Use the card to get points?
 

I am going to redo all the windows in my home. The contractor is charging me $15,000 for the job. He states that I can get a $300 discount if I pay cash / check.

My question is, for 16,500 amex gold points, is it worth the $300 I would save?

If I charge the work, I will pay off the balance without any interest accruing.

I almost want to say that this is a no brainer that I should use the card to get the points, but $$$ in the pocket is nice too.

Thanks

Guess it really does depend on the old adage: "it depends on what you value those points/miles at."

16,500 points for $300 is a little over 1.5 cents for point. That's pretty good in my book and would probably be worth it. Your valuation might be different.

Another thought is to see if he would accept giftcards (home depot/lowes) or some other form of unreported quasi-cash and you get the miles and the $300. Maybe he'd really like 14,700 $1 coins! ;)

Better yet, why not purchase American Express Gift Cards through Big Crumbs? You will get cashback and the card processing fee is waived if you use code EMSVCA.

You will get 1.6% cash back, so the cost of those 16,500 miles would be $300 - $240 Cash Back or $60.

That's a Cost Per Mile of 0.36 cents - which is FANTASTIC!

If you do go the American Express Gift Card Route, make sure to buy the cards from the Business section of the AMEX gift card website - the personal site has a limit of $5000 per purchase.

Does your Amex card offer any additional warranty protection over paying with cash? And, of course, when paying cash you give up any ability to charge back if there should be a dispute with the contractor.

I would get a couple more bids!! It shouldn't cost more than $250-$300 per window. Check Lowe's & Home Depot. They have reliable contractors who will only charge, at least in my area, $99 labor per window. :)

Now, back to our regularly scheduled programming.

I would pay cash for the discount

I'd go with the credit card payment.