Pay property tax with a credit card?
Oct 12, 2015, 12:37 pm
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Sep 2015
Posts: 70
Pay property tax with a credit card?
Does anyone find value in doing this? My annual property tax is about $14k. I can pay by credit card for a 2.3% processing fee ($322). Since I have to pay this (usually by check, so no points/miles), I thought about using it towards the Chase British Airways card and its $20k min spend for 100k avios.
If I pay the $14k property tax ($322), and MS the other $6k (say at $5 fee per $500 vgc), I could get the 120k avios (100k bonus plus 20k avios spend) for about $0.0032 per point.
Does this seem worthwhile?
If I pay the $14k property tax ($322), and MS the other $6k (say at $5 fee per $500 vgc), I could get the 120k avios (100k bonus plus 20k avios spend) for about $0.0032 per point.
Does this seem worthwhile?
Oct 12, 2015, 12:48 pm
#2
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Dec 2003
Location: LAX
Posts: 10,908
I dont think your cost analysis has proper prospective.. you can hit 50k with minimal spend requirement so in reality you are getting 60k extra for about $350 in fees.. i d only do it with follow through to companion pass if it is of value to you...
Oct 12, 2015, 12:57 pm
#3
Original Poster
Join Date: Sep 2015
Posts: 70
And the companion ticket wouldn't be of any use for me since we have no plans to travel to Europe.
Last edited by rlee1180; Oct 12, 2015 at 1:12 pm
Oct 12, 2015, 1:04 pm
#4
Join Date: Jan 2014
Programs: SPG Platinum, Marriott LT Platinum, Hilton Diamond, Hyatt Globalist, AA Platinum Pro, AS MVP Gold
Posts: 215
Everything has an opportunity cost, it just depends on how you plan to meet that 10k spending for that British Airways card.
I plan to pay my property tax using my girlfriend's new Barclays Arrival+ card since I needed to spend 4k to meet minimum spending anyway. So my cost is 2.3%-2.1% = 0.02% to meet that 4k spend = $8.
I can also spend 4k via regular spending, but i plan to use the Discover It Miles card to do my regular spending @ 3% back. So if I spend that 4k regular spending using Barclays Arrival+, then i'm losing (3%-2.1%) * 4000 = $36 in terms of opportunity cost. Of course I can also pay property tax using Discover It Miles card, but i'd still have to find other means to meet that 4k minimum spending.
I plan to pay my property tax using my girlfriend's new Barclays Arrival+ card since I needed to spend 4k to meet minimum spending anyway. So my cost is 2.3%-2.1% = 0.02% to meet that 4k spend = $8.
I can also spend 4k via regular spending, but i plan to use the Discover It Miles card to do my regular spending @ 3% back. So if I spend that 4k regular spending using Barclays Arrival+, then i'm losing (3%-2.1%) * 4000 = $36 in terms of opportunity cost. Of course I can also pay property tax using Discover It Miles card, but i'd still have to find other means to meet that 4k minimum spending.
Oct 12, 2015, 1:27 pm
#5
Original Poster
Join Date: Sep 2015
Posts: 70
Everything has an opportunity cost, it just depends on how you plan to meet that 10k spending for that British Airways card.
I plan to pay my property tax using my girlfriend's new Barclays Arrival+ card since I needed to spend 4k to meet minimum spending anyway. So my cost is 2.3%-2.1% = 0.02% to meet that 4k spend = $8.
I can also spend 4k via regular spending, but i plan to use the Discover It Miles card to do my regular spending @ 3% back. So if I spend that 4k regular spending using Barclays Arrival+, then i'm losing (3%-2.1%) * 4000 = $36 in terms of opportunity cost. Of course I can also pay property tax using Discover It Miles card, but i'd still have to find other means to meet that 4k minimum spending.
I plan to pay my property tax using my girlfriend's new Barclays Arrival+ card since I needed to spend 4k to meet minimum spending anyway. So my cost is 2.3%-2.1% = 0.02% to meet that 4k spend = $8.
I can also spend 4k via regular spending, but i plan to use the Discover It Miles card to do my regular spending @ 3% back. So if I spend that 4k regular spending using Barclays Arrival+, then i'm losing (3%-2.1%) * 4000 = $36 in terms of opportunity cost. Of course I can also pay property tax using Discover It Miles card, but i'd still have to find other means to meet that 4k minimum spending.
Oct 12, 2015, 2:27 pm
#6
Join Date: Jun 2015
Posts: 348
I think you can do better if the opportunity is available. Instead of paying the $322 in processing fee, I would buy Simon GC and turn those around into MOs to pay the property tax. 14 $1,000 MOs @ .70 cents each = $9.80 + cost of SGC of $111 = $121 (- a savings of $201!). The SGC spend will also qualify towards your minimum spend. Good luck.
Last edited by Flyby01; Oct 12, 2015 at 2:33 pm
Oct 12, 2015, 2:35 pm
#7
Join Date: Dec 2011
Location: Bay area, CA
Programs: SW, AS, UA, AA, Delta, Hilton, Hyatt, Club Carlson, SPG, IHG, Choice
Posts: 183
I think you can do better if the opportunity is available. Instead of paying the $322 in processing fee, I would buy Simon GC and turn those around into MOs to pay the property tax. 14 $1,000 MOs @ .70 cents each = $9.80 + cost of SGC of $111 = $121 (- a savings of $201!). The SGC spend will also qualify towards your minimum spend. Good luck.
Can you buy $5K MO with 10 swipes of $500 VGC?
Oct 12, 2015, 2:43 pm
#8
Original Poster
Join Date: Sep 2015
Posts: 70
This is my concern as well. If my property tax was just a couple grand, then I could easily just MS with VGC and load to Serve or MO's. But $14k (actually two separate payments of $6700 each) is a lot of GCs and I'm not sure if I would be able to load them all to Serve or put together into a MO.
Oct 12, 2015, 8:21 pm
#11
Join Date: Jun 2015
Posts: 1,727
This is my concern as well. If my property tax was just a couple grand, then I could easily just MS with VGC and load to Serve or MO's. But $14k (actually two separate payments of $6700 each) is a lot of GCs and I'm not sure if I would be able to load them all to Serve or put together into a MO.
Oct 12, 2015, 10:04 pm
#12
Join Date: Dec 2011
Location: Bay area, CA
Programs: SW, AS, UA, AA, Delta, Hilton, Hyatt, Club Carlson, SPG, IHG, Choice
Posts: 183
Oct 13, 2015, 8:06 am
#14
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
Posts: 1,929
Oct 13, 2015, 8:15 am
#15
Join Date: Jun 2001
Posts: 782
This is my concern as well. If my property tax was just a couple grand, then I could easily just MS with VGC and load to Serve or MO's. But $14k (actually two separate payments of $6700 each) is a lot of GCs and I'm not sure if I would be able to load them all to Serve or put together into a MO.