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How I get Gift Cards at CVS and Walgreens

By Shellie on February 23, 2009
This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy.

money_card

One reader asked how I get gift cards at CVS and Walgreens. It’s actually really easy.

Walgreens
You can get your Easy Saver Rebates loaded onto a gift card. This is the best option for receiving rebates because they give you a bonus 10% for not receiving a check. If you are unfamiliar with the Easy Saver program, go HERE to learn more. If you still can’t figure it out, don’t worry. Rumor has it that April will be the last month.

You can also get a Walgreens gift card for transferring a prescription from another store to Walgreens. There are frequently coupons on the outside of their weekly ad offering you these gift cards.

CVS
You can also get a gift card at CVS for the same thing. CVS Pharmacy also takes competitor pharmacy coupons. That means if you don’t have the coupon for a $25 gift card that printed with your Extra Bucks card, you can use one of the Walgreens coupons.

If you don’t use prescriptions. You can get a CVS card when you return an item that you bought and paid for with Extra Bucks. For example, this weekend I bought the Extreme Energy advertised in the ad that was free. For some reason the Extra Bucks didn’t print. The manager looked at my receipt and said I couldn’t get more because I had already received 2 rewards. I explained to him that those were for the monthly deal and this was a different offer number. He didn’t care and wouldn’t print the bucks. I didn’t want to pay $4.99 for the energy drinks so I returned them. Since I paid with my ExtraBucks, they had no way of returning my money so they issued me the balance on a gift card.

I never intentionally return something just to get a giftcard but sometimes it happens. Then I use these giftcards to pay for any balance over $1. This keeps my out of pocket at a minimum and allows me to spend more money on essentials.

I hope that clears any confusion. Please feel free to post comments if you have more questions.

Comments

  1. Julie says:
    February 23, 2009 at 11:14 AM

    Thank you for clarifying about returning items at CVS. Sometimes you legitimately have to return something like that.
    I know someone who routinely purchases things there to earn the ECBs and then returns the items a few days or weeks later — after the ECBs have alredy been spent. That kind of abuse of the system has no excuse, as far as I’m concerned.

  2. melissa says:
    February 23, 2009 at 12:15 PM

    what? walgreens is stopping the rebates?! noooooo!

  3. Fran says:
    February 23, 2009 at 4:15 PM

    Shellie, I had to call Walgreens about not getting credit for something I purchased. I spoke with a supervisor, so I thought I’d ask about April being the last month. She confirmed that that was true, but they are starting a “Loyalty Program”. She didn’t know the details yet, but is passing along my name so they can send me information when they get it. They are also taking longer now to process these rebates in order to make sure people don’t get a rebate for something they return.

    • Shellie says:
      February 23, 2009 at 8:04 PM

      Thanks Fran! I’ve heard of several people who have called and gotten a similar response. Then there are a few who have gotten a different answer entirely. But I’m hearing of more and more that say that the program is ending. I’m curious to see what they will come up with. I hope its good!

  4. Christina Baita says:
    June 4, 2009 at 7:59 AM

    Thanks so much for emailing me with a link to this. It’s thanks to people like you that we learn these great things!
    Kepp up the awesome work and God bless!