PROMO: Discount Earning Miles When You Pay Rent or Mortgage With a Credit Card

by Gary Leff

I receive compensation for content and many links on this blog. Citibank is an advertising partner of this site, as is American Express, Chase, Barclays and Capital One. Any opinions expressed in this post are my own, and have not been reviewed, approved, or endorsed by my advertising partners. I do not write about all credit cards that are available -- instead focusing on miles, points, and cash back (and currencies that can be converted into the same). Terms apply to the offers and benefits listed on this page.

Bill payment service Plastiq lets you pay people by check and they charge your credit card.

Plastiq has a promotion where instead of their normal 2.5% fee for processing payments, they’ll charge you:

  1. 1.75% for rent or mortgage payments made with Mastercard.
  2. 2.25% for rent or mortgage payments made with American Express.

To qualify for this lower rate,

  • Schedule 6 or more rent or mortgage payments into the future
  • Set up payment with a Mastercard or American Express
  • Make sure to do this by October 31 when the promotion expires

Plastiq may hold up a first payment slightly, requiring you to verify that a payment actually qualifies. I’ve seen them ask to see a lease or an invoice for payments before. And they’re mailing checks, that takes time, so be sure to make payments sufficiently far in advance of when they’re due.

Charging rent or a mortgage is a good way to meet spending requirements on a Mastercard. Consider the Citi Prestige Card or Citi® / AAdvantage® Executive World Elite™ Mastercard® as strong bonuses on Mastercards.

At 1.75% you even come out ahead charging your rent or mortgage to a 2% rebate card.

You may also want to meet a spending threshold, for instance by putting $40,000 earlier this year on my Citi® / AAdvantage® Executive World Elite™ Mastercard® I earned 10,000 elite qualifying miles. That helped me requalify for American’s Executive Platinum status by mid-June. (I always think I’m going to fly less in the coming year, but I never do…)

About Gary Leff

Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel - a topic he has covered since 2002. Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »

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Editorial note: any opinions, analyses, reviews or recommendations expressed in this article are those of the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any card issuer. Comments made in response to this post are not provided or commissioned nor have they been reviewed, approved, or otherwise endorsed by any bank. It is not the responsibility of advertisers Citibank, Chase, American Express, Barclays, Capital One or any other advertiser to ensure that questions are answered, either. Terms and limitations apply to all offers.

Comments

  1. Perhaps I’m wrong here but I don’t know of many banks that will let you pay your mortgage by a check sent by mail. Doesn’t it need to be drawn directly from a bank account? Even so, I wouldn’t want to take the chance that the check doesn’t arrive in time.

  2. I’ve paid my mortgage for several years by mail, with three different banks–currently Chase.
    And I mail I money orders!

    In fact, if you closely read the T&C on the mortgage statement, it might say something to the effect of “mail in your check or money order to…” It has that exact language on my Chase mortgage statement.

    >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
    Can anyone verify if using Plastiq for Amex sign-up bonus spend requirement is / is not in compliance with their new T&C regarding MS activities?
    i.e. just got a new card in the mail, with VGCs off the table (points claw-backs), is this a method with some DPs of success?

  5. I’ve used Plastiq to pay my mortgage and rent and have had no issues. They will notify you when the check they sent is delivered and cashed. You can also call your mortgage company and confirm the receipt of payment.

    If you need a referral, please use my link below. You will receive $200 fee free dollars after making first payment of at least $20 through Plastiq. I will also receive $400 fee free dollar once you use my link. Thanks.

    https://try.plastiq.com/509922

  6. @JK – you can cancel payments. if plastiq decides you were acting in bad faith they can come back to you for the difference in fees. what i would do is contact customer service and ask them to change the payee, and if they won’t or can’t while honoring the price then cancel the remaining recurring payments

  8. Do you know if these payments can be made with different credit cards, or do they all need to be made with the same credit card? I’d like to meet a few minimum spends with this promotion. 🙂

  10. I tried using a credit card to pay an bill simalar to this and I was dinged a “cash advance” charge as that particular vendor was set up as “cash like transactions.” Do you know what the actual transactions are categorized when you use this service?

  11. Is this promo rate just for first 6 months or once its set up I can keep paying my mortage and will recive this rate for all my future payments.

Comments are closed.