Paying Big Stuff on AGR MC

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Every charitable organization to which we contribute takes plastic now, so there's a nice point source. And check with your church too. Church contributions are fair game as well. We tack on a percentage though, so our church won't take a hit. on the other hand, ours is installing a "contribution kiosk" in the lobby, so they're willing to absorb any fees it seems.

This is a great thread with lots of suggestions for those of us "playing the game". Keep the ideas coming!
 
Oh I remembered something else I like to pay on my AGR card! My stupid car tax. Fun times in Rhode Island with that ridiculous tax. That does have a 3% fee but I am way too lazy to bring my payment over to city hall.
 
I pay for my medicine with my card. All $.34 and $.65 worth!
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(I have a great health insurance!
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)
 
Vet bills are always alot. And I pay for my daughter's tuition using the credit card. She goes to a private school. I was thrilled to hear I could charge it. That's a lot of points!

Question for you: I transfer $ to my credit card (Chase Saphire) as I spend it (unlimited transers). If I make a payment to my credit card while the transaction is pending will I still get points? does that make sense? So at times, it looks like I have a little credit on my account until the pending transaction is completed.

Sue
 
My strategy is to pay nearly everything with a credit card, if possible. With the exception of not using a credit card where there is a service fee charged if a credit card is used or if credit cards are not accepted. You would be surprised at how much you spend when putting everything on a credit card, versus paying cash. As your online statement is a testament to where your money has gone, versus cash pocket money that is gone at the end of the week with no recollection to where it went.

Big items that I have found:

Car payment (RBS Citizens takes credit cards with no fees).

Electric/Gas utility bill.

Water/Garbage bill.

Cell phone bill.

Cable bill.

Insurance bills.

Vet bills.

Dining.

Groceries.

Gas.

Church/charities.

Home improvement stores.

Big box stores. Any stores.

Typically I put 90% of my spend on on a Chase Sapphire Preferred card. The remaining 10% I spread around to the other credit cards that I have, whether I am churning the cards or not so that it looks like they are being used according to the issuing banks. The Chase Sapphire Preferred card lets me move the points to various programs, including Amtrak.
 
Sue: Yes, you will get points for charges even if you prepay your balance.

Sunset: I think you're spot-on with your analysis. Some utilities and local governments will charge a flat fee for a credit card payment, with a limit on the amount charged. If you can afford it, max out the amount--I've paid 1 cent per point this way.

Federal tax paid by credit card can be done for under 2%. If you know EXACTLY what you're doing, you can reduce withholding and make quarterly payments on the card.

If you have a SPG AMEX, spend there instead, charge enough to get SPG Gold status, then transfer the points to Amtrak, 5000 at a time, during a Summer TQP partner promo. Now that's winning.
 
I charge most of my expenses on my AGR cards and have accumulated many points

this way. I pay my phone bill, gasoline, food store and my home insurance

with the card. I also charge my Amtrak travel costs on the card too!!
 
Hint for some of us - If you pay for meals on the train, buy something in the cafe car or buy stuff like from the PPC or even beer or wine with your meal, use your AGR MC to pay for it!
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The charge is coded "Amtrak" and earns 2 points per dollar, just like Amtrak travel!
 
the_traveler said:
Hint for some of us - If you pay for meals on the train, buy something in the cafe car or buy stuff like from the PPC or even beer or wine with your meal, use your AGR MC to pay for it!
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The charge is coded "Amtrak" and earns 2 points per dollar, just like Amtrak travel!
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And add a big tip on the card for even more points!
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I know this is an old topic, but since I just found out by reading it that I can pay our Verizon Wireless bill with a credit card, thought it could use an update. Thanks!
 
CaliforniaMom said:
I know this is an old topic, but since I just found out by reading it that I can pay our Verizon Wireless bill with a credit card, thought it could use an update. Thanks!
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For sure! I have a work cell phone through Verizon which I put on my Amtrak MC...that's a free 1000 points or so per year for me. I also put my

home landline/internet service on credit card (CenturyLink) as well as my home trash collection. The trick is to find bills that you have to pay

anyway, but don't charge a service charge for using a credit card. (My gas and electric utilities charge a fee, for example).
 
RyanS said:
One of the Chase business cards give 5x points for telecom. Free 50000 points per year! Need to get around to applying for that one.
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Both the Chase Ink Bold and Chase Ink Plus earn 5x on cellular, landline, internet, and cable television. Those bills alone bring in around 10,000 points per year in my case.
 
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I typed one too many zeros there, I was just trying to multiply the previous poster's 1,000 by 5.

I'm right about where you are.

For now. My parents and I are contemplating going in together on a family plan. There seems to be some decent economy of scale with Verizon's family plans. 5 points per dollar on whatever 5 lines and 12 GB or so of data would be pretty sweet.
 
RyanS said:
12 GB or so of data would be pretty sweet.
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My family shares one Verizon plan - me, my husband, our 14 yr old son and our 12 yr old son. We share ONE gigabyte of data (we use wifi a lot). I'm always telling our kids that turning the data usage on is ONLY for emergencies (and really wanting to play Clash of Clans is not an emergency). :p
 
RyanS said:
I've got grandfathered unlimited data on AT&T now, it would be hard to give that up. :) Phone doesn't do any good in my pocket, I bought it to use, not carry around. ;)
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I luckily got Grandfathered in with Verizon and when I upgraded from my old useless Blackberry to my iPhone 4S I lost it.. :( Verizon doesn't offer any good data packages.. I think 500 mb then 2 gb 4gb and so on..
 
gatelouse said:
Federal tax paid by credit card can be done for under 2%. If you know EXACTLY what you're doing, you can reduce withholding and make quarterly payments on the card.
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I see I'm not the only one who figured this out. I believe I pay 1.88% to use the CC for federal tax due and estimated payments, reasoning that I should be able to get a return of at least 5%. I just booked an AGR roomette for two SBG to TOL on the day I wanted; and the fare amounted to .083 cents on the dollar. I'm sure last July's SEA to QCY roomette award did better than 1.88%
 
I recently switched to Republic Wireless. Moto X is $300 with unlimited everything and no contract at $40 a month. 4G in major cities and 3G on the highway or in small towns. Always unlimited. Best overall value I'm aware of.
 
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I have Sprint's unlimited plan and pay $135 for both of us under a family plan.

Unfortunately, Sprint's coverage isn't what it used to be, so I'm thinking of switching when our contract is up. I checked our data usage, and even when we took the SWC and had to use cell data the entire trip, we didn't go over 2G (combined). That really surprised me.

I wish AT&T offered wireless as part of their U-Verse bundles. We have U-Verse for our TV and internet, but they only allow landlines to be bundled.
 
The state of NC has for years allowed you to online pay your vehicle registration ($2*) at no charge with a CC. In the past, the county would bill you for an annual tax on your cars (could be up to a couple hundred $$ depending on value) and that required a fee for CCs. This year for the first time, the state has taken over collecting the auto tax that the county bills and includes it with the registration fee - and no charge for using a CC for the full amount.

The VA lets me pay mt medication co-payment on pay.gov web site with my CC. No fee.

The city water department lets me pay my bill online with CC. No fee.

Our Verizon phones are on my son's plan and we pay him by check at the beginning of the year for the whole year. Next year I'll look at paying my portion monthly direct or just pay the bills until it reaches what I owe him.

Ooh! Those points!
 
Nope gift cards are good. In addition to telecom stuff, the Chase Ink cards give 5x back at office supply stores. Office Depot sells give cards. Good opportunities for points there.

There's a good number of blogs out there that really get into some of the ways to earn points - most of them are airline focused, but the Chase Ultimate Rewards cards are popular and the 1:1 transfer to AGR (if you have the right cards) makes then valuable to us. :D
 
Tumbleweed said:
Is there any reason a person could not purchase gift cards and use them for purchases yourself for everyday items....and pocket the points?
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By and large, gift cards are offered for merchants that accept credit cards, so I'm not sure I see an advantage in buying gift cards over simply using the AGR credit card for the everyday purchases. For a card that gives 5x, I see it.
 
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