Originally Posted by Papa Smurf
I've read through the thread and I didn't see anything explicit regarding this subject, so let me pose the question here:
For those of you who are doing quarterly payments, which ("good") offers are still open? From what I can tell:
- MP Visa is still doing double bonus through 12/31/06 on federal/state/local
- SPG and Delta AmEx are no longer doing any bonus
For what it's worth, I did my June payment on the Juniper US MC. I figured that 1.5x bonus was better than nothing, and that (with an extra 1.5 month's worth of interest in HSBC online savings) gets me down to around 1.4 CPM. However, I'm considering getting the MP Visa for the double bonus (taxes add up quick!)
If you pay a 2.49% "convenience fee" and realize "double miles" for it, then you are paying 1.245 cents per mile purchased this way, right? (If you aren't getting "double miles," only the usual 1 mile/$1 charged, then you are paying 2.49 cpm.) If instead of 2 miles/$1 charged, you get 1.5 miles with the Juniper MC, ought it not come out to 4/3 x 1.245 cpm, or 1.66 cpm or thereabouts? An extra 1.5 months of interest may bring the net cost down a bit more (1.4 cpm?), but that interest income is presumably taxable, so not as sweet as might first appear.