Bank of America raising their interest rates: YIKES

[Ocean Spirit]

:eek: I read today on MSN/money that Bank of America has begun increasing their interest rates without stating clear reasons why. Folks that have always paid on time, folks that their over all credit hasn't changed. They

are in some cases doubling the interest rates!

Take time and go to MSN.com and read the article in the money section.

 

I went ahead and paid my balance in full. I had just made my 1000 points to go towards another cruise.

[salty dingo]

And this is related to cruising how?

 

Anyway, if you don't like the rules, take your business elsewhere! There are lots of banks out there.

[ts01974]

:eek:

And this is related to cruising how?

 

Anyway, if you don't like the rules, take your business elsewhere! There are lots of banks out there.

 

I guess your either a shady banker too or work for BOA:eek:

[cruise4kicks]

And this is related to cruising how?

I do believe the NCL credit card is a BoA Visa. ;)

[newmexicoNita]

:eek: I read today on MSN/money that Bank of America has begun increasing their interest rates without stating clear reasons why. Folks that have always paid on time, folks that their over all credit hasn't changed. They

are in some cases doubling the interest rates!

Take time and go to MSN.com and read the article in the money section.

 

I went ahead and paid my balance in full. I had just made my 1000 points to go towards another cruise.

I am not certain what this has to do with cdruising nor why they would raise interest rates, most of our ccards have dropped them.

 

NIta

[salty dingo]

I do believe the NCL credit card is a BoA Visa. ;)

 

I did not know that. Now I do. Thank you! :D

[salty dingo]

:eek:

 

I guess your either a shady banker too or work for BOA:eek:

 

No, I'm just a shady computer consultant. I actually did contract for a little while at BoA's headquarters but I really was glad when that gig ended :D !

 

But I do have BoA credit cards, and I have received flyers over the last year stating interest rate changes. I think some of them were 'default rates' which basically means if you miss a payment or go over the limit or something they get the right to kick you in the teeth.

 

They clearly disclosed that but I bet most people just throw those flyers away without reading them.

 

Personally, the only way to deal with credit cards and not get reamed is to pay off the balance in full each month.

[cliffd64]

I do believe the NCL credit card is a BoA Visa. ;)

 

Actually, mine is a BOA MasterCard... not a visa

[Ocean Spirit]

And this is related to cruising how?

 

Anyway, if you don't like the rules, take your business elsewhere! There are lots of banks out there.

 

 

How does it relate to cruising = If you have a NCL Mastercard to earn points towards for a cruise ~ Some people might be interested to learn more about their cards or what could happen to any credit card company if they choose to follow BOA practices. It's no news that Credit cards change their interest rates, but it is news when you can't find out why your interst went up. If I screw up and don't pay on time, I know that will affect my interest but if I have a interest rate increase and the company won't identify why, I have a problem with that.

 

Personally I am closing my account as soon as I get my 1000 point certificate (which took me 2 years to earn) For most part I've been able to pay off my charges monthly but at times I've carried a balance. If someone tells me about a possible jump in my costs, I would make it a point to check carefully my interest rate on my monthly statements. But thats just me I'm sure there are lots of folks who don't need or want that information. So for those of you who do, you know where you can find specific information... thats all.

[cruise4kicks]

I do believe the NCL credit card is a BoA Visa. ;)

Actually, mine is a BOA MasterCard... not a visa

OOPS! I stand corrected. Thank you! :)

[ts01974]

No, I'm just a shady computer consultant. I actually did contract for a little while at BoA's headquarters but I really was glad when that gig ended :D !

 

But I do have BoA credit cards, and I have received flyers over the last year stating interest rate changes. I think some of them were 'default rates' which basically means if you miss a payment or go over the limit or something they get the right to kick you in the teeth.

 

They clearly disclosed that but I bet most people just throw those flyers away without reading them.

 

Personally, the only way to deal with credit cards and not get reamed is to pay off the balance in full each month.

 

The point of the article was that there was no over the limit spending nor where people late on their payments. These credit card companies are worse then shylocks. Most of them should be in jail it's called extortion

[garycarla]

There is an easy way to get zero percent. Pay your bill when it arrives each month. If you can not do that, then you probably should not be buying whatever it is.

 

And, as another poster indicated, you can easily take your business elsewhere.

[salty dingo]

These credit card companies are worse then shylocks. Most of them should be in jail it's called extortion

 

Don't get me started on the people who buy stuff they cannot afford to buy :confused: ! That's the problem. Blaming the CC is like blaming the ocean because someone who cannot swim decides to take a dip and drowns.

 

Actually, if it were not for the frequent flyer miles I get, and the protection that allows charge-backs for goods or services not received, I would have absolutely no use for those cards. But as it is, they offer things I don't think a debit card can match. Maybe there is some protection with the MC/VISA branded debit cards, but I don't think it is the same as a CC.

[AFT_LOVER]

get it correct!

 

 

I do believe the NCL credit card is a BoA Visa. ;)

[AFT_LOVER]

is a great way to get $500 off a cruise if not more.

 

We pay the card off every month as we do our AMEX also. AMEX is our main card with their fraud protection, Blue card perks, and charging back or returning items stores won't take back. They protect me very well. The B of A card has no warranty, no X/S who really care. So we just charge cruises, restaurants, gasoline, groceries, and other non-warranty charges .

 

So 2 cards that give us great things. But only 1 that really serves me. AND THEY BOTH ARE FREE!

 

Don't get me started on the people who buy stuff they cannot afford to buy :confused: ! That's the problem. Blaming the CC is like blaming the ocean because someone who cannot swim decides to take a dip and drowns.

 

Actually, if it were not for the frequent flyer miles I get, and the protection that allows charge-backs for goods or services not received, I would have absolutely no use for those cards. But as it is, they offer things I don't think a debit card can match. Maybe there is some protection with the MC/VISA branded debit cards, but I don't think it is the same as a CC.

[salty dingo]

AMEX is our main card with their fraud protection, Blue card perks, and charging back or returning items stores won't take back. They protect me very well. The B of A card has no warranty, no X/S who really care.

 

Hmm, I only use AMEX at Costco, since that's the only CC they accept there. I was not aware of any fraud protection better at AMEX than Visa. I use the BofA USAirways Visa - the miles add up and I don't fly very often. I just booked a little weekend trip to FL and the tickets were free... well, they cost me 50K miles for the pair, but since the miles are nearly worthless most of the time I consider them free tickets.

 

Maybe I should be saving points for cruises? Hmmm.

 

FYI, I have had a few items over the years that I needed to charge back and I got a refund every time. If the merchant cannot prove the charge was valid, they remove it upon investigation.

[Ask4Jay]

We just LOVE the BoA/NCL MasterCard. We get 3% for any purchase, except when we pay for anything related to NCL, then we get 4%. By the time our payment deadline comes around for our Jade cruise in November, we'll have two coupons worth $500 each toward that cruise. Of course, we pay the entire balance off. Will we maybe forget to pay on time? No chance. I have set up our account that BoA sends us an email 20 days prior to the payment deadline. I then set the payment to be made 10 days prior to the due date.

To us those thousand $$ are 'found' money. We would have spent the same amount with our debit card anyhow. Instead of diddling around with small change at McDonald's, Panera Bread, Walgreen's, Acme Market, etc., we buy $100 gift cards via our NCL/BoA credit card and use them for smaller amounts. Anything higher than $15 goes directly on the card. Works for us.

[Nickymjw1]

1000 points = $1000 on NCL Mastercard w. BOA.

 

It is definately worth it, you don't need 50,000 points before it is even worth anything like other credit cards.

 

Of course, pay it off monthly. I use it for groceries, gas, car insurance, etc. and pay it off every pay period (every 2 weeks) by just going to the website and having them pull the payment out of my checking.

 

I just paid $2K for our NCL cruise in March, and have 2 $500 certificates to pay 1/2 of it. They will credit the $1000 back to my card once they receive the certificates. NEver had problems with it.

 

(Normally you have to submit them before final payment, but because we are late bookers I have to pay in full).

[Cruising89143]

OOPS! I stand corrected. Thank you! :)

 

Don't worry Becky. We all make mistakes.;)

[Ralphinsc]

So I'm guessing that all US cardholders are under the Bank of America umbrella, while our Canadian, English, Irish , and Spanish friends are customers of their parent company MBNA. My card still has MBNA on it but I'm sure it's in the BofA envelope. I got my 1000 points redeeemed this morning and I'm making sure that all outstanding balances will be very low if they are there at all.