Originally Posted by
divemistressofthedark
EDIT: Found partial info in ftnoob's link:
A word of caution: T&C can be different under the various offers, and can change over time. My link was to a different offer.
Originally Posted by
divemistressofthedark
How long do I have to maintain the transfer at WN without paying it off?
To be precise, the transfer would be with Chase, the issuer of the card. There is no length of time requirement. With some cards you can even pay off the transfer before you actually make the transfer, but that might be harder with the RR Visa because, IIRC, you have to do the balance transfer by phone and the CSR might choose to deny the transfer with a negative balance. Rather than take that risk, I paid off the BT a day or three after making it.
Originally Posted by
divemistressofthedark
Hmmmm. So I'd have to pay a $288 balance-transfer fee to get those eight points, and that's without knowing whether there's a grace period to pay off the transfer
There is no grace period. The possibility of a $288 fee is a new development that apparently has gone unnoticed until now. The T&C used to have a $99 cap on the BT fee. Last summer when I did the BT the cap on my card per the CSR was $75. (I thought it had already been increased to $99 when I applied for the (Business) card.) With one day of interest my total cost for the 8 credits was something like $78.50.
This raising of and elimination of caps on BT fees is a trend in the credit card industry that has been going on for some time. You mention being able to do a BT with no fee on the Choice Visa, but that is not the case for new applications:
The Standard Balance Transfer fee is 4% of the amount of the transaction (minimum $10). For Balance Transfers subject to the Introductory APR, the fee is 3% of each such transaction (minimum $10).
My advice would be to call the Chase toll-free number on the back of your RR Visa and ask whether your account has a cap on the BT fee. As you say it makes no sense to pay $288 for the 8 credits, but you might find eight credits worth $99 or so. Also note that in the past there has been a time limit (90 days from account opening, IIRC) to earn the +8 part of the offer.
BTW, I wondered whether the promo codes in the link in the OP would bring up the old offer with the capped BT fee, but that link now generates an error page that redirects to the home page of cardmemberservices.com.
IMO, it usually only makes sense to
keep a RR Visa beyond the first year if you spend a lot of money on SWA flights (enough that the double earnings rate justifies the annual fee), or you can manage to earn CP status by using the card. In December 2007 there was a gift card promo tied to use of the RR Visa. If there were enough of those types of promos I'd be tempted to keep the card, but they have been rare.