Workaround for FlexPerks 20k / year limit transfer rule? YES! Plus how to fix transfer issues online.

There are two cards that always live in my wallet and I tend to pull them out almost every day and place spend on them. The first one is really simple as when I am at a restaurant or paying for gas station purchases it is my FlexPerk Gold AMEX that comes out. Getting 3x points (each point worth ~2% towards airline tickets) for dining is just perfect for my travel needs. Beyond that to get 2x on gas as well as other things some gas stations sell (think VDGCs i.e. Visa Debit Gift Cards) is another great way to bump up my FlexPerks totals to buy Delta tickets that will earn me points just like I paid “cash” for the tickets.

Lastly, for those who do not have it yet, this card when you pay for your (or really anyone you want to) GOES or Global Entry that includes TSA PreCheck you will get a credit back once every 5 years! That alone will cover the non-waived $85 first year fee.

The next card is the FlexPerks Visa card. This card is another card I use month after month after month for two main reasons. The first is this:

Many times a month I search out loans I can make to Kiva.org that codes as a charity (and thus earns you 3x points on the FlexPerks Visa cards). If you want to know how I go about picking my loans you can see this post. The bottom line is so far after tens of thousands of dollars in loans I have got all my money back and netting out 3x points or 6% “free” travel money for Delta tickets.

The next reason I pull this card is whenever I shop for groceries. To get 2x just works and I gotta eat so why not get about 4% back each visit. BTW it seems that a number of grocery stores also seem to sell VDGCs as well. 😉

But there are some issues with these cards. You see officially you are stuck with a maximum total of 20,000 points you can send per year to someone else. Not just that if you happen to, like me, have a number of FlexPerks cards they can be pooled into one household account but the points are technically still sitting in each cards account. So, if you want to online send points to someone you have to send ONLY the points showing in that individual account not out of your pooled account or you will get an error saying you don’t have enough points.

But is there a workaround to the 20k max per year transfer limitation? YES! All you do is call the FlexPerks folks at US Bank and they can override the 20k limitation. I have asked if there is a year cap for this workaround and was told they have never seen one and that is why you should always call if you need to move points to someone else.

When you do send points to someone they transfer almost instantly but if you are planning for some kind of trip keep in mind that 20,000 points is good for a ticket up to $400 and every $200 more adds 10,000 more points to the ticket to buy.

The only other really nice tip I can give you that I always do when I burn FlexPerks points to buy my Delta tickets is that you do get a $25 travel credit the day you fly out or back (not both). Since many of us have no need to pay for bags and such what I do is simply buy a $50 Delta e-Gift card the day of travel and when I am done I call back and request my travel credit. If both Lisa and I are traveling we get $50 back. Then, in a few months as a statement credit as icing on the cake for using these points.

There you are. These are two FlexPerks cards I hold and use year after year and find them an amazing value to SUBSTANTIALLY lower the cost of my Delta travels year after year while still earning full Delta points, including MQMs, and fully qualifying for upgrades as long as I do not buy E BASIC fares with my FlexPerks points (they do warn you at purchase btw so you can avoid them if you want). – René