Other creative ways of getting frequent flier miles with a FF creditcard, and getting initial sign-on bonuses quicker?

Has anyone discovered a way to pay one's mortgage by credit card and
get miles? Evidently there was a way to do this a while back with gift
cards--but apparently that loophole has been closed. So is it true
that any gift card you buy with a credit card is treated as a cash
advance?

I've found that, if I insist, I can pay my car insurance with a credit
card and not be charged extra for it.

One problem I have recently with a new FF card--must USD $750 to get
the initial bonus. I've started charging all expenses I can to the new
card, but it will still take me some time to get there; and I need
those miles to come in within a few months for some travel I need to
book.

One idea is to book a cruise for over a year out, directly with one of
the cruise lines that allow cancellations with no penalty x number of
months before sailing. You must put down a certain deposit at a
minimum. Then I would get the miles up front and just use the card
regularly till I'm over the $750 on other purchases. Then cancel the
cruise.

What's the best web site and/or blog for FF tricks like this? When I
google, most of what I see in the top results are people hawking "FF
secrets" reports and books for pay. Is there one book in particular,
something I could find on Amazon.com or elsewhere, with good FF tricks?

mike wrote:
Has anyone discovered a way to pay one's mortgage by credit card and
get miles? Evidently there was a way to do this a while back with gift
cards--but apparently that loophole has been closed. So is it true
that any gift card you buy with a credit card is treated as a cash
advance?

No, store gift cards are regular purchases, no cash advances. But the
gift cards aren't redeemable for cash (if you find one that is let
everyone know!). The prepaid MasterCard and Visa can be redeemed for
cash, but those _are_ treated like a cash advance when you buy them, AND
when you get cash, plus many banks charge hefty fees for these cards.

There used to be an AAA affiliate that let you buy traveler's checks
with a credit card, but that loophole was closed.

I've found that, if I insist, I can pay my car insurance with a credit
card and not be charged extra for it.

PG&E, the electric and gas company for much of Northern California now
lets you pay your bill with Visa (but no other card). Water, garbage,
and mortgage are about the only things I can't pay with a credit card.

One problem I have recently with a new FF card--must USD $750 to get
the initial bonus. I've started charging all expenses I can to the new
card, but it will still take me some time to get there; and I need
those miles to come in within a few months for some travel I need to
book.

The airline affiliated FF cards are getting more and more worthless as
they cut back on the available seats, and raise reward levels. The
bonuses are the only good part, then cancel the card before they start
charging an annual fee.

One idea is to book a cruise for over a year out, directly with one of
the cruise lines that allow cancellations with no penalty x number of
months before sailing. You must put down a certain deposit at a
minimum. Then I would get the miles up front and just use the card
regularly till I'm over the $750 on other purchases. Then cancel the
cruise.

Yes, that would work, but you have to pay the bill with cruise on it.

What's the best web site and/or blog for FF tricks like this? When I
google, most of what I see in the top results are people hawking "FF
secrets" reports and books for pay. Is there one book in particular,
something I could find on Amazon.com or elsewhere, with good FF tricks?

No, the books are all worthless and out of date. You just have to keep
your eyes open.

The best rewards card at this time, with no guarantee that it'll
continue to be avialable, is this one:
"http://www.firstusa.com/cgi-bin/webcgi/webserve.cgi?partner_dir_name=countrywide_rewardsl ow&page=cont".


You get a flat 2% if you take the 1% reward and deposit it to a
Countrywide Bank account (savings, mortgage, money market, etc.). There
is no expiration date.

I can't see how they continue a deal this good for very long. All the
other flat 2% rebate cards are history.

One credit card I once had allowed you to make no-fee balance transfers
to other cards and get rewards points for the transfers up to $10,000
with no limit on how many times you could do this. Of course the result
was that people were doing balance transfers over and over again, then
taking the money from the balance transfer to pay the bill, and racking
up huge rewards balances. This program ended pretty quickly.

Thanks SMS.

Mike

mike wrote:

Has anyone discovered a way to pay one's mortgage by credit card and
get miles? Evidently there was a way to do this a while back with gift
cards--but apparently that loophole has been closed. So is it true
that any gift card you buy with a credit card is treated as a cash
advance?

I've found that, if I insist, I can pay my car insurance with a credit
card and not be charged extra for it.

One problem I have recently with a new FF card--must USD $750 to get
the initial bonus. I've started charging all expenses I can to the new
card, but it will still take me some time to get there; and I need
those miles to come in within a few months for some travel I need to
book.

One idea is to book a cruise for over a year out, directly with one of
the cruise lines that allow cancellations with no penalty x number of
months before sailing. You must put down a certain deposit at a
minimum. Then I would get the miles up front and just use the card
regularly till I'm over the $750 on other purchases. Then cancel the
cruise.

If that works, and there is no rule that says you will forfeit the miles
if the 750 is refunded, why not just put down a $750 deposit on the
cruise or a refundable air ticket? Then you wouldn't need to do anything
else to get to the $750. I don't see the point. Once you have the
credit card, why get rid of it right away?

In article ,
SMS wrote:

There used to be an AAA affiliate that let you buy traveler's checks
with a credit card, but that loophole was closed.

You can still buy American Express travelers checks with an American
Express card, and they will be treated as purchases, not cash advances,
but only if you buy them at an American Express-owned travel center.
I think the limit is $1000 a week. It's a good way to rack up miles
if you live near an AX travel center.

VS wrote:

In article ,
SMS wrote:


There used to be an AAA affiliate that let you buy traveler's checks
with a credit card, but that loophole was closed.


You can still buy American Express travelers checks with an American
Express card, and they will be treated as purchases, not cash advances,
but only if you buy them at an American Express-owned travel center.
I think the limit is $1000 a week. It's a good way to rack up miles
if you live near an AX travel center.


Of course they might find it weird if you keep cashing them in at the
same Amex office. TC's are as useful as they once were.

Thanks MrTravel and VS.

If that works, and there is no rule that says you will forfeit the miles
if the 750 is refunded, why not just put down a $750 deposit on the
cruise or a refundable air ticket? Then you wouldn't need to do anything
else to get to the $750. I don't see the point.

There may well be a policy that says you'll forfeit the miles if the
750 is refunded. Anyone know for sure? It's for an American Airlines
AAdvantage Mastercard.

Once you have the credit card, why get rid of it right away?

Why get rid of it right away? Can't get rid of it right away.
Typically need to hold on to it for a 6 month period, or you *will*
forfeit the bonus miles. In my case, 25K bonus miles.

I typically use my United Mileage Plus visa. Every now and then I
cancel outright. Wait several months till I get a new offer by email
or postal mail and apply again. Done it twice and have been reinstated
each time with whatever bonus miles are being offered.

In article , mrtravel wrote:

You can still buy American Express travelers checks with an American
Express card, and they will be treated as purchases, not cash advances,
but only if you buy them at an American Express-owned travel center.
I think the limit is $1000 a week. It's a good way to rack up miles
if you live near an AX travel center.

Of course they might find it weird if you keep cashing them in at the
same Amex office.

You can just deposit them in your bank account. The bank may fill
out a FinCEN form if you deposit more than $10K in travelers checks
at once, but it's no big deal.

VS wrote:
In article ,
SMS wrote:

There used to be an AAA affiliate that let you buy traveler's checks
with a credit card, but that loophole was closed.

You can still buy American Express travelers checks with an American
Express card, and they will be treated as purchases, not cash advances,
but only if you buy them at an American Express-owned travel center.
I think the limit is $1000 a week. It's a good way to rack up miles
if you live near an AX travel center.

Don't they charge you a 1% fee when you buy travelers checks? That would
negate the 1% reward. AAA doesn't charge a fee.

SMS wrote:
mike wrote:
Has anyone discovered a way to pay one's mortgage by credit card and
get miles? Evidently there was a way to do this a while back with gift
cards--but apparently that loophole has been closed. So is it true
that any gift card you buy with a credit card is treated as a cash
advance?

No, store gift cards are regular purchases, no cash advances. But the
gift cards aren't redeemable for cash (if you find one that is let
everyone know!). The prepaid MasterCard and Visa can be redeemed for
cash, but those _are_ treated like a cash advance when you buy them, AND
when you get cash, plus many banks charge hefty fees for these cards.

Actually I just found out that the prepaid Mastercard debit cards that I
bought for my kids' allowances can be refilled on-line, from a credit
card from the same bank, and its treated as a purchase not a cash advance.

Yeah, I could transfer the maximum amount per day that the ATM allows
you to withdraw then get the cash and deposit it into a bank account,
but it's a tough way to make a living. I'd get about $4 per day worth of
FF miles.