Shops with high spend

January 01, 2026 06:21AM

If some day, I need to spend much money to get a credit card signup bonus in a few months, what mystery shops require expenses of more than $1000?
I saw a casino shop with 2 hotel nights, casino games and food, and it requires $2100 expenses. I'm not a casino player, do I need to be an experimented casino player to do this kind of shop? I played black jack a few times more than 10 years ago.
The highest expenses I had was with an entertainment park, I spent around $250 and fortunately, I made no mistake and I was refunded.
The maximum money I "lost" was $64 for a minigolf. It's really rare that I don't get refunded, but it happened.

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January 01, 2026 12:19PM

I don't rely upon mystery shopping for those types expenditures. Pay your car insurance up front to receive a big discount and/or move all of your utilities to the new card to meet the minimum. You could also pick up a few steakhouse shops or hotels.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/01/2026 12:19PM by gigishopper.

January 01, 2026 12:53PM

I'm with Gigi. Why spend on stuff you don't need when there are plenty of necessary purchases that can meet the spend requirement? I'm going to remember the car insurance idea for the next CC bonus. Thanks, G!

January 01, 2026 02:04PM

I pay my home owners insurance, car insurance, Disney Vacation Club dues, etc.. when I need a larger spend.
I've also estimated how much I'll spend at Whole Foods or Sam's Club and 'prepaid' for groceries/ gas by buying gift cards.

January 01, 2026 02:59PM

I suspect that you could get there with fine dining shops involving copious amounts of narrative but I also prefer using normal expenditures to do the heavy lifting. I am not a fan of the risk level involved with spending abnormally to complete shops.

January 01, 2026 03:25PM

Kepp in mind you can buy gift cards from Cardcash.com for many shops.

January 01, 2026 05:24PM

To those shoppers for whom multiple pics, little or no fee and reimbursements are required, keep the following in mind. You can complete the work as assigned and submit an outstanding report, BUT, if a single pic is missed or deemed unacceptable, you are, from an abbreviation of the past, SOL.

Last month, I completed a job where several pics, 10, were required. I did so for the reasons that I quite enjoy both flavored coffee & bitter chocolate and I was opening an account with a fee of $200 for another MSC in the small town. I missed A pic, which cost me a $15 fee + reimbursement. My tally for that work was negative $22. That was both my first and last such assignment.

January 01, 2026 06:19PM

What do you mean by "I was opening an account with a fee of $200 for another MSC"?
When I lost $64 for the mini-golf, it was a time where I was too self-confident, where it was a while since I lost money on a mystery shop.

January 01, 2026 07:43PM

Some hotel shops just reverse the charge, so the spending wouldn't count towards a card bonus.

January 01, 2026 08:10PM

miamiparis inquires--What do you mean by "I was opening an account with a fee of $200 for another MSC"?

Bob replies--I accepted a shop from an MSC to visit a bank for the purpose of opening a checking account; the fee was $200. As I would already be in that small town, I applied for the job requiring the 10 pics. Due to the work:pay ratio, I would normally not consider such work, BUT, the flavored coffee and bitter chocolate hooked me.

January 01, 2026 08:50PM

Thanks for explanation. I never saw a bank shop for $200. The highest I saw was $110 for a credit card opening.

January 01, 2026 09:04PM

I had a checking account opening in the late fall for $150... might have hit $200 if it sat there longer, but I was going to be in that area anyway and liked $150.

@miamiparis wrote:

Thanks for explanation. I never saw a bank shop for $200. The highest I saw was $110 for a credit card opening.

January 01, 2026 10:34PM

I pay my quarterly income taxes with CC to meet spend requirements....
might work if you are self employed

Life was passing like a hand waving from a train I wanted to be on

January 01, 2026 11:15PM

Over the yrs., I have received a few PMs requesting I not reveal excellent fee shops. As I enjoy being of assistance, I did not honor then, will not now and have no intention of doing so in the future.

In that the board prohibits naming both the MSC AND client, the MSC's name will be more helpful. The shops in question have, in the past 15+ yrs., been originally listed in Jan. @ $50. From that month, they wind through the year to 12/31. One shop 12/31/2024, paid me $225; another in 11/2025
paid $175. As Viv posted, you can wait, but it is a gamble.

I am guesstimating my shop and report time at 90 minutes. As to the drive, I picked up 3 other shops, with one disallowed and visited 2 suppliers for my store; all directly on my drive home. The MSC is Pinnacle, who employs Sassie.

January 01, 2026 11:36PM

Thank you, I registered but saw no shop in Florida. Maybe it will change later.

January 06, 2026 05:23PM

@miamiparis wrote:

Thanks for explanation. I never saw a bank shop for $200. The highest I saw was $110 for a credit card opening.

There is one company that will highly bonus opening shops. Their name starts with a P.

January 06, 2026 05:23PM

@joanna81 wrote:

@miamiparis wrote:

Thanks for explanation. I never saw a bank shop for $200. The highest I saw was $110 for a credit card opening.
There is one company that will highly bonus opening shops. Their name starts with a P.

^^My bad, I see ShopperBob already gave the name.

January 06, 2026 06:37PM

Is it the same as the one shopperbob talked about?

January 06, 2026 08:05PM

Yes. The scheduler is great to work with and I've never had to chase a payment.

@miamiparis wrote:

Is it the same as the one shopperbob talked about?

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