Problem :
You want to get those 100,000 points for a new credit card sign-up but the sign-up requires significant credit card spend in a “short” period of time. For example, the Enhanced Business Platinum® Card promotion or the expired Chase Sapphire Reserve deal.
Solution :
For a fee, use your credit card to pay bills that you regularly pay using cash, check or debit card.
Plastiq Payment System is a unique bill payment service that allows you to pay almost any bill using a credit card for a fee that does not exceed 2.5%. The options for payment are extensive and include many popular payment categories :
Tuition
Utilities (Electric, Water, Gas, Solar or Internet)
Auto Loans
Rent or Mortgage
HOA
Insurance
Taxes
Country Club
Contractors
Cellphone
and more!!!
Why Sign Up for a Credit Card Promotion?
These outlier promotions that award an extreme amount of points, for example 100,000 Membership Reward Points, have an huge value if used properly for premium travel. One example, 62,500 AMEX Membership Rewards can be transferred to FlyingBlue for an award ticket in business class to Europe. This is just one of many options. Is it always easy to find award availability? No. But, a “free” 100,000 points is still a “free” 100,000 points even if that requires a 2.5% surcharge to meet your spend requirement to get the bonus points.
What are the points worth? Currencies like Membership rewards are valued modestly at 1cent per point up to 2cents per point (100k = $1000 to $2000) but can sometimes be used to redeem awards up to 4-5cents per point. Yes, it’s best to achieve the spend without using a service like Plastiq, but that is often impossible for those that do not have large day to day or monthly credit card spend/purchases.
Other Benefits or Uses – Pay Rent with a Credit Card
Even if not an outlier promotion, like the ones discussed above, you sometimes need to achieve spend on a specific credit card to get a “waiver.” Delta allows one to receive a Delta spend waiver (MQD, Medallion Qualification Dollar waiver) by spending $25,000 per year on a qualifying Delta AMEX product.
Just the simple act of paying your rent automatically on a monthly basis using Plastiq Payment System can make reaching that $25,000 yearly goal a bit less stressful. These scenarios are becoming more prevalent as loyalty programs for airlines focus on your yearly spend as well as miles and segments flown.
Every year, the miles & points “game” becomes a little bit harder. Services like Plastiq represent a potential solution at a relatively low cost when you consider the potential benefits.
Michael resides in London and travels extensively as a British Airways Executive Club (BAEC) Gold member, after previously being a Delta Diamond Medallion in The Netherlands. Miles+Points airline/hotel loyalty programs and learning to optimize the use of loyalty programs are intense interests of Michael’s. In addition, Michael is passionate about casino loyalty programs, the history of Las Vegas/Atlantic City and baccarat, as well as cooking and also enjoying foodie experiences around the globe.
This is a really great option to know about! I’ve never heard of this kind of service before. Thank you for bringing it to my attention.
Yes. Many want to take part in a credit card promotion that requires $x spend over x days. But, without being able to pay major bills like mortgage or rent, they can not approach the spend in the time period. Since it’s at most a 2.5% surcharge you have to weigh the cost of the 2.5% versus the bonus. When the bonus is 100k points (for example) it almost always makes sense. Other options are paying or pre-paying taxes online which can be as low as 1.8%+/- using some online tax-paying services.