Paying upfront with credit card

sleepyjones

Fingerbobs said:

Buy a Gift Card for whatever supermarket you do your regular shopping in?

Not the best option, if you're buying Gift Vouchers the Card Issuer might class it as cash and charge you for it.

born_again

Stock up on your shopping needs. TU have a 50% sale on, that will help.

[Deleted User]

Ebe_Scrooge said:

Fingerbobs said:

Buy a Gift Card for whatever supermarket you do your regular shopping in?

You'd need to check the T&Cs for the specific card - but gift vouchers are very often excluded from any points/rewards.

If bought in-store, the card issuer only knows you've spent x amount at that retailer.

checkly said:

In order to gain Nectar points need to spend £400 in next two months on Sainsbury’s credit card.  Wondered what I could pay upfront for with credit card?  Council Tax, local authority only allows debit cards.  Don’t have any subscriptions except Cineworld Unlimited.  Is there anything out that that takes advance payments by cc?  Thanks 

Energy provider or other utility?

For the Council, a Curve card will 'convert' your card from credit to debit.

Fingerbobs

sleepyjones said:

Fingerbobs said:

Buy a Gift Card for whatever supermarket you do your regular shopping in?

Not the best option, if you're buying Gift Vouchers the Card Issuer might class it as cash and charge you for it.

Never known this happen when buying the gift card in the physical shop (e.g. buying a Tesco gift card in a Tesco shop). The till doesn't differentiate between different types of purchases. If you want to be 100% certain, just buy the gift card along with your normal shopping in the same transaction. 

Could potentially happen if buying online through a third-party, but I don't believe Gift Cards are usually treated as a cash purchase - why would they be? They're non-refundable, cannot be redeemed for cash, and can only be spent in the specific retailer. 

sleepyjones

https://www.which.co.uk/news/2019/07/paying-with-credit-card-cost-me-60-the-transactions-with-unexpected-costs/

Fingerbobs

sleepyjones said:

https://www.which.co.uk/news/2019/07/paying-with-credit-card-cost-me-60-the-transactions-with-unexpected-costs/

It looks like the customer bought the TUI Gift Card at a Bureau de Change inside a TUI shop, which would explain why it was treated as a cash transaction. What do you expect if you transact at a location whose primary function is dealing with cash? 

I've never, ever been charged cash advance fees on any Gift Cards I've ever bought. As mentioned before, the tills can't discriminate between purchasing  a gift card and purchasing a box of corn flakes, and put one through with a different MCC from the other. It just doesn't happen. 

The Which article misses the point entirely. The reason the transaction was treated as cash was because it took place at a Bureau de Change, not because it was a purchase of Gift Vouchers. Any transaction at that location would be treated as cash.