Sorry if this has been asked before - I searched but couldn't find anything on the thread and googe turns up mixed results.
We're about to pay off a $5,000 student loan (in full) and will pay off another $6,000 next month. The money is already in the bank, so there's no risk of revolving debt. The student loans are accruing 6.8% interest - standard US government loans. These are the last our pants on fire debts.
Is there a way to pay them off with a points CC and then wipe the cards immediately to gain access to some easy travel points? We're planning a big (possibly RTW) trip in the next few years and it seems like we should reap the benefits of points while we're planning on paying off big chunks anyway?
Any recommendations? I'm not sure government loans are even payable by CC, but maybe a CC cash out/ check would be worth the fee in this case?
Any experiences with this strategy?