Credit Cards with Annual Fees

[Amazon 7]

This is one of my pet peeves....Annual Fees... of hell fees of any kind on my credit cards.

Today I get a letter from Shell that I owe them $25 for an annual fee.

WTF.. Its been at least a year since I called them and cancelled/cut up the card.... and NOW they send me a letter wanting $25????

WTF... so after sitting thru their lame phone menu.. I finally cancelled it AGAIN, and had the fee reversed( the girl on the phone had no idea what happened but... its been two years since I even used the damn thing.)

Do these people EVER pay attention?????

[lawrocket 3]

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Do these people EVER pay attention?????

Read the Agreement, Jeanne. "Attention" is just another thing for you to "pay." Don't you get it?

My wife is hotter than your wife.

[PLFXpert 0]

I LOVE Amex. It's my only card. I pay an annual fee. I get back WAY more than that in rewards--which I use on things I would have bought anyways.

Paint me in a corner, but my color comes back.

[lawrocket 3]

I will agree. I LOVE AMEX. It's been a truly awesome card.

My wife is hotter than your wife.

[kelpdiver 2]

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I LOVE Amex. It's my only card. I pay an annual fee. I get back WAY more than that in rewards--which I use on things I would have bought anyways.

but there are feeless rewards cards too.

[Morrison79 0]

Of course there are cards with no fees but sometimes the fees are worth it. I travel a lot with work and they allow me to charge up my personal Northwest Airlines card for all my hotels, car rentals, ect.....
They pay it off and I get to keep all the miles. I have no problem paying $100.00 a year because in return I get a couple free flights a year.

[PhreeZone 20]

Bingo, I've got I think 6 free flights out of my credit card at this point. Plus it adds miles to my Frequent Flier account every month that keeps my miles from expiring on me. Small price to pay in that $75 fee a year.

Yesterday is history
And tomorrow is a mystery

Parachutemanuals.com

[Rookie120 0]

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Small price to pay in that $75 fee a year.

Plus you get to kick back in the FF lounges also. For Continental you do I dont know about all of them.

If you find yourself in a fair fight, your tactics suck!

[champu 1]

I rarely fly anywhere so I prefer cash back myself. I'm also lazy and don't like to have to pay attention to miles expiring or anything like that.

I have a Citibank World Dividend card which I really like. It has no fees, no spending limit, gives me at least 1% on everything, 2% on gas and groceries, and 5% on a whole mess of specific stores. On the rare occasion I do travel it gives me the extra lost bag insurance, extra rental car insurance, road-side assistance, etc. for free.

The APR sucks, but I never carry a balance so I don't really care.

[PLFXpert 0]

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but there are feeless rewards cards too.

Yes, but can yours do tricks?

Paint me in a corner, but my color comes back.

[base428 1]

The world is being sucked into using credit cards for everything. It sounds great that you're getting 1-2% back on each gas/grocery transaction using your rewards card, but did you realize that the merchant is taking the hit for your "reward"? Yep, your use of a reward card costs the merchant more in credit card fees, which is passed on to you.

So who really wins here? AMEX, Mastercard, and Visa. Not you.

PS. I just got another letter from my merchant account provider - Visa/Mastercard reward card fees are going up again. It's a yearly thing.

(c)2010 Vertical Visions. No unauthorized duplication permitted. <==For the media only

[kelpdiver 2]

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The world is being sucked into using credit cards for everything. It sounds great that you're getting 1-2% back on each gas/grocery transaction using your rewards card, but did you realize that the merchant is taking the hit for your "reward"? Yep, your use of a reward card costs the merchant more in credit card fees, which is passed on to you.

The fee to the merchant is the same if I use a rewards MC or a non rewards MC. And since my individual disuse of a card won't change the overall use, I might as well get the best benefit, no?

Obviously there is incentive for the merchant to violate the same price for cash stipulation, or to find a class action cause in the face of annual fee increases. But short of those, not much incentive for the consumer to use cash instead of the card.

[NCclimber 0]

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Today I get a letter from Shell that I owe them $25 for an annual fee.

Shell, eh? I had a problem with those guys a few years ago. I cancelled my card. They charged me an annual fee and then started charging me late fees for not making payments. I paid the annual fee and got the late payments waved. Then they refunded the annual fee. A few months later I got another check from them. I cashed it. They charged the amount to my cancelled account. Then back came the overdue annual fee and the late fees started back up.

Throughout it all, I probably spent 3-4 hours on the phone with those people.

what a racket.

[JohnRich 4]

I don't use cards that have annual fees. Period.

Furthermore, I switch cards almost annually, transferring the balance to one that has a promotional offer for 1-year of no interest. There are a lot of those available. That way you get free credit, and lower monthly payments without the interest charges.

No interest credit cards

[kelpdiver 2]

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Furthermore, I switch cards almost annually, transferring the balance to one that has a promotional offer for 1-year of no interest. There are a lot of those available. That way you get free credit, and lower monthly payments without the interest charges.

The era of 0% and no fee balance transfer seems to have ended. I only see offers with 3% charges, some of which no longer have a max, some with a max of $199.

Furthermore, your practice has a negative effect on your credit rating. I'd not recommend it as a lifelong strategy, but merely one to use to get the debt eliminated.

[rehmwa 2]

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I don't use cards that have annual fees. Period.

Furthermore, I switch cards almost annually, transferring the balance to one that has a promotional offer for 1-year of no interest. There are a lot of those available. That way you get free credit, and lower monthly payments without the interest charges.

No interest credit cards

I don't use cards that have fees - ever

switching for lower or promo interest rates - Should it matter if you just pay it off every month?

Carrying debt at any credit card's interest rate seems to be a bad move.

...
Driving is a one dimensional activity - a monkey can do it - being proud of your driving abilities is like being proud of being able to put on pants

[kelpdiver 2]

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Carrying debt at any credit card's interest rate seems to be a bad move.

Any rate under inflation or savings account rates, may be justifiable.

[JohnRich 4]

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switching for lower or promo interest rates - Should it matter if you just pay it off every month? Carrying debt at any credit card's interest rate seems to be a bad move.

That works great, if you have the income. Right now, I don't. Lots of people don't. Therefore, lower interest rates are vital to them.

[JohnRich 4]

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The era of 0% interest and no fee balance transfer seems to have ended. I only see offers with 3% charges, some of which no longer have a max, some with a max of $199.

The last time I did it, I transfered $3k, and was charged a one-time fee of about $75. That was equal to about one month's interest charges on that sum on the old card. Therefore, the annual savings was still the other 11 months worth of interest charges.

[kelpdiver 2]

30% interest? If you're getting hit with those sort of rates, I'm suprised you could do a transfer. Definitely take care on the credit hopping - do whatever you can to got normal interest rates (though normal now is in the mid teens again)

[rehmwa 2]

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That works great, if you have the income. Right now, I don't. Lots of people don't. Therefore, lower interest rates are vital to them.

I'd submit that not buying things is more vital to them.

...
Driving is a one dimensional activity - a monkey can do it - being proud of your driving abilities is like being proud of being able to put on pants

[base428 1]

To elaborate, your use of a reward card costs the merchant more (+.25% and up) compared to your use of a normal credit card. Since the merchant must give up to 4% of each transaction to Visa/MC/Amex, these costs are ultimately passed on to you. Only the credit card companies win......

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The fee to the merchant is the same if I use a rewards MC or a non rewards MC.

(c)2010 Vertical Visions. No unauthorized duplication permitted. <==For the media only

[PLFXpert 0]

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And since my individual disuse...won't change the overall use, I might as well get the best benefit, no?

Normally I'd recite a line from my favorite story, "The Young Man and the Starfish", but I'm with ya on this one.

Cash is dirty.

Paint me in a corner, but my color comes back.

[PLFXpert 0]

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Since the merchant must give up to 4% of each transaction to Visa/MC/Amex, these costs are ultimately passed on to you.

(you and everyone else including non-reward card users & pay-by-cashees.)

Sounds like something Democrats would support.

Paint me in a corner, but my color comes back.

[PLFXpert 0]

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I'd submit that not buying things is more vital to them.

I love it when you submit.



(I agree.)

Paint me in a corner, but my color comes back.