Use Plastiq to Earn Points
One of the easiest ways to travel the world at minimal cost is to accrue points and miles from credit card spending and then redeeming the points for travel. The easiest way to quickly accrue these points is to take advantage of the lucrative sign-up bonuses card issuers offer to new customers.
What is Plastiq and How Does it Work?
I recently discovered a new service called Plastiq, which allows you to make credit card payments where credit cards are usually not accepted. You can pay rent, mortgages, student loan bills, or even have a check mailed on your behalf to virtually any recipient, all paid using your credit card. Using Plastiq to make payments that typically require cash can help you earn more of these credit card sign-up bonuses without having to change your spending habits.
Plastiq charges a low 2.5% fee for most transactions. Normally, this fee would negate any rewards you might earn from your credit cards. However, there are a few notable exceptions when Plastiq can be worth more than it costs to use.
How Can I Use Plastiq to My Benefit?
First, if you have the Chase Business Ink Preferred card, Plastiq payments made with that card currently earn 3x Ultimate Rewards (expired as of 8/25/2018) points per dollar spent. Because these points are worth 1.5 cents or more when redeemed for travel, you’re effectively earning 4.5% (or more) cash back in exchange for the 2.5% Plastiq fee. This means you’re netting 2+% cash back for expenses that otherwise couldn’t earn any rewards!
Another time using Plastiq can pay off is while you are working on your minimum spending requirement for a new credit card in order to earn a sign-up bonus, making large payments such as your rent using Plastiq can often help you reach those minimum spending requirements more quickly. This is most beneficial if your typical spending wouldn’t otherwise be enough to earn the bonus. As an example: let’s assume you sign up for the Chase Sapphire Reserve, which earns 50,000 bonus points after $4,000 in spending during the first 3 months. If your rent is $1,350, you could pay 3 months worth of rent using Plastiq during those first 3 months, which comes out to $4,050 in spending. Your Plastiq fees for making these payments would be $101.25, but the 54,050 points you earned from the $4,050 spending and the 50,000 point bonus would be worth $810.75 or more when redeemed for travel.
Sign-Up for Plastiq and get $500 Fee Free Dollars
To sweeten the deal even further, if you sign up with my referral link, you will receive $500 in fee-free dollars to spend with Plastiq after you make your first $500 worth of payments. This would lower your Plastiq fees even further to just $88.75. Through this same referral program, you can invite your friends to earn even more fee-free dollars for yourself after they join and make payments.
Plastiq also sometimes runs promotions where you can receive additional fee-free dollars. Currently, any MasterCard enrolled in a Citi Pay MasterPass wallet can be used on Plastiq with no fees for any payment up to $250 through the end of September, 2018. If you have any rewards earning Citibank credit cards, you can use these in $250 increments to earn credit card rewards through Plastiq without paying any transaction fees during the next few months.
Join Alex and Larry on our journey, as we find love, eat great food, and travel to beautiful destinations. #weloveeattravel