As most of you know, Chase Freedom currently offers 5 points per dollar on gas stations, tolls and drugstores. Obviously, the last one is the most interesting category. CVS stores still accept credit cards as payment towards prepaid Visa or MasterCard. So, even an average Jane like myself shouldn’t have any issues maximizing this category. It would require a purchase of three $500 cards to get the maximum points payout.
I’ve said before that I don’t do manufactured spending, but I certainly try to look for an easy way to liquidate the funds. Currently, I’m working on several new credit card offers (separate post coming up), and don’t have any wiggle room as far as minimum spending goes.
The easiest way to unload the cards is to make estimated tax payments. The deadline for 2018 is January 15th of this year, so there is only a few days left. I make a little bit of money from this blog, so try to make a few payments here and there.
The best part is that if you overpay taxes, you simply get a refund at tax filing time. So, it means floating funds for a month or two at most. The fee via service like PayUSATax.com is fairly reasonable if you use a credit card. For debit card, it’s an even better deal:
And prepaid gift cards happen to code as debit cards. So, this is what your profit will look like. You will earn 2,500 points that are worth $25 at a minimum. After paying $5.95 fee, plus $2.55 fee to PayUSATax, you are left with a profit of $16.50 per card. If you buy three cards at the same time, your trip to CVS has just made you $49.50 richer. And of course, you can get better value if you happen to have a premium Chase credit card that gives you access to transfer partners.
This is the definition of the low-hanging fruit, and I will most definitely go out of my way to partake of it. Normally I make three visits and buy one card at a time. But I was feeling bold, so I went all-in. Not surprisingly, the transaction was declined. Fortunately, I didn’t have to call Chase and get a grilling on why I want to spend $1,500 at my local CVS. I got an email notification and after approving the purchase, success at last!
I was only able to use two gift cards towards estimated taxes because PayUSATax allows two payments per quarter. Fortunately, I bought MasterCard gift cards, so just used the third one towards a car payment via Plastiq (my referral link) Once again, it coded as debit card, so I was only charged 1% fee. Sweet.
Enter Andaz Costa Rica
As I’ve said previously, you don’t really need a reason to maximize a 5% category on Chase Freedom. The potential cash profit is enough. However, in my particular case, I had another motivating factor. For the last few years I went back and forth on taking my family to Andaz Costa Rica Resort at Peninsula Papagayo
I’ve dreamed about going there as a couple for our wedding anniversary, but I really think the kids would enjoy it too. For one, the stupid monkeys freely roaming the property would be a big hit with my spawn. Another motivating factor for me is complimentary Kids Club. I’m a big fan and highly recommend this option when you travel as a family. It really increases the enjoyment/relaxation level for parents, trust me. See related post on this subject
The Kids Club here is for children from age 4-12, and my daughter will turn 12 next year. So, it’s now (well, within the next 18 months) or never. In retrospect, we should have gone while I had Hyatt Diamond status via match. We could have gotten a free suite upgrade and complimentary breakfast. But the timing wasn’t right, and there is no sense in dwelling on the past.
I don’t like the fact that the rooms have two double beds. However, I saw the Andaz representative mention on TripAdvisor that they can add a rollaway. Alternatively, we could just bring an air mattress. The rooms are almost 600 square feet, so they shouldn’t feel cramped.
I’ve looked into visiting Costa Rica for years, specifically Arenal volcano area. Unfortunately, it’s not that easy to get to. A ride from San Jose airport will take around 3-3.5 hours, ditto for Liberia. By comparison, Andaz is only 30 minutes away from Liberia airport, a much more palatable distance when you have young kids. Plus, it’s located on the ocean, so you get beautiful views of the water.
We would have to fly from Miami airport, which is 3 hours from my house. Not very close, but even getting to Orlando can take three hours during rush hour, which seems to be the case any time we go there. The I-4 is truly the pits. The best option is to use British Airways Avios, and I’m currently swimming in them. The cost is 15,000 Avios+$75 tax for roundtrip ticket from Miami to Liberia with cash fares running at $750.
Did I mention that Andaz resort is a Category 4, so it costs just 15,000 points per night? And yes, you can use your renewal certificate from Hyatt co-branded credit card. Even during summer you can expect to pay quite a bit via cash, so using points is definitely the way to go.
I’m not the type of person who goes somewhere just because CPP (cents per point) value is through the roof. I have to actually want to visit the place. In this case, the Andaz resort is extremely appealing. Sure, I would love a suite and free breakfast, but you can’t have everything. And Kids Club is worth a good bit in my book.
Currently I have almost 40,000 points in my Chase Freedom account. With the help of CVS, I should have 7,500 more points heading my way:
If I convert Chase Freedom to Chase Sapphire Preferred, I will be able to transfer points to Hyatt on 1:1 basis. Yes, I have to factor in $95 fee, which would add a $32 up-charge per night if we stay three nights. But I still feel the value is pretty good. Plus, I may be able to use my renewal certificate for one of the nights. For $75, this place is definitely a steal.
If you are new to this hobby, I recommend starting with Chase cards first, if at all possible. Hyatt partnership is something that is unique to Chase and value for families can be quite good, as is the case with the resort in Bonita Springs where we go to on a regular basis.
Blast from the past
Normally, I don’t like going inside CVS, but in this case I had to. While I was paying for gift cards, I looked back and saw my old history teacher. It’s been twenty two years since we last saw each other. He was really excited and gave me a big hug.
I’ve mentioned before that I’ve met my husband when we were both 17 and I was an exchange student in his high school. We happened to share the same history class where things were a little bit different. The teacher didn’t do stuff the conventional way. In fact, that whole school year was focused on learning about World War II. Our assignment was to read The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich (not an affiliate link!) and paint the classroom wall, highlighting military routes and battles.
We were allowed to talk to other students while that teacher was blasting Beatles songs on his boombox (the guy was/is an eccentric). Anyway, that’s how I got to know my future husband. That class was directly responsible for us falling in love.
Back to present day CVS. We were making small talk and this now retired teacher exclaims in disgust: “Did you know they painted over that wall?” For a few seconds, we were both transported to 1997, when we were twenty two years younger.
He probably doesn’t know it, but his class changed the course of my life. I wouldn’t be here hustling points from Chase Freedom, planning a trip to Costa Rica or being married to my wonderful husband.
Author: Leana
Leana is the founder of Miles For Family. She enjoys beach vacations and visiting her family in Europe. Originally from Belarus, Leana resides in central Florida with her husband and two children.
I wonder why they leave it at the 15k category? Thought they’d move it up to 20 or even 25k because of their prices. I guess they just decided to block availability.
@Lynn It’s funny because this hotel was a Category 6 when it opened. I guess not many people redeemed points, so they lowered it to Cat. 4. I’m sure they make a lot of money on dining and so on, and that is the big motivator in keeping it where it is. But award availability isn’t what it used to be, so I believe it will get more expensive within a year or two, maybe sooner. I just hope Hyatt gives notice if they choose to go this route.
I had no idea they opened at cat 6! We did get their continental breakfast, which was really generous and it even included all the smoothies and different coffees you wanted. I had 1 smoothie and 2 different coffees! That helped with the price sting. Hope they still do that this year. We went to the dive bar most of the time for dinner.
it’s getting more difficult to use free nt certs or points there. last year I didn’t have much difficulty booking, but for this Jan/feb it was tough to find more than 2 nts. I eventually found 4. Think someone wrote about them blocking award availability. So I do see the category changing soon.
@Lynn I actually saw that too. I looked into possibly going this spring, but couldn’t find award availability at Andaz. I even found saver flights on American and got all excited. I agree with you, this property has become extremely popular and the management is aware.
We stayed at the Andaz Papagayo last spring break with two kids, 5 and 9. After reading reviews that the “double” beds were actually not quite double, we opted for a king room with a rollaway and then brought our Aerobed mattress. Both kids had their own sleeping space and the room was plenty big. Much better than having them (or us!) share a smaller than double bed. The kids loved the monkeys (splurge on the breakfast buffet at least one morning – they came right up to us and stole sugar packets off the neighboring table) The resort was great – we also spent four nights in Arenal area and that was fun too!
@Wendy Thanks so much for sharing! Yeah, sleeping on a full-size bed is a deal breaker for me and my husband. I didn’t realize they are actually even smaller than double size. I think air mattress+rollaway is a decent solution.
I might end up doing what you suggested if we actually go there. Now I just need two find award availability from Miami to Liberia, not an easy task. I know the kids would love the monkeys. That’s honestly what made me decide to not leave them behind (as in kids!).
>>> He probably doesn’t know it, but his class changed the course of my life. I wouldn’t be here hustling points from Chase Freedom, planning a trip to Costa Rica or being married to my wonderful husband.
I was hoping this post would end with you telling him what his class meant to your life. I’m sure it would have made his day!
@BC Well, it was kind of an awkward situation. We were talking in front of the CVS cashier because he was buying stuff. Plus, I was in a hurry. I’m pretty sure he knows how I feel.
Thank you for this post and some helpful tips about CVS allowing CC payments for gift cards. I need to find a way to pay property taxes using gift cards in California.
The Hyatt Costa Rica Andaz was never in my radar until I started reading travel blogs. The property looks beautiful and good to know that it’s only 30 mins from Liberia airport. I need to research the weather in Costa Rica during our summer months of June-August.
@Lea I’m glad you found the info beneficial. Our tax collector has a website where you can use credit cards or debit cards with a fee. Debit cards have a lower fee percentage. So, I recommend you look into it. If all else fails, you can always send property tax payment via Plastiq. My MasterCard gift card from CVS triggered a 1% fee, which is quite cheap.
As far as Andaz Costa Rica goes, I probably would never hear about it if I wasn’t so involved in this hobby. I certainly would never pay $650 per night this property commands in high season. Definitely not worth it. But it appears to be a sweet-spot redemption via points or certificates. Of course, by the time you add airfare and high food costs, it may not be that much of a bargain. But yeah, Kids Club and gorgeous location are quite appealing. I really think we would enjoy it.
As far as seasons go, I was having the same dilemma. I’ve decided to focus on end of May or early June, though it will probably be next year. I’ve read that July actually has less rain in that part of Cost Rica, so that’s another possibility. I’ve seen photos of the resort in March and everything looks brown and dry. Not my cup of tea. So, I would rather endure some rain than stare at dead trees. Plus, summer is low season, so there will be less people in the pools. But it depends on your preference. Mosquitoes might be an issue in the summer, but they are a nuisance here in Florida too.
I have a picture somewhere of us all painting that wall! I need to dig it up. That was a fun class although I must admit I never read that whole book…not even close. He was a fun teacher. That’s how I learned all the Beatles songs.
I’m really wanting to do Costa Rica Andaz soon too. I hope they don’t change the category before I make it happen.
Jennifer, I meant to tell you about it, but figured you would read the post anyway. Mr. Starrat actually asked about you specifically. Can you believe we we painting that darn wall 22 years ago? Yeah, definitely send me the photo if you can find it.