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The holiday season is an excellent time to open a new credit card, as you’re likely to do more spending than usual.
Mary Meisenzahl/Insider
Earning credit card sign-up bonuses is the fastest way to earn rewards for (nearly) free travel.
Typically, cards have a minimum spending requirement you need to meet in order to get the bonus.
If you don’t think you can meet the spending requirement to earn a card bonus, there are tricks to help you get there (without overspending).
Read Insider’s guide to the best credit card reviews.
Opening a credit card and earning the sign-up bonus is one of the easiest and quickest ways to amass a ton of rewards points, cash back, airline miles, or hotel points.
To earn these valuable bonuses, you’ll usually need to spend a specific amount within a certain initial timeframe. For example, the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card offers a bonus of 60,000 points. That’s worth around Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card in travel, based on Insider’s points and miles valuations.
One of the best times to open a new rewards credit card is during the holiday season, when you’ve probably got significantly more expenses than usual.
We’re focused here on the rewards and perks that come with each card. These cards won’t be worth it if you’re paying interest or late fees. When using a credit card, it’s important to pay your balance in full each month, make payments on time, and only spend what you can afford to pay.
Practical (and effective) ways to meet credit card minimum spending
Once you open a credit card, you only have one shot to get the welcome bonus. If you don’t meet the requirement, you’ll miss out on the bonus — and in some cases, you won’t ever be eligible to earn the bonus again (even if you close and reopen the card). You should never go after a bonus that you’re not certain you can achieve.
That said, there are a handful of practical strategies you can use to meet higher spending requirements than you might first think. Let’s take a look at a few powerful ways to meet credit card minimum spending requirements.
1. Use your credit card for everything
This might seem like an obvious one, but all the same: It’s often possible to use a credit card for purchases that you usually pay for with cash, check, or bank transfer. Concentrating all of your daily, weekly, and monthly spending on your new credit card — even small purchases like a cup of coffee — can help you hit the minimum spend by adding up, or pushing you over the edge if you’re getting close.
Funnel all your spending through your new card — even if it means ignoring bonus categories from other cards. The most important card to spend on is the one with which you’re trying to earn a welcome bonus.
2. Prepay (or overpay) your utilities
Many utility companies let you pay just about any amount, even if you’re paying more than your current bill. While you may not be able to get any overpayments refunded, those funds contribute to your next statement.
If you can comfortably float the money, you can pay for a few months’ worth of utilities early in order to meet your minimum spend requirement if you’re getting close to the deadline.
3. Pay for dinner or bar tabs with friends, and have them reimburse you
When you’re out to dinner with a group, instead of splitting the bill, see if your friends would mind letting you put the whole bill on your new card, and paying you for their share.
4. Wait until you’ve got a big upcoming expense
You can take advantage of times that you’re planning to spend more than normal to open a credit card and put your big purchases toward the minimum spending requirement. For instance, consider opening a new card before you book a vacation, do your holiday shopping, or make a down payment for a new car.
5. Buy gift cards for stores you frequent
Similar to overpaying your utility bills, if you can float a small loan to yourself, consider buying a gift card or two for stores you know you’re going to shop at later. Then, after you’ve hit the minimum spending requirement, use those gift cards for purchases. For example, if you have a Starbucks habit, you can load $100 onto a Starbucks gift card to cover your drinks later on. Or, if you know that you have a home improvement project coming up or are planning to buy a new appliance, buy a Lowe’s gift card.
You could also load money onto an Amazon gift card. Amazon’s got just about everything, so it should be as good as cash to most of us.
Keep in mind that some issuers may not count “cash equivalents” like gift cards toward the spending requirement. Make sure to check your new card’s terms and conditions.
6. Pay your rent or mortgage
There are a few services that let you pay your rent or mortgage by credit card. The way they work is by charging your card, then printing and mailing a check to the recipient (your landlord, management company, or the bank that holds your mortgage). Plastiq is the most popular option.
While these services charge fees, usually between 2% and 3%, paying that can be worthwhile if it helps you meet the minimum spending requirement. For example, if your rent is $2,000 a month, and you use your card for one month, the fee at 2% would only be $40. That’s a small price to pay for a 50,000-point sign-up bonus if it makes the difference between meeting the spending requirement or missing out.
7. Pay taxes
If you’re a small business owner — even someone with a low-earning side gig like DoorDash delivery or dog sitting — you can bang out a significant chunk of minimum spending by using your new credit card to pay your quarterly taxes. Just note that, similar to paying rent with a card, you’ll encounter some service fees (usually at least 1.87%). Because of this, it’s not a good option to use unless you really don’t think you can meet your spending any other way.
8. Pay friends and family with Venmo
Your back is against the wall. You’ve got a week left to meet the spending requirement and you know you can’t do it organically.
Peer-to-peer payment apps like Venmo are treated by many (but not all) credit cards as transactions. When you send money to someone, it’s as though you’ve just swiped the card at the store. For this reason, you can send your family member the $1,000 you’ve been meaning to give them and simultaneously complete your minimum spending.
There’s a 3% fee associated with this practice, meaning it’s for nothing less than an emergency.
Bottom line
The first rule of credit card rewards is to never spend more than you can afford in the pursuit of earning points and miles. But if you come up just a bit short of hitting the minimum spending requirement for a sign-up bonus, these tips can help you get the rest of the way there.