Originally Posted by
2travelfar
Does paying the 2.49% 'convenience fee' for federal taxes thru the credit card really make earning the miles/points worth it (assuming there are no 2x offers from credit card)? Again, you all are far more experienced calculating miles values than I am...say your tax payment is $1,000 (keeping it simple) - you pay $1024.90 for the 1,000 miles/points. And, if I understand it correctly, you cannot 'deduct' that 2.49% amount from next year's taxes as 'tax prep' fees, or 'interest paid'...it's just a fee. So is this really a good method of getting miles/points...or is it just a way to get miles/points that you would not otherwise get and are willing to pay a 'premium' to obtain. (All on the basis that there are no 'bonus miles/points offers, of course.) Thanks for your insights.
This has been discussed many times in the course of this thread. Double miles gives miles at 1.245 cpm or less (when figure in the float one gains), which is a pretty good to excellent, even fabulous deal; ordinary miles gives miles at 2.49 cpm (a bit less with the float factored in), not good, unless one is going to put the miles to a high value use, that is tickets in biz or first, or is just topping off to reach an award level. But you do make another point, namely that one can't just buy great numbers of miles at will (yes, there is the costly arrangement to buy them from UA at some excessive price) and here is such an opportunity, provided one is going to be making big tax payments one way or another.