and said, “You’re doing WHAT?!?”  Look, everyone has varying degrees on what they will do this in this hobby.  Some people have families and kids and have no time to do something like this.  Some people will do mileage runs for status.  I chose to do a gift card run to buy some gifts.  If I wouldn’t have been doing this that day, then I most likely would have been building my raised vegetable garden in the backyard, which I still need to do, and it’ll be half the cost now with all the Lowes and Home Depot gift cards.

As for the stores itself, I found that the more affluent stores checked credit cards and ID more than the less affluent stores.  Besides the one store that told me “cash or debit only,” it seems that the less affluent stores really didn’t care.  Of course the assistant managers and managers were more careful, but I do remember one store manager who didn’t care either.   The males seemed to care a little less than the females though.

 

Credit Cards Used

How could I make a post and not write about all the credit cards I used?  Well, I used my Chase Freedom to get 5X at the udon restaurant.  Oh wait, that’s not a high enough bonus.  You should sign up for the Chase Sapphire instead to get 2X on dining, and 3X on every first Friday, which I will now remind you EVERY FRIDAY until the end of eternity.  I used my Chase Ink to buy the Groupon GC at Staples where I get 5X at office supply stores.  Did I mention the signup bonus is up to 60,000 right now?  I used my Amex Platinum to get MR points to transfer to BA to fly on Alaska metal.  Annual fee of $450 too high?  How about the AMEX Premier Gold Rewards instead?  Or if you want to redeem award flights on Alaska, get the Bank of America Alaska card instead.  The rental car was put on the Chase United Business, which has primary rental insurance for business rentals.  Don’t have a business, just get the personal Chase United card anyway although you won’t get the primary rental car insurance, but hey, the signup is up to 55K right now.  Oh you wanted a card that gets you bonus points on travel charges?  Then get the Barclays Arrival that gives you a 40,000 point signup.  Did I forget the Citi Premier card that gets you 50K points too and let’s you redeem at 1.6X for travel on AA?

That last paragraph was a joke.  If you were easily offended, I apologize, but please sign up for the cards anyway.