We are an independent publisher. Our reporters create honest, accurate, and objective content to help you make decisions. To support our work, we are paid for providing advertising services. Many, but not all, of the offers and clickable hyperlinks (such as a “Next” button) that appear on this site are from companies that compensate us. The compensation we receive and other factors, such as your location, may impact what ads and links appear on our site, and how, where, and in what order ads and links appear. While we strive to provide a wide range of offers, our site does not include information about every product or service that may be available to you. We strive to keep our information accurate and up-to-date, but some information may not be current. So, your actual offer terms from an advertiser may be different than the offer terms on this site. And the advertised offers may be subject to additional terms and conditions of the advertiser. All information is presented without any warranty or guarantee to you.

This page may include: credit card ads that we may be paid for (“advertiser listing”); and general information about credit card products (“editorial content”). Many, but not all, of the offers and clickable hyperlinks (such as a “Apply Now” button or “Learn More” button) that appear on this site are from companies that compensate us. When you click on that hyperlink or button, you may be directed to the credit card issuer’s website where you can review the terms and conditions for your selected offer. Each advertiser is responsible for the accuracy and availability of its ad offer details, but we attempt to verify those offer details. We have partnerships with advertisers such as Brex, Capital One, Chase, Citi, Wells Fargo and Discover. We also include editorial content to educate consumers about financial products and services. Some of that content may also contain ads, including links to advertisers’ sites, and we may be paid on those ads or links.

For more information, please see How we make money.

Is It Worth Paying Rent With the Chase Freedom Unlimited?

  • Million Mile Secrets

    • Signing up for credit cards through partner links earns us a commission. Terms apply to the offers listed on this page. Here’s our full advertising policy: How we make money.

    Update: One or more card offers in this post are no longer available. Check our Hot Deals for the latest offers.

    Million Mile Secrets reader, Jose tweeted:

    Is a 2.2% fee worth paying my rent with my Chase Freedom Unlimited credit card?  I have been debating if the $22 fee is worth the 1,550 Chase Ultimate Rewards points.

    Great question, Jose!

    Paying your rent with a credit card through online services like RadPad can be a good option if you need to meet credit card minimum spending requirements.

    But you’ll pay a ~2% to ~3.5% fee, depending on the service you use.

    Aside from meeting minimum spending to earn a big sign-up bonus, this is usually not a good option.   Because the fee often negates the value of the miles and points you’ll earn.

    It Usually Doesn’t Make Sense to Pay Rent With a Credit Card Unless You’re the Meeting Minimum Spend Requirement to Earn a Big Sign-Up Bonus

    It could be worth it for Jose to pay his rent with the Chase Freedom Unlimited card.  But it depends on how he uses his Chase Ultimate Rewards points!

    The information for the Chase Freedom Unlimited has been collected independently by Million Mile Secrets. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.

    Paying Rent With a Credit Card to Earn Chase Ultimate Rewards Points

    Link:   Chase Freedom Unlimited

    Jose wants to pay his rent with the Chase Freedom Unlimited card.  It earns 1.5X Chase Ultimate Rewards points (1.5% cash back) on all purchases with no spending limit.  Here’s my review of the card.

    It sounds like Jose’s monthly rent is ~$1,033, and his payment service adds a 2.2% fee.  So he’d earn ~1,550 Chase Ultimate Rewards points (~$1,033 X 1.5 points per $1) but pay a fee of ~$22 (~$1,033 X 2.2% fee).

    Let’s look at when it might be worth it.  And when it’s definitely NOT!

    Redeem for Cash Back

    This is NOT a good deal if Jose redeems his Chase Ultimate Rewards points for cash back because each point is worth 1 cent.  So 1,550 Chase Ultimate Rewards points are only worth ~$16.

    You’ll Pay More in Fees Than the Value of the Points You Earn When You Redeem Them for Cash Back

    This would only make sense if Jose used a card that earns more than 2.2% cash back on rent payments (and I don’t know of any!).  Or if he needed to meet the minimum spending requirement on the Chase Freedom Unlimited card.

    Redeem for Paid Travel Through Chase Travel Portal

    This method will NOT work out in Jose’s favor.  If Jose also has the Chase Sapphire Preferred, Chase Ink Plus, or Chase Ink Bold (no longer available), he’ll have more ways to use his Chase Ultimate Rewards points.

    That’s because when you have one of these cards, you can combine and transfer your Chase Ultimate Rewards points to airline and hotel partners for Big Travel.  Or redeem them through the Chase Travel Portal at a rate of 1.25 cents per point.

    Redeeming Chase Ultimate Rewards points for paid travel through the Chase Travel Portal will not make up for the fee.  Because 1,550 Chase Ultimate Rewards points are worth ~$19 when you redeem them through the portal (1,550 points X 1.25 cents per point).

    Transfer to Airline and Hotel Partners

    The only way to possibly negate the cost of the monthly rent payment fee is by transferring your points to airline and hotel partners like United Airlines and Hyatt.

    I’ll show you a few examples where transferring Chase Ultimate Rewards points to airlines and hotels would more than recoup Jose’s $22 monthly rent fee.

    United Airlines

    If Jose transfers his Chase Ultimate Rewards points to United Airlines and uses them for award tickets that would otherwise be very expensive, it could be worth it.

    For example, it costs 115,000 United Airlines miles for a round-trip, Business Class award ticket from Los Angeles to Paris in October.  But if you paid cash for the ticket, it would cost ~$4,737!

    In this case, Chase Ultimate Rewards points are worth ~4.1 cents each (~$4,737 price of ticket / 115,000 points for an award ticket).  That’s worth paying a 2.2% fee!

    At that rate, 1,550 Chase Ultimate Rewards points are worth ~$64.

    Transferring Points to United Airlines for Expensive Award Tickets Can Get You a Much Higher Value

    While that’s just one example, it’s relatively common to receive a value of 3 to 6 cents per mile when you redeem for First and Business Class award seats.  Or expensive coach tickets.

    Hyatt

    Transferring Chase Ultimate Rewards points to Hyatt for stays in pricey hotels can also be a good option.

    For example, a night at the at the Park Hyatt Paris-Vendome in October costs ~$1,193!  That’s certainly not in the budget for most.

    However, you could transfer Chase Ultimate Rewards points to Hyatt and book the same room for 30,000 Hyatt points.  In this case, your Chase Ultimate Rewards points are worth ~4 cents each.

    So 1,550 Chase Ultimate Rewards points are worth ~$62 at that rate.

    Your Points Are Worth ~4 Cents Each When You Redeem Them for a Stay at the Park Hyatt Paris – Vendome

    If Jose wants to book these kinds of awards, it could be worth it to pay rent with his Chase Freedom Unlimited card.  But do the math first!

    He’ll just break even if he gets a value of ~1.4 cents per point.  Here’s how the math breaks down:

    Bottom Line

    To justify a 2.2% fee when you use your Chase Freedom Unlimited to pay rent, you’ll have to transfer and redeem your Chase Ultimate Rewards points with airline and hotel partners.

    But to do so, you must also have a Chase Sapphire Preferred, Chase Ink Plus, or Chase Ink Bold (no longer available) card.  And it’s only worth it, in this case, if you can redeem your points at a rate of more than ~1.4 cents each.

    Thanks for the question, Jose!

    Editorial Note: We're the Million Mile Secrets team. And we're proud of our content, opinions and analysis, and of our reader's comments. These haven’t been reviewed, approved or endorsed by any of the airlines, hotels, or credit card issuers which we often write about. And that’s just how we like it! :)