Visa Extras? Anyone use it?

[Disneefun]

I got an offer today form my bank to tie my debit card into Visa Extras. Apparently, I can earn points on qualifying purchases made w/my debit card, as long as I run it through as a credit transaction and sign the slip rather than running it through as debit. (This sounds like a way for Visa to rack up extra credit card transaction fees from merchants, but whatever.) Also purchases made over the Internet count but that's not happening with a card tied to my checking acct.

So my question is: Do any of you use this program? Is it worth it? Are the rewards any good and do they really come? Is it pretty easy to earn, or do you have to spend a ton to get stuff? Do you have to pay shipping and handling to get rewards sent to you? I don't typically do many debit transactions in a month, preferring to put most things on a good cash rewards CC and pay it off every month. But if this program is good, I might change my usage somewhat.

Thanks for any info.!

 

[jgazda]

My bank has done this for a long time and I have been very happy with it. With the program I have once you reach a certain spending level I get 2 points for every dollar so they add up even faster. They have lots of different prizes at different levels. We have gotten countless restaurant certificates and magazine subscriptions with it. There is no shipping and handling costs involved with your gifts, at least for the gift cards as I haven't "rewarded" myself with something that would require a box.

 

[GoofyMomInOhio]

We have this with our accounts with Chase. Our debit cards are our life lines so we usually get a couple $25 Target gift cards every year. It takes about 11500 points to get one gift card but there are smaller reward amounts too. We figure we get a little something back for the money/transactions we are doing anyways. I'm sure there are credit cards that have better rewards but we prefer to use our checking account to control spending. They do not charge to ship and the rewards have always come fast. HTH!

 

[pubugg]

Yes, have been enrolled for quite some time. A "no effort" way of doing something and get a payback from it!

 

[dismichelle]

I enrolled late last year, and have about 1300 total points as of this week. I kepp forgetting to do it as a credit each time I'm out shopping, so I could have had a lot more by now. It takes a lot of points to get something of value, and I actually get alot more cashback just using my discover.

My bottomline: Decent program for doing things you do anyway, but if you're disciplined enough to use a credit card and pay it back monthly without interest, that's the best deal. But sign up anyway, it's free.

 

[RobinFabulous]

I loved it when my bank did it. Once I hit so many dollars it was double points. I actually got a $100 Coach giftcard before Coach quit participating. My new bank doesn't give as many points but I still use it. It's something I do anyway ....

 

[mudman]

I use Visa Extras with my debit card. I make sure that all all my purchases through as credit. It also makes it easy for any returns I may do since it gets credited right back to the card instead of cash back.

When I redeem my visa extra points I always choice the cash option and it gets deposited right into my checking account.

It's a no-brainer for me.

 

[disny_luvr]

I bank with Wachovia and they have something similar to this. I have my debit card, DH's debit card and joint credit card all linked to this reward program. Right before I redeem my points for rewards, I transfer all points to one card. Right now I have about 57,000 points accumulated. I am hoping to reach 65,000 in the next few weeks. I want to redeem my points for a $125 Wachovia gift card before our DW vacation. If not, I'll have to settle for the $100 Wachovia gift card. For us, we accumulate points pretty quickly. We rarely use our credit card but we never use cash and both DH and myself swipe our debit cards a few times each day. The points add up quickly.

If you feel comfortable, give it a try. You aren't losing anything.