alternative options if i dont get credit limit i need on cap1 platinum

anna42hmr

my application for the cap 1 platinum card was accepted (0% till nov 09) and i posted the credit agreement back on thursday, however there was no mention of the credit limit, just that it is to follow with the card, i am now wondering what my options are if i dont get the limit i need (aprox £1500) as i am planning to use to card to book a holiday and a set of flights, (rather thandip into my savings, plus the security if anything happens to the air line co)

my concern is if i dont get the limit i need what are my options? i have thought of a few, but not sure if they would be a viable option

the things i am considering are
1. call up cap1 and see if they will up the interest - any one had experience in doing this with card companies? did it work?

2. applying for another card that is also running 0% on perchases and using one card to pay for the one holiday and the other for the other flights - however am concerned this could affect my credit rating, with 2 searches and a new card so soon

3. calling up my current card companies (egg, but dont have egg money, nationwide, natwest, halifax, mint and amex lloyds - none of which currently have any balence on) and seeing if they have any deals they can offer, (maybe say i am wanting to cancel card - to see what offer they can come up with, but not sure if that would work as i pay all my cc's off in full each month via dd so its not like i make them much/any money)

4. call it quits and use my savings for the holiday?

has any one else done any of the others? does it work?

NickX

Firstly Well Done on getting the Capital One November 2009 card. Most people report being offered a card with a reduced promotional period. In addition they have now brought the deal back to October 2009, so you did well to get this card.

As the card requires an "excellent" credit rating I would expect you to get a decent limit, I would be surprised if you get less than £1500 to be honest.

However, if it is less than £1500 its definitely worth requesting an increase when you call to activate the card. You could explain that you want to pay for a holiday with it.

Your options 2,3 & 4 are all perfectly acceptable options aswell.

I would also point out that you don't need to pay for the entire holiday \ flight on the credit card to benefit from Section 75 protection. As long as the transaction is for more than £100 and you have paid at least £1 on your Credit Card, then the entire transaction is covered under Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act.

Enjoy your hols :beer:

anna42hmr

thanks for the quick reply, i too thought that it would be a good limit, however i ahve read some experiences of people having it otherwise, and i noticed on the credit agreement and online pages that minimum credit is £500, which has made me concerned thats what i may end up with, hopefully i am worrying for nothing lol!

i will have a great hol, i am planning on going to disneyland paris for a few days in march and taking my nan out to visit my aunt in canada in the summer(she emigrated there last year and nans not been out yet, as at 82 its a bit of a jaunt for her on her own!)

thanks for the info on the protection, i didnt realise that, thought you had to pay the full amount

anna42hmr

just wondering, if i call cap one will they be able to tell me over the phone what my limit is, or will i have to wait until the card comes through??

darcyvuqua

anna42hmr wrote: »

just wondering, if i call cap one will they be able to tell me over the phone what my limit is, or will i have to wait until the card comes through??

yes you should be able to

let us know what limit you get as i would be very suprised if you did get £500 on a cap 1 plat!

anna42hmr

darcyvuqua wrote: »

yes you should be able to

let us know what limit you get as i would be very suprised if you did get £500 on a cap 1 plat!

thanks, i will do, i tried calling tonight but the new card dept shuts at 6 typical i missed it by 5 minutes!

anna42hmr

still didnt manage to get in on time to call tonight, but on a positive note the pin number has been posted and i got it today, so the card should be here soon, fingers crossed its for the limit i need!

darcyvuqua

well i have my fingers crossed for you xxxxxxxxxxx

anna42hmr

thanks, looks like i didnt need to be worried, got the card this morning and just activated it, £6k limit! so pleanty of credit for what i need it for!! thank god, so paris and canada here i come! (well next year any way, but at least i can book them!)

i also set up a dd for the minimum balence whilst i was on the phone, can you still make interim payments?? (as the only options were full balence or minimum, so i set up dd for minium payments and intend to pay a bit extra each month if i can in between, as some cards if you make an interim can cancel out the direct debit??)

as long as i clear the debt by 30th november 2009 i am fine according to cap 1 and wont pay interest. what i am hoping to do, is work out how much it all comes to when i have booked both trips, and divide that by the number of months until the 0% deal ends (or the month before to be on the safe side) and pay that each month and lock the card away

or the other option is to pay the minimum, still work out what i would pay if i paid an equal amount each month, bank the difference and then pay off a lump sum in oct next year for instance out of the account the money has been paid into and getit earning some saving account interst?

NickX

anna42hmr wrote: »

or the other option is to pay the minimum, still work out what i would pay if i paid an equal amount each month, bank the difference and then pay off a lump sum in oct next year for instance out of the account the money has been paid into and getit earning some saving account interst?

Congratulations on getting this card sorted Anna :beer:

I also got the £6k limit on this card. I am currently putting all my expenditure on the card which amounts to about £1k per month. I then put the £1k that I would have spent into a high interest savings account to earn some interest, and will repay the total before the promotion ends in November 2009. This is called stoozing and is a nice way to earn some extra pennies.

anna42hmr

thanks, thats a good suggestion about the stoozing, may look into that a bit more