I saw chase is offering me a payment plan for a large purchase I made with one of my cards. Other than the monthly fee that they would charge as part of the payment plan is there a downside to taking advantage of this? I wouldn't mind putting this payment off for a month while vendor payments for the end of the year come in vs having to move money around from my other accounts. They claim there is no other interest charges and that I can pay it off completely without penalty.
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These new offerings from AMEX, Chase, US Bank and others are a fixed fee per month. No interest charges in addition.
With AMEX the Plan It items are separate from other purchases, so those other purchases don't trigger interest charges either. I would presume Chase Plans are the same way, distinct from other purchase balances, to keep those from charging interest. This, however, is an assumption, and it would be good to get confirmation from others that Chase indeed separates those charges to prevent interest.
This is actually a pretty good deal from Chase and a few others. I had 2 purchases that qualified recently, so I compared the cost of the payment plan to the cost of regular purchase interest. The payment plan was the equivalent of about 13% annualized interest. My regular purchase interest rate is 23.74%, so the payment plan does lower the cost of financing quite a bit. You save even more by paying it off early. This option seems to be just what you need, so go for it!
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@red259 wrote:I saw chase is offering me a payment plan for a large purchase I made with one of my cards. Other than the monthly fee that they would charge as part of the payment plan is there a downside to taking advantage of this? I wouldn't mind putting this payment off for a month while vendor payments for the end of the year come in vs having to move money around from my other accounts. They claim there is no other interest charges and that I can pay it off completely without penalty.
I know I'm in a minority on this, but I never accept those offers. They seem like traps to me.
@SouthJamaica wrote:I know I'm in a minority on this, but I never accept those offers. They seem like traps to me.
I have always been pretty skeptical of them too. Chase surprised me by offering no-fee My Chase Plans for some Southwest purchases I made on my Southwest card. Curiosity took over and I decided to try it. I'm in the midst of it now, but so far, so good. There doesn't seem to be a catch.
Of course, much depends on how high the fee is. And the calculations required to understand its APR equivalent might test the limits of some people's math skills. I had it pretty easy this time, with zero. 
@SouthJamaica wrote:
@red259 wrote:I saw chase is offering me a payment plan for a large purchase I made with one of my cards. Other than the monthly fee that they would charge as part of the payment plan is there a downside to taking advantage of this? I wouldn't mind putting this payment off for a month while vendor payments for the end of the year come in vs having to move money around from my other accounts. They claim there is no other interest charges and that I can pay it off completely without penalty.
I know I'm in a minority on this, but I never accept those offers. They seem like traps to me.
They are not "traps".
For short term funding of a month or two, such as the OP is considering, they are excellent low APR cash flow management tools. The Plan keeps these charges separate from ongoing charges added to the card, which makes it extremely easy to pay them off and have the interest-free grace period unaffected by the entire sequence.
Your assignment is to research these a bit more, and try using a Chase Plan, an AMEX Plan It, or the US Bank version for financing $200 or so. These are new innovations that are best experienced directly on a small scale, rather than presuming nefarious intent. I've used AMEX Plan It several times since it was introduced.
@Curious_George2 wrote:
@NRB525 wrote:These new offerings from AMEX, Chase, US Bank and others are a fixed fee per month. No interest charges in addition.
With AMEX the Plan It items are separate from other purchases, so those other purchases don't trigger interest charges either. I would presume Chase Plans are the same way, distinct from other purchase balances, to keep those from charging interest. This, however, is an assumption, and it would be good to get confirmation from others that Chase indeed separates those charges to prevent interest.
Your assumption is correct. When you put charges in a My Chase Plan, your statement will show a Minimum Payment and also what they call an "Interest Saving Balance." The ISB consists of your scheduled monthly payment under the Plan, plus your total balance of non-Plan charges. If you pay the ISB, you don't incur any interest charges. Here's how they explain it on the statement: "By paying your Interest Saving Balance each billing period by your due date, you will avoid interest on purchases appearing on your next statement."
Thanks for confirming.
