[Expired] Macerich Malls – Fee Free Visa Gift Cards (8/14-8/19)

The Offer

Direct link to offer (this is for one specific mall but believe it’s running at all)

  • Macerich Malls has a back to school special offering fee free Visa gift cards

The Fine Print

  • Valid 8/14-8/19
  • Each Visa Gift Card must be loaded with $100-$500.
  • Limit 5 Visa Gift Cards in a single transaction per customer per day during the promotion period.
  • Not available with online purchases, any other offer or on previously purchased Visa Gift Cards.
  • Terms and conditions available at Guest Services or the Concierge at Participating Malls. Subject to availability.
  • The Visa Gift Card is issued by Sunrise Banks, N.A., St. Paul, MN 55103, pursuant to a license from Visa U.S.A. Inc. Sunrise Banks, N.A.; Member FDIC.

Our Verdict

Hopefully, this deal is available at all Macerich Malls (full list of eligible malls can be found here on page 8-9), but check out the Events category on the website of your local center to make sure that’s the case. Visa gift cards can usually be purchased at the Macerich Mall Guest Services or Concierge. Buying five $500 cards will rack up $2,500 in fee-free spend. As far as I know no cards earn a category bonus at Macerich but still useful for meeting meeting minimum spend requirements or using a card that earns at a high rate on all purchases. If you have any questions, I’d recommend reading through previous posts when they have offered the same deal as you’ll likely find the answers there.

Hat tip to readers @yseh0228 & SB
    William Charles
  • On August 13, 2017, 19:39

View Comments (45)

  • Ok, just went to one. Got a single card. It took like 10 minutes! Horrible! They don't even have a real POS like Simon — give you a tiny card terminal receipt (I haven't seen those in the US in ages, as almost everyone has a custom PoS receipts nowadays), plus, a separate paper receipt on a Letter-size piece of paper! Can you believe it? Only got a bag after asking, and it's not even as nice as Simon's.

    Also, the conscierge was busy texting at all this time, too — turns out, the poor conscierge has to multitask talking to several people in person, as well as texting to answer customers questions. Poor soul!

    Overall, never again! Simon is our friend.

    P.S. That's why this place collects your information — because their PoS isn't matched. At Simon, your name, apparently, automatically appears on the receipts, probably due to them getting the info directly from the bank. Here, with their amateur-hour PoS, they have to be collecting your information all manually. Add to that the necessity to answer questions via SMS at the same time, and you get a 20-minute turnaround time per customer.

    • Ok, that's not all! All their cards used to be 3.95 before they hiked it to 4.95, so, it appears that they've relabelled them all. I got what I thought were some newer ones, but they had a very bad adhesive — the packaging had to be all ripped apart, and the card glue couldn't be easily removed from the card, either.

      To add insult to the injury, upon going to the website written on the card, there was no way to check balance.

      NEVER AGAIN! Macerich torally sucks!

  • It literally took them 20 minutes to fill out the paperwork to sell me 5 of these GCs. And I was behind someone else who spent 20 minutes on paperwork to buy just 2 of them. I'm already regretting this one, and I haven't even liquidated them yet.

  • These crappy malls are nothing like Simon. They apparently don't even have anyone other than security/HVAC or management answering phones, impossible to get any sort of information on details of the deal.

    It appears that they take down your information for over $500; couldn't get exact details, as you can only speak with the security guy who didn't even know that.

    The only "nice" thing about them is that they don't actually accept cash.

    • YMMV - the Washington Square Macerich mall is probably the nicest mall in Portland. The lady who helped me was extraordinarily helpful and nice, and there was no line (which is good, because the process was lengthy with all the data entry).

      True that they probably don't answer the phone, but then who does these days?

      • I called Simon w/o issues, talked to the very person who sells the cards, without having to claim that I'm having an HVAC emergency.

        Can you elaborate more of what info they required of you? Why was it as lengthy as you claim?

  • Confirmed that this is NOT available in Kansas City (Country Club Plaza). They don't even sell VGC, just a mall-specific mastercard that only works at the stores in the mall.

  • any DP out there to confirm the meaning of “Limit 5 Visa Gift Cards in a single transaction per customer per day during the promotion period”?

    Can I get 3 + 2 on different CC or limit is actually ONE transaction per day regardless of number of VGC?

    • You can split up on different cards. I purchased mine using two different credit cards today.

  • Per customer per day per store? I eye 3 malls in my vicinity. Can I do $2.5k each store per day?

    • The person at the kiosk enters information from your driver's license and phone number into the laptop they have set up. So your purchases are tracked.

      • Is it legal for them to do this? I looked at their privacy policy at the linked full T&C of the no-fee promotion; it only ever mentions about what they do with the information that you voluntarily provide to them on their web-site and cookies (as if the promotion is actually available online).

        • You'll have to ask the company on what is legal but if you want to take advantage of this lucrative promotion, you have to play by their rules

  • How close is the "per customer per day" watched? Can I go once in the morning; once in the evening? Or are they taking names?

    • Your information is entered in their laptop when you purchase. Highly doubtful you can buy more than $2.5k per day.

    • Every time I go (I always buy $1000+) they take my information, but I don't see them entering it into a database. So I'd guess you could hit them 2 shifts in a day.

    • They require ID and write down your information. You likely won't be able to go to the same mall twice in a day.

      • Wait, what? Pretty much noone else takes ID for less than 2.5k. Do they take info for every single purchase? Write it on paper? What exactly do they write? Even if you get 2k or below? Why do they limit to 2.5k then, and not 10k like Simon?

        • sounds like you have never been to NSA/FBI/CIA HQ aka Macerich Mall. they write and input all your DL info in a centralized DB shared by all Macerich Malls which track your purchases.

          this is not like Simon Mall tracking your shit on a binder and data processing the info weekly in their DB. some info dont even make it to their DB. hence people abuse it. but Macerich Malls has that shit on lock down.

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