Questions and Answers

So on my Delta AmEx, if you spend $25,000 or more in a calendar year, you get a 10,000 MQM bonus. I’m going to land up about $3-4k short of that as it stands. I don’t really have that kind of money to blow on something I don’t need, so I’m wondering how I might be able to buy something with the AmEx and return it for cash.

I’m currently silver status through 2016 and just over 11,000 miles away from Gold. So if I can get that 10,000 mile bonus, it would set me up perfectly for next year with rollover miles. I should hit silver (for 2017) right away, and probably make gold later on in. I’d go for gold this year, but it seems kind of wasteful “only” having gold for one calendar year.

I think all this information is correct…does it make sense or am I being silly? Also, I’m a Costco member if that helps.

[USER=1227]@Carter C[/USER], personally buying stuff on a credit card with the purpose of returning it for cash is a line I don’t cross but everyone has their own standards on this stuff. Do you have a serve or a bluebird card? It should still be possible for you to get one and meet your spending needs in time. If you have one already maybe consider a second for a family member or friend with their permission? Kiva might be another option (again, not one I’m familiar with but plenty of people seem to use it).

[USER=1227]@Carter C[/USER] — You can also think ahead a bit. We’ll often buy gift cards for things we know we’ll need in the next few months (think Costco, Amazon, the grocery store, gas station), pre-pay car insurance and phone bills, etc.

[USER=1227]@Carter C[/USER] Are you able to float the $3-$4k from savings for however long it would normally take you to spend that amount? You could always just buy [URL=’https://www.americanexpress.com/gift-cards/?inav=menu_cards_giftcards’]Amex gift cards directly from Amex[/URL] and then use those for your everyday spending. They’re available in many different denominations all the way up to $3k. Use no fee and no shipping coupon codes (Google to find whatever the current ones are) and it won’t even cost you anything to purchase them and have them shipped to you, and they work anywhere Amex is accepted so you’re not tied to any specific retailer.

If it’s worth a 3% service fee, send someone you know the 3,000 dollars using Venmo and just have them give it right back to you. There’s a 3% service fee, but it could be worth the 100 bucks.