The idea of earning tons of points and miles through credit card sign up bonus is an amazing idea. Until it comes time to hit the minimum spend requirements. This is especially tough for cards like American Express which isn’t as widely accepted as VISA and Mastercard. In this blog post, I’ve compiled 45 different methods available that you can try using when it comes time to hit your new credit card’s minimum spend requirements.
45 ways you can hit the minimum spend requirements on your new credit card
1 – Use your credit cards for all your day to day purchases
The simply act of using your credit card whenever you buy something will help with hitting the minimum spend requirements on your new credit card. If the store accepts AMEX, then you would pay with AMEX. For merchants that doesn’t accept AMEX, you can pay them with VISA or Mastercard.
2 – Offer to pay with your credit card when eating out with your friends and family
If you’re eating out with friends or family, offer to pay with your credit card and everyone can just give you cash for their share of the bill.
3 – Pay your phone bill with your credit card
Everyone has a cell phone bill to pay everyone. Simply put your monthly re-occurring bill on your new credit card.
4 – Pay for your internet with your credit card
Internet these days aren’t cheap. So why not leverage your internet bill to help you go on your next vacation. Simply use your new credit card to pay your monthly internet bill.
5 – Pay your accountant or H&R block when you file a tax return
We all have to pay taxes every year. Some people do it themselves but many people also go to an accountant or H&R block to file their tax return. Many accountants and H&R block accepts credit card payments, especially AMEX, so this is a good way for you to leverage this expense to get your welcome bonus points.
6 – Pay your speeding, parking, using a cell phone ticket with your credit card
It happens. Sometimes, we’re trying to pass another car and before you know it, you hear those sirens and you now have a speeding ticket. Or perhaps you didn’t put enough money when you paid for parking and you just got dinged with a parking ticket.
Turn these unfortunate turn of event into an opportunity. Funnel these tickets on your new credit card and get one step closer to hitting your minimum spend requirements!
7 – Pay for your car insurance in bulk with your credit card
While you’re trying to give ICBC the middle finger for constantly jacking up the cost of car insurance. (No thanks to rich Chinese people crashing their Ferrari and other expensive cars on a regular basis – yes I said it and I’m allowed to say it because I’m also Chinese) You can then leverage this massive bill and kill off one of your minimum spend requirements in one big swoop! This is especially true if you lump sum pay for one year’s worth of insurance.
I usually reserve this for a new AMEX card with a huge minimum spend requirement like the AMEX Business Platinum or AMEX Business Gold.
8 – Pay for your home insurance with your credit card
If you own or rent a home, you need to pay home insurance on a monthly basis. Put this bill on your new credit card because every bit helps!
9 – Lend money with Kiva.org using your credit card
Feeling extra generous? You can loan your money through Kiva.org and help someone from a developing country get ahead in life. You will get most of your money back but some will go to the organization to help pay their operating cost.
And yes, they do take AMEX.
10 – Pay for your school tuition if they accept credit cards
Going to post secondary or maybe you’re getting your graduate degree? Turn this eye gouging massive expense into several vacations. Where accepted, use your credit card to pay for your tuition fee and hit multiple minimum spend requirements from several credit cards at once!
11 – Use Plastiq to pay your bills
Plastiq is great for bills that you need to pay and they don’t accept credit cards. Here’s an image of bills you can potentially pay using Plastiq:
Plastiq charges 2.5% when using your credit card to pay these bills. This is especially good when it comes to leveraging big expenses like your rent to hit credit cards with a big minimum spend requirements.
12 – Use PayTM to pay your bills
PayTM is an app you can use to pay your bills like your electric bill. They don’t accept VISA but apparently, Mastercard is free. According to reddit, PayTM charges 4% for using AMEX. But on the PayTM website, it says 3%.
13 – Share your money using FOOi
FOOi is a money sharing app that you can use to send money to other people. You can load your FOOi account with credit cards including AMEX. Despite FOOi being free for sending money between people, there is a withdrawal fee of 4.99%. This is quite steep but it might be handy if you’re close to hitting the minimum spend on your AMEX card.
14 – Pay for things using PayPal
Tons of online merchants accept PayPal. You can even use PayPal to send money to other people. PayPal accepts most major credit cards including AMEX which makes this incredibly handy.
15 – Buy things in Amazon
If you do online shopping, Amazon is a great place to use your credit card to help get closer to hitting your minimum spend requirements. I often buy supplements on Amazon which adds up because I buy quite a bit on an annual basis.
16 – Shop for Christmas gifts early
If you celebrate Christmas, you can buy the gifts early for your friends and family members. Doing this helps you avoid the Christmas shopping rush and you can hit your minimum spend requirements much sooner!
17 – Pay for your company’s expenses using your credit card
Does your company allow you to use your credit card to pay for business expenses? Assuming they are timely with reimbursing you, this is a terrific method for hitting your minimum spend requirements!
18 – Purchase points and miles
Sometimes, you’re only a few points and miles away from your next redemption. You can then purchase points and miles with your credit card and to help get you closer to hitting your minimum spend requirements.
19 – Pay for your upcoming vacation in advanced
Joining an organized tour that cost hundreds or thousands of dollars? This is a great way for you to hit your minimum spend requirements faster. It might even pay for your flight where your tour is being held!
Personally, I’ve used this method to pay for a cruise ahead of time and I’ll probably use this method again the next time I go on a cruise.
You can also purchase travel insurance ahead of time as well.
20 – Use your credit card to put a down payment on a car
Planning on buying a car? You’re usually allowed to pay for the down payment by credit card. I’ve heard some car dealership allowing you to put as much as $5000 on your credit card.
This is an amazing way to kill off the huge minimum spend requirements on some credit cards like the AMEX Business Platinum, AMEX Gold Business or the RBC British Airways VISA.
21 – Temporarily pre-pay for refundable accommodations on websites like Booking.com or Expedia then ask for a refund later
To use this method, you basically book and pre-pay for a hotel from booking.com or Expedia and make sure that accommodation is refundable. This essentially helps you hit your minimum spend requirements within the typical 90 days that most credit card companies give you.
Then, once you’ve hit the minimum spend requirements, depending on how much you spent to pre-pay for that hotel, keep using the card until you hit that same amount. For example, if you pre-paid $1000 from booking.com or Expedia, then you keep using your credit card until you reach that $1000. Once you hit $1000, you can then ask booking.com or Expedia for a refund and you’ll get your $1000 back.
22 – Pay for your home renovation with your credit card
If you need to do some repairs or renovate your home, take this opportunity to get a free vacation out of it by earning some nice welcome bonus points from your new credit card! Simply funnel all your home renovation expenses on your credit card that requires hitting the minimum spend and you are good to go!
23 – Donate to charities that accept credit card payments
If a charity accepts credit card for donations, and you’re feeling extra generous, definitely go for it. I’ve actually seen some homeless people get money from passerby’s using their mobile phone’s app. The irony…
24 – Pay your business expenses
Do you run your own business and have expenses to pay? Use your new credit card to kill off all those expenses and earn a nice sign up bonus in the process!
25 – Pay for your extended health insurance with your credit card
If you have to pay for extended health insurance, definitely put it on your credit card.
26 – Buy something with your credit card then return it
This one is sketchy and I don’t recommend it. But I know of people who buys stuff with their credit card to hit the minimum spend requirements then return the item after the points has been posted.
27 – Buy a digital course from reputable online marketers on Facebook then ask for a refund later
This is a good method to “buy time” when trying to hit a big minimum spend requirements. Basically, you go to a reputable online marketer and purchase their online courses which goes for $2000+ USD.
Once you’ve hit the minimum spend requirements on your card, you keep spending on the card until you hit $2000+ USD. Then, contact that online marketer and ask for a refund. So if you think you can’t hit the minimum spend within the typical 90 days that credit card companies usually give you, you can buy time using this method. Just make sure the internet marketer’s refund policy is more than 30 days. If it’s not, then make sure to use it when you’re close to hitting your 90 day mark for your credit card which can essentially buy you an additional 30 days.
My girlfriend and I have personally done this to buy more time to hit the minimum spend requirements. The internet marketer that I used to ask for a refund is Frank Kern. But there are many reputable ones, just look around.
28 – Buy gas gift cards in bulk from online stores
I used to see Esso gas cards for sale in shop.ca during the Black Friday event. For example, I once saw a $500 Esso gas gift card sell for $450. Not only is it a tremendous amount of savings on gas, it’s also helping with hitting your minimum spend requirements for your new credit card.
So look around for gas cards to buy. Even if you don’t find a discounted deal, you’re going to use those gas cards anyways if you drive.
29 – Buy grocery cards with your credit card
We all have to eat right? Buying grocery gift cards in bulk will help you hit your minimum spend requirements without wasting your money to buy something you don’t need.
30 – Pay people using Square
Hiring an independent personal trainer? Pay him or her with Square.
Buying something from Craigslist or Kijiji? Ask the person if you can pay them with Square.
Square is a payment processor and it’s a great way to pay people with your credit card. As long as it’s a legitimate purchase, you can keep using this method.
31 – Buy prepaid credit cards or gift cards in grocery stores or 7-11
Many stores sells pre-paid credit cards that you can load and use as a place holder for your money when trying to hit minimum spend requirements. For example, 7-11 has MyVanilla Prepaid Mastercard that you can load with your AMEX card.
32 – Buy Cryptocurrency
I’ve personally never tried this method but I know people who’s purchased Cryptocurrency with their credit card. The big downside is that Cryptocurrency prices are volatile so your money might depreciate pretty quickly if you go this route.
33 – Lump sum pay for your gym membership
If you work out, you can lump sum pay for a one year membership at your local gym. Gyms typically offer a discount for buying in advanced so not only do you save money but you’re one step closer to hitting your minimum spend requirements.
34 – Load the CIBC AC Conversion with your credit card and withdraw the funds in another country
The CIBC AC Conversion used to be the go-to manufactured spending card that people used in Canada. You can’t load Canadian dollar to this card anymore but you can still load foreign currencies and withdraw them as Canadian or as other currencies.
This is a good way to hit your minimum spend requirements for VISAS and Mastercards (except the Alaska Airlines Mastercard which recognizes AC Conversion as a cash advance). You might lose out a bit from the exchange rate but you get it back with the big points you earn from hitting the minimum spend of your new credit card.
35 – Use your credit card to pay for taxis and Uber
If you take taxis or Uber, then make sure you pay with your brand new credit card.
36 – Join Toastmasters and pay their membership fee with your credit card
Toastmasters is a public speaking club and I’ve paid them before with my credit card which helps with meeting minimum spend requirements. If the Toastmasters club isn’t accepting credit card, ask them to get Square and usually, they’ll be okay with you paying them with your new credit card.
37 – Pay for subscriptions like Netflix or Spotify
This one is a given, just put your Netflix or Spotify subscription through your new credit card.
38 – Buy casino chips in cruise ships
I’ve never done this strategy but spoke to several people who’s done this. I don’t know the exact details on how it works but from what I know, you can buy casino chips in cruise ships with your credit card then cash it out. Since you’re allowed to have under $10,000 without being questioned, some people cash out up to $9000 during a 7 day time span.
I also heard that it counts as a credit card purchase, not as a cash advance. This strategy is definitely worth looking into because it’s an amazing method for hitting minimum spend requirements.
39 – See your optometrist, physiotherapist, massage therapist, chiropractor, and dentist
If you need to do your annual health checks for your eye, body or teeth, this is a good way to leverage these expenses to help meet your credit card’s minimum spend requirements.
40 – Start a website
Ever thought of having your own website? This is a good way for you to leverage your spending on your website to hit your minimum spend requirements.
41 – Store your files online with Dropbox or Google Drive
If you need to store files on cloud to avoid losing them, you’ll probably want to use Dropbox or Google Drive. If you use either services, you can put the annual membership payment on your credit card to help meet that spending requirements!
42 – Store your videos online with Vimeo
If you like making videos and uploading them online, Vimeo is a good place to put those videos. This method is mainly good for online content creators so if you’re an aspiring influencer, subscribing to Vimeo might be a good way to help you meet your minimum spend requirements.
43 – Buy a camera
Obviously, the point of earning all these points and miles is so we can travel more frequently. (Hence why it’s called frequent flyer miles). Chances are, if you like travelling, then you also like taking pictures. And so, if you need a new camera before your next vacation, putting that purchase on your credit card helps you meet your minimum spend requirements!
44 – Get a new mobile phone
If you’re looking to upgrade your phone and negotiating for a new mobile phone plan, then this is a great chance to put that big purchase on your credit card!
45 – Manufactured spending
Manufactured spending is the holy grail of hitting minimum spend requirements. Basically, you take your credit card, load it on a pre-paid credit card, then withdraw it at an ATM and pay off your credit card balance with it. This method is closely guarded so you’ll need to attend local meetups or points and miles seminars to learn how to use this strategy.
Conclusion
Meeting minimum spend requirements is important if you want to earn tons of points and miles on an annual basis. I hope the list of 45 different methods will help you get more points from new credit cards, especially if the minimum spend requirement is quite large.
Subscribe to Travel and Live Free’s email list to get the latest blog post and updates!
Like me at Facebook to get the latest updates on my journey around the world. Don’t forget to subscribe to my YouTube channel to watch the latest video on my travels and travel tips.
