YMMV Targeted: Amazon Auto-Reload Rewards: $10 bonus + 1% bonus [Debit Cards only]

Please note this is a YMMV promotion. Amazon has been running multiple of these promotions the last few weeks, but each time, only a percentage of their customers are eligible. As fate would have it, I am finally eligible for one of these, so I can tell you what happens.

You find out if you are eligible if you are logged on to your Amazon account and visit the Auto Reload Rewards page. If you are eligible, you will see the promotion mentioned below.

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Below is an annotated screenshot crop with the important parts highlighted:

Strategy Session
When buying physical goods at Amazon, and you don’t use the 1-Click checkout, you can select the payment method in your shopping cart. If you have a gift card balance, it defaults as the payment method, but you can adjust it in the shopping cart, and pay with a credit card or any other available payment method.

However, when you are making digital purchases (ebooks, video, mp3, etc), you don’t have fine-tuned control of the payment method. If you have a promotional balance (eg Prime member slow-shipping credits), their system will use those first. Then it will use gift card balances, and then use your default credit/debit card payment method.

So if you want to get the initial $10 bonus and only make one $50+ debit card load, you have to do some math to pre-plan your purchases. You can also purchase other gift cards and load them up to your account if you are worried your balance will drop and trigger additional reloads.

Not Eligible? Not Logged In? – Here’s what you’ll see
If you are not eligible, you will see this message:

If you are not logged on to an Amazon account, you will see this message: