Hey all! Meet Spencer!

He loves the Plastiq and Citi AT&T Access More combo as much as I do. I thought it would be fun to add his ideas about the recent RadPad promotion debacle that lead to the new Plastiq offer – to shake it up a little here at ol’ Out and Out. 🙂

A big thanks to Spencer for lending his thoughts!

---

Anyone who’s read Out and Out knows Harlan LOVES earning miles and points when he pays rent. When there’s a fun promo, you better believe he’s ready for it.

The Rent Promo Of The Year (Or Not)

Two weeks ago, RadPad rocked the points world with a promo that allowed fee-free credit card rent payments via Android Pay.

This earth-shattering offer was set to run through the end of 2016. That’s four months of fee-free, points-earning rent fun!

Fast forward to last night.

RadPad posts an update on their blog. They have pulled the promo.

Only people who registered prior to August 24th, 2016, would be eligible and they will only be eligible for one rent payment that has to be paid by August 31st, 2016.

According to RadPad, Android Pay use increased from less than 5% of rent payments to 70% in the span of two weeks. That’s insane!

Well, so much for that points windfall.

If you were set on fee-free RadPad, where does that leave you?

The Consolation Prize (It’s A Good One)

Fear not, there are several points-earning options that could work including:

• Pay by credit card with RadPad (2.99% fee)
• Pay by debit card with RadPad ($4.95 flat fee)
• Pay by credit card with Plastiq (2.5% for Visa and American Express)
• Pay by credit card with Plastiq (1.75% promo fee for MasterCard)

Using a credit card with RadPad is clearly the most expensive option of the bunch. If you’re creative, you can make the debit card payment with RadPad work for you.

But let’s keep it simple and take a look at Plastiq. Not only can you pay rent, but you can pay other bills as well. The 2.5% fee for Visa and American Express payments is a decent option to meet a minimum spend on a credit card. 

The Plastiq Promotion

Link: Plastiq

The promotional MasterCard rate of 1.75% is where you can really get some value. Perhaps, even beyond minimum spending.

To get the promotion rate, you need to schedule 6 rent or mortgage payments by September 30th, 2016. Having already paid my rent (via Plastiq) for the month of September, I jumped on the opportunity and scheduled payments from October through March.

Remember, this promotion only works for rent and mortgage payments. I’m betting that will work just fine for many of you.

When To Use A Rent Payment Service

With all these fees, it’s important to consider the cost vs. the benefit of using a credit card. However, there are two situations in which it can make a lot of sense:

• Hitting a minimum spend
• You have a card with a bonus category

Many folks have recently been approved for the most talked about credit card in the history of credit cards. Seriously, though. It was crazy.

You probably don’t need me to tell you what that card is, but just in case you are totally new to this or have been hibernating (in summer?), it’s the Chase Sapphire Reserve.

If you are looking for a quick and easy way to complete the minimum spending on this card, Plastiq provides an easy way to do so. The fee will be 2.5% (because it’s not a MasterCard), but if you’re like me, paying rent will be a nice boost to get those 100,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points.

My Favorite Way To Pay Rent

If you aren’t trying to hit a minimum spend on a new card, you could use the Citi AT&T Access More card (not currently available for new sign-ups) and earn 3 Citi Thank You points per $1 on your rent.

As a MasterCard, you’ll earn Citi ThankYou Points at a reasonable cost for a payment you were going to have to make anyway. And, depending on how you redeem them, you can far more value than the cost of Plastiq’s fee.

Bottom Line

The implosion of the RadPad free-free promotion was a disappointment. But Plastiq swooped in to offer the grieving a solid opportunity to earn some miles and points to feed our travel addiction hobby.

What is your preferred method of paying rent? Do you plan on using the Plastiq promo?

Let me know in the comments!

About Spencer

I’m told that I’m obsessed with miles and points. Just because I spend three to four hours a day reading, talking, or thinking about points and the many ways to use them to travel doesn’t mean… fine, I’m obsessed.

Find me at Straight to the Points!

* If you liked this post, consider signing up to receive free blog posts in an RSS reader and you’ll never miss an update!