US Government stupidly sold dollar coins directly through mint, payable by credit card with no fees

[Dan Druff]

I wish I knew about this.

You could buy dollar coins directly from the US mint (supposedly this was to help get them into circulation), but there was a huge flaw in the plan.

They charged no fees on the purchases, and you could pay by credit card.

So you could earn unlimited airline miles by just buying dollars with dollars.

And that's what this guy did: http://www.dailyfinance.com/2013/02/...ne-miles-free/

The funniest thing was the fact that he didn't have unlimited funds, but rather just kept cycling the dollar coins back into the bank to pay off the previous purchases.



He racked up 4 million miles that way, buying $4 million worth of dollar coins.

I estimate the government forked over about $70,000 worth of credit card fees (and some shipping fees, as well) to enable this guy's mileage purchases.

[BeerAndPoker]

I'm not sure how good this guys credit was prior to doing this but it either went from bad to more respectable or from fair/good to great after it. Back in the late 1990's I used to charge up my card to nearly the max and pay it online several times a month when I did some various drop shipping sales on ebay. I was only 18-20 when I started this and built amazing credit very quickly which I still have today and I know I didn't do $3 million in transactions.

That is hilarious the government shit the bed on this one.

[abrown83]

FlyerTalk Druff.

It is the forum that revealed this method a long time ago.

They are constantly working on ways to angle shoot airline miles.

It is one of my favorite places on the net ( besides here of course ! )

[SrslySirius]

I've read a little bit about "churning" and the community of guys that grind credit cards for points/miles. I travel more than enough with this job, but I wonder if trying this out would be worthwhile just to build up a credit score and bank the miles for a rainy day.

I've never owned a credit card, so it seems like being in a similar position as a would-be bonus whore that never opened an account with any poker sites.

I have no idea how that shit works, but may start reading up on it.

[Pooh]

I've read a little bit about "churning" and the community of guys that grind credit cards for points/miles. I travel more than enough with this job, but I wonder if trying this out would be worthwhile just to build up a credit score and bank the miles for a rainy day.

I've never owned a credit card, so it seems like being in a similar position as a would-be bonus whore that never opened an account with any poker sites.

I have no idea how that shit works, but may start reading up on it.

Dude, aren't you in your mid-late 20's? I mean I applaud you for not having any debt but shit man get yourself some credit just in case....you may want to buy something, like a house , someday.

[SrslySirius]

I've read a little bit about "churning" and the community of guys that grind credit cards for points/miles. I travel more than enough with this job, but I wonder if trying this out would be worthwhile just to build up a credit score and bank the miles for a rainy day.

I've never owned a credit card, so it seems like being in a similar position as a would-be bonus whore that never opened an account with any poker sites.

I have no idea how that shit works, but may start reading up on it.

Dude, aren't you in your mid-late 20's? I mean I applaud you for not having any debt but shit man get yourself some credit just in case....you may want to buy something, like a house , someday.

Yes, I've been irresponsible thus far into adulthood. But I could be in much worse shape. I have no debt, a paid off house and car, and a decent paying job. Many people my age have a negative net worth with student loans and and such.

I'm only now starting to research good practices for personal finance. Since getting this job I have worked on cutting back on wasteful spending and saving as much of my salary as I can. I need to figure out exactly what to do with those savings once they add up to a significant sum. I probably should start building up a credit score. These are still things I need to learn to do.

EDIT: Getting somewhat back on topic, I learned today that I can get points for all these work trips I've been making, even though I haven't bought the tickets. I need to see if I can get them applied to a new account retroactively.

[Hockey Guy]

FlyerTalk Druff.

It is the forum that revealed this method a long time ago.

They are constantly working on ways to angle shoot airline miles.

It is one of my favorite places on the net ( besides here of course ! )

I should visit FlyerTalk more often. It's a great site.

[Dan Druff]

FlyerTalk Druff.

It is the forum that revealed this method a long time ago.

They are constantly working on ways to angle shoot airline miles.

It is one of my favorite places on the net ( besides here of course ! )

I wish I read it. I would have totally done this.

Are there any currently working mileage angle shots that don't require more effort than they're worth?

I have used Flyertalk many times, but usually to get hotel/airline/car rental discount codes. I don't generally read the forums otherwise.

[abrown83]

FlyerTalk Druff.

It is the forum that revealed this method a long time ago.

They are constantly working on ways to angle shoot airline miles.

It is one of my favorite places on the net ( besides here of course ! )

I wish I read it. I would have totally done this.

Are there any currently working mileage angle shots that don't require more effort than they're worth?

I have used Flyertalk many times, but usually to get hotel/airline/car rental discount codes. I don't generally read the forums otherwise.

Just the standard Credit Card ones that SS mentioned.

There used to be a great angle shoot involving Amazon and American Express PrePaid Cards where Amazon wasn't charging any fees for their payments platform and you could just pay yourself, transfer the money to your bank account, put it back on the the American Express and then start all over. Eventually Amazon caught on and killed that.

Spend time in the Manufactured Spending forum.