Paying rent with card every month for points

[hrdsurfer]

My landlord takes credit cards for rent payments for a 3% fee. I was thinking about using my VX card to make the payments every month. Obviously if my goal was normal cash back, this would be a terrible idea, but if I were saving for an aspirational trip abroad this would make more sense, right? If I got 50k points by using my card on rent for the year, and was able to get a first class ticket, certainly I would come out ahead, or is there something I'm missing? The only thing I can think is that I would have to take the hit on an extra $80/mo for card fees.

[FireMedic1]

$80???????? Most are 3-4%. Anyways.

https://creditcards.wellsfargo.com/bilt-rewards-credit-card/?sub_channel=SEO&vendor_code=G 

[coldfusion]

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@FireMedic1 wrote:

$80???????? Most are 3-4%. Anyways.

https://creditcards.wellsfargo.com/bilt-rewards-credit-card/?sub_channel=SEO&vendor_code=G 

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$80 works out to approx. $2700/month rent, definitely not out of the ordinary in a number of metro areas including Boston.

More to the point though, OP should establish the valuation of points when it comes to the specific airline, route, and seat type/fare class before moving forward.  There can be a big difference in valuation between an international flight in business class vs. domestic economy.

[FireMedic1]

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@coldfusion wrote:

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@FireMedic1 wrote:

$80???????? Most are 3-4%. Anyways.

https://creditcards.wellsfargo.com/bilt-rewards-credit-card/?sub_channel=SEO&vendor_code=G 

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$80 works out to approx. $2700/month rent, definitely not out of the ordinary in a number of metro areas including Boston.

More to the point though, OP should establish the valuation of points when it comes to the specific airline, route, and seat type/fare class before moving forward.  There can be a big difference in valuation between an international flight in business class vs. domestic economy.

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@coldfusionWhoa. Cant imagine.  Nothing like that around these parts. Insane.

[Anonymous]

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@FireMedic1 wrote:

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@coldfusion wrote:

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@FireMedic1 wrote:

$80???????? Most are 3-4%. Anyways.

https://creditcards.wellsfargo.com/bilt-rewards-credit-card/?sub_channel=SEO&vendor_code=G 

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$80 works out to approx. $2700/month rent, definitely not out of the ordinary in a number of metro areas including Boston.

More to the point though, OP should establish the valuation of points when it comes to the specific airline, route, and seat type/fare class before moving forward.  There can be a big difference in valuation between an international flight in business class vs. domestic economy.

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@coldfusionWhoa. Cant imagine.  Nothing like that around these parts. Insane.

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And then there's the Bay area on the other coast...

[CaptJOB]

I'd say consider the Bilt card mentioned upthread. Very worth it to save $960 in fees a year to get >30k points just for rent. In conjunction with regular bonus categories and rent day it's a very lucrative card. Lots of people getting this card according to the Approvals forum.

[hrdsurfer]

That's about right on rent, lol. And yeah, I've mainly been looking at redemption values ok international business and first. I know domestic redemptions suck. I don't really want to redeem my points for sitting I could buy myself. Would much rather spend them on something that would normally be out of my budget, like first class international. 

Depending on the destination I could easily make up the cost of using the card. I'll probably go ahead and do it this month, and do more research to make sure there's nothing in missing. Worst case scenario it's a $80 mistake.

@CaptJOB thanks for the suggestion. I've looked into it, a small bit, but I think the venture x is a better fit for me right now. On top of that my SO and I signed a contract on a house, so hopefully rent won't be an issue once the house is built 

[wingennis]

I do exactly this.  During the first year of the panemic, my apartment managers didn't charge a fee so I put rent on an Amex.  Once they started charging 2% again, I moved it to my Venture X.  It does cost me a little each month but at the very least, it is a wash if I value my miles at 1 cent each.  I don't though.  I have had very good luck getting outsized redemption value by transferring.  I guess it is a bit like gambling.  I pretend it is extra money I am putting in "savings" each month I might spend on something else.  Just got back from Europe recently to it was worth it to me.

[hrdsurfer]

I had the exact same thought. Looking at the extra money each month like an investment. I'll spend the extra $80 now, and hopefully get much more value from it down the line 

[xenon3030]

Accumulating good amount of points or cashbacks on high monthly payments on rent and HOA can be feasible, depending also the way that the payment codes. Previously, PPK was quite helpful. If the PP payment method is included in the rent website (it would be rare), you might be able to get 5% from rotating categories for one quarter. Another way is using PP to pay bills but I am not sure how the fees would get calculated and it is less likely that small renting or HOA companies can be found in the list that PP covers.

It would be good if paying these fees can be feasible with digital wallet anytime soon (e.g. samsung pay). In that case, some prime cards like US Bank Altitude Reserve with high AF would become very handy and nice to have in the wallet.