MilesBuzz! - What's the most expensive purchase you've made on your miles/reward credit card?

I just put a 135k charge on my Citi AA MC (sadly they didn't take Amex.) But it got me thinking about the kinds of large purchases or luxury items people have made on their loyalty cards. I wonder who holds the record...anyone here charge a yacht or an airplane?

I just put a 135k charge on my Citi AA MC (sadly they didn't take Amex.) But it got me thinking about the kinds of large purchases or luxury items people have made on their loyalty cards. I wonder who holds the record...anyone here charge a yacht or an airplane?

135k and you aren't going to tell us what the purchase was for? :)

135k and you aren't going to tell us what the purchase was for? :)

Cameras. It was a business expense. Honestly I'm pretty surprised the charge actually went through.

Cameras. It was a business expense. Honestly I'm pretty surprised the charge actually went through.

Why are you surprised? I assume that it was under your limit... or was it not?

£60,000, in 1997, to charter a 767.

Why are you surprised? I assume that it was under your limit... or was it not?

Well the card is one of those "no pre-set spending limit" cards...but my "limit" is actually 23k. Any charge request over that amount is authorized/declined based on their formulas and my credit worthiness as deemed by their computer.

£60,000, in 1997, to charter a 767.

Personal or business? :)

I just put a 135k charge on my Citi AA MC (sadly they didn't take Amex.)

While lamenting the non-acceptance of the AmEx, just be happy that you're not capped on the amount of AAdvantage miles you can earn on the MC like some of us . . .

I wish I could hang with this thread but I don't think I've had much more than 15k as a single charge.

Not personally, but a friend of mine worked for Diners Club and once got an irate call from a gentleman whose card had been declined while in France. The charge was around $2,000,000 if I recall correctly - he was purchasing a private jet. He was very surprised to learn that "no pre-set spending limit" didn't actually mean "no limit whatsoever". :D

A lot of both! :D

Put on a party near the North Pole to launch an album. Yes, really.

Personal or business? :)

charged 27k 2 months ago to pay the lease of my wife's infiniti M35 up front....

charges 20-30k in the last year for house building purposes for 3-4 months in a row for appliances/sound systems and so forth...

charged 27k 2 months ago to pay the lease of my wife's infiniti M35 up front....

I've always been told this is a bad idea as any prepayments or money down is non-refundable in the event the car is totaled. Is that not true?

$60k is the max I have charged. (several plane tickets)

I've always been told this is a bad idea as any prepayments or money down is non-refundable in the event the car is totaled. Is that not true?

it is a company lease, so whether or not it is totaled, you still have to pay for it. Of course, your insurance company will give it back to you but you got to wait for it.

In my 16 yrs of driving, I have yet to total a car, so putting money down makes a whole lot of sense as it lowers your payments. The reason I paid this car off was to:

1) Get the discount of approx 4k
2) points on the credit card

it is a company lease, so whether or not it is totaled, you still have to pay for it. Of course, your insurance company will give it back to you but you got to wait for it.

In my 16 yrs of driving, I have yet to total a car, so putting money down makes a whole lot of sense as it lowers your payments. The reason I paid this car off was to:

1) Get the discount of approx 4k
2) points on the credit card

But you said it was your wife's car. ;)

Thanks for the info. Always nice to earn those points!

$14k and a few $10-12ish ones, all tuition. Not exactly a big spender.

2005 a $28,000 hotel bill while in Sydney. Of course that was Aussie dollars and in 2005 that equated $15,000 US and it was a 90 day stay in a suite at the Intercontinental........

I guess I am a lightweight. Only 18K for a new computer system for the store.

I did process a 24K government charge thru my store once tho. Had to call and make sure my Floor Rate would handle it. Visa even gave me a much lower rate for that sale.

You people play in a different league than I do.

$14,000 for a funeral and related expenses.

I don't even want to add it up, but several years worth of online gambling charges. The only positive is all of them were counted as purchases, so I accrued miles.

my kid's college tuition & fees, though that's spread out over 4 yrs ...

funny thing the kid's now into miles as well, connecting thru DFW on AA from MSY to AUS to get the miles instead of saving several hours by flying nonstop on XE. hasn't gotten to the point of trans-oceanic MR's though. ;)

65000

New Lexus LS 430

I had a chance to buy it for 63900 elsewhere (which would have been really inconvenient) and I couldn't get the guy to move on the price. So, I sadi ok to 65 even if I could charge it. He said "If you can get that approved on ONE credit card, you can charge it!" Out comes the Centurion card and it sailed thru. Fortunately I had just paid off more than 150k the prior month in airline tickets for my little business and hotels.

$47,000

Bought dump truck. Would like to buy another, but I will wait a couple month cause I hate to go over 50% utilization on any card.

$24k usd.Also gpt extra miles buy buying the two items purchased via the AAdvantage site.
So 24K UA miles on the card
72k AA miles for shopping via the AA portal.

$15K to auto dealer

23K... car...

Car 2




Car $23,000; tuition $28,000

does a 50k wedding at a hotel count?

does a 50k wedding at a hotel count?

No, that doesn't count. (?? sarcasm.. why would it not?? lol ;) )

My record is only about 12K - for firewall software for work.

$74,000, on my Continental Chase card

$92k, car, Cent. (not for me, unfortunately - I, like a good American, give my money to the leasing company)

I typically charge $80 to $100K per month to my SPG card. I am the controller of a midsize company and I am amazed at the number of vendors we do business with that don't bat an eye at charging a $70 or $80K invoice by credit card. My all time record was in March when I was able to charge $240k for 3 different Oracle support renewals to my Amex at $80K each. I had to separate it into 3 differnt payments. One thing to note about Amex is they will give you immediate credit for your payments if your payment history is good. This allows you to charge and pay off your card much more frequently if you are running out of credit.

my kid's college tuition & fees, though that's spread out over 4 yrs ...

funny thing the kid's now into miles as well, connecting thru DFW on AA from MSY to AUS to get the miles instead of saving several hours by flying nonstop on XE. hasn't gotten to the point of trans-oceanic MR's though. ;)

Sounds like your son is a smart Tulanian (or a Loyola kid but I'd put my money on Tulane)!

I charged 25K on a business card last weekend. Disappointed I couldn't get it on my personal card for the miles but our CPA thinks that running business charges on a personal card and getting reimbursed for them is a no-no. :(

Disappointed I couldn't get it on my personal card for the miles but our CPA thinks that running business charges on a personal card and getting reimbursed for them is a no-no. :(Get a new CPA. I have eight personal cards (not all of them mine) set up in our chart of accounts. My CPAs have never had a problem with it.

I charged over $500K for Savings Bonds. Obviously not at one time.^

Lots of business expenses (software licenses, large Dell orders) Yes, many vendors will gladly take a $50K charge on the Amex because:
1) They want the money fast
2) They want to avoid collection risk
3) They want to keep you happy as a customer
4) If they take Amex, merchant agreements says they have to accept it unless your contract with them says otherwise.

Of course, some B2B merchants fight you about it. Most who accept cards, don't in the US. Of course, it depends on the sale margin they are making.

Get a new CPA. I have eight personal cards (not all of them mine) set up in our chart of accounts. My CPAs have never had a problem with it.


I am not a CPA nor a lawyer. While I prefer to keep my biz and personal charges seperate, and CPAs tell me this a generally a good idea, there is nothing wrong with putting a legitimate business charge on a personal card and then getting reimbursed.

So if my "no preset spending limit" card has a limit of $25,000, and I charge $50,000, would my credit utilization on that card be reported as 200% or 100%? Either way, it seems that my credit score would take a hit from such a purchase.

So if my "no preset spending limit" card has a limit of $25,000, and I charge $50,000, would my credit utilization on that card be reported as 200% or 100%? Either way, it seems that my credit score would take a hit from such a purchase.

Typically it would report as 100%. The reason for this is most "no preset spending limit" cards (at least the ones I've seen), don't actually report a normal credit limit. Instead, they use your highest monthly balance. In your case, it would be $50,000, so you would be at $50,000/$50,000, or 100%.

I'm sure there's some variance to this, but that's what I've seen. It's actually a little frustrating for someone who normally spends consistent amounts from month to month, since it will basically look like you're constantly at 100% utilization. Perhaps the new FICO scoring system will take this into account.

Wow, some of you guys are big spenders ! The bigest I ever put on my UAL Visa was $15K for some kitechen cabinets :D

For me was 12,000 as that was the limit at a car dealership. Lucky for me it was spg amx

$92k, car, Cent. (not for me, unfortunately - I, like a good American, give my money to the leasing company)

I hear ya...I do the same. I just like having a new car every few years, even though I know how economically foolish it is.

In the US (since I'm an expat): $24k for 2 x AONE4s
In the UK: £10k - most the car dealer would let me put on the card.

24K hockey tickets?

though I guess i"m cheating, my fiance put it on his card and he splits it with a few people...

fun post though!

$5000... Is the biggest PURCHASE I've made my Credit Card. That might seem like petty change to all of you, but keep in mind I'm 22 and work at an entry level job, making just enough for rent, power, food and travelling... Yes, I consider travelling as a necessity.

The $5K was to move my stuff from Calgary, Alberta to Halifax, Nova Scotia, along with a 2005 Ford Focus ( No BMW or Audi for me, unlike most of you :D)

Although, I just bought a new house yesterday, and the basement is unfinished. So I plan on finishing it soon. I'm guessing that will be around 10K on my Credit Card at that point.

$48k... Citi mastercard
Personal expense
also 8 or 9 $25-28k's, and a bunch of $10-$15's all personal, using many different cards mostly from Citi.
Don't worry, they was all legal--I think :D

PS: All of yiz should definitely be candidates for my thread:

The "I really should buy a boat and return it but keep the miles" thread
found at: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=797409

(skip past the moral banter within it and feel no ethical losses by at least trying to do SOME purchases at the many stores where this works found scattered throughout the long thread)

oh and we also cant forget about Charter One and other gift cards of olde. Those sure added up for many of us, eh?
:)MM

$38K to charter a plane for a business trip.

About $20K for a Disney Vacation Club (timeshare) purchase.

$25K for some RTW tickets this week.

$5000... Is the biggest PURCHASE I've made my Credit Card. That might seem like petty change to all of you, but keep in mind I'm 22 and work at an entry level job, making just enough for rent, power, food and travelling... Yes, I consider travelling as a necessity.

The $5K was to move my stuff from Calgary, Alberta to Halifax, Nova Scotia, along with a 2005 Ford Focus ( No BMW or Audi for me, unlike most of you :D)

Although, I just bought a new house yesterday, and the basement is unfinished. So I plan on finishing it soon. I'm guessing that will be around 10K on my Credit Card at that point.

I'm 10 years older but I don't think I've ever made 5K on a single purchase. I've had a lot of monthly credit card bills of greater than 5k, though.

:)

I paid 95k in taxes on my Diners / MC. The best part was that they did not charge a service fee, though this is a unique situation with Delaware franchise taxes.

years and years ago you used to be able to buy US Savings Bonds with a credit card.

For myself? 50 hours on SkyJet.

I heard somebody paid 35m for a private plane on their Cent. card.

24K hockey tickets?

though I guess i"m cheating, my fiance put it on his card and he splits it with a few people... fun post though!

To me this is the best...when you have a huge purchase and you get to put it on your card, and then everyone has to pay you back! ^

I just charged $2k on my SPG Amex for 12 girls to go see Cher in Vegas... and I'll get almost all of it back! I'm the only mileage freak amongst my friends.

I think it was around $6-7K. It was one semester's tuition for grad school, so I could float it until my employer reimbursed me. I repeated this several times as I went through school.

$47,000

Bought dump truck. Would like to buy another, but I will wait a couple month cause I hate to go over 50% utilization on any card.


It's not to haul your 5 kids around in, is it? :D ;)

I used to work for AMEX in the late 1980's. At the time I was there, IIRC, I believe the biggest single charge at that time for the purpose of getting miles was $2.5million for MRI equipment for a hospital. I'm sure Centurion purchases in the last few decades may have dwarfed that purchase, but if I could put a million or more on a CC, would I really care about mileage unless it is someone else's money I'm playing with? My personal high single charge is $12k for a diamond ring in a pawn shop. The seller would not accept AMEX at the price I negotiated but would allow MC. He also shipped it out of state for me to avoid sales tax, since we couldn't decide on who would pay the tax. My car negotiations eat into dealer holdback, so in three separate deals I was only able to get the service dept max charge, about $3k each time. I was also into bond flipping with the savings bonds deals I learned about here on FT, but the max chargeable per SSN was $30k per year. However, most FT'rs that were doing this were buying monthly and flipping those purchases a little over 4 months later, then repeated the cycle. Word got out thru a WSJ article, then the gov't tried to slow these flips by increasing the min hold time to a year. When this didn't work, they killed all purchases by CC bout a year later. Fun while it lasted.

Sounds like your son is a smart Tulanian (or a Loyola kid but I'd put my money on Tulane)!

Don't ever put your money on a Tulane student- all they know how to do is spend it!

;)

I thought I was doing well when I put $15k for kitchen cabinets on the UA Visa, but apparently FT'ers are serious about their miles. It is a pity most building contractors work cash-only or we could take free trips on our home renovation work.

The thing I find interesting about this thread is that it is focussed on credit card earnings. I have lots of points, but I earn very few of them form "butt in seat" miles. Some of us have the ability to make large credit card purchases for business reasons. Most of the threads on this board are around elite status and upgrades. However, I rack up enough points through credit card spend that elite does not mean anything to me. My focus is on who provides awards for the lowest number of miles in business class.

:)

I paid 95k in taxes on my Diners / MC. The best part was that they did not charge a service fee, though this is a unique situation with Delaware franchise taxes.

Can you please expand on this? Is this because you live in Delaware, or what? No 2.49% "convenience fee?" And how long ago was it? Still available?

Thanks.

I thought I was doing well when I put $15k for kitchen cabinets on the UA Visa, but apparently FT'ers are serious about their miles. It is a pity most building contractors work cash-only or we could take free trips on our home renovation work.

By the way, last I heard Home Depot would sell "gift cards" to AARP members at 4% off, and you could put it on your credit card.

Double dip! I'm almost old enough.

By the way, last I heard Home Depot would sell "gift cards" to AARP members at 4% off, and you could put it on your credit card.

Double dip! I'm almost old enough.

Slightly OT, but here goes (could become the most expensive CC purchase for some).

AARP has an associate membership for those not old enough for "standard" membership. Don't know if one would be eligible for the HD discount as an associate, but the cost is cheap enough if one were and the HD program still was offered . . . When I needed a new washer/dryer, I bought Lowes GC's at Kroger, where I got a 5% credit card rebate.

There are tons of loopholes like this - the Entertainment Book allows one to order Linen's and Things, Macy's, and Red Lobster/Olive Garden gift cards online at a 10% discount ($1 service fee). I only order the LNT cards but then break out the 20% off coupons for my own personal "super sale".

$15k for partial car payment; $11k for diamond ring.

$15k for partial car payment; $11k for diamond ring.

$20000 for my van purchase. Surprisingly the dealer accepted it (without any surcharges etc.) since it was the last day of the year and they just needed that extra sale to be on the top of the dealer list.

Needless to say, I paid it in full when my credit card statement came, with my just received bonus :D :D :D

I charge the majority of my supply bills to AmEx. The supplier we use most often is a smaller company (with great service) and is unable to offer incentive trips, Red Sox tix, golf weekends, etc. However, they do allow us to pay with AmEx and take 2% net 10. This allows us to chose our vacations and we have taken some great trips (Caneel Bay, Caribbean Cruise in a suite, etc). We charge between $70,000 and $85,000 with them each month. My motto is "Have points - will travel"!

I charge the majority of my supply bills to AmEx. The supplier we use most often is a smaller company (with great service) and is unable to offer incentive trips, Red Sox tix, golf weekends, etc. However, they do allow us to pay with AmEx and take 2% net 10. This allows us to chose our vacations and we have taken some great trips (Caneel Bay, Caribbean Cruise in a suite, etc). We charge between $70,000 and $85,000 with them each month. My motto is "Have points - will travel"!

Just curious, what loyalty program is Caneel Bay associated with?

Biggest:
2 Porsche Chyanne ~$150k (They had just come out and an uncle asked me to pick them up for him. He later cut me a check for them)
6' tall open face geode, and some other stone work in Brazil ~ $35k
artwork purchase on the amex ~ $30k (Might be much more if the deal is made for the Chihuly Chandeleir for the new house)

My Dad will probably break my record for largest purchase as he is booking both him and my mom on a 110 day SilverSeas world cruise.

Business wise numerous charges over the 100K mark, hell month to month the amex alone see's 50-60k average. But these days the Fleet gas card account dwarfs even the amex bill it seems.

Its so nice having millions of amex points. Spending 100K on a FC intl ticket does not even make a dent. Seem to earn them faster then one can spend them. Long live Amex Reward points..

I can not count the number of card I have cut up and got rid of because they imposed a reward limit with out telling me or just changed the rules with out notice. I still have a bunch of cards that have limits.. I just make sure I only use them while earning rewards. Once I hit the max reward for the year I go to the next. Amex is first choice and only when they don't accept it do I pull out the visa/mastercard's

Just curious, what loyalty program is Caneel Bay associated with?

Well that I do not know, but with Amex points you can just about do anything. Having millions of points I basically can tell them what I want and they will tell me how many points it will cost me.

I just put a 135k charge on my Citi AA MC (sadly they didn't take Amex.) But it got me thinking about the kinds of large purchases or luxury items people have made on their loyalty cards. I wonder who holds the record...anyone here charge a yacht or an airplane?

Full set of Viking kitchen appliances-- well over 20K.

Full set of Viking kitchen appliances-- well over 20K.

Damn forgot about the appliances. For the new house last year I think we went over 100K on that one. Damn commercial grade is $$$$. The Wolf Stove is much nicer the the Viking I have in my Condo.

~$45,000 x 2 for business school tuition.

About 80k. A semester of tuition and the rest I charged at a casino for chips and a box for a month (gotta make tuition somehow). I wouldn't suggest you do it though unless you list poker player on your tax returns. Otherwise it looks a whole lot like money laundering.

$19,500 for a musical instrument.

$175,000 for some display advertising.

80k to fuel my dreamliner.






just kidding.

I feel inadequate on some of these forums.....when I charge $5-6k a month of monthly expenses I really feel like I have done something.... I guess I am just a peon in the charge card miles world. Oh well (sigh)

Whoa.. the most I managed was a car deposit of £1500... Then again, my limit is only £6200 as it is not a real AMEX but an MBNA AMEX whatever that is..

I need my own business :D

lotsa Federal and State taxes..............sigh:(

$52,000 for a single charge to my Citi card, personal expense.

The thread title indicates "most expensive purchase", and while the items below are actually sets of charges over various time spans, I'm assuming they are still of interest because of how extreme they are:

> $140,000 in one day utilizing several charges per card on four different cards.

> $1,600,000 in one month utilizing several charges per card on seven different cards.

> $5,100,000 in one year utilizing many charges per card on thirteen different cards.

All spending for the above three items was for business-related online advertising and not a single penny of interest was paid nor was a single payment late. (There were, however, a couple over "overlimit fees".)

$4,000,000:-: paying for an apartment in NYC Trump Tower on behalf of my father on Saturday! (Personal Citi Ultima, but will be claimed as business expense). Can't wait for the travel reward points! I will admit that a prior security call was required.

£138,000 for my car (gift from mother and father on 21st Birthday)- Bentley Continental Flying Spur. Personal purchase. RBS Black.

£45,865 for The Savoy Hotel, London. Stayed for 200 nights whilst studying in London (greatly reduced rate). Personal purchase. RBS Black.

(okay, so I'm only an additional card holder via my mother/father, but I did make the actual purchases). :p

charged 27k 2 months ago to pay the lease of my wife's infiniti M35 up front....

charges 20-30k in the last year for house building purposes for 3-4 months in a row for appliances/sound systems and so forth...


I wonder what kind car dealer will let you swipe card the lease payment. during the past few years in California, I couldn't find any dealer let me swipe more than 5000.

About $825 for 3 mileage runs with AA. Kind of tiny compared to the others.

Before the recent tax law changes, I used to buy a car every other year at an auction and pay for it with my Mileage plus card. Biggest purchase was $4K. The tax benefits were quite good. The first time I did this, I bought a Volvo for $1200, drove it for 3 years and got a $3400 tax writeoff for donating it to a charity.

One charge: $245k; for hotel rooms for an eighty person TV crew. Hotel required pre-payment due to the large number of rooms and nights needed. Was instructed by Amex to "pre-wire the funds" to my (personal) Platinum Card account "before allowing the hotel to request authorization." It was a lot of hassle, and there were additional expenses involved to make this happen. But it was worth 245k in Membership Rewards points. Also charged all the airline tickets for this project, which was another $165k, but each individual ticket appeared on my statement as a single charge.

see above

Only ~$3300 for me. I might be in last place :)

$4,000,000:-: paying for an apartment in NYC Trump Tower on behalf of my father on Saturday! (Personal Citi Ultima, but will be claimed as business expense). Can't wait for the travel reward points! I will admit that a prior security call was required. :p

Yikes, Donald must be raking it in at that rate, I wonder what he charges to stay a whole week? ;)

Anyone charge anything interesting in the past year?

$4,000,000:-: paying for an apartment in NYC Trump Tower on behalf of my father on Saturday! (Personal Citi Ultima, but will be claimed as business expense). Can't wait for the travel reward points! I will admit that a prior security call was required.



woo hoo!

Anyway, for me?

um... $42.34 on some groceries the other day. :D

Well, this charge secured the $750 one needs to spend on a citi MC to get the 30k mile bonus. And this makes it so all I need is another 27k or so to get lifetime gold having reached 1mil miles in my AA history.

Anyway I think I put in here somewhere once... $47k in one single citi charge a few years back. I think I funded something.

;)MM

Anyone charge anything interesting in the past year?
Sure! Just read this thread: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/milesbuzz/976907-using-credit-card-fund-new-online-savings-account.html

$8,200 swimming pool resurfacing on the Hilton Amex Surpass card. I try to give small local merchants the Marriott Visa instead since I know AE charges a hefty %, but I called with my Marriott Visa # and, after no charge for 2 billing cycles, called and found they had no record of the call. So I hit 'em with the Amex.

$62K to fund my Citi money market account.

$xxx,xxx.00 Arizona 529 Colledge Savings plan that allows first fund on visa/mastercard.

I hired a young, hungry contractor to build my house. After the competing bids were submitted, but before I accepted his, I asked him if I could partially pay his bill by putting some of his expenses for materials on my credit card. He agreed. I paid many of his suppliers this way. I actually set up an account at his lumber supplier, allowing me to wait until the end of the month after expenses were incurred to pay the bill, and allowing me to time that payment just after my credit card statement closed, to get another 45 days in payment delays.

Bottom line: I ended up with 100K+ miles, and a nice float. (A nice house, too, of course.)

Sure! Just read this thread: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/milesbuzz/976907-using-credit-card-fund-new-online-savings-account.html

cat out of bag!

At my office, we once did a crazy deal where we bought $100K worth of merchandise, but that also required a $160K deposit. The merchandise is kind of like cell phones and needs to be activated, so companies like ours get back the deposit as customers activate the equipment. The distributor was so nervous, they let us charge the whole nut. And then we cut a deal where we got the deposit back (as we got the units activated - took over a year) by check, so we got our Amex miles (260,000 total).

If there are any doctors out there looking for some big charges to get more points: we're able to charge my wife's malpractice insurance. She's in a high-risk specialty, so it's not cheap.

I dunno about the most expensive (maybe my wife's ring around 12k?? but that's been a few years). However, last night I got a great deal: With my new Chase debit card, I got 15k miles for my $0.54 Almond Joy at WalMart. In a short bit, I'll close the card with that being the only purchase on it.

Originally posted by D1AKD
$4,000,000 paying for an apartment in NYC Trump Tower on behalf of my father on Saturday! (Personal Citi Ultima, but will be claimed as business expense). Can't wait for the travel reward points! I will admit that a prior security call was required.
Wow. Way out of my league of 42,000,000 đồng for two weeks hotel stay in Hanoi. (at 15,000 đồng per USD, it's not much...)
Don't these cards usually specify an annual limit for miles accrued by charging?

Originally posted by yyliu88
Originally Posted by anaggie
charged 27k 2 months ago to pay the lease of my wife's infiniti M35 up front....
I wonder what kind car dealer will let you swipe card the lease payment. during the past few years in California, I couldn't find any dealer let me swipe more than 5000.
That's my California experience too. It wasn't a lease. I buy my cars in cash. The best I did was in negotiating with Saturn in 1999, prior to GM's shutting down of the TN operation. Saturn let me charge close to $5k for an upgrade over the just negotiated ~$12k base model, paid by check. No charging allowed for the entire amount.

interesting charge
As a graduate student at Virginia Tech, I was able to charge my tuition. It was silly because I received an RA stipend, from which I had to turn around to pay the tuition. As a mere middleman, the flow of money was nice for my miles credit card at the time. Too bad that I didn't go to Harvard or something to ring up more $$$.

My biggest single charge has been a kitchen remodel at about $40k.

Don't these cards usually specify an annual limit for miles accrued by charging?


Some do, but considering there are quite a few that don't there's really no need to use one that does. Unless of course you don't charge that that much in which case it doesn't matter. I remember one time (before I was AA Gold and still had a mileage cap) I lost out on about 20k miles when using my Citi MasterCard as the purchase put me well over the annual limit. That's no longer an issue, but I still try and put everything I can on my SPG Amex.

The most spent on one charge was $5000. I also, however, use my CC to pay for all my mom's expenses at her home. She hates to use CCs. The miles rack up fast!

About $50,000 when I bought 3 ATMs and a bunch of bank equipment.

The year after my house was paid up, I forgot I no longer had an escrow acct to pay my property tax, so last minute I had to put my yearly property tax on my AMEX, it was a shade under 6k. Im glad I got the points, but the extra fee they charge on using a credit card doesnt make it worth it as a yearly point building strategy.

We routinely put our company vendor payments on our CC's. Usually 20-30k each, but I've had one that was 69k! It is amazing to see who takes credit cards when we asked.

We routinely put our company vendor payments on our CC's. Usually 20-30k each, but I've had one that was 69k! It is amazing to see who takes credit cards when we asked.

It was nice to see my M/C bill today:

Miles accrued: 92,000
Balance due: $349.00

Visa bill:

Miles accrued: 117,000
Balance due: $-156.00

I'm not saying, but I knew this guy who liked to stay at a certain Las Vegas hotel that rhymes with "garage". They used to have a "butler wing" of the penthouse where VIP guests had essentially unlimited charging privileges.

This guy didn't drink, but that didn't stop him from trying to accumulate a collection of liquor. He charged every expensive bottle on the room service menu, then asked the butler for help. Eventually, he had the entire food and beverage staff scouring the property for every last four-figure booze bottle, including century-old madeiras.

The phone rang.

"THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?" It was his casino host, threatening to cut him off.
With any reasonable person, that would have ended the spree. Our hero, however, was not a reasonable person.

At checkout, his comps were revoked and his Diner's Club card charged for the haul's full tab: $49,000.

It went through.

-------

Epilogue: The Garage butler wing was quietly discontinued.

Too bad that I didn't go to Harvard or something to ring up more $$$.

Harvard only allows payment in cash, check, or from savings/checking account.

I just put a 135k charge on my Citi AA MC (sadly they didn't take Amex.) But it got me thinking about the kinds of large purchases or luxury items people have made on their loyalty cards. I wonder who holds the record...anyone here charge a yacht or an airplane?

Not a yacht or an airplain but diving equipment:cool:

Originally posted by Nelumbo:
Harvard only allows payment in cash, check, or from savings/checking account.
How about those Presidential $1 coins?:D Will Harvard make you roll them?

How about reverse the OP's question. I have a $60k purchase coming up in a month or so. Which cc should I put it on? Should I hustle and open up a new one just for the occasion?

Broke my previous record today. $248,400 for camera equipment on my Citi Advantage MC. Unfortunately this vendor doesn't accept Amex...but at least it takes a nice chunk out of my march towards lifetime platinum.

I'm not sure I understand... why did the casino care, as long as he was paying for them? And why would he want them in the first place, if he doesn't drink?

How about those Presidential $1 coins?:D Will Harvard make you roll them?

Yes, it went through smoothly in hundreds, with some smile and courtesy (of me).

Just got an e-mail from AmEx about dailywish.amexnetwork.com. Click on "Fixin' for a BMW" in the navigation bar near the top. It leads to dealers that offer special pricing (they say it's special, haven't tried to compare with what I could bargain my local dealer down to if I really cared) on bimmers if you buy from them - and pay with your AmEx card.

If nothing else, this solves the often-discussed problem of dealers not wanting you to pay for a car with a credit card to get the miles!

(BTW, it also says they'll sell two 2009 328i's for half of MSRP, or $17,212, on September 17th. Doesn't say if they're new or used, doesn't list the specs, but come back then for details. Even if they're used, that's a good price for anything that wasn't driven off the end of a pier.)

Harvard only allows payment in cash, check, or from savings/checking account.
I paid for my wife's medical school at 15-20k per semester, only to be promptly mailed a check for entire amount once her loans were credited.

I'm not sure I understand... why did the casino care, as long as he was paying for them? And why would he want them in the first place, if he doesn't drink?

He wasn't paying for them initially. They were comped, as in free.
Somewhere around $30-40K in charges, they decided enough and revoked all his beverage comps.

Why'd he do it, when he doesn't even drink?
That's easy. He's an idiot.

He wasn't paying for them initially. They were comped, as in free.
Somewhere around $30-40K in charges, they decided enough and revoked all his beverage comps.

Why'd he do it, when he doesn't even drink?
That's easy. He's an idiot.

Maybe he is a gambler?

$250,000 +

This was many years ago when I owned a healthcare company. It was for vaccines and medical supplies.

...(BTW, it also says they'll sell two 2009 328i's for half of MSRP, or $17,212, on September 17th. Doesn't say if they're new or used, doesn't list the specs, but come back then for details. Even if they're used, that's a good price for anything that wasn't driven off the end of a pier.)Sold out when I went there at 1:05 pm EDT. Not sure if I would have bought one anyhow, though with the right packages it would have been very tempting.

Next week's special is Viking kitchen equipment, like a stand mixer package with an MSRP of $660 selling somewhere in the $300s. Probably a good deal if you want a big home mixer, but not nearly what this thread is about.

I am a small time player when it comes to single charges, but I have another interesting anecdote. When refueling in a tiny petrol station in Canary Islands, they accidentally charged me 1500 Euro instead of 15 Euro. Quite weird mistake to do. They gave me the difference in cash after failing to revoke the purchase on the card. And I got some points from the card.

If you can find equally careless petrol stations, feel free to try the same!

Greetings:

Small peanuts compared to some listed but.....will add my topper as a different item......Starwood Timeshare $32,000 on Amex....ended up with 232,000 points! (200,000 bounis for buying)

26,000 2 years in a row. Unfortunately school now charges 3% to process charges so we aren't doing that any more and with 2 kids at same school now it would have been quite a few points.

I would have said car, but the dealer I got it from only let me put $2000 on the card without fee. Above that they said i would have to pay a 3% or 4% fee. As such, the largest purchase is around $5K for housing supplies.

Biggest purchase:
Med school books $600

Everything else goes thru Fin. Aid for loans

Balla on a budget...