Should I charge my rent?
 

Edit to say I've determined my initial thoughts of this not being a good deal were correct. Thanks everyone for your advice.

Ok. I am 99% sure that this is not the proper place to post this, but afterr almost 2 hours of searching for the right place, this is the closest I could find. Please don't flame me if I chose the wrong place.

Ok, my apt. complex gives the option to charge rent with a 5% fee added on. I have read threads on mile values and I think this is is def. a bad deal but wanted to make sure:

$845.00 a month with an added 5% fee

charged to my miles earning card gets me 845 miles for $845 + $42.50 total $887.50 for 845 miles is euqal to .05 per mile right? After reading for a long time it seems I shouldn't do anything more than .02 per mile right?

tia

[This message has been edited by Prncs (edited 04-13-2003).]

Probably not a great value (p.s. you'd get 887 miles, not 845), but it could be useful once or twice if you needed just a few miles for an award you were trying to get.

Yes, for non-status mile purposes, you would be overpaying in a big way doing this. Save that money for good mileage runs, weekend fares etc. that will boost your mileage and your status.

This would be a horrible deal paying 5 cents each for bonus miles.

There are many opportunities for thousands of bonus miles at little or no cost via credit cards, telecommunications, dining, hotel/cars and flying.

Pay rent in cash and use the $44 to buy 2 months worth of ATT internet through AA for 10000 miles.

lol..my brain is fried! can you tell? lol

thank you all three for confirming things for me. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

hmm...that ATT deal sounds great even if I do have dsl! What a deal! thanks for mentioning that.

the internet offer got me thinking..anyone else have a suggestion on how to better spend those 44 dollars? http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/wink.gif

I read in a magazine where they said the places that accept credit cards are often more expensive. Even if this is not the case, they do charge you 5% to use your credit card.

I wouldn't do it unless you were short of money and needed to finance it. If this is the case, you need some serious financial planning to avoid such a cash crunch.

Miles are not what they used to be. Hawaii awards are now more expensive (see posts from today). Airlines are making it hard to redeem awards (see Continental and other posts over the past few months).

"If this is the case, you need some serious financial planning to avoid such a cash crunch."

nope..just kills me to spend 845.00 a month adn not earn one mile. lol

I hate bills that I can't pay with my cc. Electric and car insurance. etc

I agree -- but it hurts more to pay a percentage for the privilege of using a card. For big purchases I always ask for a cash discount. You'd be surprised how often this meets with success!

I would check with your credit card provider, since every credit card provider adds in their contract with their vendors that credit card transactions cannot be assessed any fees, or surcharges or increases in the price. (However, the merchant, can offer a cash discount.)

I thing the AT&T 10,000 mi. internet deal was over 4-1-03. I signed up in March and tried to sign my wife up 4-3-03 and the deal was gone. Keep looking, there are more deals around.

You may be confused with minimums, which are universally forbidden. Surcharges are subject to state law and inconsistent policies, but ARE often not valid. Nevertheless, is not a cash discount valid? How can a third party regulate terms of a deal between two other parties? As opposed to the minimum, in which the third party now has a say, namely, "you can't require a minimum purchase when using my services".

Nevertheless, I would heartily recommend you do a little research. The outcome could mean a lot of miles for you. And, according to one source, surcharges are indeed illegal in California.

If this is correct, you may simply need to find the statute and send a letter citing it and explaining you want your rent charged to the card with no surcharge. End of discussion.

Goood luck!



[This message has been edited by Rut Dog (edited 04-12-2003).]

Actually, minimums are legal, at least on American Express. I emailed them once complaining about a merchant that had a minimum and received a response from American Express that minimum charges are in fact permitted.

Rut dog-

thanks so much for linking that info! I wil def. be looking into that. Any idea where to look on hte web for those statutes? My leasing officec is full of @sses and I would def. need some hard core proof before they even replied to my request. If this is indeed true by Ca law, I am super pissed that I missed out on 14,365 miles >:/

for anyone interested, this is the info that the link provided:

"Credit card surcharges and cash discounts
In some states the customer can be assessed a surcharge for using a credit card. However, there are laws against credit card surcharges in CA, CO, CT, FL, KS, MA, ME, NY, OK and TX. Additionally, Visa and MasterCard prohibit surcharges. American Express discourages them in general, and prohibits merchants from charging them if they also accept MasterCard or Visa. Discover allows surcharges on credit card purchases except in the above states. According to Bankcard Holders of America, there is one exception to the no surcharge law. If you pay state license fees by credit card, you may have to pay a surcharge. There are no exceptions for retail merchants. "

Yeah, make your landlord upset... for a few miles. It is legal for him to increase the rent every year and legal for him to do a lot of things that make your life miserable. For example, better make sure that there is no noise after 10pm or whatever stated on your lease, and you are not late in your rent by one day. Otherwise, he will get an excuse to evict you.

I think it's not worth it trying to "force" your landlord into acepting some legal loopholes. They will turn around and do the same to you.

[This message has been edited by MoreMiles (edited 04-12-2003).]