Getting Points and Miles for Wedding, Graduation and Other Gifts

Wedding and graduation season has officially begun, which means many of us will take substantial hits to our wallets as we shell out for gifts, travel and other assorted costs. In fact, my sister got married yesterday in sunny St. Augustine, so I am well aware of the costs, especially for a destination wedding. I'm by no means complaining about it - I'd do anything for my baby sister, but I did organize my spend to maximize points and miles.

For a gift, instead of cash I opted for an American Express Gift Card because I needed it to count towards my $2,500 spend requirement on the British Airways Visa. If you click my banner below (or this link) and use Promotion Code DSGRAD, 2nd Day Air shipping will be waived, so you only get charged the $3.95 service fee. If you want to get cash back, you can set up a Big Crumbs account like Mr. Pickles taught us a couple weeks ago, which will actually make you come out ahead on the purchase.

Some people have cautioned that Citi classifies these charges as Cash Advances, but I can confirm my Chase British Airways Visa listed it as a purchase (I blocked out the transaction ID and purchase price for security reasons):

Overall, most people view Amex Gift cards and cash as the same thing, so you might as well earn points and spend requirement for the purchase. Every point counts!