Question for the Credit Card Point/Miles Hackers

[Anonymous]

With so many vendors now surcharging 2-3% for payments with a credit card, is it still worth paying the surcharge to collect the points and then transfer them to airline miles?
I know the answer isn't straight forward but would love to hear different perspectives.
Thanks

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:With so many vendors now surcharging 2-3% for payments with a credit card, is it still worth paying the surcharge to collect the points and then transfer them to airline miles?
I know the answer isn't straight forward but would love to hear different perspectives.
Thanks

Yes if working on a bonus. Which is the basic way to build up a big points stash unless you travel a lot for work, or have a business that you can put a lot of spending on cards.

[Anonymous]

Most vendors still don't charge the fee. But when they do, I pay cash if I have it. If I am working on a bonus and need that spend, then i charge it and pay the fees.

[Anonymous]

Like who? I think we only pay a fee to pay our taxes with CC.

And like a PP said, it would never make sense to pay the fee just for regular points/miles. Only if working on a signup bonus, and even then it would really depend.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Like who? I think we only pay a fee to pay our taxes with CC.

And like a PP said, it would never make sense to pay the fee just for regular points/miles. Only if working on a signup bonus, and even then it would really depend.

Most bonuses return around 10-20% back in value. Unless the fee is exorbitant it is always worth it if helping to hit a bonus.

[Anonymous]

Agree-do it only if you are working to meeting a bonus.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Like who? I think we only pay a fee to pay our taxes with CC.

And like a PP said, it would never make sense to pay the fee just for regular points/miles. Only if working on a signup bonus, and even then it would really depend.

Most bonuses return around 10-20% back in value. Unless the fee is exorbitant it is always worth it if helping to hit a bonus.

PP here. We can meet the bonuses without all of our spend, so if we can avoid paying CC usage fees, we do. We can't open cards as fast as we can meet the spend, which is why I qualified my answer. I understand that mathematically the bonus is worth more than 2-3%.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Like who? I think we only pay a fee to pay our taxes with CC.

And like a PP said, it would never make sense to pay the fee just for regular points/miles. Only if working on a signup bonus, and even then it would really depend.

Most bonuses return around 10-20% back in value. Unless the fee is exorbitant it is always worth it if helping to hit a bonus.

PP here. We can meet the bonuses without all of our spend, so if we can avoid paying CC usage fees, we do. We can't open cards as fast as we can meet the spend, which is why I qualified my answer. I understand that mathematically the bonus is worth more than 2-3%.

It's possible the ongoing spend would outweigh the cost but it would be highly dependent on the redemption value you get. Domestic flights? Not worth it. First class on ANA/Etihad etc worth it. You'd probably need to sit down and do that math. Do you have the ability to move to vendors who do not have a surcharge?

[Anonymous]

I don't find that a lot of places have the surcharge. If they do I don't use a credit card, but then, I've never had any issue hitting SUBs with my usual spending. And we are NOT that heavy of spenders. The best sign up bonuses I've come across are usually along the lines of spend $4,000 in 3 months. We (easily) meet that with just our gas and groceries.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't find that a lot of places have the surcharge. If they do I don't use a credit card, but then, I've never had any issue hitting SUBs with my usual spending. And we are NOT that heavy of spenders. The best sign up bonuses I've come across are usually along the lines of spend $4,000 in 3 months. We (easily) meet that with just our gas and groceries.

Exactly. An Ink is $6k in 3 months which is still doable. The only ones I've seen with large spends are Amex Gold/Plat and VentureX.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Like who? I think we only pay a fee to pay our taxes with CC.

And like a PP said, it would never make sense to pay the fee just for regular points/miles. Only if working on a signup bonus, and even then it would really depend.

Most bonuses return around 10-20% back in value. Unless the fee is exorbitant it is always worth it if helping to hit a bonus.

Sunbright Windows charges an extra 3% to pay by credit card which is not insignificant on a $17000 window installation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Like who? I think we only pay a fee to pay our taxes with CC.

And like a PP said, it would never make sense to pay the fee just for regular points/miles. Only if working on a signup bonus, and even then it would really depend.

Most bonuses return around 10-20% back in value. Unless the fee is exorbitant it is always worth it if helping to hit a bonus.

Sunbright Windows charges an extra 3% to pay by credit card which is not insignificant on a $17000 window installation.

Right, but totally worth it if it gets you most of the way to the $20k spending requirement on say a 250k Amex points bonus. Those are worth minimum $2500, so easily worth paying $500 in credit card transaction fee to get you almost there. But again, if only earning 1.5 or 2% cash back for unbonused spending, definitely not worth it.

[Anonymous]

I don’t know if there is a “right” answer. Most vendors I deal with don’t charge a cc surcharge. If they do, I consider a few things
-total price
-do I need/want the cc protection
-total point value after the fact

Someone posted a while back about getting a new roof or something; $20k, vendor charges 3% to use cc. When dealing with a contractor and for such a large job, I’d ABSOLUTELY want the cc protection. 3% is $600, not a small chunk of change. But I’m already paying $20k, and I know if the contractor runs off with my deposit/payment/doesn’t finish/etc I’ll have recourse.

If it were ME spending the $20k, I’d probably look at opening a new credit card and use the $20k towards the sign up bonus (most cards have a minimum spend within the first 3-6mons to get the extra bonus points), in which case the $600 would likely be paying for itself with the bonus sign up points. One of my friends is planning her wedding and I told her to do this - open a new travel type credit card, put all your expenses in there, by the end of the wedding you’ll have enough points for some free tix for your honeymoon.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Like who? I think we only pay a fee to pay our taxes with CC.

And like a PP said, it would never make sense to pay the fee just for regular points/miles. Only if working on a signup bonus, and even then it would really depend.

Most bonuses return around 10-20% back in value. Unless the fee is exorbitant it is always worth it if helping to hit a bonus.

Sunbright Windows charges an extra 3% to pay by credit card which is not insignificant on a $17000 window installation.

Right, but totally worth it if it gets you most of the way to the $20k spending requirement on say a 250k Amex points bonus. Those are worth minimum $2500, so easily worth paying $500 in credit card transaction fee to get you almost there. But again, if only earning 1.5 or 2% cash back for unbonused spending, definitely not worth it.

What are these cards with a 250,000 pt signup bonus? I’m only seeing ones with maximum 150,000 but big annual fees up to $600.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Like who? I think we only pay a fee to pay our taxes with CC.

And like a PP said, it would never make sense to pay the fee just for regular points/miles. Only if working on a signup bonus, and even then it would really depend.

Most bonuses return around 10-20% back in value. Unless the fee is exorbitant it is always worth it if helping to hit a bonus.

Sunbright Windows charges an extra 3% to pay by credit card which is not insignificant on a $17000 window installation.

Right, but totally worth it if it gets you most of the way to the $20k spending requirement on say a 250k Amex points bonus. Those are worth minimum $2500, so easily worth paying $500 in credit card transaction fee to get you almost there. But again, if only earning 1.5 or 2% cash back for unbonused spending, definitely not worth it.

What are these cards with a 250,000 pt signup bonus? I’m only seeing ones with maximum 150,000 but big annual fees up to $600.

https://upgradedpoints.com/news/amex-business-platinum-card-250k-bonus/