I'm planning to go to Alaska this summer to visit family. I signed up for the AA Citi card with a 50,000 mile sign up bonus which is enough for 2 round trip tickets (normally cost $6-700 a piece!). Minimum spend is $3,000 in 3 months. Assuming I need to get the bonus asap so we can get everything booked could I just send $3,000 to a friend via PayPal, earmark it as goods and services, and have him write me a check for the amount? Would this count as a purchase toward my minimum? I'm aware there will be a 3% transaction cost, but I'm more than willing to pay $90 to get the miles quickly and at a minimum hassle.
On a side note...I'll be getting free air fare and selling the other ticket to my buddy who's also going on the trip. I'm currently in the process of completing the minimum spend on a Barclays card that will net me another $450 towards the trip. With these two card hacks I'll be going on a 10 day fishing trip to Alaska for around $500. Not too shabby considering my friends are all paying $2,000!