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Cons of paying rent through credit cards?

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Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Cons of paying rent through credit cards?


@Anonymous wrote:
I thought about paying rent with my CC. Butt I'd rather give the money up front then let it sit on my card and mess with my utilization. I can pay online too which is so convenient.

If trying to meet bonus spend it's great. If you're just doing it to earn a negligible amount of rewards then not so great.

Message 31 of 43
yfan
Valued Contributor

Re: Cons of paying rent through credit cards?


@juggar wrote:

Lol wow, how did you not understand that? 

 

His thought on Flexible spending cards was quite valid. 


I didn't say it wasn't valid. I wanted him to explain what he meant. I wasn't aware that either (a) WMC or WEMC are flexible spending cards or (b) that the Arrival+ is in all cases a WEMC or WMC, seeing as how I don't have one. Anytime someone asks a question isn't a challenge, and anytime someone asks for a clarification is not an opportunity to ridicule them.

Message 32 of 43
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Cons of paying rent through credit cards?

Speaking of Flexible spending...My new US Airways card is WMC indeed!

Message 33 of 43
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Cons of paying rent through credit cards?


@Anonymous wrote:

Speaking of Flexible spending...My new US Airways card is WMC indeed!


Nixon,agreed..  Mortgage, rent, taxes are the quickest way to meet spending threshold.  I never let a small fee deter me knowing how i will be getting back.  Also, those type of spending help lenders give you bigger CLIs.

Message 34 of 43
IWOL
Established Contributor

Re: Cons of paying rent through credit cards?


@slvrhwk wrote:

Hi guys,

 

I just found out yesterday that my apartment complex accepts credit card payment for rent with a $30.95 convenience fee. My rent, including water and utilities, comes to around $2450. I can pay that through my Barclaycard Arrival+ and get ~$50 in reward miles, still making ~$20 after the convenience fee.

2 questions

1. My arrival CL is $2500. Will it matter if I use it to pay rent and close to max my limit? Will Barclays look at it and see it as a warning signal? I intend to pay it off immediately. I want to use it just for the 2x reward and card utilization.

2. Will paying rent through credit card affect my credit in any way? I plan to buy a house next year. Will lenders look at my report and go, why did he need to use credit card to pay rent?


 

OP....you could squeeze a few more points out of paying your rent by purchasing AMEX gift cards through a portal and then using the AMEX gift cards to pay the rent. Not sure if your Landlord takes AMEX for payment.

 

If you fly domestically you could get 2 extra points per $1 from Virgin America when buying Amex gift cards through the Elevate Portal.

 

So basically......the purchase of the $2500 AMEX gift card will get you 5000 Elevate Points worth $100.....plus you would get the 2X on the Arrival for buying the gift card.

 

So total back would be $150 value minus the cost of gift card and shipping which is about $12 minus the $31 fee. Net rewards would be $117.

 

I do this every year when paying my property tax, although the rewards on Amex gift cards does fluctuate.


Message 35 of 43
juggar
Contributor

Re: Cons of paying rent through credit cards?


@yfan wrote:

@juggar wrote:

Lol wow, how did you not understand that? 

 

His thought on Flexible spending cards was quite valid. 


I didn't say it wasn't valid. I wanted him to explain what he meant. I wasn't aware that either (a) WMC or WEMC are flexible spending cards or (b) that the Arrival+ is in all cases a WEMC or WMC, seeing as how I don't have one. Anytime someone asks a question isn't a challenge, and anytime someone asks for a clarification is not an opportunity to ridicule them.


Yeah ok... whatever.

Implying this isnt a snide remark: "Not sure what that has to do with anything here, but okay."

 

 

Amex Green, Chase Freedom(7.5K), Nationwide Visa Signature(6K), Chase Sapphire Preferred(6k), Cap One VentureOne visa signature (5K) BoA Cash Rewards siggy (5K), BoA travel rewards visa siggy(5K) PayPal Extras Mastercard(5K), Capital One QuickSilver(2.25K) Newegg Preferred Account(2K), Citi Forward(3.4K), Dell Account(2K) Discover IT(2.4K), Chase Slate (1.5K) Citi Diamond Preferred ($800), BestBuy Mastercard ($1500),Bill-Me-Later(1.2K), ,Barclay Mastercard(2K). TigerDirect TigerPay(3.15K), Wal-mart credit card(3.9K), Amazon store card (2K)

equifax - 720, TU - 747, Exp - 734 - report date 11/24/2014
15+ inqs...
Message 36 of 43
longtimelurker
Epic Contributor

Re: Cons of paying rent through credit cards?


@Anonymous wrote:

@Anonymous wrote:
I thought about paying rent with my CC. Butt I'd rather give the money up front then let it sit on my card and mess with my utilization. I can pay online too which is so convenient.

If trying to meet bonus spend it's great. If you're just doing it to earn a negligible amount of rewards then not so great.


Depends, right.  OP is making $20 a month, so in 5 months he has $100.  And people seem perfectly wiling to wait much more than 5 months for the Freedom bonus to go from $100 to $200.   So same call of "free money".    And paying with cc is pretty painless, compared to using things like bluebird/redbird (though those earn more)

And as for utilization, if you are not apping, doesn't really matter that month....

Message 37 of 43
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Cons of paying rent through credit cards?


@IWOL wrote:

@slvrhwk wrote:

Hi guys,

 

I just found out yesterday that my apartment complex accepts credit card payment for rent with a $30.95 convenience fee. My rent, including water and utilities, comes to around $2450. I can pay that through my Barclaycard Arrival+ and get ~$50 in reward miles, still making ~$20 after the convenience fee.

2 questions

1. My arrival CL is $2500. Will it matter if I use it to pay rent and close to max my limit? Will Barclays look at it and see it as a warning signal? I intend to pay it off immediately. I want to use it just for the 2x reward and card utilization.

2. Will paying rent through credit card affect my credit in any way? I plan to buy a house next year. Will lenders look at my report and go, why did he need to use credit card to pay rent?


 

OP....you could squeeze a few more points out of paying your rent by purchasing AMEX gift cards through a portal and then using the AMEX gift cards to pay the rent. Not sure if your Landlord takes AMEX for payment.

 

If you fly domestically you could get 2 extra points per $1 from Virgin America when buying Amex gift cards through the Elevate Portal.

 

So basically......the purchase of the $2500 AMEX gift card will get you 5000 Elevate Points worth $100.....plus you would get the 2X on the Arrival for buying the gift card.

 

So total back would be $150 value minus the cost of gift card and shipping which is about $12 minus the $31 fee. Net rewards would be $117.

 

I do this every year when paying my property tax, although the rewards on Amex gift cards does fluctuate.


Very Nice! I'm glad someone did the math on potential rewards here.

Message 38 of 43
yfan
Valued Contributor

Re: Cons of paying rent through credit cards?


@juggar wrote:

Yeah ok... whatever.

Implying this isnt a snide remark: "Not sure what that has to do with anything here, but okay."


I'm not implying it. I'm saying it. It wasn't a snide remark. It was a remark stating that I was at a loss as to the link between this conversation and flexible spending, and said link turned out to be that Arrival+ cards are WMC/WEMC and that WMC/WEMC cards are generally flexible spend cards.

Message 39 of 43
longtimelurker
Epic Contributor

Re: Cons of paying rent through credit cards?


@IWOL wrote:

@slvrhwk wrote:

Hi guys,

 

I just found out yesterday that my apartment complex accepts credit card payment for rent with a $30.95 convenience fee. My rent, including water and utilities, comes to around $2450. I can pay that through my Barclaycard Arrival+ and get ~$50 in reward miles, still making ~$20 after the convenience fee.

2 questions

1. My arrival CL is $2500. Will it matter if I use it to pay rent and close to max my limit? Will Barclays look at it and see it as a warning signal? I intend to pay it off immediately. I want to use it just for the 2x reward and card utilization.

2. Will paying rent through credit card affect my credit in any way? I plan to buy a house next year. Will lenders look at my report and go, why did he need to use credit card to pay rent?


 

OP....you could squeeze a few more points out of paying your rent by purchasing AMEX gift cards through a portal and then using the AMEX gift cards to pay the rent. Not sure if your Landlord takes AMEX for payment.

 

If you fly domestically you could get 2 extra points per $1 from Virgin America when buying Amex gift cards through the Elevate Portal.

 

So basically......the purchase of the $2500 AMEX gift card will get you 5000 Elevate Points worth $100.....plus you would get the 2X on the Arrival for buying the gift card.

 

So total back would be $150 value minus the cost of gift card and shipping which is about $12 minus the $31 fee. Net rewards would be $117.

 

I do this every year when paying my property tax, although the rewards on Amex gift cards does fluctuate.


Well, if you are doing this regularly (and this is what I mean by a bit more work).

 

 

 

 Load the Amex card  to Redbird at Target

 Withdraw money to bank account

Pay rent as usual.

 

This saves the convenience fee and the need for the landlord to take Amex.   You can also use portals like TopCashBack or BeFrugal, to get between 1.5 and 2.5% from them (+ the 2% from Arrival)

Message 40 of 43
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