Paying Rent with a Credit Card: How to Earn Miles on Your Rent (2026)

Quick answer: Paying your landlord directly with a credit card is almost never possible in Germany — landlords want SEPA. But there are two workarounds: (1) The Revolut method with a Miles & More credit card (free with personal cards, up to €5,000/month), (2) the recurring-expenses hack from the Premium Handbook, which works with AMEX and M&M — with no limit and no gray area. With €1,400 rent, that gets you up to 25,000+ points per year, just from your rent.

For most households, rent is the biggest monthly expense — €1,000 to €2,000 going out by standing order every month. Without earning a single point. If you route your rent cleverly through the right credit card, you’ll earn enough miles for an award flight year after year — without spending a single cent more.

In this guide, I’ll show you which routes actually exist in 2026, what they cost, and when they’re worth it.

Why your rent is your biggest untapped source of miles

Let’s do the math: at €1,400 monthly rent, €16,800 per year flows to your landlord. If that amount ran as card spend through a miles credit card, that would be:

Card	Earn rate	Miles/points per year (at €1,400 rent)
M&M personal card	1 mile / €2	8,400 miles
M&M business card	1 mile / €1	16,800 miles
AMEX (with Punkteturbo)	1.5 MR / €1	25,200 MR

For comparison: a round-trip Business Class flight within Europe costs from about 25,000-50,000 points. So your rent alone can fund one award flight per year — provided you can get it onto your card. To see what your miles are worth, check the Miles Value Calculator.

Can I pay my rent directly with a credit card?

The honest answer: In Germany, almost never. Landlords and property managers accept practically only SEPA transfers or direct debit. Unlike in the US, where services like Bilt Rewards have turned “points on your rent” into a mass-market product (more on that in the guide Bilt Rewards for Germans), there’s no direct route here.

That’s why you need a workaround: you turn a card payment into a SEPA transfer. There are two methods for that.

Method 1: The Revolut method (Miles & More)

The best-known free route works through Revolut:

1. You top up your free Revolut account with your Miles & More credit card → that counts as card spend → you earn miles
2. You transfer the rent from Revolut by SEPA to your landlord

Your landlord won’t notice a thing — they just receive a perfectly normal transfer.

Conditions at a glance (as of June 2026)

	M&M personal cards	M&M business cards
Top-up limit	€5,000/month	No limit
Revolut fee	None	1.33%
Earn rate	1 mile / €2	1 mile / €1
Max. miles/month	2,500	Unlimited

Worked example: €1,400 rent via Revolut

With the M&M Blue personal card (€5.50/month): €1,400 rent → 700 miles/month → 8,400 miles/year. Cost: just the card fee (€66/year), the Revolut top-up is free.

With an M&M business card: €1,400 rent → 1,400 miles/month → 16,800 miles/year. Cost: 1.33% Revolut fee (≈ €223/year) + card fee. This is only worth it if you redeem the miles at high value (Business/First Class: 1.5-4 cents per mile — the fee works out to 1.33 cents per mile).

The catches of the Revolut method

• Terms-of-service gray area: Revolut’s terms prohibit “looping” and the mere transfer of money from credit card accounts. As long as you also use Revolut normally, the risk is low — but there’s no guarantee.
• AMEX does NOT work: Revolut doesn’t accept American Express for top-ups. AMEX MR — the more flexible points currency — is left out entirely.
• Limit: Personal cards are capped at €5,000/month; rent + electricity + other recurring expenses blow past that quickly.

You’ll find the detailed step-by-step guide with all the limits and pitfalls in the big guide Paying Recurring Expenses with a Credit Card.

Method 2: The recurring-expenses hack (AMEX + M&M, no limit)

What if you could run your rent — and all your other recurring expenses like electricity, gas, internet and the German broadcasting fee (GEZ) — through your AMEX? With Punkteturbo that would be 1.5 MR per euro, so at €1,400 rent over 25,000 MR per year — in the most flexible points currency available in Germany.

That’s exactly what the recurring-expenses hack from the Premium Handbook does:

• Works with AMEX and Miles & More — you choose the currency
• No €5,000 limit, no 1.33% fee
• Covers all recurring expenses: rent, electricity, gas, insurance, GEZ — everything that runs by direct debit or transfer
• Once set up, it runs automatically every month

[HIGHLIGHT] Want miles on your rent — without the gray area and without a limit? In the Premium Bundle we show you the complete recurring-expenses hack step by step. With €2,000 in recurring expenses, up to 36,000 points/year are possible. To the Premium Bundle (€99) →

What’s worth it for whom?

You are…	Best method	Yield at €1,400 rent
Beginner, wants €0 extra cost	Revolut + M&M Blue personal	8,400 miles/year
Self-employed, redeems Business Class	Revolut + M&M business	16,800 miles/year (−1.33% fee)
Maximizer, wants AMEX MR	Recurring-expenses hack (Premium)	up to 25,200 MR/year

Important: Always pay the card off in full by direct debit — interest on partial payments instantly eats up any mileage gain. And treat your rent as part of your overall strategy: how to earn alongside it with welcome bonuses and everyday spending is shown in the guide Earning Miles: The 7 Best Methods.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Can I pay my rent directly with a credit card?

In Germany practically never — landlords accept only SEPA transfers or direct debit. The workaround: you top up a Revolut account with your Miles & More credit card and transfer the rent from there by SEPA. Your landlord receives a perfectly normal transfer.

Can I pay my rent with AMEX?

Not via Revolut — Revolut doesn’t accept American Express for top-ups. But there is a system (the recurring-expenses hack from the Premium Handbook) with which AMEX cards work for rent and all other SEPA recurring expenses too — with Punkteturbo you then earn 1.5 MR per euro of rent.

How many miles does rent earn per year?

At €1,400 monthly rent: 8,400 miles with an M&M personal card (1 mile/€2), 16,800 miles with an M&M business card (1 mile/€1), or up to 25,200 AMEX MR with Punkteturbo (1.5 MR/€). Depending on how you redeem, that’s enough for a Business Class award flight within Europe.

Is the Revolut method allowed?

It operates in a gray area: Revolut’s terms prohibit “looping” and the pure pass-through of money from credit cards, but at the same time allow topping up by credit card. As long as you also use Revolut as a normal account, the risk is low — but Revolut could theoretically restrict the account.

Does paying rent by credit card cost anything?

With M&M personal cards, the Revolut top-up is free (only the card fee from €5.50/month applies). With M&M business cards, Revolut charges 1.33% — that’s only worth it for high-value redemptions (Business/First Class). Important: always pay off the full card balance, otherwise interest eats up the benefit.

Does this also work for electricity, gas and other recurring expenses?

Yes — everything that runs by SEPA (electricity, gas, internet, GEZ, club memberships) works with the same methods. The complete overview is in the guide Paying Recurring Expenses with a Credit Card.

Conclusion: Your rent doesn’t have to be a dead expense

Rent is your biggest monthly expense — and with the right setup it becomes the most reliable source of miles of all. Start for free with the Revolut method and an M&M card. And if you want the maximum (AMEX MR, no limit, no gray area), grab the recurring-expenses hack.

You’ll find the complete recurring-expenses hack with step-by-step instructions in the Premium Bundle (€99) — together with 12 more strategies, the 6-month master plan and the AudioBook.

Further reading:

• Paying Recurring Expenses with a Credit Card - The big overview of all recurring-expenses strategies
• Earning Miles: The 7 Best Methods 2026 - The overall strategy
• Activating AMEX Punkteturbo - Unlock 1.5 MR per euro
• Bilt Rewards for Germans - Points on your rent: the US model