Credit Cards - Fees on Gift Cards

lon_don

flaneurs_lobster said:

Do Barclaycard normally show a cash advance fee immediately? If so then there not being one is a result.

If they do, I haven't seen it. 
Given they think Airtime is "Digital Media Books"  it's probable they don't consider it a cash advance.

born_again

Halifax have updated T/C

B1.4 What do we class as cash transactions?
Cash withdrawals. Using your card to withdraw cash from a cash machine or over the counter (where available). Cash machines have a daily withdrawal limit of £500 unless the operator sets a lower limit, or we tell you otherwise.

Gambling transactions
. Using your card to make transactions, including buying food and drink, at places such as casinos, betting outlets and bookmakers. This also includes buying online lottery tickets or gaming chips, share trading or spread betting. Most UK gambling establishments don’t accept payment by credit card.

Currency exchange.
Using your card to buy foreign currency at a currency exchange.

Cash equivalent.
Using your card to make cash-related transactions or transactions that are like obtaining cash. This includes: • sending money orders or wire transfers, other than balance transfers or money transfers • buying coins, banknotes or digital currency • paying government or court fines, enforcement penalties, fees or costs • online trading such as share dealing or investments • purchasing or topping up electronic money, payment cards, mobile wallets or account dashboard services.

Slinky

I've had my John Lewis statement, there's no additional charge for the Airtime gift card.

BartyBoy

I just received my latest credit card statement and discovered an interest charge for cash transactions. I called the bank to ask for details about these so-called cash transactions and was told they were for the gift cards I had purchased through Airtime Rewards.

I immediately contacted Airtime Rewards to report the issue. They replied, admitting they had recently changed their Merchant Category Code (MCC) and that this change had caused my gift card purchases to be classified as cash advances.

Airtime Rewards changed the MCC to prevent gift card purchases from qualifying for their monthly rewards scheme, effective 1 September 2025. While they were tightening their rewards T&Cs, they did not think it through first before going ahead to change the MCC code in a way that declares these transactions to banks as cash advances.

After a quick Google search, I discovered that Airtime Rewards caused the exact same issue a year ago during their rebranding. They made this mistake once, and now they've done it again. It sounds like this business is run by a bunch of amateurs.

flaneurs_lobster

Oh that's poor, which credit card were you using?

Coincidentally, noticed that my last supermarket giftcard purchases (John Lewis, Tesco) now return 3% rather than 4.

They will be short of my spend if this has buggered up the gift card hack. 

Slinky

I'd spotted the change that giftcards no longer qualify for cashback, so they've become much less attractive to buy on Airtime.

Someone on another thread mentioned Everup, which I've found give much better rates than Airtime and Topcashback in the main. The only difference being that it's a minimum of £10 to cashout to your bank, and they charge 30p if you do this. However you can knock off your cashback earned of any amount against the next card you buy.

flaneurs_lobster

Slinky said:

I'd spotted the change that giftcards no longer qualify for cashback, so they've become much less attractive to buy on Airtime.

Someone on another thread mentioned Everup, which I've found give much better rates than Airtime and Topcashback in the main. The only difference being that it's a minimum of £10 to cashout to your bank, and they charge 30p if you do this. However you can knock off your cashback earned of any amount against the next card you buy.

Thanks for that. Can you buy Giftcards with credit cards and are these purchases reported as cash advances? 

Slinky

flaneurs_lobster said:

Slinky said:

I'd spotted the change that giftcards no longer qualify for cashback, so they've become much less attractive to buy on Airtime.

Someone on another thread mentioned Everup, which I've found give much better rates than Airtime and Topcashback in the main. The only difference being that it's a minimum of £10 to cashout to your bank, and they charge 30p if you do this. However you can knock off your cashback earned of any amount against the next card you buy.

Thanks for that. Can you buy Giftcards with credit cards and are these purchases reported as cash advances? 

I've had no problem so far buying giftcards through Everup with my John Lewis credit card. No cash advance charge.

flaneurs_lobster

Slinky said:

flaneurs_lobster said:

Slinky said:

I'd spotted the change that giftcards no longer qualify for cashback, so they've become much less attractive to buy on Airtime.

Someone on another thread mentioned Everup, which I've found give much better rates than Airtime and Topcashback in the main. The only difference being that it's a minimum of £10 to cashout to your bank, and they charge 30p if you do this. However you can knock off your cashback earned of any amount against the next card you buy.

Thanks for that. Can you buy Giftcards with credit cards and are these purchases reported as cash advances? 

I've had no problem so far buying giftcards through Everup with my John Lewis credit card. No cash advance charge.

Thanks. I've installed the app and had a quick look round. Rates look good, am I right that purchases with a cc have to be via Google Pay?

WillPS

flaneurs_lobster said:

Oh that's poor, which credit card were you using?

Coincidentally, noticed that my last supermarket giftcard purchases (John Lewis, Tesco) now return 3% rather than 4.

They will be short of my spend if this has buggered up the gift card hack. 

You also don't get stamps on the bonus reward card thing for Gift Cards anymore. Game over for that as far as I'm concerned, I'll just get rewards where I happen to use a merchant offering them.