Trade in That Gift Card for Rewards Points

You’re a vegetarian. Everyone knows this. Yet every Christmas, grandma sends you a gift card to the Wild West Steakhouse or Crispy Chicken Rotisserie. Well, instead of filling another drawer with unwanted presents, you can now turn those gift cards into rewards points.

According to MarketWatch, U.S. Bank and Plastic Jungle (an online secured gift card exchange) have partnered to allow FlexPerks Travel Rewards Visa Signature cardholders to swap select merchants' gift cards for much more appealing FlexPoints. So that $50 gift card to Hams-R-Us? Turn it into reward points and redeem them for travel, merchandise and more.

This innovative partnership helps unlock the estimated billions in unredeemed gift cards lying around in the corners of America’s desk drawers. The process is pretty simple: FlexPerks Travel Rewards cardholders just have to visit the FlexPerks Visa Promotion Center, enter the details of the gift card, and then Plastic Jungle will determine its value and translate it into FlexPoints. If you like the offer, simply click “Accept” and the points are added to your account within two business days.

The Best Ways to Rack Up Points—and Use Them

But what about those of us who pray for gift cards every holiday season but still end up with yet another homemade reindeer sweater? Must we suffer from meager rewards points opportunities, too? Fear not, poorly-gifted friends. There are plenty of ways to rack up points on your own. For starters, Fox Business recommends looking for credit cards with amazing sign up bonuses, such as the one currently offered by the Capital One Venture card—new cardholders could get up to 100,000 points just for switching cards.

You can also shop through your airline card’s shopping portal for double or triple the points. Or consider having your monthly bills charged to your rewards card, instead of debited from your bank account.

But what to do once you earn all the points of your dreams (and finally rid yourself of all those unwanted Burger Hut gift cards)? CNN offers a few wacky—and totally viable—options, including:

-          Get married by Elvis at the Graceland Wedding Chapel in Las Vegas (Bank of America, 16,828 points)

-          Buy a herd of goats (American Express, unknown points)

-          Party with the cast of Mad Men (Chase, 5,000 points)

Or you could just do what most grateful points collectors do: book a nice vacation, preferably someplace they don’t accept gift cards.

SOURCES:

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/us-bank-and-plastic-jungle-partner-to-introduce-unique-opportunity-for-earning-flexperks-credit-card-rewards-2012-03-22?reflink=MW_news_stmp

http://www.foxbusiness.com/personal-finance/2011/12/10/5-easy-ways-to-get-more-credit-card-rewards-points-or-miles/

http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2011/pf/1104/gallery.wacky_credit_card_rewards/index.html

PHOTO CREDIT:

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Forever21_Gift_Card.jpg