help...never done a BT in my life

[lg8302ch]

Honestly I would not need a BT but since I have never done it in my life I am hesitating to accept the BofA offer on my Cash Rewards card. 0% APR with 2% BT fee. This card has not been used for a while and will probably not be used in the near future (just Hulu to keep it alive) ... some of my cards will end with the intro 0% APR and instead of paying full I might try the BT once as the fees are not too bad... Would you do a BT if you do not really need one? Could PIF but since I never done it would be interesting to try it once. So far I got BT fees of 3-4% which made it a killer even with 0% APR. Anything else but new util on the BT card I should pay attention to? 

Edit: If you do a BT to a rewards card do you get cash back for new purchases only or also on the BT amount? Assume only for new purchases?

[JSS3]

If you're able to PIF I don't see a reason to do a BT. Yes, 2% is a small fee but there's still a fee. I recently did a BT for the first time  because there was a 0% intro BT fee. 

[lg8302ch]

Are you saying there are 0% BT fees AND 0% APR out there without applying for a new card ? Right now I have BT offers from Citi, Barclays and BofA but BofA is lowest BT fee with 2% and all with 0% APR...maybe I will wait for a 0% BT fee offer and low APR to try it out as I will pay it down in less than 3 months...just wanted to see how this works as I have been tossing all the BT checks in the past ....none of the lenders ever got a dime in interest from me so might have given them 20$ on a 1000$ BT just to try it out.

[navigatethis12]

I don't see the point in a balance transfer if you can pay the balance. If you were going to do it and invest it or put it in a savings account to offset the fee, then that's different.

[Omnipotent]

You can always call and negotiate a lower/no fee. 

[lg8302ch]

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@Omnipotent wrote:

You can always call and negotiate a lower/no fee. 

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wow..any success on such a mission yourself?  I might try this with Citi?  Because I have a 17K and cannot use it because my charges are mainly processed outside the US ..even my AA tickets purchased in the US are processed in USD but somehow I get hit with heavy forex fees... so I have used Barclays to pay for my AA tickets as I hate the forex fees on www.aa.com ... no explanation from AA or Citi to why it gets processed in the UK and hit with forex fees.  So far this card has only one benefit for me - no expiration of AAdvantage miles

[JSS3]

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@lg8302ch wrote:

Are you saying there are 0% BT fees AND 0% APR out there without applying for a new card ? Right now I have BT offers from Citi, Barclays and BofA but BofA is lowest BT fee with 2% and all with 0% APR...maybe I will wait for a 0% BT fee offer and low APR to try it out as I will pay it down in less than 3 months...just wanted to see how this works as I have been tossing all the BT checks in the past ....none of the lenders ever got a dime in interest from me so might have given them 20$ on a 1000$ BT just to try it out.

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I recently opened my Chase Slate. It has a 0% BT fee if done within the first 90 days. 0% BT and 0% APR for 15mos. Since you're able to PIF, you're saving money on interest. Transferring a balance from a high interest card to a 0% card is usually the reason to do a BT. Granted, it's also nice to have consolidated debt.

I guess if you're ok with spending the small fee to test it out, it's fine.

[parakleet]

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@navigatethis12 wrote:

I don't see the point in a balance transfer if you can pay the balance. If you were going to do it and invest it or put it in a savings account to offset the fee, then that's different.

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+1

[FinStar]

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@parakleet wrote:

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@navigatethis12 wrote:

I don't see the point in a balance transfer if you can pay the balance. If you were going to do it and invest it or put it in a savings account to offset the fee, then that's different.

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+1

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+2

BOA or Citi are not typical of waiving any BT fees.  It is part of the convenience for using the BT promotion.  Only a few CUs and lenders such as Barclays and Chase offer a couple products were the BT fee is waived.