Gary- you may also want to mention that the reader's payment will obviously be affected by the larger loan amount on a Home Equity Loan. If this is a fixed payment, no matter how much he pays up front to save money in interest over the life of the loan, he will continue to make the same payment on the larger loan amount (i.e. payment on a $100,000 loan vs. a $20,000 loan). I can't speak for all programs, but I assume most mileage programs are similar and if the reader would not be opposed to taking a Line of Credit with a variable rate, his payment will immediately be reduced once the loan amount is paid down (a HELOC can be risky since rates are on their way up, but is still a sound investment). I know there are people who get a Home Equity Line of Credit through LendingTree with no closing costs, receive miles after closing, and do not even use the line of credit. Some lenders require that you borrow a minimum amount to receive the lowest rates and in that case, they would 'borrow' from their line of credit and pay it back immediately with no pre-payment penalty.

Bocastephen - The reason LendingTree and our Lenders do not charge a larger amount in fees/rates for loans associated with a mileage program is that any volume or closed loans associated with these programs are only a small fraction of the total volume/closings for LendingTree. Therefore, there is no reason to charge a larger amount to the lender or customer for such a small fraction of the business. Once again, in some cases, our lenders are not even aware that the customer is a part of a mileage program when they submit (in which case they would have no reason to charge a higher rate or fee structure to the customer) although they do have access to the source of their request. Does the 'Miles for Mortgage' program that you have an interest in charge any additional fees/higher rates for loans associated with that program?

Eric