(EXPIRED) Staples: Buy $200 Mastercard Gift Cards With No Activation Fee (3/24/19-3/30/19)

The Deal

• Buy $200 Mastercard gift cards with no activation fee from Staples.
• Direct link to weekly ad (see page 3).

Key Terms

• Offer valid March 24-30, 2019.

Tips & Ideas

This deal doesn’t go live until Sunday March 24, so don’t rush out to your local Staples store yet.

There have been several reports in the past of issues with Mastercard gift cards where the cards have become compromised. This deal therefore carries greater risk than Visa gift card deals, so be aware of that.

Unlike some of these Visa/Mastercard gift card deals, there’s no stated limit on how many you can buy per transaction. If that’s the case, it makes this deal more enticing as it means you don’t have to worry about buying them in separate transactions, visiting multiple stores, etc.

The $200 Mastercards usually come with an activation fee of $6.95, so being able to buy these with no fee can be profitable when taking into account credit card rewards, especially if you have a Chase Ink Plus or Ink Cash credit card which earn 5x/5% at office supply stores.

If you were to buy 5 of these Mastercard gift cards in one transaction, you’d earn 5,000 Ultimate Rewards if you have an Ink Plus card. If you have the Ink Cash, you’d earn $50 cashback which comes in the form of 5,000 Ultimate Rewards. If you have an Ink Cash plus another premium Ultimate Rewards-earning card, those can then be transferred to airline and hotel partners.

In summary, this can be a great way to rack up 5x/5% spend, but be aware of the risks with Mastercard gift cards.