Give me your credit card horror stories, pls.

[fieria]

I bank with Washington Mutual and have exactly one credit card, which is through the bank. When they switched over to Chase, the interest rates sky rocketed to 30% APR. Way too much for just a regular credit card! (Or so I think. Maybe not

Comments

[rainbowgirl28]

Airline cards usually charge an annual fee. I think Southwest was a $50 annual fee. Worth it if you fly regularly and will charge enough to get enough points to qualify for tickets, but definitely not worth it for everyone.

It depends a lot on how you use your card. If you religiously pay off the balance, the APR isn't a big deal. If you sometimes carry a balance, then a lower APR might be a good trade off for an annual fee.

[fieria]

Good to know about the airline miles thing. I'm still paying off the last of the UW classes I took last year and about to have work done on my car, so the balance isn't going to go away immediately.

[loganb]

Depending on your balance and credit score, your best options probably are:

-Citibank 12-month, 0% APR card. You'll save yourself interest payments for 12 months but they'll charge you a 3% balance transfer fee. You can think of it as 3% interest rate for the first year, then whatever-the-fuck high rate after that (https://www.citicards.com/cards/wv/copy.do?screenID=501)
-Iberiabank 6-month, 0% APR card. This one doesn't charge a balance transfer fee, so it really would be 0% for the first 6 months, then the regular rate after that (https://creditcards.iberiabank.com/)

If you think you'll pay down most of your CC debt within 6 months, then Iberiabank will be a much better bet. If you think you're going to hold the debt without paying much of it down over the next year, then Citibank will be better for you.

Logan is a fount of wisdom

[fieria]

Thankee kindly sir, this is exactly what I was looking for!

[niralisse]

Isn't Citi in all kinds of trouble?

[fieria]

Yep, but they hold my student loan and nothing short of an apocalypse is going to change that interest rate.

[supermelanie]

I have an amazon card through Chase. I don't think the interest rate is very good, but I don't carry a balance ever so I don't much care. No fee and for every ... certain amount I spend (I forget how much) I get a $25 amazon gift certificate. I squirrel them away for bdays, weddings, and anytime I want something big.

[nplusm]

I have a Wamu card that is now owned by Chase.

My purchase APR is still at 10.24%.

Of course, I don't carry a balance on any of my cards, so maybe I'm immune from the rate hike?

[fieria]

Ok, THAT tees me off. Did you receive and reply to that mailing they supposedly sent in February about opting out of the rate hike? All of my bills and business with bills are paperless, so I didn't even see the envelope--it probably went in my fire :/

[nplusm]

Nope, I didn't see anything of the sort.

Again, though, I don't carry a balance....heck, I barely use the card as is.

[atalanta0jess]

My previously Wamu now Chase credit card is at 12.24 for the purchase APR. (And I used to have credit score tracking via wamu, which I LOVED. Chase took it away, those jerks!)

[tenshiemi]

I have a Chase Freedom Card with %9.24 purchase APR and decent rewards programs. Might be worth actually applying for that card.