Rite Aid filed for bankruptcy protection yesterday as a result of the cost surrounding opioid lawsuits and a drop in sales. This doesn’t mean that they’re going out of business in the near term as the bankruptcy filing is intended to allow them to restructure and continue in business, but it does obviously mean their financials aren’t good. The New York Times had an interesting bit of info in their report about it yesterday which is that in 1998 Rite Aid was valued at almost $13 billion, but now it’s valued at less than $40 million.
In terms of gift card deals, this doesn’t necessarily change anything as they’re still running those. In fact, at the time of publishing this post they’re running one of their most generous deals of the year. However, the thing to note with gift card deals at Rite Aid is that rather than giving a discount or Rite Aid gift cards free, you get BonusCash. That makes it more risky because BonusCash is less flexible, plus they could – in theory – introduce changes to the BonusCash program overnight that could further restrict its usage.
If you ever take advantage of the offers on gift cards at Rite Aid, it’d therefore be worth redeeming the BonusCash as soon as it’s earned (I’m not sure how quickly it’s credited after a purchase). That’ll help protect you from changes in the BonusCash program, as well as ensuring you’re not left with worthless BonusCash in the event of a sudden and unexpected closure of all its stores.
h/t Jeff & Matt
Bonus Cash becomes available on the morning of the day after it is earned. I guess I will be visiting my local Rite Aid today to stock up on candy and unhealthy snacks. Was going to save my Bonus Cash for the post-Halloween clearance sales, but probably too risky to do so now.
Actually bonus cash is available immediately so you can make 2 back to back transactions, one to get the gift cards and use the bonus cash to pay for your 2nd transaction.
That hasn’t been my experience. Maybe it’s regional.
“Instant or converted BonusCash is automatically deposited into a member’s account by 6 a.m. ET the next day and available to redeem at checkout on a subsequent purchase.” https://www.riteaid.com/faq/rite-aid-rewards
I can confirm that my $20 BonusCash was available almost right after my purchase of gift card from the recent deal. After I got home, I was able to make an online order to use up the rewards.