Yes! Plastiq absolutely would work for a contractor and they even advertise that on its homepage. Unlike mortgages, paying a contractor is not restricted on any of the credit card networks (Visa, MC, Amex, or Discover). If he can invoice you (and is willing to accept payment by check in the mail in about 8-10 business days), you can use Plastiq to pay him.
So yes, it’s just like writing your contractor a check, except you’re paying Plastiq with your credit card to write him a check. You’d set your contractor up as a new recipient and probably categorize the business as “other,” since I can’t think what other category would fit. Keep in mind that when you’re making a payment to a new recipient for the first time, Visa cards have a tendency to treat it as a cash advance. So (1) you should send a secure message to Chase on your CIP account (or whatever Visa account you’re planning to use) requesting that they lower your cash advance limit to the lowest amount possible (I believe it’s $200) so when you try to make any payment more than that, it’ll get rejected if it codes as a cash advance; and (2) establish a “relationship” with the new recipient, your contractor, by using another kind of card, like your Amex Platinum, to make a small — let’s call it a “deposit” — payment of like $100. Once you’ve paid your new recipient, your contractor is in the system, and you shouldn’t have any more trouble with cash advances on a Visa.
Wow... $60k in planned spend. So many points there! There’s no limit on Plastiq’s side that I’m aware of. I know you plan to trim that amount by buying a lot of things yourself, e.g. on your Amex Platinum to work on that MSR. But still, even if you have $30k, or $40k left, that’s 3x UR on the CIP for 90k-120k UR. (Keep checking in to this thread for recent DPs on how CIP codes on Plastiq, especially before you make any payment! I’d hate for you to make a payment if you won’t get 3x anymore.) and yes, the only limit would be the credit limit on your CIP. So the thing you would have to do is (1) have the contractor bill you in installments; (2) break up the bill into separate checks, and basically pay down your CIP credit card balance in between each check to make the next one (this is called cycling, and it’s generally thought that done in excessive amounts or frequency could trigger a shutdown and/or financial review); or (3) consider signing up for multiple cards (!!!) like the Delta AND SPG Biz, and pay that big bill using Plastiq on three or more cards, e.g., the CIP up to its limit, then hit the MSR for the Delta and SPG Biz!
If you plan to use Plastiq, please consider signing up through a DISchurner’s link. This will give you $500 “fee free dollars” — basically, Plastiq will waive the fee on your second $500 spent through them after you’ve made your first $500 in payments.
Wow, I never thought I’d get so much kick out of spending $60k of someone else’s money.
ETA: Another option for payment might be Venmo. It’s a peer-to-peer payment app like PayPal (in fact, PayPal owns Venmo) that allows you to send money to friends, family, people you owe money to like your contractor. Venmo charges a transaction fee of 3% (compared to Plastiq’s 2.5%), but also earns 3x UR on the CIP. So basically, the points negate the fee, and you’re essentially paying the amount of the fee into your “vacation account.” If you can get your contractor to accept Venmo, this might be a backup if anything with Plastiq changes.
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