Is it possible to have perpetual free credit?

waltsalt

I have a number of credit cards and have spending spread out among them. I try to pay them off each time I get a statement for each of them thus giving me up to 2 months interest free credit (time between earliest possible purchase and latest possible payment date).

I recently had £200 on an American Express card which needed to be paid to avoid charges. To pay it I did a balance transfer from it to an Egg card. As I already had the Egg card and was not availing of any special deals the balance transfer was free.

My question is if I were to do this everytime a credit card needed to be paid could I avoid paying any interest fees?

For example:
I have £200 on credit card A which needs to be paid in full by the end of month 1 to avoid interest charges. I can then balance transfer this amount to credit card B which does not need to be paid until the end of month 2 to avoid the charges. If I then balance transfer this amount back to credit card A it now does not need to be paid until the end of month 3. And so on and so on...

I'm sure there is a flaw in this plan somewhere but I don't really understand credit cards nor credit enough to see it. Can anyone help?

YorkshireBoy

waltsalt wrote: »

I'm sure there is a flaw in this plan somewhere...

There is generally no (eg 56 days) interest free period with balance transfers, as there is with purchases.

Have you had your Egg Statement yet?

waltsalt

No. Not yet. I have never done a balance transfer before but I looked at my recent transactions online and the transfer is just listed like any other spending. I assumed if I paid this off whenever I get my statement there would be no interest charge. Is this not the case?

benf90

waltsalt wrote: »

No. Not yet. I have never done a balance transfer before but I looked at my recent transactions online and the transfer is just listed like any other spending. I assumed if I paid this off whenever I get my statement there would be no interest charge. Is this not the case?

No I'm afraid it's not. Balance transfers are charged from the day they're applied to your account.

You won't have been a charged a balance transfer fee but you will be charged interest.

wayoflife

waltsalt wrote: »

I have a number of credit cards and have spending spread out among them. I try to pay them off each time I get a statement for each of them thus giving me up to 2 months interest free credit (time between earliest possible purchase and latest possible payment date).

I recently had £200 on an American Express card which needed to be paid to avoid charges. To pay it I did a balance transfer from it to an Egg card. As I already had the Egg card and was not availing of any special deals the balance transfer was free.

My question is if I were to do this everytime a credit card needed to be paid could I avoid paying any interest fees?

For example:
I have £200 on credit card A which needs to be paid in full by the end of month 1 to avoid interest charges. I can then balance transfer this amount to credit card B which does not need to be paid until the end of month 2 to avoid the charges. If I then balance transfer this amount back to credit card A it now does not need to be paid until the end of month 3. And so on and so on...

I'm sure there is a flaw in this plan somewhere but I don't really understand credit cards nor credit enough to see it. Can anyone help?

you need to look at your T&C'S. If you havnt got a copy of them request a copy be sent to you. If you have had the card more than 5 years there is a chance that your b/t is only charged on a monthly interest basis.

However the chances are that b/transfers are charged on a daily basis, and therefore your plan wont work.

I would suggest, for the sake of £200.00, even if the plan would have worked, it isnt worth your time and effort doing this. just pay it off