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Should I try Amex 'Pay over time'?

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Anonymous
Not applicable

Should I try Amex 'Pay over time'?

I recently received my new Amex ED card and was looking at this feature available to me. Given that my limit is $2,000 and I need to meet a SUB minimum of $1,000 over 3 months. I wanted to book tickets to see a Wizard of Oz play, which will set me back $235 respectively. Considering it my Christmas treat. My ED has 0% apr.

 

Would Amex frown upon a $235 transaction for pay over time? I don't want to reduce my chances of getting future cli's. I kinda want to just try it out before I do it with a larger purchase, if I ever need to. If not, I can use my NFCU Amex as I need to meet their $3k SUB and immediately pay it off after. 

Message 1 of 9
8 REPLIES 8
Brian_Earl_Spilner
Credit Mentor

Re: Should I try Amex 'Pay over time'?

Plan it works for anything over $100. They don't care if you use it. I tried it twice and ended up paying both of them off the next month. It's the only time I've ever paid amex interest.

    
Message 2 of 9
wasCB14
Super Contributor

Re: Should I try Amex 'Pay over time'?

Pay Over Time is a feature of charge cards (like Platinum, Gold, Green, etc.).

 

Revolving credit cards like ED have Plan It. You could carry a modest balance at 0% for a while without needing to pay any fees for a Plan, though.

 


@Brian_Earl_Spilner wrote:

Plan it works for anything over $100. They don't care if you use it. I tried it twice and ended up paying both of them off the next month. It's the only time I've ever paid amex interest.


But the ED is already at 0%. Why pay fees for a Plan? OP can just carry a balance normally by paying more than the minimum but less than the full statement balance.

 

Sometimes Amex offers no-fee Plan It promotions. I've done several of these, and have a few thousand dollars on my BCP stretched out over another 21 months or so.

 

And FWIW, Amex gave me a $20k SL on Delta Platinum while I was carrying about $10k at 0% on my BBP.

Personal spend: Amex Gold, Amex Schwab Plat., BofA PR+CCR(x2), Costco
Business use: Amex Bus. Plat., BBP, Lowes Amex AU, CFU AU
Perks: Delta Plat., United Explorer, IHG49, Hyatt, "Old SPG"
Mostly SD: Freedom Flex, Freedom, Arrival
Upgrade/Downgrade games: ED, BCE
SUB chasing: AA Platinum Select
Message 3 of 9
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Should I try Amex 'Pay over time'?

Screenshot 2019-09-30 at 10.21.22 PM.png

 

So, it wouldn't hurt to do this?

Message 4 of 9
wasCB14
Super Contributor

Re: Should I try Amex 'Pay over time'?


@Anonymous wrote:

Screenshot 2019-09-30 at 10.21.22 PM.png

 

So, it wouldn't hurt to do this?


No, it wouldn't hurt and you could take your time to pay it off without fees or interest...

 

...but keep in mind that's just a hypothetical projection. You can't actually put purchases into a Plan until the transactions have posted. I don't think there is any guarantee of what Plan lengths Amex will offer. No-fee Plans are nice, but I think the Plan lengths aren't known until it's too late not to use a different card!

Personal spend: Amex Gold, Amex Schwab Plat., BofA PR+CCR(x2), Costco
Business use: Amex Bus. Plat., BBP, Lowes Amex AU, CFU AU
Perks: Delta Plat., United Explorer, IHG49, Hyatt, "Old SPG"
Mostly SD: Freedom Flex, Freedom, Arrival
Upgrade/Downgrade games: ED, BCE
SUB chasing: AA Platinum Select
Message 5 of 9
pinkandgrey
Senior Contributor

Re: Should I try Amex 'Pay over time'?

No, Amex won't frown on that. Anything over $100 qualifies. I would assume that Amex WANTS people to use the feature, seeing as the user has to pay a small monthly fee (unless you're in a promo period). You can see it through for the entire payment period or pay it off early. Either way, it works. I think it's a great feature personally. 

Enjoy your play! 

Discover It: 21.5k
Amex Cash Magnet: 18k
Fidelity Visa: 13k
Apple Card: 4.25k
Message 6 of 9
Remedios
Credit Mentor

Re: Should I try Amex 'Pay over time'?

OP, keep in mind that once you set it up, it changes the amount of minimum payment also.
So, for the duration of Plan, that will be your new minimum payment.
If you create any additional plans, those amounts will be added, too.
If you have any doubts that you wont be able to pay that much, just carry it as a balance during 0% because should you encounter financial issues, you'd owe lesser amount
Dont bite more than you can chew
Message 7 of 9
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Should I try Amex 'Pay over time'?

IMO, I wouldn't even bother. The ED card already has 0% APR for whatever the promo period is, so you can essentially pay thet $35 minimum payment over the course of 7 months interest free ayways. 

 

Plan it is really only useful on larger balances if the fee is less that your standard APR, like if you had $1-2K that you couldn't pay back within one statement period. etc. 

 

I recently set one up on my BCP because i had two large charges hit the same month, and wasn't expecting it to. So I set up a plan for one charge and paid off the rest because I PIF on this card due to the high APR. This was the only time I saw it as useful, and will pay it back much sooner than the time allotted. 

Message 8 of 9
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Should I try Amex 'Pay over time'?

With the promo 0% I woul pay it over several months.   

 

Plan It can be very interesting    DW got a 0% fee and 0% interest plan it promo approved upto $15,0000

 

Message 9 of 9
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