A Montreal law student figured out how to travel the world in high style without spending much money. His secret lies in the Canadian Mint.

“I get to fly first class, business class, for a couple of dollars sometimes. I stay in five-star hotels, sometimes for free, not even using points. I travel very well and get to treat my friends and family,” said Avery Campbell.

Here’s one way he did it: A few years ago, Campbell saw an ad that the Royal Canadian Mint was selling collectible coins.

They weren’t meant to be part of the money supply, but they are legal tender.

“A lightbulb clicked in my head, like, ‘Oh what an interesting idea,’” he said.

Campbell started buying up the coins, paying for them on his credit card, getting the reward points, and then immediately depositing them into his bank account.

It's known as manufacture and spend: using your credit card to buy something that is the equivalent of cash, and then liquidating the funds to pay back the credit card balance while earning cash back or points for these purchases.

“If you could do $2,500 a week in manufacture and spend, that leads to a free flight pretty darn quick,” said Campbell.

He won’t reveal the total value of coins he bought or points he earned, but it has certainly led to some perks.

“I travelled business first-class ticket probably once every two to three months, sometimes once a month, sometimes more,” he said.

It’s not illegal – but someone is paying for these points. In this case, the Royal Canadian Mint was paying a merchants’ fee to accept Campbell’s credit card, typically at a cost of 1 to 2 per cent of every sale. Through an Access to Information request, Camppell also discovered the Mint pays banks another 2 per cent to accept the coins. That all means that for every $10,000 worth of coins he bought, the Mint was charged $300 to $400.

Campbell said what he was doing isn’t immoral, he was merely finding a loophole.

“At the end of the day, where there is a loophole in a program, someone is going to take advantage of that loophole,” he said.

There's evidence others know about the same loophole. The Mint wouldn't reveal how many coins were returned, but did confirm that:

  • In 2013, 25 bank branches returned coins
  • In 2014, 35 bank branches returned coins
  • In 2015, 312 bank branches returned coins

Last January, the Mint shut down its face-value coin program.

That said, there is a large online community of people who find a multitude of other manufacture and spend setups.

Campbell said he's still enjoying the good life – mostly on points.

“There's nothing better than flying first class, being served caviar, going to a first class hotel and this only cost me $200,” he said.