Due date on weekend no autmated payment option HELP!!!

[Anonymous]

I have been working for the last two years to clean up my credit, I have an American Airlines credit card and the due date is May18. When I looked on the back of the bill it only gave options of phone payments and mail. I called this morning to make my payment as I just got paid yesterday and they are not open again until monday and there is no automated payment option. If I call and pay this first thing Monday morning will a late show on my report. I have not had a late payment in 4 years and nine months, it would be beyond devastating. Any suggestions??

[nicemann]

Usually they will not report as late to the CR unless it is 30 days late.

[Anonymous]

I really hope thats the case, The fact that I have an Amex Skymiles scares me to death about anything going on my report. I dont want any AA due to something like this.

Message Edited by curtco99 on 05-17-2008 01:16 PM

[MattH]

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@nicemann wrote:
Usually they will not report as late to the CR unless it is 30 days late.

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Correct.

Until I began using online banking to schedule payments in advance, I would from time to time neglect some bill and get hit with a late fee, but since I always paid up immediately on being reminded, I never was reported as late to any of the CRAs.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the help, that eases my mind....a little. I hate that there is no online option for this card it really makes it a pain to keep straight! I would have thought it would have since it was backed by citi but i guess just being charge account through the airlines itself that is different.

[haulingthescoreup]

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@Anonymous wrote:
I have been working for the last two years to clean up my credit, I have an American Airlines credit card and the due date is May18. When I looked on the back of the bill it only gave options of phone payments and mail. I called this morning to make my payment as I just got paid yesterday and they are not open again until monday and there is no automated payment option. If I call and pay this first thing Monday morning will a late show on my report. I have not had a late payment in 4 years and nine months, it would be beyond devastating. Any suggestions??

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As the others said, you're probably OK, because there's a difference between late as in missing by a day or two, and late as in you still haven't made the minimum payment by the next statement date or something.

But if you have already set up online banking on your checking account, you can try going in there and doing a bill pay from your bank account. You would have to enter your credit card account number etc. The problem is that many creditors won't credit these right away. Worth checking out for future options, though. Good luck!

[Anonymous]

I just looked again at the bill and it says they are open 24/7 when you call it says monday-fri 8-5 how can they do that, it seems very misleading!

[MattH]

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haulingthescoreup wrote:...But if you have already set up online banking on your checking account, you can try going in there and doing a bill pay from your bank account. You would have to enter your credit card account number etc. The problem is that many creditors won't credit these right away. Worth checking out for future options, though. Good luck!

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Online payments from my bank account generally take two business days before they get credited, so the OP probably won't be able to avoid a late fee this time. What I used to do when money was tighter and I couldn't always pay in full every month was immediately upon receipt of each bill send them a check for the minimum payment, then every six weeks or so I would send out larger checks to keep the balances more or less under control. I regarded these larger payments as my "real" payments, if the balances grew too big I would cut back on spending, the only purpose of the small checks on receipt of the bill was to minimize the risk of paying late fees.

[Anonymous]

Interesting, I may try that on another card. I can live with a one time late fee. I will be paying it off next month. My fear is the possibility of a late showing on my report! And how my dw will react to it.

[MattH]

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@Anonymous wrote:
Interesting, I may try that on another card. I can live with a one time late fee. I will be paying it off next month. My fear is the possibility of a late showing on my report! And how my dw will react to it.

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Have you tried calling the 800 number? With most cards, even when they don't offer automated payments via their website, one of the options on the 800 number is to make a payment by phone, usually for a "convenience fee" of around 15 bucks. The big advantage of paying by phone is usually that will get credited immediately (even if it's on the weekend) because it's being "pulled" from the creditor's computer instead being "pushed" from your bank's computer. They can get away with charging a fee for paying by phone even though it actually costs them less than handling a paper check because they know most people paying by phone are trying to avoid an even larger late fee. Online payments initiated from your bank account usually don't incur any fees, but are not quick enough when one is close to the due date.

My wife calls such fees "a tax on the absent-minded."