This week Staples is (once again) giving away free money (through today).
Combined with the Chase Ink card that gives 5x on money spent at office supply stores, this is a great deal. Staples typically sells $100 and $200 gift cards, so there are several different options
Option 1 – 2 $200 cards
Best option (if you can find them) is 2 $200 cards. There’s a $6.95 activation fee on both, so it’s a money maker of $6.10, plus if you’re paying with the Chase Ink, that’s 2000 Chase points
Option 2 – 1 $200 and 1 $100 cards
You can also get a $200 and a $100 card for $300 total. Your out of pocket will be slightly less, since the $100 cards only have an activation fee of $5.95, making it a moneymaker of $7.10, but you only get 1500 Chase points (when paying for the Ink)
Option 3 – 3 $100 cards
If your store is out of $200 cards (probably likely), you can get the $100 ones. There’s a $5.95 activation fee on all 3, so it’s still a slight money maker, plus if you’re paying with the Chase Ink, that’s 1500 Chase points
What I did
I live in a fairly major city (Cincinnati) that has several different Staples stores near me. I have 2 within about 2-3 miles of me, including one that I literally pass by a Staples store every day on my way to / from work. Normally I would just stop by that one, but the last time I did, they had a sign saying that “Gift Cards are not able to be activated at this time”.
On Wednesday, I was in the area of the other nearby Staples store and so I thought I would stop by. Unfortunately for me, they did not have any $200 Visa gift cards. So I was left with a dilemma about what to do. Because this deal is limited to 1 per household, do I take the guaranteed deal now, or try to come back later at this (or the other) Staples store? Or just bag the promotion entirely?
After I left the store, I thought this would be an interesting question for a larger audience. What would you do? Taking the 3 $100 gift cards means no additional time, and 1500 Chase Ultimate Rewards points plus about $2 money maker.
Going to another store would cost me a few extra minutes, but if they had the $200 gift cards, that would be an additional 500 Ultimate Rewards points plus an additional $5. Of course, I then run the risk that they might not have any $200 gift cards either, in which case I’d have spent extra time for no additional value.
So what would you do?
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Dan Miller travels with his wife and 6 (SIX!) children. He loves to help families travel for free / cheap, especially larger families. If you are looking for help, drop him an email at 
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