By now, the US Mint is aware of my permanent address and my wife's parents address so they will not ship large quantities to these addresses anymore. I am blocked in the system to receive any more coins from them there. :(
However, I realized that I can have US Mint coins shipped to my work as well - Woohoo! This is a complete new address for the US Mint online system so I can order anything I want.
I went for it all the way- 25 boxes of $250 each - Native American $1 coins....totaling: $6250
That will give me 6250 Virgin America miles once my statement posts in a few weeks (+300 miles credit card bonus for every $5000 spent - so actual mileage haul: 6550 - that's roughly what you normally get for 1.5 roundtrips to NYC from SFO, not bad). US Mint coins seem the only good way to earn VA miles right now since they hardly have any promotions. I applied and received the VA Visa credit card a few months ago but it only had a low 2700 miles sign up bonus.
I am gearing up Virgin America miles for free tickets to DC this Fall. Redemption is easy but the points required are a lot....I mainly started focusing on it since I will have 760 VA miles expire in December and I hate expiring miles.....
Now, about the logistics - I went to the US Mint online website - shopped online - went to the "DIRECT SHIP $1 coins" page and selected 25 kits of the native american coins. All coins are backordered because more and more people are using this for easy miles or points....you won't be charged until the coins actually ship so make sure you know your statement closing date and buy coins right after if they are not backordered, if they are backordered I would order them a few days before your statement closing date. That way, you statement closes - you have a full month until the next closing date and about 7 weeks until payment is due. Plenty of time....
I can still get another 25 kits of the native american coins in a few weeks because there's a 50box household limit. Don't worry - FREE SHIPPING even though it says 4.95 for shipping on the first screen, that charge disappears once you order. However, 25 boxes weigh a total of roughly 36lbs so consider the weight of it all.
I will save myself the presidential coins for future credit cards that need a minimum purchase to get miles.
Monday the coins arrived at my work and were delivered to my cubicle. I went to the bank, deposited $3000 at one branch, $3250 at another. I like to spread it out and reduce the teller's work...plus, since the US Mint is probably tracking the non-circulation of coins and mapping the hotspots I want to stay under the radar. Most likely this governmental service is going to stop at some point but for now it's a gold mine. REMEMBER: You are not doing anything illegal - you just don't use the coins for the intended use: circulation. Plus, I highly suggest depositing the coins into a savings account until your credit card payment is due to get an extra little interest boost (which the government then will tax automatically anyway - everybody wins).
So even though a few months ago some were saying this deal is dead - it is very much alive for most credit cards out there. The Virgin America card is a Barclay Bank co-branded card so no problem there....
Amex and Chase may or may not work these days - there are mixed results. The British Airways Chase Visa still seems to work, however, I already have over 112000 British Airways miles - I don't need any more for now.
If you need help figuring out the details of the US Mint deal - let me know.
By the way - you can pay your taxes with your Airline credit card as well... :) You even sometimes get a bonus from the Airline if you do....I have never done it but I will post about it during next year's tax season.
Until then, enjoy the US Mint gold rush while it lasts!
