Amex Holiday 6.99% offer

[taxi818]

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@score_building wrote:

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@rlx01 wrote:

The normal rate on my SPG is 17.24%. Not that I would ever carry a balance on a rewards card when CU cards are 7% all the time.

Just thought it was interesting due to the whole "Amex doesn't like balances" mantra we always see here.

Obviously they want you to carry a balance with this offer.

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First they love it. 

Then they hate it. 

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For the paranoid.  I have no problem carrying balance with amex or any other card. If they do. Cancel time. But charge card. N choice. But most cards I must say 0 balance. But if. Had to. Let it ride. 

[Anonymous]

Tis the Season!

Mid last month I got a 0% for 18 months BT offer from USBank. (3% fee natch)

Its funny because I had just BTed the entire balance from my USBank REI card to my PenFed Amex card back in August to reduce the interest I was paying on it from 13.99% to 4.99%.

Now looks like I will be BTing most of it right back to the same card at 0%, which is fine with me because in the end I am saving quite a bit of money on interest, AND I rarely use my REI card for anything, but I use my PenFed Amex all the time.

The other nice thing is that my PenFed Amex has no BT fee ever, so it didn't cost me anything to BT to it originally.

[rlx01]

It most likely will cost you less in interest to keep your balance on PenFed then to move it for a 3% upfront fee.

It depends if you're paying down your balance or not.

[Anonymous]

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@rlx01 wrote:
It most likely will cost you less in interest to keep your balance on PenFed then to move it for a 3% upfront fee.

It depends if you're paying down your balance or not.

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I was skeptical at first, but I ran the numbers and I am indeed saving money by doing the BT even with the 3% fee.

4.99% APR over 18 months = .416 MPR

vs

3% advertised over 18 months = 0.166 MPR

I do realize I am paying that 3% all up front and that changes the numbers a bit, but I used one of those online comparison calculators and the USBank offer comes out on top.

Not a huge amount of money in interest difference between the two, but it gets the balance on a card I never use, vs. on a card I use all the time.

I can set the payments on the USBank account and forget them. I should have it paid off in its entirety within that 18 months.

[Peteyglad]

Just got this offer myself and signed up for it. Never carried a balance on the card so in theory it doesnt matter, but it makes me feel better than seeing 17.99%