The Deal
Until midnight on 12/25/2020, The Cheesecake Factory is offering 2 slices of cheesecake with each $25 gift card purchase! Last minute present idea maybe?
Key Info
- Expires 12/26/2020 at 3 AM ET
- Order (only available online, not in restaurant) at https://thecheesecakefactory.cashstar.com/store
- Redeem for slices of cheesecake from 1/1/2021 to 3/31/2021
- One slice per guest per visit
- Dine-in – present before payment
- Pickup – notify during order and present during pickup
- Online – Select “Pay at Restuarant”
- Delivery – not valid for this promotion
Hacking the Deal
Pay with an Everyday credit card
Since the gift card purchase is processed by cashstar instead of The Cheesecake Factory, I recommend paying with a card that is a good everday earner, such as:
- AmEx Blue Business Plus card (2x Membership Reward points)
- Citi DoubleCash card (2% or 2x Thank You points)
- Chase Freedom Unlimited (1.5x Ultimate Reward points)
Use AmEx Gold card during redemption
Next year when you redeem the gift card(s) and/or Free Slice(s) of cheesecake, use the AmEx Gold card to pay for remaining balance of order. The AmEx Gold card gets a monthly $10 credit for dining at certain places, and The Cheesecake Factory is one of them.
Right now, the American Express Gold card has the best Sign Up Bonus that I’ve ever seen:
- 60,000 Membership Reward Points after you spend $4,000 in 6 months
- Typically is 40,000 for $4,000 spend in 3 months
- 60,000 MR points are conservatively worth at least $1,100
Other features that make the AmEx Gold card not only worth getting, but keeping long term are:
- $120 Dining Credit ($10/month) at Grubhub, Seamless, The Cheesecake Factory, Ruth’s Chris Steak House, Boxed, and participating Shake Shack locations.
- $120 Uber Cash ($10/month) available for Uber Eats or Uber rides in the U.S. This is coming in early 2021
- $100 Airline Fee credit for 2020 and 2021. This will not be available starting in 2022, as it is being replaced by the $120 Uber Cash benefit.
- 12 Complimentary months of Uber East Pass (valued at $119) – must enroll by 12/31/2021.
- 4x MR points at U.S. Supermarkets, up to $25,000 per calendar year
- 4x MR points on Restaurants including takeout and delivery worldwide
- 3x MR points on flights booked directly with the airlines or on amextravel.com
- No Foreign transaction fees
- Lucrative AmEx Offers
All of the above is available for an annual fee of $250. If you get it now, you could earn the following by 12/31/2021:
- 60,000 MR points sign up bonus
- $130 in Dining Credits (Dec 2020 to Dec 2021)
- $120 in Uber Cash
- $200 Airline Fee credits ($100 in 2020, $100 in 2021)
- 50,000 MR points if you spend a little over $1,000 / month at grocery stores
- 20,000 MR points if you spend around $100/week on Dining and takeout
So, that is $450 + 130,000 MR points (valued around $2,400) for an annual fee of $250. I would totally get this card if I didn’t already have it.
NOTE: If you apply for the American Express Gold card, DO NOT BUY gift cards, including this deal, to meet the Sign Up Bonus requirement – it may lead to disqualification of the Sign Up Bonus.