Chase Disney Card with Balance Transfer

[gravityhammer]

Have any of you opened a Chase Disney card with a promotional rate balance transfer and later used the card with the 0% interest Disney Vacation promotion?

I did, and I'm getting all sorts of runarounds about how my payments are being applied. I opened the card last June, and charged our vacation in September. Since that time, all of our payments have been applied to the later-expiring balance transfer as opposed to the earlier-expiring vacation promotion.

I've had to call their customer service line multiple times regarding multiple issues with the card, and, no kidding, I've received different answers EVERY SINGLE TIME I'VE CALLED. When I called in December regarding the application of my payments, the helpful representative told me flat-out that my payments weren't being applied properly, and that she was referring me to the department that handled that. All I received was a voice mail telling me that "they are applied correctly".

I've requested *my* cardholder agreement, but I've also looked at the cardholder agreement that Chase provides online. I see nowhere that indicates in what order payments are applied, other than "When you make a payment, generally, we first apply your minimum payment to the balance on your monthly statement with the lowest APR. • Any payment above your minimum payment would generally then be applied to the balance on your monthly statement with the highest APR first." Does that mean Chase gets to make up their own rules?

I'll certainly be cancelling this card as soon as the balance is zero.

 

[Marionnette]

Have any of you opened a Chase Disney card with a promotional rate balance transfer and later used the card with the 0% interest Disney Vacation promotion?

I did, and I'm getting all sorts of runarounds about how my payments are being applied. I opened the card last June, and charged our vacation in September. Since that time, all of our payments have been applied to the later-expiring balance transfer as opposed to the earlier-expiring vacation promotion.

I've had to call their customer service line multiple times regarding multiple issues with the card, and, no kidding, I've received different answers EVERY SINGLE TIME I'VE CALLED. When I called in December regarding the application of my payments, the helpful representative told me flat-out that my payments weren't being applied properly, and that she was referring me to the department that handled that. All I received was a voice mail telling me that "they are applied correctly".

I've requested *my* cardholder agreement, but I've also looked at the cardholder agreement that Chase provides online. I see nowhere that indicates in what order payments are applied, other than "When you make a payment, generally, we first apply your minimum payment to the balance on your monthly statement with the lowest APR. • Any payment above your minimum payment would generally then be applied to the balance on your monthly statement with the highest APR first." Does that mean Chase gets to make up their own rules?

I'll certainly be cancelling this card as soon as the balance is zero.

Your payments must be credited the following way and is consistent with the Credit Card Act of 2009:

• The minimum monthly payment must be applied first. IOW, if your minimum payment is $35 and you pay $100, the first $35 is going to be applied to the balance with the lowest APR first.
  
• After that, the remaining payment gets applied to the outstanding balance with the highest APR. So if the Disney Vacation balance has a 0% APR and the balance transfer has a 3% APR, the remaining payment goes toward the balance transfer.
• If all outstanding balances have the same APR, and assuming that all of them are promotional rates such as the balance transfer and the Disney Vacation, then the payment is applied to the balance which has a promotional rate which expires first.

 

[gravityhammer]

Awesome. This part:

If all outstanding balances have the same APR, and assuming that all of them are promotional rates such as the balance transfer and the Disney Vacation, then the payment is applied to the balance which has a promotional rate which expires first.

Should cover my issue. My balance transfer rate expires in June, and my Disney Vacation promo expires in February. Thanks!

 

[gravityhammer]

So apparently Chase considers the Disney Vacation portion as a "Cash Application", not a promotional rate. Nowhere does it discuss this in the cardmember agreement. I am awaiting further documentation that allegedly explains it.

I also discovered early in this process that, allegedly, when you use the Disney Vacation promotion you lose the grace period on charges - interest begins to be charged from the day you use the card to purchase.

Hopefully this information helps others. If I had known this, I certainly would not have used the card for the vacation.

 

[cruiser21]

So apparently Chase considers the Disney Vacation portion as a "Cash Application", not a promotional rate. Nowhere does it discuss this in the cardmember agreement. I am awaiting further documentation that allegedly explains it.

I also discovered early in this process that, allegedly, when you use the Disney Vacation promotion you lose the grace period on charges - interest begins to be charged from the day you use the card to purchase.

Hopefully this information helps others. If I had known this, I certainly would not have used the card for the vacation.

I put a deposit down on a cruise which was 0 interest and 350.00 on a room only reservation which has the normal interest rate. I made a 300.00 dollar payment thinking it would go towards the room only, but it didn't. I went to the promotional rate. I got charged interest on the next statement. It wasn't a lot of interest and I plan on paying off the card next week, but I thought it was odd.

 

[DLgal]

So apparently Chase considers the Disney Vacation portion as a "Cash Application", not a promotional rate. Nowhere does it discuss this in the cardmember agreement. I am awaiting further documentation that allegedly explains it.

I also discovered early in this process that, allegedly, when you use the Disney Vacation promotion you lose the grace period on charges - interest begins to be charged from the day you use the card to purchase.

Hopefully this information helps others. If I had known this, I certainly would not have used the card for the vacation.

Yep, that's right. The vacation rate is "same as cash" financing, not technically a 0% promotional offer. It's sneaky but it is in the fine print, last I looked.

 

[cruiser21]

Yep, that's right. The vacation rate is "same as cash" financing, not technically a 0% promotional offer. It's sneaky but it is in the fine print, last I looked.

What is the difference?

 

[DLgal]

What is the difference?

The difference is exactly what the OP is experiencing. It's a way for Chase to exclude it from the category of "promotional offers." Usually, "Promotional offers" are limited time deals, but this is a perk that always exists for this card. However, in using it, you open yourself up to the other pitfalls like losing your grace period, and having payments applied to other balances first. Chase figures that most people will use the vacation financing option IN ADDITION to having other types of balances, and this way, it is likely that many people won't end up paying off their vacations in 6 months, and Chase wins on interest fees.

 

[cruiser21]

The difference is exactly what the OP is experiencing. It's a way for Chase to exclude it from the category of "promotional offers." Usually, "Promotional offers" are limited time deals, but this is a perk that always exists for this card. However, in using it, you open yourself up to the other pitfalls like losing your grace period, and having payments applied to other balances first. Chase figures that most people will use the vacation financing option IN ADDITION to having other types of balances, and this way, it is likely that many people won't end up paying off their vacations in 6 months, and Chase wins on interest fees.

Is this why they applied the payment to the 0 interest balance and not the balance with the high interst. I've had this card for 8 years and only uses on cruises which are zero interest and never carry a balance more then a couple of months.

 

[DLgal]

Is this why they applied the payment to the 0 interest balance and not the balance with the high interst. I've had this card for 8 years and only uses on cruises which are zero interest and never carry a balance more then a couple of months.

Probably. They created a loophole.