I used to have a credit card with them that was closed in 1996. I paid it off, but it had lates on my CR for a while that I disputed off. For the last year it's been reporting as inactive/never late. They called me this week with an offer for a United Airlines card. At first I declined because I don't need it. But then it got me thinking. I wonder if they can give me the card and report it under the same tradeline that has been on the CR for years now? As far as their cards, anyone have one? ANy good?
I think you know that the telephone invitation means next to nothing. Your application will be treated the same as if you were to apply cold. Any new trade line will be reported separately from your old trade line. As for BankOne, I don't have any of their cards because of the way they compute interest (two cycle average daily balance vs. average daily balance) and because a work colleague has had trouble with them making errors in judgement (actually, their computer) when jacking rates or lowering limits. To prove his case he needed to authorize a hard pull and then needed to work to get the pull removed by the CRA once he proved that the jack or CL decrease was done in error. In case you're not familiar with two cycle average daily balance (Discover computes interest in the same manner), an explanation follows: The two-cycle average daily balance could cost you more in interest charges. Almost all credit card issuers use some form of average daily balance. That means you add up your balance for each day of the billing cycle and divide by the number of days in the cycle. For example, if you charge nothing the first 29 days of a 30-day billing cycle and $1,200 on the 30th day, your average daily balance is $40 (the $1,200 balance on the last day, which is the only one you had, divided by 30 days). But if you charge the $1,200 on the first day of the cycle and nothing else, your average daily balance is $1,200 because you had 30 days with a balance of $1,200 each. The two-cycle method is similar except that you compute it over two months. Here you can get in trouble if you do not pay the first monthâ??s balance in full. Say you charged $1,200 the first day of the first monthâ??s billing cycle. You were a bit short of money when the bill came and paid off $1,000 instead of the full $1,200. You might assume that from this point on you would be charged interest just on the $200 difference, or what you owe. No such luck. Under the two-cycle average daily balance method, your card issuer is still counting all those days during the first month when your balance was $1,200. Therefore, your average balance over the two-month period -- and the amount of interest you owe -- will be higher than under the one-month average daily balance method. (end) ------------------- Of course - if you pay your full balance due each month, the method of calculating interest doesn't enter into the mix. It's just the principle of it that bugs me, because the majority of cardholders have no idea how interest is calculated and therefore can't make an informed decision about their choice of cards.
You can't take Mr. G's comments too seriously. He has so much $$$ that he pays his bills before he even uses his cards! He doesn't even know the definition of "interest." : ) Hey, Mr. G. How's it going?
If I can make a deal with them about using the old tradeline, I would still use it as a sock drawer card. I would make sure I get $0 annual fee card and charge it a little every few months. My main concern is that this will raise my FICO and enable me to get the card I really want, the Principal Bank Platinum VISA that puts 1.25% of all purchases into a mutual fund.
Had a similar situation 4 months ago. Asked them to reopen a card that had been closed for 3 years (although it had a balance until this year, but it was in good standing). They did pull a hard, but said, "yep" and reopened instantly. When our reports updated the scores jumed a bunch 9can't recal exactly how much, but enough for a Happy Dance! Try it, but ask if it can be done first before they pull a hard. Ours was a FirstUSA (Bank One) card, too. But others like Fleet refused to reopen.
I have 2 cards from First USA. They used to be pretty active, but since the Banc One takeover I only use the United Airline card. I have not gotten any good offers in about 18 months and no limits have been raised. In my book, they do not compare with CHASE or MBNA. www.creditsense.com
Re: Re: Is FirstUSA/Bank One any good? Never mind. Got it! (Boy, I tell you, if it can't be Googled, it ain't worth knowing about!!) http://www.principal.com/bank/ccards_rewards.htm
Re: Re: Re: Is FirstUSA/Bank One any good? Principal is the best cash back CC around. Amex blue is OK, but they have tiers and only the everyday stuff is 3% back after you spend $6,000. The bad thing is that a lot of merchants don't accept AMEX so it's going to be Principal or Chase Stockback for me.
Re: Re: Re: Is FirstUSA/Bank One any good? I have two cards with them, and mine do NOT have the two-cycle method of computing interest. I'm very happy with them. They have good customer service, I've gotten regular credit line increases and my United card upgraded to Signature Visa without asking. They seem to post payments promptly. I paid online last Sunday night about 11:30 and it was posted on Monday.
