Yes, precisely. Chase (unbeknownst to us) took a chunk of credit from one card and moved it to another. It made the utilization ratio on the card with a running balance go way up.

That's a big red flag in the Fico system-- a person desperate for credit applies for new cards and runs up big balances--that person must have hit hard times and be in financial dire straights. A big fat score killer there, for sure.

So, we will still keep the free balance transfer until 2014. I could pay it down or off, and did in fact already knock it down to a less than 50% utilization of the new, lower CL. I may pull credit back off the new card and put the CL on the old card again. Or ask for a credit line increase. Or, just watch and see. I'm just weighing the pros and cons and will most likely just ride it out.

But now I've seen for myself how dramatic the changes to a good Fico can be. This might have the same impact on someone who is running up big balances on cards with gift cards or reloads, if the balances report to the credit Bureaus before they get paid off. Most, but not all, balances get reported at the end of the billing cycle. And, of course, your billing cycle ends and it's several weeks before your bill is actually due. If you wait that long-- ie: run up a big balance and pay it off on the due date, but not before it reports, then it might have more of an affect on your Fico than you expected.

For myself...I'm a little wiser now and have one more data point that I thought would be nice to share with ya'll.