America Express for Loan payment?

[PamH]

I know this question gets asked a lot, but I have been unable to find it on the board.

What credit cards does accounting accept for Loan payments? I know they don't accept Amex for Dues, but will they for Loan payments?

Thanks!
Pam

 

[kdonnel]

You might call and see about getting balance transfer checks.

I am buying a resale and wanted to get the skymiles. I called and told Amex what I wanted to do and that I did not want to pay a cash advance or balance transfer fee.

They asked how many checks I wanted.

That way it does not matter if the account dept accepts AMEX or not.

 

[justcruisin]

I didn't think you earned points using the checks. Can anyone verify?

 

[kdonnel]

That would be crappy. They did not mention that when I requested the checks.

 

[DVC-Don]

None of our cards give points or cash back awards on balance transfers or checks.

 

[DebbieB]

I think you pay interest from day one on those checks. No grace period like regular charges.

 

[kdonnel]

I just checked with Amex.

At least for the offer they have given me I have a 20 day grace period, 3.9% fixed for the life of the transfer and I do get the Skymiles. This is for the Delta Skymiles Amex.

 

[PamH]

I just talked to Member Accounting and for the record, they do not accept American Express for Loan payments.

Since I was planning on using my Corporate Amex, I doubt I can get checks, but no big deal. I have plenty of credit cards to choose from that also do some form of points.

Thanks for you help!
Pam

 

[erikthewise]

I made my actual payment on our DVC purchase on an American Express card, and it was accepted with no questions asked. It pulled in over 40,000 Hilton HHonors points.

I eventually paid off the American Express card (before the high interest rate kicked in) with a home equity line.

 

[DBBN]

kdonnel

Be very careful when you deal with AMEX customer service. I've been an AMEX card user for many years and they are horrible when it comes to providing accurate information.

Their balance transfers often have fees associated with them and they almost never give you miles. Once last year I did get a no fee get the miles promotion but it was limited to only $5000. That was the first and last time I saw these terms offered.

Read the fine print when you get the checks beause what they tell you on the phone is meaningless. Keep a copy of the offer you might need it. I'll bet the terms you find are not the terms you expect.

By the way if I'm wrong about this let me know...I can generate tens of thousands of dollars in balance transfers by fabricating balances and moving them from card to card to get the miles.

Good luck. I really do hope I'm wrong on this one.

 

[kdonnel]

They sent the same offer to use earlier last year unsolicited.

We were planning to get a new fence and get the house painted. We paid for both and also paid a few mortgage payments. All the miles were posted to our account.

The offer expires March 5th for me. They won't give me an unlimited number to checks to use. That must be their way of limiting the number of miles you rack up.

I have been toying with buying series I savings bonds. You can purchase up to 30000 per year per social security number. You have to hold them for 6 months and can then cash them in with a 3 month interest penelty. You would only get 3 months interest but since they take AMEX you can get miles.

 

[justcruisin]

Amex is accepted when initially purchasing points. I don't believe it's accepted anytime after that (at least for DVC payments)

 

[DBBN]

kdonnel

WOW good for you. I hope you take full advantage of those offers. I wish I had access to the promotion you have!!!

As far as savings bonds go I just checked my credit card transactions and since October 2001 I've purchased $183,000 of I and EE bonds.

After doing a bit of research I find that there is NO LIMIT on the dollar value of bonds PURCHASED per year. The $30,000 dollar value of I bonds limit and $15,000 dollar value of EE bonds limit per social security number applies to bonds that you HOLD but not to bonds that you BUY.

For example you can buy $100,000 of I bonds this month. They'll have a January 2003 issue date. Hold them for at least 6 months. Then cash in $70,000 of them by December 31, 2003, and you would be complying with the statute. So long as you don't HOLD more than $30,000 of I bonds with a 2003 issue date per social security number you're OK. Take a look at the link below.

http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/get-cfr.cgi?TITLE=31&PART=360&SECTION=11&YEAR=1999&TYPE=TEXT

Have fun...I know I am. We just redeemed 2 first class awards for travel to Los Angeles, three nights at the Grand Californian at Disneyland and three nights in Las Vegas on the way back home. All for a total of $20.00 for the airfare.