Any way to pay taxes with CC and avoid/reduce the fee?
Jun 16, 2005 | 8:21 pm
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Jun 2001
Location: A small town in North Georgia
Programs: DL Platinum Medallion, AA
Posts: 1,680
Any way to pay taxes with CC and avoid/reduce the fee?
I'd love to have the miles for an estimated tax payment with AMEX or VISA, but can't justify the convenience fee. Is there any way to avoid the fee or at least reduce it? Would it do any good to call the CC companies?
Jun 16, 2005 | 9:16 pm
#2
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Join Date: Apr 2004
Location: GVA (Greater Vancouver Area)
Programs: D.R.E.A.D. Gold card holder
Posts: 53,196
Usually the merchant pays the fee on a credit card purchase, but in this case the government is the "merchant". There's not a chance they'll pay the fee, so somebody's got to.
Jun 17, 2005 | 8:33 am
#4
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I'm paying off a little disagreement I had with the IRS by credit card. I agree, it's usually not worth it.
But, my Hilton AMEX gives three points/dollar, and the convenience fee is 2.49%. Works out to 0.83 cents/point, which is less that Hilton charges.
If you're getting 1 mile/dollar, like most cards, it comes in at 2.49 cents/mile which is not a good deal.
But, my Hilton AMEX gives three points/dollar, and the convenience fee is 2.49%. Works out to 0.83 cents/point, which is less that Hilton charges.
If you're getting 1 mile/dollar, like most cards, it comes in at 2.49 cents/mile which is not a good deal.
Jun 17, 2005 | 8:46 am
#5
Join Date: May 2002
Location: Chevy Chase
Posts: 1,824
I agree with BigLar. I like to think that you have to "buy" miles at less than $.02/permile to make it worthwhile and even then it's can be tough to figure out. Check this thread from a while ago that I started: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=394648. You needed to have DL AMEX for the promo I was interested in and the miles worked out to $0.01245 per mile. I had a very hefty tax bill and decided in the end that I didn't "need" the miles at the time and that therefore it did not make sense to me. Below a penny a mile may have made me jump.
Jun 17, 2005 | 9:52 am
#6
Join Date: Feb 2002
Location: Boston, MA, USA
Posts: 180
UA VISA offers double points until 31 Dec 2005.
http://mileageplusvisa.ualmiles.com/...edOffers.jsp#2
http://mileageplusvisa.ualmiles.com/...edOffers.jsp#2
Jun 17, 2005 | 10:41 am
#7
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Originally Posted by BigLar
I'm paying off a little disagreement I had with the IRS by credit card. I agree, it's usually not worth it.
But, my Hilton AMEX gives three points/dollar, and the convenience fee is 2.49%. Works out to 0.83 cents/point, which is less that Hilton charges.
If you're getting 1 mile/dollar, like most cards, it comes in at 2.49 cents/mile which is not a good deal.
But, my Hilton AMEX gives three points/dollar, and the convenience fee is 2.49%. Works out to 0.83 cents/point, which is less that Hilton charges.
If you're getting 1 mile/dollar, like most cards, it comes in at 2.49 cents/mile which is not a good deal.
Comparing the cost with what a hotel or airline would charge you to buy miles isn't relevant. As posted many times in several hotel/airline threads, those prices are typically way over what the miles/points are worth. Those offers make sense only if you need to top up your account in a hurry.
Jun 17, 2005 | 10:51 am
#8
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Originally Posted by Efrem
I value Hilton points at about a third of an airline mile each (you can get 2 AA miles for them, including the loss of value that tends to go along with these conversions, so half a mile is the upper limit on their value), so 3 points/$ is the same as the usual one mile/$. IMHO, the convenience fee is only worth it if you can use one of the double-miles deals that show up regularly, such as the one posted by Flyer Jon just above.
Comparing the cost with what a hotel or airline would charge you to buy miles isn't relevant. As posted many times in several hotel/airline threads, those prices are typically way over what the miles/points are worth. Those offers make sense only if you need to top up your account in a hurry.
Comparing the cost with what a hotel or airline would charge you to buy miles isn't relevant. As posted many times in several hotel/airline threads, those prices are typically way over what the miles/points are worth. Those offers make sense only if you need to top up your account in a hurry.
I tend to value hotel points more than airline miles, because the return on them is measured in days rather than hours.
1 AA mile -> 2 HH points, so a double mile deal would really shiver my shorts. However, one has to work with what one has; I have an AA account but only use it to launder miles into HH points, and no AA credit card.
In any event, I was going to pay the bill monthly anyhow, and the incremental cost, which amounts to a couple of cups of coffee and an airport sandwich, is getting me several thousand Hilton points at the end of the year. So, I'm satisfied with the deal.