Large Christmas Purchases- Do or Don't?

[GApeachy]

I have a few spend questions about using my our cards for large purchases while continuing to use them for our usual spend.  Since we PIF it will look out of place, I'd like to put everyone's vacation packages on credit cards for various reasons but am concerned this will freak out ccc's and take AA.

Do ccc's expect to see you using your cards, running up the balances to 30%, 40% and maybe even 50% during the Christmas Holiday season?  Are there certain Holiday Spend issues that would freak out ccc's?

What are the Do's and Don'ts?

[Anonymous]

Are you going to PIF after the purchases or carry a balance?

[simplynoir]

I'm probably different from you but I'd just use it as normal and if that means showing credit card activity that is not normal just remember the credit line they provided for you is there for a reason as long as it's used responsibly

They probably expect purchases, they may even expect some customers to carry the balance for X number of months. As the new year means possible bonuses from work, tax season and hopefully means people will use their money to pay their credit cards off. The only real way I can see AA is if it's on multiple cards with no headway into bringing down the balance over a period of months. But again that's just me maybe someone else can chime in on similar experiences like the one you're proposing

[Anonymous]

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@simplynoir wrote:

I'm probably different from you but I'd just use it as normal and if that means showing credit card activity that is not normal just remember the credit line they provided for you is there for a reason as long as it's used responsibly

They probably expect purchases, they may even expect some customers to carry the balance for X number of months. As the new year means possible bonuses from work, tax season and hopefully means people will use their money to pay their credit cards off. The only real way I can see AA is if it's on multiple cards with no headway into bringing down the balance over a period of months. But again that's just me maybe someone else can chime in on similar experiences like the one you're proposing

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^ exactly this. 

If you have lenders take AA for you using your cards, you should ditch those cards. 

[GApeachy]

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@Anonymous wrote:
Are you going to PIF after the purchases or carry a balance?

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We will PIF.  Wanted to use the cards in case of weather messing their trips up.

[simplynoir]

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@GApeachy wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:
Are you going to PIF after the purchases or carry a balance?

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We will PIF.  Wanted to use the cards in case of weather messing their trips up.

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Then use it. Utilization has short-term memory with banks

[GApeachy]

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@simplynoir

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Thank you, none of our ccc's have a relationship over 1 year.  Just didn't/don't want to overdo.  This time last year I paid in cash but after reading the pluses with cc's, their protections I'd really prefer to use them instead of cash.  It will be a lot though.  Possibly 40% on 4 cards and will let them travel with these cards (AU's) for emergency spend and restaurant/gas.  All are still at 0% apr. so that's a true incentive.

[Anonymous]

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@GApeachy wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:
Are you going to PIF after the purchases or carry a balance?

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We will PIF.  Wanted to use the cards in case of weather messing their trips up.

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I see no reason to even hesitate with the purchase then. In the end, such a large purchase and PIF could help with the lender's internal scoring; this could help with things such as CLIs in the future, for example. 

[GApeachy]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@simplynoir wrote:

I'm probably different from you but I'd just use it as normal and if that means showing credit card activity that is not normal just remember the credit line they provided for you is there for a reason as long as it's used responsibly

They probably expect purchases, they may even expect some customers to carry the balance for X number of months. As the new year means possible bonuses from work, tax season and hopefully means people will use their money to pay their credit cards off. The only real way I can see AA is if it's on multiple cards with no headway into bringing down the balance over a period of months. But again that's just me maybe someone else can chime in on similar experiences like the one you're proposing

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^ exactly this. 

If you have lenders take AA for you using your cards, you should ditch those cards. 

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Thanks!  I was kinda feeling that.....why stress but some ccc's do make me leary.

[simplynoir]

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@GApeachy wrote:

Thank you, none of our ccc's have a relationship over 1 year.  Just didn't/don't want to overdo.  This time last year I paid in cash but after reading the pluses with cc's, their protections I'd really prefer to use them instead of cash.  It will be a lot though.  Possibly 40% on 4 cards and will let them travel with these cards (AU's) for emergency spend and restaurant/gas.  All are still at 0% apr. so that's a true incentive.

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That should be perfectly fine. Even if you carry the balance for a few months to take advantage of the 0% APR just make sure you pay at least a little more than the minimum minus your usual monthly charges to show your ability to pay it off