Credit card shuffle

fluffi37

Hi

I have recently paid off my Abbey credit card balance of £15k which was a balance transfer last dec 0% and no bal transfer fee.
I have just got my experian report as per Martins instructions and wondering what to do next with my credit cards.
At the moment I have Abbey - nil balance £16 limit
M&S - nil balance £6 limit -was used as a stooze
Nationwide - nil balance - £6 limit - only used abroad
Virgin - nil balance £2k limit - opened last dec

I have seen the new Virgin credit card that is giving balance transfers 0% for 15 months. This isnt showing on my promotions with Virgin and i have no promotions on my Abbey. Should I close both the virgin and abbey and reapply to Virgin as a new customer or should I see what Abbey will offer me ( I have held their card for over 7 years)

Also should I close the M&S card to see if I can free up this balance? I was only keeping it for using it to pay currency as they offer no fee when using it and if i time it right i get maximum days credit. However I have now taken out a Nationwide flex account so that i can store money in there and use the card abroad for withdrawing cash.

I have just applied for the premier account with A & L so that is showing on my credit report (although they did the searches twice - which is a loooong story!) i just wondered if this will affect my credit score if i apply for a new card.

Thanks for reading and i hope u havent fallen asleep!!!!

any advice welcome

sicker

I would give Virgin a call asking them to close your card but ask if they have any offers on at the moment. They just may come up trumps.

Moggles_2

Originally Posted by fluffi37
I have seen the new Virgin credit card that is giving balance transfers 0% for 15 months. This isn't showing on my promotions with Virgin ...

That's odd. This deal was definitely on offer to new customers last December, when you took out your card.

If I were you, I'd phone Virgin Card Services on 01244 673700 (to avoid the dreaded 0870 numbers). You should have 6 or 7 months 0% on BTs left to run. A 2.98% BT fee would apply.

Moggles_2

Originally Posted by fluffi37
Should I close the M&S card to see if I can free up this balance? I was only keeping it for using it to pay currency as they offer no fee when using it and, if I time it right, I get maximum days credit. However I have now taken out a Nationwide flex account so that I can store money in there and use the card abroad for withdrawing cash.

Might be an idea to close the account if you don't intend using the card. M&S used to offer good existing-customer deals. Unfortunately, that all changed when HSBC took over the operation :rolleyes:

fluffi37

Hi

The virgin was 9 months balance transfer and 9 months 0% on purchases - it confirms this on the online statement. they did send me a text after i opened it to say the 0% was til march but i queried this and they confirmed 9 months. I activated the card on 14th dec 07

Moggles_2

fluffi37 wrote: »

The virgin was 9 months balance transfer and 9 months 0% on purchases - it confirms this on the online statement. hey did send me a text after I opened it to say the 0% was till March but I queried this and they confirmed 9 months. I activated the card on 14th Dec 07

Okay, so you were offered 9 months 0% on balance transfers together with 9 months 0% on purchases. In that case, since your balance is zero, I would call the loyalty dept. on 0800 783 1116 and see what they can do

HamiltonL

fluffi37 wrote: »

Hi

Should I close both the virgin and abbey and reapply to Virgin as a new customer or should I see what Abbey will offer me ( I have held their card for over 7 years)

I know quite a few existing Abbey customers have offers on the card, either for Life of Balance or 0% in some cases. Might be best to call Abbey about that very soon.