Paying Big Stuff on AGR MC

[VentureForth]

Anyone have huge payments automated through AGR MC?

I'm thinking that I could set up my mortgage to he paid through AGR MC, then set my payment to AGR the next day. Biggest draw back I see is that it would likely be considered a cash advance, adding fees and interest. However, I wouldn't have to worry about interest if posts immediately, and I figure that cash fees would be a cheap way to buy points...

Any thought?

 

[MrFSS]

Anyone have huge payments automated through AGR MC?

I'm thinking that I could set up my mortgage to he paid through AGR MC, then set my payment to AGR the next day. Biggest draw back I see is that it would likely be considered a cash advance, adding fees and interest. However, I wouldn't have to worry about interest if posts immediately, and I figure that cash fees would be a cheap way to buy points...

Any thought?

Would your mortgage company accept MC for payments? They have to pay a fee, too, so maybe they wouldn't want to do it.

I have heard of people trying to buy a car with a credit card and the dealer wouldn't take it for that exact reason.

 

[the_traveler]

I tried to buy a car (full cash paid off) with my AGR MC, thinking I could get mucho points, but I could only charge $5,000 on it!

I don't know if it was just that one dealer or not.

 

[jb64]

And if it is a cash advance, you won't get any points. I believe you only earn points on purchases, not cash advances. Definitely not worth it.

 

[fairviewroad]

Well, you could always try it once to see if it works. If not, you're out a few bucks in charges, no biggie.

I tried to buy a car (full cash paid off) with my AGR MC, thinking I could get mucho points, but I could only charge $5,000 on it!

I don't know if it was just that one dealer or not.

Are you sure that that wasn't related to your credit limit? You may have run into the $5000 ceiling no matter what you were buying.

 

[Bob Dylan]

I dont have a Mortgage but I pay my Rent each month with my AGR MC and receive the Points! I also pay my Car Insurance and Health Insurance Premiums with it and almost everything I can use a Credit Card for also! As has been said No Cash Advances, but that's what Debit Cards are for, no-one should use Credit Cards for Cash Advances even if you intend to pay it off Monthly since youll be charged "Fees" and wont get any Points ! Id suggest you call your Mortgage Company and Chase and ask?? :unsure:

As Dave mentioned, some places wont accept Large Amount charges on Credit cards due to "fees" but I know that the "Charge Cards" (ie American Express)can be used to charge almost anything and with the Black Card there is No Limit, Ive heard of people buying Houses and Exotic Cars with them!

 

[Devil's Advocate]

Anyone have huge payments automated through AGR MC? I'm thinking that I could set up my mortgage to he paid through AGR MC, then set my payment to AGR the next day. Biggest draw back I see is that it would likely be considered a cash advance, adding fees and interest. However, I wouldn't have to worry about interest if posts immediately, and I figure that cash fees would be a cheap way to buy points...Any thought?

Points are not actually free. They are paid for by behind-the-scenes rates and fees charged to the sellers and servicers of your purchases. That is why sellers and lenders involved in large purchases do not allow credit cards for more than a fraction of the total payment. Nobody wants to **** away 2-5% of their margin to a credit card processor. Some businesses, like supermarkets and department stores, simply pass along the charge in higher prices. Others, such as car dealers and mortgage companies either restrict or simply refuse to accept premium/kickback credit cards in lieu of lower cost methods such as conventional ACH transactions.

The one and only time it makes sense to pay any sort of credit card surcharge for points is during the initial minimum spend stage in order to unlock a large sign-up bonus. There is never a situation where it makes financial sense to perform any sort of cash advance for points. Cash advances do not have grace periods and interest will be charged from the moment the advance is completed. Even if you pay it off immediately there will be a retroactive charge on your account for the time when the cash advance was active. Cash advances probably won't qualify for points accrual anyway, and even if they did the value vs. cost is completely upside down.

 

[VentureForth]

I understand what you all are saying. As for paying as a cash advance, the theory is this: Let's just say $1000 to make it easy. I pay my mortgage on the 1st of the month using the AGR account. How? Great question. If I could pay it like I pay utilities with a credit card, that'd be awesome, but I don't think my bank will allow that. So, the alternative is to get "cash advance" checks. These provide a routing number and an account number directly tied to your line of credit. However, I believe it would be treated as a cash advance. What is the cost? For a $1000 payment, that would cost $30 for the cash advance fee. IF I have a direct payment made to Chase the day after the mortgage payment, there would be no interest. So, if I did get points for this transaction, I would essentially be buying 1000 points for $30.

Now, with Jim Hudson being able to pay rent with a credit card, man wouldn't it be nice to pay a mortgage the same way???

But, to Texas Sunset's point, if I were to wait for the billing cycle, and if I don't get the points anyway, then of course, it would be pretty dumb.

 

[PRR 60]

Cash advances do not earn points. From the Chase T&C's:

You do not earn points on balance transfers, cash advances, cash-like charges such as travelers checks, foreign currency, and money orders, any checks that are used to access your account, overdraft advances, interest, unauthorized or fraudulent charges, or fees of any kind, including fees for products that protect or insure the balances of your account.

 

[VentureForth]

OK - so I get that. Does the use of a routing number and account number automatically mean that you are taking out a cash advance?

 

[amamba]

If you find a mortgage processor that will take credit cards, let me know. But most don't do them, because like Texas Sunset says, the person who takes the card generally pays a fee.

 

[VentureForth]

What other large bills could be paid with a credit card? My cell phone, my electric bill, my water... None of my credit cards - that's a given. That's a few hundred points every month anyway...

 

[Devil's Advocate]

OK - so I get that. Does the use of a routing number and account number automatically mean that you are taking out a cash advance?

Any time you're not swiping a card or entering the CCV you're no longer making a standard rate charge. There are some situations where you can supposedly receive a cash advance for "free" but if you read the fine print it's still a bad deal for all but the worst financial emergencies. I honestly cannot fathom when a cash advance would make any sense for most people. Even in the case I listed above, specifically the part about agreeing to pay a surcharge to unlock a sign-up bonus, should only be used if there is no other way for you to clear the minimum spend before the bonus expiration window has ended. There are all sorts of methods for earning points, but none that I'm familiar with involve cash advances of any kind. At least not since the US Mint stopped allowing you to churn tens-of-thousands of dollars as conventional credit purchases by mail. I'll never understand why they ever allowed that.

 

[amamba]

What other large bills could be paid with a credit card? My cell phone, my electric bill, my water... None of my credit cards - that's a given. That's a few hundred points every month anyway...

Cable tv! My verizon fios bill is like $150/month and I pay that on my AGR card. Also:

• EZ Pass tolls
  
• Natural gas (for heat/hot water/stove)
  
• Oil (if you have that for heat)
  
• Gym membership ($86!)
  

 

[VentureForth]

I'm going to have to sell my house and move my family to an apartment where we can pay rent on my AGR. And electric/heat/water/gas/cable/phone/cell ALL on my AGR!! Mwaa ha hah!!

OK.... I'll stick with little incidental purchases so my wife doesn't go bezerk.

 

[Ispolkom]

Cable tv! My verizon fios bill is like $150/month and I pay that on my AGR card. Also:

• EZ Pass tolls
  
• Natural gas (for heat/hot water/stove)
  
• Oil (if you have that for heat)
  
• Gym membership ($86!)
  

It pays to look carefully at each bill, though. While I can pay for telephone, water and garbage pickup with a credit card without a fee, I'd have to pay a $4.95 fee to use a credit card on my gas/electric bill.

 

[Anderson]

I used to put my fuel oil bill on my card. That was an easy couple of thousand points per year until we were able to get things switched to natural gas.

As to paying for using the card, in general I would consider a charge of 2% to definitely be acceptable, and 3% to be "on the bubble" versus what I'd be paying for the tickets I redeem for.

 

[the_traveler]

When I had a UA credit card, I called Chase (I think) and raised my credit limit temporarily to pay an IRS pre-payment of $25K! However, because the IRS does not themselves pay the "processing fee" (like most stores do), I had to pay the 3.xx% fee - but for 25K miles it was worth it!

BTW - Those eventually became AGR points with the merger with CO!

 

[Ryan]

Bills I pay monthly on the AGR card:

Water (quarterly, $2.95 fee)

Cell Phone (AT&T)

TiVO

Verizon FiOS

Also, almost every bit of shopping that I do goes though the card. Gas, groceries, restaurants, shopping (online and in-store). Basically, if the merchant accepts a card, I'll use it!

I usually end up getting about 5,000 points per month, which really helps things out.

 

[pennyk]

In 2008, I paid a portion of my father's funeral (up to my credit limit) on my AGR card. I pay my monthly ATT home and business phone bills and my monthly office internet bills with my AGR card. I have State Farm Insurance and they will put my premiums on my AGR card. My health insurance company insists on taking the premiums right out of my checking account.

If I wanted to pay my condo monthly maintenance fee by credit card, I would have to pay a service charge, and I do not like service charges.

 

[benjibear]

Doctor and medical bills. With higher co-pays and deductables some could get alot of points.

Driver license and car renewals. Not much here in PA but it still is a few points.

Gift cards. You can buy these things everywhere for places that are not even around you. At my grocery store, they even have deals where you buy $50 and get a $10 off your next shopping order. You can give gift cards instead of giving cash. You can give gift cards to your kids to go shopping, dining, gas, etc. instead of cash. Ask the baby sitter, kid next door that cuts your grass, dog walker, etc. if they will take payment with a gift card.

Work expensis. You can pay with your credit card and then just get reimbursed for your expensis which you get the points.

 

[Devil's Advocate]

It pays to look carefully at each bill, though. While I can pay for telephone, water and garbage pickup with a credit card without a fee, I'd have to pay a $4.95 fee to use a credit card on my gas/electric bill.

The trick with flat rate fees is to pay several months worth of charges in advance, preferably as part of your minimum spend. If possible try to get the percentage of the credit processing fee down below 2% where you're at least nearing break-even territory. If you can get at or below 1.5% you're probably getting close to a net gain even without any signup bonus.

As to paying for using the card, in general I would consider a charge of 2% to definitely be acceptable, and 3% to be "on the bubble" versus what I'd be paying for the tickets I redeem for.

I'd be hard pressed to rate my favorite points (Chase Ultimate Rewards) above 2 cents per point. I don't know of any loyalty program that can come close to being worth a full three cents per point, and certainly not the recently diluted AGR program.

When I had a UA credit card, I called Chase (I think) and raised my credit limit temporarily to pay an IRS pre-payment of $25K! However, because the IRS does not themselves pay the "processing fee" (like most stores do), I had to pay the 3.xx% fee - but for 25K miles it was worth it!

Are you sure about that? If you were paying say, 3.3% for 25k airline miles, then it's not much different than spending $825 for a zero-earn discounted domestic flight. Add-in all the various restrictions and exceptions that come with a typical points redemption and I'd say that was a rather questionable wager.

If I wanted to pay my condo monthly maintenance fee by credit card, I would have to pay a service charge, and I do not like service charges.

Sorry to hear about your father. See my comment to Ispolkom above. Not sure it would work for you, but worth looking into in my view.

Doctor and medical bills. With higher co-pays and deductables some could get alot of points.

The level of complexity and obfuscation we're forced to deal with here in the most bloated and counterintuitive health care system the world has ever known is almost beyond my ability to comprehend it. When I did a little research and crunched some of the numbers I eventually discovered that I could actually save money by intentionally avoiding my health insurance plan for all but the most serious emergencies. It just boggles the mind why we continue to put up with this nonsense.

 

[DivMiler]

What other large bills could be paid with a credit card?

When my wife and I got replacement windows purchased and installed through Lowe's, I charged the whole thing (over $11,000) on my Starwood American Express card. Usually contractors (painters, roofers) don't take credit cards, but since this was through a store, they had to. It was the largest charge (by far) I've ever made at one time, but I was a pleased as punch at the time.

 

[JayPea]

I pay everything I can with my AGR credit card including:

Phone/internet/satellite TV bundle

electric (it does have a $4.25/mo fee for using a credit card, but to me it's worth it)

car/renters insurance

cell phone

gas/food/anything else that takes a MasterCard.

The only things I can't pay with the card are my rent and my car payment. Unfortunately, those are big bills. Ah,well. Some of my medical expenses, like prescriptions, I can pay with my card but others I can't.

 

[shelzp]

I run every monthly bill that I can through my credit card to keep my points balance up.

From a company's point of view...there is another reason they don't like to take credit cards and the problem is fraud. Obviously they are billed a percentage by the bank. But the biggest issue is chargebacks. Banks ALWAYS issue a chargeback to the merchant in favor of their card holding customer. I was in business for about 30 years and never won a challenge from MC, Visa or AmEx. (I didn't accept Discover because they have a whole extra level of fees.) For example a customer could sign for a UPS delivery but claim they never received the package and my company was charged the entire amount by the bank. I think fraud is why individual contractors (as well as car dealers) don't want to take credit cards. When you don't deal with it you aren't aware just how dishonest folks can be.