How do you negotiate a lower interest rate on your credit card?
I'm 1 month away from paying off all my credit cards (woo-hoo!!), and I was looking to get a lower interest rate on all of them. I called them up, but they said "no". Something having to do with "they don't have a short term promotional offer to lower interest rates" and how "they don't decide whether interest rates are lowered are not - the Fed does". First - "short term promotional offer"?I told her that I wasn't looking for a "promotional offer", but a permanent change. Still no dice. She said that my credit is good and that I'm doing ALLLLLLL the right things, but I still get no change. I read online that people do this about every 6 months. This is my 2nd attempt in a year. Am I doing something wrong here?Am I not using the correct verbiage?Or should I just forget about it, make sure I pay it off every month, get a new credit card with a lower interest rate (make sure I pay it off every month AND get those travel miles/hotel points - haha!) and not worry about it too much?
Credit cards usually come with a high interest rate. All of mine have 15%-24% APR even though my credit is pretty good. If you want lower interest Iโd suggest looking into a personal loan and using that to pay off your credit since those generally have a lower interest rate or have promotions for lower interest. You can also open another card that has a no interest rate promotion (I know some citi cards do this) and transfer the balance!
jikajika·Jun 09, 2021jikajika·Jun 09, 2021I was SO CLOSE to getting a card with a $0 balance transfer fee and 0% interest rate for the next 14, or so, months. But I nixed that idea when they said it would take 3 weeks for EVERYTHING to happen (card companies talk to each other, blah, blah, blah...). All my CC debt would be paid off by the end of this month, so it'll be too late for that.All good though! Now I know - don't try to get a lower interest rate. Just pay off the card before the end of the billing cycle & find credit cards with killer sign up bonuses.
Hi there - I would definitely recommend, once all your debt is paid off, CANCEL those cards, find a card with a great sign up bonus, use it to rack up points, and pay the full balance every month. There is no bigger waste of money than paying credit card interest. Plus your credit score will improve if you do this.A few times a year, I sign up for a new card with a good bonus, low minimum spend to meet the bonus, and ideally no fee or a waived first year fee. I use the card for everything to meet the minimum, reap the reward, and cancel the card. I've never paid a cent of credit card interest in my life and I have a great credit score, plus I've gotten 100k united miles, 70k AA miles, $700 travel credits, Amazon rewards, airport lounge passes, free TSA precheck, and more.I'd recommend reading Quit Like a Millionaire by Shen and I Will Teach You to be Rich by Sethi (or just their blogs) to learn these basics of personal finance and waayyyy better tricks.
I love Ramit's book & his blog, especially when he talks about finances. The whole travel hacking trend was something I found out about, like, 10 years ago. I was into it, and then somehow fell out of it. I just now rediscovered it, and I'm looking to do EXACTLY what you said - find credit cards that give a LARGE AMOUNT of points, rewards, etc. as long as you spend X amount of money within Y time frame, as a "thanks for signing up" bonus. I actually just applied, and was approved, for one such card today. And it begins...And I agree with you.As long as I pay off the card in full before the pay date, I don't have to worry "nah!" about the interest rate, because it'll never be applied.I'm just so glad that I rediscovered travel hacking. This is such a SMART WAY to make your money do some Cirque du Soleil tricks for you.Especially if you plan on traveling now, or in the future.Damn my debit card to hell! Hell I sayyyyy!!!Though I wouldn't cancel the card, as that shows a line of credit which helps your credit score. I'll leave it open, use it to get max points, pay it off every month - rinse, repeat, & reap the benefits.Yup. This is a GREAT plan moving forward. I'll check out that Shen book. Thanks!
Great to hear! I do have one or two credit cards with no annual or international fees that I keep open forever to keep a good credit ratio as you mentioned. But the point of travel hacking is to get a new card or two every year and close them; you don't want to end up with 20 open credit cards. I cancel cards frequently with no hit to my credit score.
I'd say it depends on everyone's personal preference. For myself:If the annual fee is $0 and I continue to get value out of the card, I'll keep it forever. The no-brainer.If I DO have an annual fee, and I know I'm going to continue to get value out of the card, again, I'll keep it. But, if I do have an annual fee, and I know I'm NOT going to get value out of the card - time to shut it down. It'll be a small, and short lived hit to the credit score - I'm told, but no real or permanent damage should be done.
The average length of your account is important too. So if you are keeping open the cards youโve had for 10-12 years, it helps to cancel the 1-2 year old cards, even as you are opening new ones for the points. You can get increases on existing lines of credit by calling and requesting a higher limit so thereโs no hit to your ratio or credit score.
Depending on your current balance, you might be able to find a credit card with an opening promotional offer for 0% APR on transfer balances for anywhere from 6 to 18 months. Now, lookout for a possible fee associated with the transfer (or a fee for each transfer?), so the trick here is calculating if the fee will be less than the interest you will pay on your remaining credit card balance. Even better if you can find an offer with no transfer fees.This is how I began paying off my credit card debt. As far as your current position, honestly, there is an offers department that may be able to do things a first-tier representative can't, but this may be limited to 'new transfers' or 'new purchases'. I have gotten offers that I was initially told were not available, but not for lowering interest.It's possible if you want to try and get a lower interest rate from your current cards that you could use that as a bargaining chip, "I really did not want to have to bother with a balance transfer, but I suppose I will have to look into getting an offer on one with another credit card company if you can't lower my rate." Or just simply go ahead and look.
Yeah, my dumb butt...I wish I would've thought about the balance transfer months ago - LOL!I could've saved some dough to pay off that debt a LOT faster!But I'm going to remember your language for getting a lower interest rate to the card companies. May be useful down the line :)
Don't feel bad, I had someone give me the advice when I was 20 and only remembered it later when I did get into credit card debt. I had one of my cards canceled on me recently for having zero balance for too long. LOL. I thought, well that's a nice change. Still I got another, I like to have two to play against each other, and to keep my credit score up by at least occasional usage.
"I had one of my cards canceled on me recently for having zero balance for too long".Guess if they can't earn any interest off of ya, they throw a hissy fit and kick you off? LOL! I'm pretty sure I'm going to get kicked off of one CC I don't really care about ($500 limit on the card // no benefits), but I already replaced it with a CC with a much higher limit and ALLLLL the benefits & bonuses!๐"Huzzah!" for getting debt free and making our loot work for us!
Congratulations on paying off your credit cards!!! I would pay them in full. If you are paying them in full, the interest rate won't matter. I usually recommend clients negotiate a lower interest rate if they are in debt (or do a balance transfer card for 0% APR depending on the credit score) but since you're almost out of it- there's no need :) such a great milestone so kudos to you.Also, I would NOT cancel your credit cards. They are your line of credit and contribute to your credit score. If your score is good, then you can open a new and improved travel points card and pay that in full every month as well. As for the old cards, if there are no annual fees then leave em open! Hope this helps!
Yes! I've learned this from an investor - to pay off the credit card but to NOT cancel them for the reasons you just listed. Yup!I actually just opened up a Hilton card with a SA-WEET bonus that I'm looking to take advantage of! I'm looking to take advantage of ALL OF THIS because it makes the most sense. Why pay your bills with your debit card and get nothing out of it VS. paying your bills and reaping hotel discounts, flight upgrades, cash back, etc. for doing the SAME. DAMN. THING?!I'm making my money do Cirque du Soleil backflips without changing any habits or having to learn anything new about stocks, investment portfolios, etc. It's so easy, simple, and beneficial - this shit should be as common knowledge as 'look both ways before crossing the street'. LMAO!
Heyooooo! Congrats! I have the Chase Sapphire Reserve and I LIVE on that card bc it makes me money. Travel hacking is the best.LOL re: the cirque du soleil backflips. Loving your energy. I just booked my entire vacation on credit card points. Took a lot of work to get here (was in debt before as well) but so worth it once youโre there. Enjoy your new credit card!! โ๏ธ๐ฐ๐
Ooh! Have you heard of Scott's Cheap Flights ?(https://app.scottscheapflights.com/) They send me an email every day, I think, with INSANE DEALS to locations around the world. I've never taken them up on it, especially in 2020. Pffft!!But after this year, and with my newly gathered points I'll be squirreling away - I think I finally will. ๐
I haven't used Scott's Cheap Flights but I use a combination of apps to check for cheapest times to fly and where. I use Hopper (https://www.hopper.com/) to get a general lay of the land (What months are cheapest out of certain airports) and then I use Momondo and Skyscanner to find the exact dates and flights.Last March, using a sign on bonus with American Airlines, my husband and I flew round trip out of PA to Ireland for $400 TOTAL!!!
First, that round trip deal is DOOOOOOPE!!I almost purchased a roundtrip flight to Amsterdam for $355. And I know someone living there, so I would stay there for the 7-14 days while visiting! Gah!But I couldn't because I got too much "hands on stuff" going on here. Poo!Second, I've never heard of these other companies. I'm going to check them out now. Thanks Katie!
No prob! And that's a pretty sweet deal! I am currently planning my next escape lol. Just trying to decide if travel will remain available for the next few months.
Right?! I'm kind of thinking that I better get my travel in before that Delta variant boomerangs us back upside our head. Lol!
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