As you know, lots of mileage cards require a minimum spend (for example, the British Airways card requires $2500 in spending within 3 months to get the 100,000 miles). If you can’t spend enough to get the miles on all these cards, here are the best ways to get around the problem:
- Paypal – If you’re willing to pay a 3% fee, just send money to a friend who will immediately cut you a check. Lets say I’ve only spent $1500 on my British Air card and my 3 months is about to be over. I can paypal a buddy $1000 and collect my 100,000 miles (obviously, pick a friend who will give the money back to you).
- Amazon Payments – Same idea as above, but with $1000 max per month
- The little problem with both of those is that you have to involve someone else. The big problem is being charged a fee. I prefer to order Visa and American Express gift cards from Big Crumbs. Not only do I avoid being charged fees, but I actually get a nice little cashback bonus every month from my gift card purchases. And, of course, I earn miles with every purchase.
- Ordering coins. You can order $1000 in dollar coins every 10 days from the U.S. Mint. This has been around for a long time, so it’s not as easy as it once was. Coin shipments are delayed lately, which is a big pain. It can also be a challenge to find banks that will accept the coins.
