Target hyped a Black Friday (actually Thursday) deal where they would both discount the iPad Air by $20 and give you a $100 gift card. That's for the 16 GB model. If you wanted the 32 GB or higher, there would be no $20 discount, but still the $100 gift card.
Anyway, they opened at 8pm. No way I was going to go there during that pandemonium, so instead I showed up at 1am, and they LOL'd me out of the store when I asked if there were any iPads left.
Undaunted, I went online and looked if there were any other deals. Staples has one for $449 ($50 off), but if you want anything over 16 GB, you get only a $20 discount.
I decided to approach it a different way. Sales tax is a significant factor if you live in a state that charges it. For example, on a $500 iPad, the sales tax will be $40 if your state/locality rate is 8%. So I decided to do a bit of research if any stores sell the iPad with no sales tax.
I found one:
http://www.powermax.com/ipad-air
No discount, but they ship for free and they don't charge sales tax to any of the 48 continental US states.
However, you can claim a $10 discount by using code BOLTBUCKS10.
The are an authorized Apple dealer.
For some reason you can't order online. You have to do it over the phone. Here's how:
1) Call them at 888-769-7629
2) Tell them you want to order the iPad Air (whatever GB you want)
3) Tell them you have promo code BOLTBUCKS10. You might want to "subscribe to their e-mail list" on their main page of http://powermax.com before calling (look toward the bottom right), because technically you have to be subscribed to get this discount. Just use any junk e-mail on Yahoo or whatever.
4) They will ship you the new iPad Air for $10 off plus zero tax and zero shipping.
So for example, someone in Las Vegas buying an iPad Air 32 GB from the Apple Store would be paying $599 + 8.1% sales tax, for a total of $647.51. Using Powermax, you would be getting it for $589.00, for a savings of almost $60. The next-best deal would be Staples, for $579 + 8.1% tax, for $625.90.
Definitely the way to go if you want to get a new iPad.