Disney Visa Cruise Payment Gripe

[miatamel]

I'm so fiscally uneducated and I have been worried about this for a couple of weeks so maybe someone can explain it to me so I don't have to call Chase and get upset and/or confused:

We charged the 11 day Christmas cruise on our Rewards card a couple of weeks ago, with the 6/0% a big reason we did it. We had a balance on the card, not huge but a balance nonetheless. When I make my payment next week, will they apply the payment to that balance so I can knock down that interest charge or will they automatically apply it to that big promotional charge?

 

[sayhello]

I'm so fiscally uneducated and I have been worried about this for a couple of weeks so maybe someone can explain it to me so I don't have to call Chase and get upset and/or confused:

We charged the 11 day Christmas cruise on our Rewards card a couple of weeks ago, with the 6/0% a big reason we did it. We had a balance on the card, not huge but a balance nonetheless. When I make my payment next week, will they apply the payment to that balance so I can knock down that interest charge or will they automatically apply it to that big promotional charge?

They have to apply it to the balance with the highest interest rate first. So they *SHOULD* apply it to the existing balance.

Sayhello

 

[thegales]

I'm so fiscally uneducated and I have been worried about this for a couple of weeks so maybe someone can explain it to me so I don't have to call Chase and get upset and/or confused:

We charged the 11 day Christmas cruise on our Rewards card a couple of weeks ago, with the 6/0% a big reason we did it. We had a balance on the card, not huge but a balance nonetheless. When I make my payment next week, will they apply the payment to that balance so I can knock down that interest charge or will they automatically apply it to that big promotional charge?

Hey miatamel - we will see you on the cruise.

I called Chase to figure out exactly how they would apply payments if there was only one promotion (not the same scenario as the OP, since there were two promotions at the same time).

What they told me is you must make the minimum payment on the card, and that payment went against the promotion. Any payments above the minimum would be applied against the balance with the highest rate. So to not have any interest, I needed to pay the prior month purchase amount plus the minimum payment. My next statement had the original promotion amount less the minimum payment.

So if the promotion was $5,000, other purchases were $3,000, and the minimum payment was $200, I needed to make a payment of $3,200 to avoid interest.

I still don't think I completely understand how they do it, but I do know that I have not had to pay interest using this method.

The agent also warned me that as I got closer to the promotion end date, to call back to make sure I understood how payments were to be applied. As others have noted, if it is less than 60 days, then they use different rules to apply payments.

The good news is that we all have each other to help figure this out. While we are not getting the promotion that we thought (no interest for 6 months), I am getting some benefit, plus the Disney Rewards.

I would also recommend that you call them to make sure you get the same story. That way in case there is an issue, you can say you spoke with XXX on a certain date, and followed those rules. Credit Card companies usually don't adjust your balance if you told them you read it on the internet. Good luck to all.

 

[carmie3377]

Hey miatamel - we will see you on the cruise.

I called Chase to figure out exactly how they would apply payments if there was only one promotion (not the same scenario as the OP, since there were two promotions at the same time).

What they told me is you must make the minimum payment on the card, and that payment went against the promotion. Any payments above the minimum would be applied against the balance with the highest rate. So to not have any interest, I needed to pay the prior month purchase amount plus the minimum payment. My next statement had the original promotion amount less the minimum payment.

So if the promotion was $5,000, other purchases were $3,000, and the minimum payment was $200, I needed to make a payment of $3,200 to avoid interest.

I still don't think I completely understand how they do it, but I do know that I have not had to pay interest using this method.

The agent also warned me that as I got closer to the promotion end date, to call back to make sure I understood how payments were to be applied. As others have noted, if it is less than 60 days, then they use different rules to apply payments.

The good news is that we all have each other to help figure this out. While we are not getting the promotion that we thought (no interest for 6 months), I am getting some benefit, plus the Disney Rewards.

I would also recommend that you call them to make sure you get the same story. That way in case there is an issue, you can say you spoke with XXX on a certain date, and followed those rules. Credit Card companies usually don't adjust your balance if you told them you read it on the internet. Good luck to all.

Okay Chase needs to make up their mind or better train their employees to inform us correctly. I had a payment due 10/10/10, just 9 days ago. I have one promotion on there (expires 3/13/11). I paid only my new purchase balance and not new purcahse balance plus minimum and every bit of it went toward the new purchases. Don't get me wrong, I'm glad it did but according to what you were told, it shouldn't have worked that way. I had it all figured out last spring, when I had 4 promos going on, all with different expiration dates. Everything was applied correctly and I had ZERO interest charged. Now they change everything up. I did request a copy of my card terms and received in mail yesterday. Haven't had a chance to read it yet but plan on withing the next couple of days.

I still think that how ever many days I get at 0% is a bonus but it should't be advertised as 6 months. I will continue to put Disney Vacations on the card as even if I get one month over the "grace period" it's still better than the next credit card (unless that card has awesome rewards). I just wish they would make up their mind and inform us so we are not caught off guard or have to find out on a message board.

 

[DLW8]

It makes no sense to pay the new purchase balance PLUS the minimum.

I have had the card for years (charter member) and have used it for a few WDW and DCL trips, including one that is on there now. I always pay the balance (new purchases, NOT including the 0% promo balance) and I do not incur finance charges.

My current trip and the last one have been after they changed the laws, and I didn't have an issue with my payments being applied to my "purchase" balance that has an interest rate attached first and then to my promo balance.

I just keep an eye on these every statement....

 

[thegales]

I agree that the minimum plus the current purchases made no sense, but the agent actually went through the example. And yes, they need to get their agents to all say the same thing. Since this is what I was told, I did not want to risk it by not paying the excess minimum.

Again, I am happy that I am getting some benefit, even though it is not a true "6 months, 0% interest". But since I actually pay a little more each month on the promotional balance, by the time the 6 months comes, it is not as large of a balance. And it is not like I can earn a high percentage if I invested the money with the current rates.