Question
I've been a bad boy and actually have a balance on my Citibank AAdvantage card. In the past, I've gotten the APR dropped to 7.99%. However, I like lower APRs and don't know the best way to get it lowered, especially since in the past I've had CSRs on the phone say, wow, we've never seen it that low. I've put close to $12k worth of personal spending on the card this year, so it gets used a lot.
I'll have the card for 3 years this December if that makes any matter. Any tips/tricks to make Citibank work for me for a change would help.
Thanks, MF
Answer
I've been a bad boy and actually have a balance on my Citibank AAdvantage card. In the past, I've gotten the APR dropped to 7.99%. However, I like lower APRs and don't know the best way to get it lowered, especially since in the past I've had CSRs on the phone say, wow, we've never seen it that low. I've put close to $12k worth of personal spending on the card this year, so it gets used a lot.
I'll have the card for 3 years this December if that makes any matter. Any tips/tricks to make Citibank work for me for a change would help.
Thanks, MF
Keeping the balance on your mileage earning card negates (and then some) the value of the miles you earn on new purchases.
Meanwhile, 7.99% is already a very good rate to have an EXISTING card give you on an EXISTING balance.
Typically, you only get better (as low as 0%!) for balance TRANSFERS, and that would have to be with a card from someone other than Citibank (since you can never do such promo balance transfers between cards with the same bank).
If you think you'll pay off the balance within 6 months, I would recommend you'd get one of those not-so-hard-to-find 0% for 6 months "teaser" rates with a new card (assuming your credit is good enough to get a new card with enough credit to do the whole balance). Juniper (www.juniper.com), for example, still has 0% 6 month offers tied, at the very least, to its no-annual-fee Best Western and Frontier Airlines cards.
If you think it'll take longer, ask a DIFFERENT bank whose card you have (that you have no balance on and don't use regularly, if you have such card) as to what promo rate they can give you for a balance transfer until the balance is paid off. I've seen at least 5.99% or maybe even less from BankOne and/or Chase (who are about to be the same company). They typically offer a lowest rate for a limited time (like 6 or 8 months) and then a slightly higher rate (but usually still under 7.99% if you have good credit) if you want it for the life of the balance.
It's always better to keep the card on which you have a balance and the card on which you earn miles as separate cards, because if you keep making purchases on the card that has a balance you're paying interest every day on all purchases old and new, while if you keep them separate you only pay interest on the old balance and pay no interest on new purchases as long as you pay in full by the due date each month. (When you suddenly have a big amount due some month that you can't pay in full, it's thus always be ready to transfer it somewhere else, rather than leave it on the card where you'll continue to make purchases.)
Answer
Oh, I'll have this paid off within about 4 months. I just was hoping that I could drop the apr on the existing balance without signing up for a card and then transferring balance. I might do that anyway.
Thanks for the advice!
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Another suggestion would be (if you do have one of those "teaser" offers for a low/no APR for a new card) to call your current card issuer and tell them you just received this offer, and are considering accepting and transferring your balance to the new card, but because of the great relationship you've enjoyed with the current card were calling them to see if they would be willing to match the offer.
Sometimes they do (or offer something else - like extra points or whatever). Never hurts to try.
Answer
If you can get an APR on a FF miles-earning card below 7.99% (is that prime+1.49%), wow!
:eek:
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If you can get an APR on a FF miles-earning card below 7.99% (is that prime+1.49%), wow!
:eek:
They just offered me a rate of 1.9% transfer to the citi aa card until paid with no cost transfer. That is a super deal. I might take them up on that one.
Rob
Answer
They just offered me a rate of 1.9% transfer to the citi aa card until paid with no cost transfer. That is a super deal. I might take them up on that one.
Rob
You realize that either (a) you'll earn no miles until that is paid off, or (b) you'll pay way more than 1.9%?
That's because all the credit card companies have a clause that they can apply payments in any order they wish, and in fact they always apply payments to the lowest interest rate part of your balance first.
So if your normal interest rate on purchases is XX.99%, and you haven't paid off your purchases in full before you did the balance transfer and/or you keep making purchases ("to earn miles") while you have the balance transfer on the same account, any monthly payments you make will reduce the balance you only are charged 1.99% for while not paying off your purchases which they'll start charging you XX.99% for!
It NEVER makes sense to do a balance transfer to a mileage card UNLESS you will totally avoid making purchases (and thus earning miles from purchases) on that card until the balance transfer is paid off in full.