Not long ago I remembered that American Express used to allow you to exchange Membership Rewards Points into cash. So I investigated and although they don't give you "cash" you can turn them into American Express Travelers Cheques that you can use anywhere. You really have to look to find it - just keep looking for "more rewards."
I checked all the other cards I accumulate points on and what do you know several of them allowed you to exchange points for cash...a real, honest to goodness check. I had enough points spread out over several cards that allowed me to get over $1,000.00 - yes, you read that right!
So if you need a little extra cash start looking at the Rewards Programs you have with your credit cards and look at ALL the options. You may have a nice surprise waiting for you!
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Actually, you might be better off getting repular gift cards because the exchange rate is typically much better. e.g., $50 GC for the Gap is 5,000 but 5,000 points only yields $25 in cash. Then either use those cards as you need them or unload them on something like www.SwapAGift.com or www.CardAvenue.com. Pain in the butt but if you're really slummin' for cash the yield might be better. Maybe even sell them to friends.
What would be interesting is to find out what happens when you try to return an item purchased with a GC but you don't have the GC any more. The store can't expect you to keep a dead card. It's not like it's a real CC.
Yes, you need to look at the point exchange - it will be different for each credit card. In my case I went for the cash 'cause I wanted to use it to pay down credit not buy more stuff, regardless of the point exchange rate.
Thanks for the tip about the two sites; I have a couple of gift cards I can't see myself using and I was thinking of selling them on eBay. Now I'll check these sites out first.
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