Dec 2, 2015, 5:53 pm
Last edit by: financialhippie
Successful Credit Cards Used (Posted as Purchase)
Amex Open SPG Business
AMEX SPG (non-business)
BofA - Virgin Atlantic MC
BofA - Amtrak World MC
Barclaycard Aviator Red/Silver MC
Chase Ink Plus Visa
Chase Hyatt Visa (x2)
Chase BA Visa
Chase United MileagePlus Explorer
Chase United MileagePlus Club
Chase Sapphire Preferred
Citi Prestige MC
Citi Premier MC
Citi AT&T Access More MC (3x for rent category)
Citi AA Platinum MC
FIA Fidelity Mastercard
Successful Payees:
BMW Financial: Processed 10/13, Sent 10/14, Arrived-Posted 10/19
Caliber Home Loans: Processed 12/09, Sent 12/11, Arrived-Posted 12/18
Cedent mortgage
Chase Mortgage (sends check)
Citi Mortgage: Processed 10/7, Sent 10/8, Arrived-Posted 10/15
Citizen's Auto Finance - Around 1 week.
CRA Personal Tax
George Mason University: Over a week and a half.
Infiniti Financial: Processed 10/13, Sent 10/14, Arrived-Posted 10/21
Lexus Financial. Processed 3/9/16, Posted 3/14/19
Morgan Stanley Home Loans: Processed 01/14, Sent 01/15, Arrived-Posted 01/21
National Grid Electric MA: 1 week turnaround
National Grid Gas MA: 3 week turnaround, sends physical check
"NJ City" Tax: Processed 01/21, Sent 01/22, Arrived-Posted 02/01
Penfed Mortgage: 1 week turnaround
TD Bank Mortgage (EFT)
Wells Fargo Mortgage: Processed 10/8, Sent 10/9, Arrived-Posted 10/16
Wells Fargo Mortgage: Processed 8/6, Sent 8/9, Posted 8/16
Amex Open SPG Business
AMEX SPG (non-business)
BofA - Virgin Atlantic MC
BofA - Amtrak World MC
Barclaycard Aviator Red/Silver MC
Chase Ink Plus Visa
Chase Hyatt Visa (x2)
Chase BA Visa
Chase United MileagePlus Explorer
Chase United MileagePlus Club
Chase Sapphire Preferred
Citi Prestige MC
Citi Premier MC
Citi AT&T Access More MC (3x for rent category)
Citi AA Platinum MC
FIA Fidelity Mastercard
Successful Payees:
BMW Financial: Processed 10/13, Sent 10/14, Arrived-Posted 10/19
Caliber Home Loans: Processed 12/09, Sent 12/11, Arrived-Posted 12/18
Cedent mortgage
Chase Mortgage (sends check)
Citi Mortgage: Processed 10/7, Sent 10/8, Arrived-Posted 10/15
Citizen's Auto Finance - Around 1 week.
CRA Personal Tax
George Mason University: Over a week and a half.
Infiniti Financial: Processed 10/13, Sent 10/14, Arrived-Posted 10/21
Lexus Financial. Processed 3/9/16, Posted 3/14/19
Morgan Stanley Home Loans: Processed 01/14, Sent 01/15, Arrived-Posted 01/21
National Grid Electric MA: 1 week turnaround
National Grid Gas MA: 3 week turnaround, sends physical check
"NJ City" Tax: Processed 01/21, Sent 01/22, Arrived-Posted 02/01
Penfed Mortgage: 1 week turnaround
TD Bank Mortgage (EFT)
Wells Fargo Mortgage: Processed 10/8, Sent 10/9, Arrived-Posted 10/16
Wells Fargo Mortgage: Processed 8/6, Sent 8/9, Posted 8/16
Plastiq for rent, tuition, utilities, etc.
Jul 22, 2015, 7:21 am
#16
Join Date: Jan 2014
Posts: 148
you must be a wizard at extracting value out of points. while my personal rule is for above 2c/pt-mile, i doubt an average person makes redemption consistently above 2.5c/pt-mile to offset this fee, especially since this would be a non-bonus category spend.
for signup bonuses i agree this is a quick and easy way to hit those.
interestingly enough, i'm not sure if you guys are all canadians, but i've put some random bills of mine in there and it never found the company/addresses.
for signup bonuses i agree this is a quick and easy way to hit those.
interestingly enough, i'm not sure if you guys are all canadians, but i've put some random bills of mine in there and it never found the company/addresses.
Jul 24, 2015, 5:55 am
#17
Join Date: Feb 2013
Posts: 170
I use Plastiq to pay for Canada owned home property taxes. The favorable exchange rate offsets the commission when compared to if I were to convert USD to CAD and send through bank payment
Jul 24, 2015, 11:56 am
#18
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: sfo
Posts: 53
any other US renters using this service? I'm thinking about signing up to pay for rent....seems like I'm reading about more problems then successes??
Jul 24, 2015, 1:41 pm
#19
Join Date: Mar 2015
Posts: 69
I used it to make $1000 spend requirement in one of my credit cards.
Aug 5, 2015, 6:45 am
#20
Join Date: Jan 2010
Programs: AA BA CO DL UA US
Posts: 814
Looks like Plastiq is paying the bloggers. Offer for blogger readers is 1.99% fee for Amex/Mastercard. The Points Guy has it on his website as well. Anyone use Plastiq to pay mortgage and real estate taxes?
http://frequentmiler.boardingarea.co...spend-plastiq/
http://frequentmiler.boardingarea.co...spend-plastiq/
Aug 5, 2015, 7:13 am
#21
Join Date: Jan 2014
Location: Washington DC
Programs: UA, AA, US Air, HH
Posts: 6
There are a number of bloggers this morning posting links to Plastiq but I wasn't sure how long the discounts are good for. I have an AMEX I need to make minimum spend on and Plastiq would be a good way if there are more confirmations that it worked correctly in a short timeframe, unlike the old Plastiq thread here: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/manuf...service-2.html
Aug 5, 2015, 7:13 am
#22
Join Date: Jul 2014
Posts: 3,688
I don't see the point using Plastiq and pay the "reduced" fees of 1.99% for Visa and Amex CCs when I can do the same using Serve B/P for free. Maybe useful if one has only one prepaid account and they've already maxed out the loads and still have a bunch of bills to pay? But for those with several Serve/BB accounts, I don't see the need to pay a fee when I can get it for free and enjoy the rewards instead of passing it on to CCCs and click the bloggers link.
I see why a lot of bloggers are pushing it heavily because of the commissions they get from it. Caveat emptor.
I see why a lot of bloggers are pushing it heavily because of the commissions they get from it. Caveat emptor.
Aug 5, 2015, 7:18 am
#23
Join Date: Oct 2014
Location: LAXatives
Programs: Delta Cubic Zirconia, Marriott Diplomat, Hertz Chairman's Square, Avis Preferred Plus
Posts: 390
I don't see the point using Plastiq and pay the "reduced" fees of 1.99% for Visa and Amex CCs when I can do the same using Serve B/P for free. Maybe useful if one has only one prepaid account and they've already maxed out the loads and still have a bunch of bills to pay? But for those with several Serve/BB accounts, I don't see the need to pay a fee when I can get it for free and enjoy the rewards instead of passing it on to CCCs and click the bloggers link.
I see why a lot of bloggers are pushing it heavily because of the commissions they get from it. Caveat emptor.
I see why a lot of bloggers are pushing it heavily because of the commissions they get from it. Caveat emptor.
So i think you do see the point
It may be shocking but some people might not have time to MS and would prefer a one fell swoop approach and be willing to pay the fee for ease of use
Aug 5, 2015, 8:01 am
#24
Join Date: Sep 2011
Location: Ann Arbor, MI
Posts: 308
The $5 referral fee that some bloggers (including me) are getting is unfortunate, because it makes people suspicious about something that I think is a very good opportunity. Here is a copy of a response to a similar statement/question on my blog:
I’m personally excited about this, independent of the $5 referral fee. I asked Plastiq to skip the fee and lower rates even more, but they didn’t want to do that.
For people that are happily using Bluebird (or other “birds”), the reason to use Plastiq is to increase spend beyond the $5K / month allowed by Bluebird. Use Bluebird to pay bills that are not allowed by Plastiq (such as credit card bills), then use Plastiq in conjunction with Amex gift cards (after getting portal cash back) to pay regular bills (such as your mortgage). Now you’ve increased your credit card spend beyond what is possible with Bluebird alone.
There are also many readers who don’t use bluebird, redbird, Serve for a variety of reasons. Here are a few:
1. They think it is too complicated
2. They don’t have (or know of) a good source for buying Visa/MC gift cards with a credit card
3. They don’t want to make frequent visits to Walmart/Target/etc.
4. Their local Walmart/Target/whatever specifically won’t accept gift cards as debit cards.
I’m personally excited about this, independent of the $5 referral fee. I asked Plastiq to skip the fee and lower rates even more, but they didn’t want to do that.
For people that are happily using Bluebird (or other “birds”), the reason to use Plastiq is to increase spend beyond the $5K / month allowed by Bluebird. Use Bluebird to pay bills that are not allowed by Plastiq (such as credit card bills), then use Plastiq in conjunction with Amex gift cards (after getting portal cash back) to pay regular bills (such as your mortgage). Now you’ve increased your credit card spend beyond what is possible with Bluebird alone.
There are also many readers who don’t use bluebird, redbird, Serve for a variety of reasons. Here are a few:
1. They think it is too complicated
2. They don’t have (or know of) a good source for buying Visa/MC gift cards with a credit card
3. They don’t want to make frequent visits to Walmart/Target/etc.
4. Their local Walmart/Target/whatever specifically won’t accept gift cards as debit cards.
Aug 5, 2015, 8:48 am
#25
Join Date: Jan 2014
Posts: 148
so i'll do some maths outloud:
buying gc through cashback portals you probably come out even in fees/rebates so you're getting a 1.99% hit from plastiq. with no category bonuses from cashback portals the only real way to make money would be to use amex everyday card at 1.5x which would mean you're actually coming 1.31% ahead (i value MR @ 2.2c * 1.5 - 1.99). on barclay arrival you're coming out ahead by ~ 0.21% (2.2-1.99). if you blow through amex points at anything below 2.2c you're probably >1% reward.
if you don't use portal and are doing pharmacy/grocery gc shopping then you're getting hit by 1.19% gc fee on every $500 and then plastiq hits you for another 1.99% so you're down %3.18 automatically which pretty much erodes most cards/values out there. the only slim margin is on the old amex cash card where you get 5% on grocery bringing down your value to 1.82%, but that has a yearly cap so you've made about $1000 for the year.
yes, it's a fairly cheap mean of hitting the sign-up bonus or if you're milking the ms game for all that it's worth and you're in a huge volume game there is some (barely) gains there of ~1%, but that seems like a lot of effort and still driving around/tracking sh8t for a measly 1%.
buying gc through cashback portals you probably come out even in fees/rebates so you're getting a 1.99% hit from plastiq. with no category bonuses from cashback portals the only real way to make money would be to use amex everyday card at 1.5x which would mean you're actually coming 1.31% ahead (i value MR @ 2.2c * 1.5 - 1.99). on barclay arrival you're coming out ahead by ~ 0.21% (2.2-1.99). if you blow through amex points at anything below 2.2c you're probably >1% reward.
if you don't use portal and are doing pharmacy/grocery gc shopping then you're getting hit by 1.19% gc fee on every $500 and then plastiq hits you for another 1.99% so you're down %3.18 automatically which pretty much erodes most cards/values out there. the only slim margin is on the old amex cash card where you get 5% on grocery bringing down your value to 1.82%, but that has a yearly cap so you've made about $1000 for the year.
yes, it's a fairly cheap mean of hitting the sign-up bonus or if you're milking the ms game for all that it's worth and you're in a huge volume game there is some (barely) gains there of ~1%, but that seems like a lot of effort and still driving around/tracking sh8t for a measly 1%.
There are also many readers who don’t use bluebird, redbird, Serve for a variety of reasons. Here are a few:
1. They think it is too complicated
2. They don’t have (or know of) a good source for buying Visa/MC gift cards with a credit card
3. They don’t want to make frequent visits to Walmart/Target/etc.
4. Their local Walmart/Target/whatever specifically won’t accept gift cards as debit cards.
1. They think it is too complicated
2. They don’t have (or know of) a good source for buying Visa/MC gift cards with a credit card
3. They don’t want to make frequent visits to Walmart/Target/etc.
4. Their local Walmart/Target/whatever specifically won’t accept gift cards as debit cards.
Aug 5, 2015, 9:20 am
#26
Join Date: Sep 2011
Location: Ann Arbor, MI
Posts: 308
I think you're over-complicating this. Buy Amex gift cards for 2.25% cash back and net about 2% cash back after fees. Then use them to pay your mortgage for 1.99% in fees. Net result is that you increased credit card spend with no net fees.
Aug 5, 2015, 11:07 am
#27
Join Date: Jan 2014
Posts: 148
if i'm not making money/travel perks on it why just 'churn' my spend?
Aug 5, 2015, 11:16 am
#28
Join Date: Aug 2013
Location: Jacksonville, FL
Posts: 35
I'm going to use my SPG Amex to purchase Amex gift cards for just this purpose, and keep my Bluebird free to max out elsewhere, using Simon Visa Gift Cards and $200 Visas with my Ink card from Staples.
Aug 5, 2015, 11:52 am
#29
formerly southsidesilver
Join Date: Jul 2011
Location: San Diego,CA
Programs: BA Gold, UA Silver, HH Diamond
Posts: 996
Tried paying my rent with this last month and they held the payment, I ended up paying my rent the usual way and getting a refund on this payment.
Not really worth the extra effort for me anymore.
Not really worth the extra effort for me anymore.
Aug 5, 2015, 12:01 pm
#30
Join Date: Sep 2011
Location: Ann Arbor, MI
Posts: 308
Did you have them pay by check or ACH? All of my test payments were ACH and they worked fine.