I got approved for the Aria platnium card. I have no credit problems and have many cards. The 0% intro rate hooked me as I usually pay my cards off every month in full but have accumulated some debt recently I can't pay off immediately. My plan is to transfer to Aria and pay no interest for 3 months and if I pay it off by then great, otherwise I'll transfer to a card with 2.9% so I don't have to pay the high rate of balance transfers after the intro rate expires. This all sounds on the up and up to me as long as a person knows what happens after the intro rate expires. Any opinions?
RE: Aria platnium at 0%. Good Aria will make you pay a penalty if you balance transfer the amount "off" of the Aria card before a certain period of time (either 6 months or 1 year). Here is how to get around that: Call your 2.9% card customer service number and tell them you want to balance transfer from ANOTHER card (that card should NOT be Aria, and should have close to a 0 balance when you do this, but obviously you don't tell the customer service person that). That balance transfer will put the THIRD card into a "credit balance" - you then either use a convenience check (provided there is no fee) to deposit that balance into your checking account (if there would be a fee, then just call the card and ask them to cut you a check to zero out the balance of the account). Now you have, in essence, done a cash advance but it looks like a balance transfer. You then write a personal check to Aria to pay it off. That way Aria can't hit you with the penalty.
RE: Aria platnium at 0%. Good That's an excellent idea. Thanks! I was wondering if they had a penalty for transferring a balance. I couldn't find any documentation on their site stating either way. Is this common practice for most banks offering low intro rates?
