Credit Card Programs - Using someone else's rent or even gift cards to earn miles

Hello Everyone:

I'm new to Flyer Talk. I applied for 3 cards at the same time and didn't expect to get approved for all of them. I now have to spend $9000 in 3 months which I am not able to do on my own. One of my best friends just moved from Japan to Manhattan. I thought maybe I could pay his rent, which is $3000, every month and then he just gives me cash or maybe I can get him Visa or AMEX prepaid cards since he doesn't qualify for credit cards here.

My question is: is this illegal? If I did it every month for 12 months, I would get 36,000 miles but since $36,000 would either be coming into my account or going onto my card and my yearly salary is $40,000, does this look shady? Would the IRS start asking questions? Would Chase or Citi care? What about if I only did it for 3 months?

Why IRS would care? Couple of years ago I was spending on average $80K a year on travel alone. I purchased my tickets, booked hotels then my company paid me back. You don't declare travel funds on your tax return.

A couple thoughts here. I'm not sure that the IRS would care about something like this, but if they did, you could just explain what is going on, and after an (annoying) investigation, you would be alright. I'm not sure what grounds they would have for saying it is illegal... you are essentially loaning a friend money, and you are the one taking the risk.

Another thought might be (if you truly trust your friend), to add him as an authorized user, and allow him to use the card and pay it off with his own checking account. Of course there is a risk here as well, but I have a few friends who I would trust with something like this. Might be able to get your credit limit on the cards reduced to exactly that $3,000 number so that your friend can't go crazy with it, but if you trust your friend to pay you back after you charge his rent, it is the same amount of risk.

Hopefully others will chime in, but thats my $.02

Get your friend's cash and pay the rent with your card. I do it all the time but not (rent). My wife gives me cash and I pay for her purchases with a credit card.
This way budgeting is easier...... :D:rolleyes::mad:^

You guys are amazing! Thank you! I don't have a lot of experience with IRS stuff since I'm a recent grad so just trying to be super careful.

He's a Japanese citizen, here on a student visa, and obviously has no social security #. Can I still add him as an authorized user? I have never added an authorized user so don't know the protocol.

Does the place he's renting accept credit cards as a form of payment? If so, you're really lucky! If not, you'll need to use a rent-payment service to pay it with the credit card and pay a fee, usually around 3% of the cost (which is worth it if it means getting large amounts of bonus miles you wouldn't otherwise be able to get).

Do not use a cash advance to get the money to pay it, as the fees will be higher and you won't get points.

You guys are amazing! Thank you! I don't have a lot of experience with IRS stuff since I'm a recent grad so just trying to be super careful.

He's a Japanese citizen, here on a student visa, and obviously has no social security #. Can I still add him as an authorized user? I have never added an authorized user so don't know the protocol.

When I add an AU, I've never had to give a SSN. Now since your friend is a Japanese citizen here on a student visa, I'm not quite sure how that works out.