If you try to follow my advice in Number 1 of Let’s Get Started To Earning Free Travel, you may run into a problem when trying to buy a low priced item. The merchant may require a minimum purchase price for you to use your card…..what should you do?
First, know that the merchant is in its legal right to do so. A 2010 federal law authorized retailers and other businesses to require up to a $10 minimum for purchases using a credit card. So don’t be annoyed by that sign on the register. However, I have seen signs requiring a $15 dollar minimum. This is not the law. If you run into this, decide on your own whether to call the merchant out. 🙂
I usually do not battle with the merchant. Nor do I want to use cash. I usually find some other things to buy, things that I may not need at the moment, but things that I know I will use in the future (like 6 bottles of Bai 5 water). Or for a really small item, like a pack of gum, I may give in and use the cash. Grrrrr!