cancel
Showing results for 
Search instead for 
Did you mean: 

Huge Charge Today! Which card do you recommend?

tag
Anonymous
Not applicable

Huge Charge Today! Which card do you recommend?

I have to pay $19K today for medical, but I'll pay it off within six months (I don't want to make interest-free payments with the medical practice as I'm not worried about interest...only my credit report). 

 

I've been great with AZEO for 12-consecutive months, but I was thinking 24-consecutive months would look more favorably to future creditors for not having gone above 20% of my credit limit.   

 

Would you split this charge over three credit cards?  Would you put it all on one credit card?  Would you not use credit cards in favor of charge cards?  I have Amex Platinum and Gold, and I can either split the charge on these two cards, or put the whole thing on the Gold card to pay over time.  

 

Thank you all for your advice today!!!

Message 1 of 8
7 REPLIES 7
dragontears
Senior Contributor

Re: Huge Charge Today! Which card do you recommend?


@Anonymous wrote:

I have to pay $19K today for medical, but I'll pay it off within six months (I don't want to make interest-free payments with the medical practice as I'm not worried about interest...only my credit report). 

 

I've been great with AZEO for 12-consecutive months, but I was thinking 24-consecutive months would look more favorably to future creditors for not having gone above 20% of my credit limit.   

 

Would you split this charge over three credit cards?  Would you put it all on one credit card?  Would you not use credit cards in favor of charge cards?  I have Amex Platinum and Gold, and I can either split the charge on these two cards, or put the whole thing on the Gold card to pay over time.  

 

Thank you all for your advice today!!!


You do know that maintaining AZEO for month/years doesn't improve your reports/scores more than if you just let balances report? Utilization is currently still a snapshot so what your reported balances were 6 months ago has no effect on your score (at least until lenders start using FICO 10T). In fact there are theories that consistently doing AZEO is counter productive for increasing CL because if you are only using $20/month (reported) why do you need high limits? 

Charge cards are not included in Utilization calculations (except for mortgage scores) so I don't think it matters it you put it all on one or split it (assuming Amex actually approves the large charge).

Message 2 of 8
eg2222
Valued Member

Re: Huge Charge Today! Which card do you recommend?

Does the medical practice report to the CRAs? In my experience, they don't unless you are in default so why not keep it with them and pay it off over 6 months interest free? I'd at least ask the medical practice if they report if you are making your payments...I bet they don't.

 

As far as the AZEO, it's a snapshot not a history. As long as you are AZEO for one month (or whatever timeframe for all cards to report except one) then you are AZEO......doing it for 1 month, 12, months, or 24 months will result in the same outcome.

Message 3 of 8
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Huge Charge Today! Which card do you recommend?

Thank you for your insight.  I know it's not what everyone else would do here, but this is not about monthly payments, interest, etc. 

I am focusing on two areas:  Helping my credit, and not hurting my credit.  

 

I can go for the points with Amex. 

I can hope to get cash back from Discover. 

I can improve my utilization by splitting equal amounts on multiple cards.

 

Any tried and true ideas you offer will help today's decision.  Thank you!!

Message 4 of 8
disdreamin
Valued Contributor

Re: Huge Charge Today! Which card do you recommend?


@Anonymous wrote:

Thank you for your insight.  I know it's not what everyone else would do here, but this is not about monthly payments, interest, etc. 

I am focusing on two areas:  Helping my credit, and not hurting my credit.  

 

I can go for the points with Amex. 

I can hope to get cash back from Discover. 

I can improve my utilization by splitting equal amounts on multiple cards.

 

Any tried and true ideas you offer will help today's decision.  Thank you!!


First, love the username haha. As for your decision, personally I'd avoid jumping from almost no utilization to ~30% for a rather extended period of time. I'd be concerned that kind of significant change in utilization might raise a flag here or there - perhaps one of the pros here could comment on that.

Message 5 of 8
mich800
Regular Contributor

Re: Huge Charge Today! Which card do you recommend?


@Anonymous wrote:

Thank you for your insight.  I know it's not what everyone else would do here, but this is not about monthly payments, interest, etc. 

I am focusing on two areas:  Helping my credit, and not hurting my credit.  

 

I can go for the points with Amex. 

I can hope to get cash back from Discover. 

I can improve my utilization by splitting equal amounts on multiple cards.

 

Any tried and true ideas you offer will help today's decision.  Thank you!!


Why not split the difference and make a short term payment plan with the medical provider and make the payments with whatever rewards card you choose.  That way you do not max out or carry a very high balance, still get rewards, and make the medical provider happy at the same time.  

Message 6 of 8
notmyrealname23
Established Contributor

Re: Huge Charge Today! Which card do you recommend?


@Anonymous wrote:


I am focusing on two areas:  Helping my credit, and not hurting my credit.  

 


Going from low utilization at ~0% to considerably more will hurt your credit in the short term. It will not help your credit. Plain and simple. It will ding you until you pay balances down. I don't understand the logic of "I don't want to hurt my credit report, so I'm going to pay extra in interest AND report substantial balances for six months" (assuming nothing goes wrong, and as a past Ch.7 filer, you should know something can go wrong with your plan).

It's your funeral, but I don't think buying AMEX points or Discover cashback over a 6 month payment plan (which is essentially what you are doing: the interest = what you are paying for the points or cashback) is remotely a smart idea for "helping your credit" compared to interest-free payments. What exactly are you hoping to accomplish for financing $19k at a non-trivial interest rate for 6 months? Why do you think it's worth what is likely a four digit sum in interest?

If you simply must do this, I'd split it across all your cards, with an eye towards keeping revolving balances low (don't push any particular card's CL super high), and the most preferable interest rates. Less likely to spook any individual lender and again, just because AMEX points are nice doesn't mean you should pay a 30% effective annual interest rate for them (or whatever). It would likely be dumb to accrue AMEX points if you can save money on the interest rate by using the Barclay card. (Note that I'm using AMEX as an example; if the math says they're the cheapest, then do that. But for sure do some actual math to save interest charges.)

First Tech FCU Choice Rewards World MC 35k | AMEX Hilton Aspire 17.5k | Chase Southwest Priority Visa 15.5k | AMEX Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant 15k | Bilt Rewards MC 14k | Capital One Venture X 13k | Fidelity VISA Signature 11.5k | Citi AA Platinum Select 11.9k | Charles Schwab AMEX Platinum NPSL | Amex Platinum (I know) NPSL | Amex Gold NPSL | Citi Premier 8.9k | Chase Fredom Unlimited 9k | SoFi MC World Elite 8k | Capital One SavorOne 7.5k | PayPal Synchrony MC 6.4k | Citi Custom Cash 6.9k | DiscoverIt Cashback 5k | Amazon/Synchrony 5k | Hotels.com 5k | AMEX Delta Gold 3k | Apple Card 3k | Target 800 | Ch 13 filed 12/13 discharged as paid 1/19
Message 7 of 8
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Huge Charge Today! Which card do you recommend?

It would be much better for your credit to take out an installment loan at a low rate than to charge up your cards. Sure, you'll take a new account and AAoA ding, but you will pay less interest (installments aren't normally compound interest and that compound interest on credit cards adds up quick) and the balance won't affect your revolving utilization so your lenders likely wouldn't bat an eye. Installments aren't put under the same scrutiny as credit cards are - it's perfectly normal and acceptable to put large balances on an installment plan, it's seen as a negative when you do it on a credit card, let alone suddenly have multiple card balances go up from nothing. 

Message 8 of 8
Advertiser Disclosure: The offers that appear on this site are from third party advertisers from whom FICO receives compensation.