Update on the updates: I tested this out again with a Dunkin’ Donuts gift card as those can be merged to existing gift cards. That prevented Upside from being able to cancel it after four hours.
My main purpose of buying the Dunkin’ gift card though was to test if Chase Offers will be triggered by a gift card purchase in the Upside app. The good news is that it does indeed work. I had a Dunkin’ Chase Offer giving 10% back on one of my Chase cards, so I paid with that. The purchase showed as ‘UPSIDE* DUNKIN’, then four days later a credit worth 10% of my purchase was added to my account. I don’t think Amex Offers will get triggered in this way as those seem to get processed differently, but it could be worth a test.
Further update: The transaction where I purchased a Starbucks gift card coded as food and drink on a Chase card, so it looks like Upside passes along coding with at least some banks. The MileagePlus X app does something similar, but I’m not sure if it’ll work with Amex cards.
Important update: Kevin and Snailrock both pointed out in the comments that the terms of the gift card you buy from Upside state the following:
Upside reserves the right to cancel or void a gift card transaction should the gift card not be used by customer within 4 hours of purchase.
I checked to see if my card was still valid just over four hours later and it was, so I figured this might just be some kind of random terms they felt the need to insert despite them not planning on enforcing that.
Nope.
Within a minute of replying to Kevin, I received an email from Upside stating that they’d cancelled the gift card. That therefore places a huge limitation on the usefulness of this deal as it means you can only use that functionality when you’re planning on using the gift card immediately. I’ve no idea why they’ve decided to do that as I’m not aware of any other app selling gift cards that does that, but it’s dumb.
The Deal
- Earn cashback when buying gift cards in the Upside app.
- My referral link.
Key Terms
- Various brands available.
Tips & Ideas
Upside is the app formerly known as GetUpside which started out as an app saving you money on gas. That’s still a key focus for them, but they also started offering cashback at grocery stores, convenience stores and restaurants over the last few years.
In the past you earned cashback in one of two ways. Sometimes you’d have to pay with a card linked in the Upside app, while other times you’d have to upload a receipt. They’ve now added a new feature called Pay With App that allows you to buy gift cards in the app.
It’s not as straightforward as an app like Fluz or Slide (soon-to-be-Raise) because there doesn’t seem to be a tab in the app that you can tap to take you to that functionality. Instead, you’ll need to scroll through the offers in the app until you get to a retailer/restaurant you want to spend at.
You then have to tap to see the offer; sometimes it’ll be the case that you have to pay with a credit or debit card directly with the retailer/restaurant such as this offer giving 5% cashback at McDonald’s:
There are other options though where you buy a gift card in the app to redeem in-store. For example, Upside is offering 10% cashback for buying a Starbucks gift card:
I did a test purchase to get an idea for the process. I already had a number of payment methods saved in the app, but when buying a $5 Starbucks gift card it prompted me to confirm the card details. That was a little annoying, but it looks like you only have to confirm the card details once and then it’s fine for future purchases.
You can enter any specific amount, so you’re not limited to fixed denominations which is helpful. The gift card number (and PIN if applicable) is provided instantly. Overall, it was a fairly smooth process.
I’m not sure yet what the merchant category coding will be. The pending transaction is displayed as UPSIDE* STARBUCKS which is potentially interesting. That’s because it seems like Chase Offers search for the retailer name within the transaction description, so if you have a Starbucks Chase Offer I imagine this would trigger the statement credit; no guarantee on that though.
I’ll update this post in a few days once I know what that transaction coded as. It would be lovely if it codes as a gas purchase (given how Upside started out) as you could then earn bonus points by paying with a card that earns more on gas such as the Wyndham Rewards Earner Business card. A bigger likelihood is that it’ll be some kind of miscellaneous coding, but we’ll see.
Don’t love the T&C of the Starbucks one…
“Upside reserves the right to cancel or void a gift card transaction should the gift card not be used by customer within 4 hours of purchase.”
Probably easy enough to move the balance to another Starbucks GC and they wouldn’t know it hasn’t been “used” but putting those terms in the offer is a little annoying.
Huh, I’d missed those terms. That’s weird that they’d include that, so I’ll update the post with that additional info – thanks for highlighting that. FWIW, I bought the gift card more than four hours ago and it’s still valid, so hopefully it’s not something they’ll enforce.
Figures that within a minute of replying to you, I got an email from Upside saying they’d cancelled the gift card!
What if you try what Kevin said and move the balance to either GC?
Another* wouldn’t let me edit my comment cuz it said I was posting too fast. Then it said no longer able to edit.
I tried doing that initially, but all the other gift cards on my Starbucks account were issued in Canada and so it wouldn’t let me merge. I’m planning on trying something similar with Dunkin’, but that’ll only be a valid workaround on the handful of brands that let you merge gift cards.
I tried the GC this morning & was able to transfer the Starbucks gift card into another one. The GC purchased through Upside now shows a 0 balance so don’t think they will know how it was used but will keep an eye on it later today to see if anything happens with balance.
interesting. what about this clause though: “Upside reserves the right to cancel or void a gift card transaction should the gift card not be used by customer within four hours of purchase”
Interesting that Chase Offers search for the retailer name within the transaction description. Unrelated but I wonder does this mean transactions through PayPal trigger Chase offers too?
I think I’ve seen someone mention that that has worked in the past, but I’ve never tested it myself.
Dunkin missing from my app today. Caught on to the gifts cards being not used the way they intended?
I’m still seeing a Dunkin’ near me. Did you buy one already? If so, I think it disappears for maybe 24 hours before coming back.