THis is less hassle that the TC mess. I have actually done this and it works.
I discovered a service called paypal at http://www.paypal.com. My sister and I do this together.
I signed up and did the verification process. I then sent her $5 to her e-mail to test how this worked. It appeared on my cc as a regular charge ( I go 5 miles). She then transferred the $5 to her bank account. We have been doing this back and forth for a few months now and I am up to doing $2000 at a time. THe only limit is that each Paypal account can only do $5000 within a 180 day period. I have only been doing it for a little over a month and I am loving this. Once she transfers the money to her account she turns aruond and sends me money so she gets miles. I then cash them in and pay the cc bill. Turnaround for each transaction so far has not caused me any finance charges.
So far I have a little over 3000 miles this way and I plan to get more. At the limit of $5000 per 180 day period I figure I can get 20,000 miles for the year without really spending $20,000.
They offer a $10 signup bonus.
I will also get $10 if you signup and let me know so I can be the first to send you a penny. If you register, please e-mail me so we both can get the $10.