Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility

Small Business Saturday is one of the best times to be a credit card churner – each year (for the past several) American Express has given out statement credits for shopping at small / local businesses on the Saturday after Thanksgiving.

(READ: Amex Small Business Saturday – $30 per Amex card)

(READ: Free money with Amex Small Business Saturday)

small-business-saturday-2014This year it was 3 $10 statement credits for each Amex card that you have.

Planning

Between my wife and I, we have 6 American Express cards that are eligible for Small Business Saturday, so it seemed prudent to do a bit of planning.  After looking at which businesses counted on the Small Business Saturday website, I came up with a plan for my 18 statement credits.

(READ: Here’s my plan for Amex Small Business Saturday – what’s yours?)

 

  1. 7 at the Kenwood Theater, a local first-run movie theater.  This will allow us to go out together as a family to see a matinee, with enough left over for Carolyn and I to have a separate date
  2. 1 at El Rancho Grande, which I’ll do as a $30 gift card purchase.  This will satisfy my signup bonus for the American AAdvantage dining program, earning me an additional 2000 miles.
  3. 2 at Busken Bakery – mmmm donutsbusken-bakery
  4. 2 at Graeter’s Ice Cream – mmmm more donuts! (and the ice cream is amazing also!)
  5. 3 at Currito’s, which is a burrito place similar to Chipotle
  6. 3 at Ferrari’s Little Italy, a local Italian restaurant.

It’s go time!

I was actually planning on being out of town with our church youth group in Louisville for most of the day, so I broke up my spending day in 2 parts.  First off, I hit the bakeries which were open early in the morning.

If you follow me on Instagram, you may have already seen these

Small business Saturday. First stop Busken Bakery mmmmm

A photo posted by Points With a Crew (@pointswithacrew) on

Small business Saturday. First stop Busken Bakery mmmmm A photo posted by Points With a Crew (@pointswithacrew) on

And of course, if you’re not following me on Instagram, well why the heck not?!!?

After returning back to Cincinnati from Louisville about 5pm, I set out to hit the final 4 steps.  I managed to hit the movie theater at the perfect time – right before the big evening rush where asking to buy 7 gift cards in separate transactions might have gotten me the ol’ stinkeye.  Then over to Currito, and Ferrari’s.

I had called El Rancho Grande the night before and they said that they did not sell gift cards, so I decided to hit my backup place that was also a member of the United MileagePlus Dining network – MJs on Main.  After I found where to park, I bought my $30 gift card (to qualify for my dining network signup bonus and earn 2,000 United miles), which should only cost me $20 due to the statement credit.

Final haul:

Here's my haul from American express #smallbusinesssaturday – $180 in gift cards for free #shopsmall

A photo posted by Points With a Crew (@pointswithacrew) on

A problem with duplicate transactions?

There was some concern from people beforehand that multiple $10 transactions at the same place with the same card would be flagged as fraudulent and/or require a call into Amex to set straight.

I can’t speak for everyone, but I did not have a problem with that, and I was typically buying exactly $10 of gift cards, usually 2 or 3 (or up to 7) at the same place.  There was one restaurant where the system asked if the second $10 purchase was a duplicate, and the cashier initially said “yes” before ringing it and answering “no”.

Extending the life of your miles and points

Another great feature of doing this is dusting out a card that I don’t use too often.  I have an American Express Hilton HHonors card, which I barely use (since the amount i get per $ of spend is not particularly exciting).

I recently got a notice from Award Wallet that my Hilton HHonors points are expiring (in February).  So it was a great opportunity to put a bit of spend on my Hilton card, which will keep my points from expiring.


This site is part of an affiliate sales network and receives compensation for sending traffic to partner sites, such as thepointsguy.com. This may impact how and where links appear on this site. Responses are not provided or commissioned by the bank advertiser. Some or all of the card offers that appear on the website are from advertisers and that compensation may impact on how and where card products appear on the site. Any opinions expressed in this post are my own, and have not been reviewed, approved, or endorsed by my advertising partners and I do not include all card companies, or all available card offers. Terms apply to American Express benefits and offers and other offers and benefits listed on this page. Enrollment may be required for select American Express benefits and offers. Visit americanexpress.com to learn more. Other links on this page may also pay me a commission - as always, thanks for your support if you use them

User Generated Content Disclosure: Points With a Crew encourages constructive discussions, comments, and questions. Responses are not provided by or commissioned by any bank advertisers. These responses have not been reviewed, approved, or endorsed by the bank advertiser. It is not the responsibility of the bank advertiser to respond to comments.

BoardingArea