Tips to Meet Credit Card Minimum Spend for Bonus Points

stirlo on 23/07/2021 - 11:01
Last edited 23/07/2021 - 11:01

I recently got a St George Qantas Signature card through my home loan package. If I spend $6,000 on it in the first 90 days I get 90,000 qantas points. Normally I'd go for a card with a lower spend requirement but seeing as I didn't pay the annual fee I went for the big one this time. I have enough savings to pay off the card balance when I spend the $6k but I don't have any big purchases coming up to hit the $6k spend.

Are there any tips for how to "spend" $6k to earn the bonus points?

I recently tried prepaying some of my water bill but they seem to take a strict definition of excluding "a purchase from or payment to a local, state or federal government or government related agency" which caused my standard credit card payment online to not earn points.

In the past I've heard book some refundable accomodation/flights and then cancel them once the card is cancelled however with covid I'm not sure this is a great idea. About the best I can come up with is pay a years groceries upfront by buying coles/woolworths gift cards. Else I was thinking of just buying "cash" by purchasing a prepaid visa/mastercard card. Is there a low fee VISA/Mastercard prepaid card I could buy to meet the spend?

Financial

Comments

  • Archi on 23/07/2021 - 11:13
    +3
    • prepay health insurance
    • buy supermarket gift cards,
    • loads of booze,
    • pay for your other family and friends expenses
    • stirlo on 23/07/2021 - 11:16
      -1

      prepay health insurance

      Good idea however as a single this far less than $6k

      buy supermarket gift cards
      Thought of that one but I prefer to shop at Aldi

      loads of booze
      It's a struggle to meet the $6k but I'm trying :P

      pay for your other family and friends expenses
      this assumes they'll pay you back…

      • Archi on 23/07/2021 - 11:18
        +4

        this assumes they'll pay you back…

        you need to evaluate your friends and family

        • stirlo on 23/07/2021 - 11:22

          you have 90 days to spend the $6K not spend it one go..

          True, a combination of these will get me closer but I think I'll still be around $2-3k short. I might end up prepaying car insurance and home insurance which will probably get me there. Was just interested in any ideas from left field that Ozbargainers might have.

  • dasher86 on 23/07/2021 - 11:14
    +2

    Gift Cards

    • Ghost47 on 23/07/2021 - 11:29

      This is the way.

      • stirlo on 23/07/2021 - 11:42

        $6k is an awful lot of gift cards assuming you're talking supermarket ones. I probably spend around $300 a month at the supermarket so even $1000-2000 is a reasonable commitment.

        Does anyone know of any good universal VISA/Mastercard gift cards?

        • Soluble on 23/07/2021 - 11:46

          The visa/Mastercard gift cards all cost money on top and only low values so aren't that great for what you're trying to achieve

          • Seraphin7 on 23/07/2021 - 16:22
            +1

            @Soluble: A full $6,000 worth of the Coles cards (i.e. 24 x $250) would cost $168 (I think it's a $7 charge per card).

            On an assumption that OP can eat up a large chunk of the $6k in other ways, and so the $168 would come down a lot, this may not be the worst way to "buy" 90,000 points.

            • Soluble on 23/07/2021 - 16:41

              @Seraphin7: May as well be paying interest on the card if earning points is going to cost you additional money.

              No chance I would have taken on a card if I couldn't meet the spend without $250 worth of groceries costing me $257.

              • Seraphin7 on 23/07/2021 - 17:41
                +1

                @Soluble:

                No chance I would have taken on a card if I couldn't meet the spend without $250 worth of groceries costing me $257.

                No argument there, although it appears that boat may have sailed in OP's case.

            • jrvb42 on 24/07/2021 - 12:30
              +1

              @Seraphin7: Coles are semi-regularly discounting their prepaid MasterCard gift cards. As OP has 90 days, I recommend waiting for that deal, as I myself am doing.

              • Seraphin7 on 24/07/2021 - 15:17

                @jrvb42: Yes, aware of that. Filled up on the first one, missed out on the second.

        • Ghost47 on 23/07/2021 - 11:55
          +1

          Coles do a deal every now and then where they sell gift cards for 10% off. Even with the activation fee you’re ahead by something like 5%. Coles Mastercard gift cards are accepted everywhere MC is accepted.

          But yes the caveat is that the deal has to be happening to take advantage of it of course.

          • stirlo on 23/07/2021 - 12:19
            +1

            @Ghost47: Yeah bought $1500 worth on my amex earlier this year when they had that deal. Free money!

        • dasher86 on 23/07/2021 - 12:18

          coles gift cards, woolies gift cards, petrol, dan murphys etc.
          buy Christmas gifts in advance

  • 87percent on 23/07/2021 - 11:15
    +3

    you can't spend $2k a month on CC? geez, thats not much.. pay all your bills, groceries, petrol, dining out

    • stirlo on 23/07/2021 - 11:19

      bills, groceries, petrol, dining out

      bills ~$300
      groceries ~$300
      petrol ~$50 (working from home)
      dining out ~$50 (we're in lockdown here)

      Definitely won't be spending $2k per month over the next couple.

      • Dejaar on 24/07/2021 - 09:14

        Yeah but it all adds up.

      • ColtNoir on 24/07/2021 - 09:58

        How do you only spend $300 a month on food?

        • stirlo on 24/07/2021 - 10:24
          +3

          I cook like 95% of meals. And buy things on sale, from Aldi, and the markets. I’m not buying groceries for a family…

          • ColtNoir on 26/07/2021 - 08:13

            @stirlo: I’m impressed. $300 even for one person is still not a lot.
            I spend far more for just my wife and I, although we’re in Sydney and the markets are more expensive.

  • Choc83 on 23/07/2021 - 11:36

    Call up your ISP and offer to pay a year in advance
    Prepay your mobile phone bill as well if you're able to
    Buy some Aldi gift cards for yourself!

    Watch out with St George as they don't consider utility bills as part of your spend qualification

    • stirlo on 23/07/2021 - 11:47

      Watch out with St George as they don't consider utility bills as part of your spend qualification

      Yeah found this out the hard way with my water bill. :( It's pretty rude as most other cards only exclude obvious stuff like ATO payments and Bpay.

      Does anyone know if this exclusion extends to car registration?

  • theoracle30 on 23/07/2021 - 11:43
    +2

    This came up just yesterday: https://www.pointhacks.com.au/credit-card-minimum-spend-guid…

  • stirlo on 23/07/2021 - 11:49
    +1

    Could I buy this Australia Post reloadable card with a $5000 balance? It suggests there's a $7.95 fee for the card but no instore reload fee? Though I guess it's risky as technically Australia Post is government owned…

  • Team Ozgiftcards on 23/07/2021 - 11:52

    Buy things for friends and family and get reimbursed.

    • Archi on 23/07/2021 - 12:13
      +1

      op doesn't trust his family and friends

      • stirlo on 23/07/2021 - 12:15

        op doesn't trust his family and friends

        It's more that it's complicated for them with no benefits for them.
        I would prefer not to impose unless one of them was like I'm buying a $2000 TV tomorrow out of the blue.
        It's difficult enough to split the bill when we eat out together let alone dealing with bills or other purchases. I left that behind when I stopped living in share houses :P

  • me1stt on 23/07/2021 - 11:54

    https://giftcardstore.com.au/product-category/virtual-master…
    Not sure what the fee is but you can get cashback from ShopBack & Cashrewards.

  • JIMB0 on 23/07/2021 - 12:13
    +2

    Give it to the wife. I'm sure she'll have no problems taking care of it.

  • gidxg03 on 23/07/2021 - 12:14

    You can pay several bills through Australia Post and I don’t think they come up as government spend. Don’t hold me to this and do your research but prepaying annual health insurance as an example is usually a large bill and one you save by paying annually.

    2 dont’s:

    1: don’t prepay flights/accomodation and then cancel. If enough people use this method banks will clamp down which will have consequences for all of us.

    2: Don’t spend more than you would normally and don’t pay late and then have to pay interest.. ever!

    • stirlo on 23/07/2021 - 12:18

      Thanks for the practical advice. I think I'll put my home insurance through and maybe use one of the paywall services for some rates which should get me over the line.

  • Baysew on 23/07/2021 - 12:27
    +2

    Purchase car insurance. (Not many people know that)

    • stirlo on 23/07/2021 - 12:27
      +1

      Hahaha but Ozbargain posts and MS paint diagrams are free!

  • holdenmg on 23/07/2021 - 12:31
    +2

    Hi,

    Lots of people have been using Sniip to pay Bills such as Energy bills
    ATO tax bills, Rent (DEFT) and Body Corporate, Phone & internet bills
    Insurance – car, health, home and contents etc, School fees, Rates and water
    Car rego.

    Because you are paying Sniip and they are then paying the party you nominate, my understanding is it satisfies the Spend requirement.

    You can read about it @
    https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/615433
    and
    https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/638869

    • El-Rhi on 23/07/2021 - 19:08
      +1

      This. Highly recommend Sniip for getting around ineligible transactions

  • onetwothreefour on 23/07/2021 - 12:48

    Stock up on toilet paper then sell it for a profit.

  • holdenmg on 23/07/2021 - 12:53

    Hi,

    I also found out https://www.brickx.com/properties don't accept BPAY, but you can fund BrickX (Biller Code 180653) purchases through Sniip.

    So, you could open a BrickX account, buy some Bricks from around $39ea (plus fees) by funding through Sniip, get some Spend and then sell your BrickX with proceeds back to you Bank Account (plus profit or loss and fees).

  • Poolprouk on 23/07/2021 - 13:54
    +4

    Health insurance extras - don't swipe your health insurance card when paying for massage/dentist e.t.c. pay in full on CC. Then put in manual claim with rebate paid to bank account.

    Postbillpay with paypal for council rates and other gov bills where possible.

    • stirlo on 23/07/2021 - 14:22

      Great idea about claiming reimbursement!

  • redfox1200 on 23/07/2021 - 14:56

    buy a qantas business class return flight 6 months out and cancel (refunded in cash back to card) after receiving the points

    • bohn on 23/07/2021 - 16:16

      buy a qantas business class return flight 6 months out and cancel (refunded in cash back to card)

      qantas are making people wait until 24 hours before the flight was expected to depart to call up to get a refund.. ;)
      so if you want to give your money to qantas for 6 mths and then go through their call centre to sort it out, it could be good

      • stirlo on 23/07/2021 - 16:24

        The 24 hour before message has been there forever. As long as you're able to call at 7am they have no issues making changes for bookings in the future.

        • bohn on 23/07/2021 - 16:26

          hmm I seem to remember hearing people complain about the refund thing just recently.

          • stirlo on 23/07/2021 - 16:29

            @bohn: Hmm maybe I've just been lucky :) I've requested alterations and refunds quite a few times recently and never been given trouble. But I haven't explicitly requested a business class cash refund. Maybe they're being more picky there.

        • holdenmg on 23/07/2021 - 17:29

          Damn, I read 24 hour massage.
          (was thinking who would cancel) lol

      • redfox1200 on 23/07/2021 - 16:48

        same rules probably don't apply for business flex flights, they are already refundable. The 24 hours before flight issue is probably more to do with non-refundable tickets.

        plus you can always change your flight to tomorrow and then cancel if thats their policy :)

        even if you don't turn up to the flight it's still refundable

  • Dejaar on 24/07/2021 - 09:11
    +1

    I time my sign ups to coincide with my car rego and ins. Easy way to get to the spend requirement.

  • Waltervp on 24/07/2021 - 09:14
    +1

    I just bought an old second hand motorcycle from a dealer ship in Melbourne. They allowed me to use my credit card as long as I covered the 1.7% surcharge. That was $3500. Maybe you need to invest in wheels?

  • scottwhat12 on 24/07/2021 - 09:48

    Hey, girlfriend and I need to smash through two more card minimum spends (westpac + NAB) so that we can fly business class to europe to visit the fam (she has a bad back and needs the bed, I want free booze) and we arent massive spenders.

    Anwyay, any tips on buying westfield giftcards, we normally shop at aldi + woolies in Sydney (hornsby + chatswood) anything I need to watchout for ?

    • Yola on 24/07/2021 - 12:40
      +1

      Buy the discounted Woolies cards, they do not expire.

  • Indiana1501 on 24/07/2021 - 13:09

    Buy some shares?

    • stirlo on 24/07/2021 - 13:14

      On credit card? Surely that would require BPAY which is excluded from the spending.

  • Autonomic on 26/07/2021 - 10:14

    Buy some PS5s and Xbox Series Xs and re-sell them for RRP.

    • stirlo on 26/07/2021 - 10:14

      Actually a good idea :P

  • fishka2 on 27/07/2021 - 17:09

    I have friends and acquaintances who run or work for businesses able to charge credit cards. Gym, shops, restaurants etc. I asked them to process and issue me with refund by means of cash or cheque or bank transfer. Doesn’t cost them anything, not even 2% card surcharge because amount is over 5000$

    • stirlo on 27/07/2021 - 17:25
      +1

      Wouldn’t they have to pay tax on it as it would register as business income?

  • fishka2 on 27/07/2021 - 17:45

    No. Refund counters the sale.

  • BoomTetrisForJeff on 13/11/2021 - 09:05
    +1

    Does klarna / afterpay count towards the minimum spend?

  • coolsteps on 20/11/2021 - 15:27

    what about zip and bundll?

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