Strategies for earning the most miles and points for big insurance premiums

It’s that time of year when my auto insurance and home owner’s insurance are about to renew. For the last few years, we’ve saved money by paying these insurance premiums in one lump sum instead of monthly payments. We haven’t always been able to do that, and it wasn’t until our 40s that we were finally able to save up cash in advance to pay these big bills.

And when I say big bills, they are really big bills. Last year, we paid about $9000 for auto and home insurance combined. We don’t have fancy cars, but we do have teenage boys, which drives up the price. And in our area of Texas, the home insurance premiums keep rising due to frequent hail storms. We’ve had our roof replaced twice in the past 6 years.

Each year, I re-shop my insurance coverage to see if we can get a better deal with another carrier. Every company we’ve worked with so far has taken Visa/MC credit card payments for our premiums without any additional fees. So the upside to these big bills is that at least we will earn some miles and points!

Now, how can we earn the most miles and points from these big insurance payments? We can either apply for a new credit card (or two) and earn a big sign-up bonus, or pay with an existing credit card that will give us the most points.

Strategy 1: Open a new credit card (or 2)

The easiest time to open a new credit card that has a large welcome bonus is when you have a big expense to pay that you’ve already saved up for. For beginners, I always recommend a card that earns flexible points, like the Chase Sapphire Preferred card or the Capital One Venture Rewards card. But, my husband and I have already had or still own most of those cards, so we have to dig a little deeper.

My husband is just under the 5/24 requirement for Chase, so he could apply for a new Chase credit card. He’s considering the Iberia Visa Signature Card, which currently has a welcome bonus of 75,000 Avios after spending $5000 in the first 3 months. It does have an annual fee of $95. We could use these Avios for a trip to Japan I’m planning next year.

I could also apply for a new credit card to get another chunk of miles. I’m considering the Wells Fargo Autograph Journey card (see this post). The current welcome bonus is for 60,000 points after spending $4000 in the first 3 months. The $95 fee is partially offset by a $50 airline credit. As of April 4, Wells Fargo points can be transferred to travel partners like Iberia and British Airways that would help us fly to Tokyo.

If we were both approved for these cards, we would get 144,000 miles/points (from welcome bonuses and spending $9000 on insurance) after spending $190 on annual fees.

Strategy 2:  Maximize existing credit cards

If we don’t want to open new credit cards right now or if for some reason we can’t get approved, we can still earn miles and points from charging our insurance premiums on our existing cards. Our best bets are:

• Taking advantage of Bilt’s Rent Day promotion with our Bilt credit card for 2X points. We can transfer these points to Hyatt, AA and Alaska right now. Result: 18,000 points.
• Using my Capital One Venture X card for 2X points. While Capital One doesn’t have Hyatt, AA or Alaska as transfer partners, it does have British Airways, which we can use for flights to Tokyo. Result: 18,000 points.
• Use Chase “Pay Over Time” if/when the fees are waived to keep our money earning interest in the bank. Sometimes, Chase has promotions for no fees on its “Pay Over Time” feature. It’s essentially getting a 0% loan. See Leana’s recent post. Unfortunately, I don’t see this promotion for my current cards right now.

Bottom Line

Insurance premiums are crazy high for my family. But if we have to shell out that much money, you can bet I will at least earn miles and points on it to help further our travel goals.

Author: Nancy

Nancy lives near Dallas, Texas, with her husband and three kids. Her favorite vacations include the beach, cruising and everything Disney.