Best credit card for generic hotels?

[Physh1]

So my landlord also owns a hotel...he has offered myself, & other tenants, to pay for rent with a card. What card would offer the best rewards for a generic unbooked hotel charge?  He would charge me an extra 3% so I'm not really interested but it peaked my curiousity.

Thanks...

[Anonymous]

Off hand I cannot think of a card that would pay more than the 3% fee back to you.  

Only thing I can think of would be if you were looking for spend for a card with a big sign up bonus. Would he accept any credit card?  

Amex business cards can have subs with high minimum spend but you need to make sure you would use the points for travel not .6 cents cash.

Edit: How would the transaction get coded?  

Not sure whether there is a level 3 data code for rent but if so might not go over well with card issuer.

[wasCB14]

CSR is an option

$450 AF, $300 travel credit

A broad definition of travel and dining (but hard to say how that particular hotel's miscellaneous charge category will code)

3x URs, and each UR is worth 1.5 cents when redeemed through Chase travel (which uses the Expedia search engine with generally competitive pricing).

[Physh1]

I'm not sure how it codes....I'm waiting for an answer from him if he knows. I cannot get thge CSR...I'm a few months away from hitting 5/24 & 8 months away from being under 5/24.

I do have the Amex EDP, Platinum & Gold, Marriot Bonvoy/SPG, etc...I can see getting 2 points per $ on a few cards but nothing really worth the extra $43.50 my rent will cost via CC.

[longtimelurker]

Off topic, but talking of fees.   My daughter just paid her first COBRA payment, about $440.   If you use a credit card, there is a $50 surcharge.   Don't think there is a good card to use at that rate!

[NRB525]

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@Physh1 wrote:

I'm not sure how it codes....I'm waiting for an answer from him if he knows. I cannot get thge CSR...I'm a few months away from hitting 5/24 & 8 months away from being under 5/24.

I do have the Amex EDP, Platinum & Gold, Marriot Bonvoy/SPG, etc...I can see getting 2 points per $ on a few cards but nothing really worth the extra $43.50 my rent will cost via CC.

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Do you have anything besides AMEX?  Capital One? US Bank?

[Physh1]

USBank Cash+

Cap1 Quicksilver

Chase Amazon

Chase Brittish Airways

BofA Alaska

Citi AA

Citi Costco

Barclay Uber

Barclay Hawaiian

Discover IT Cash

PenFed PowerCash

[NRB525]

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@Physh1 wrote:

USBank Cash+

Cap1 Quicksilver

Chase Amazon

Chase Brittish Airways

BofA Alaska

Citi AA

Citi Costco

Barclay Uber

Barclay Hawaiian

Discover IT Cash

PenFed PowerCash

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Nice set of cards.

I would take the Cash+, and pay a month of rent through this hotel program. The reason being, you can check on the US Bank website, for your transaction history to find out what the Merchant Code is, after the transaction posts.

If it codes as "Hotel" or some similar description ( you have to look up the merchant MCC codes on line to see ) then the next thing to consider is whether you can get the US Bank Altitude Reserve. This gives you 3 points on travel and mobile wallet ( Apple Pay or Android pay for example ) and also builds up those points for redemption at 1.5c per point. So it is a 4.5% earn rate. If it really codes as Hotel, then you will build up lots of points, and because your rent is probably something more than $500 per month, at some point you will have enough points to trigger the Hotel Real Time Redemption, and can use the points as part of the payment of your Altitude Reserve balance.

You will also net 1.5% on a large share of your spend budget. That's why it is valuable to at least check now, with the Cash+ card, to see how this codes.