TominLazybrook

OK. Gotcha on the autopay. That being said, its kind of crazy for a card to assume that people will just autopay.

So lets be clear here. The consensus around here is that Chase Sapphire is really only for people who autopay. Noted.

Here's hoping none of y'all ever have a problem with your bank's IT system in the autopay scenario. I think 5 or so days from interest free to suspended
is a really tight window. Things happen (like outages, IT glitches, natural disasters, etc.). It just seems to me that Chase's window is too tight. Apparently, no one else would ever go, whether via a mistake or a fault out of your control, outside that 5 day window. Apparently I'm the only one. You guys think its impossible. Its not. The problem with that tight window is that every once in a while things happen.

Either way, its time to clear out that rewards account anyway, especially in light of United's new redemption policy on reward miles.

The crew is here now to rip out drywall. Gotta run.

krazykanuck

I'm really not sure where you keep hitting the "5 days" comment, I mean after your statement closes you have like 25 days to pay your bill. My statements generate on the 5th of every month and the payment is due the following 2nd.

Best of luck with the house.

mia

Not precisely. I enable autopay on every card from every issuer, because it's free insurance against distractions and technical or memory faults. I like some issuers' autopay systems better than others, but I even use those that are inflexible because missing a credit card payment is expensive and time consuming.

flyershmlyer

What he probably means, using your example, if you don't make any payment by 2nd, and then the 5th rolls around and new statement has generated, and you still haven't made any payment, then the account is suspended. he's talking about the 2nd (smaller) window, not the grace period.

gusg

I've got all of my bills on autopay. I just monitor the email account where the notifications go to make sure that every billing notice has a matching payment notice. Unless your financial situation involves deciding which bills will go unpaid this month I don't see why anyone wouldn't want to autopay everything. I especially don't see why anyone would want to send physical checks for payment. Even my elderly relatives stopped doing that at least a decade ago.

Critterlynn

I don't think you get it yet. I wouldn't recommend anyone to rely on auto pay 100%. You should still log in and make your payment manually. This is just a way to make sure you stay out of the situation you are currently in. That situation is having your account shut down and late payment fees, not to mention possible blemishes to your credit report.

To rely on auto pay completely is not good for a couple of reasons:

1) if you have it set to pay the minimum payment you will incur interest for having not paid your balance in full.

2) if you have it set to pay your balance in full, and you don't record the transaction, it's possible to over draw your payment account which can be even more expensive if it causes other payments to be denied.

Basically what happened to you is entirely your fault, not the weather's. When you wait until the last minute to take care of business, sometimes "stuff" happens.

FlyingDoctorwu

I'm not a huge fan of autopay just because I like to have control over things.. it's really an OCD thing because I feel like I want to review my charges before a payment gets sent... that all being said I'm a big fan of the text/email alerts about payments- which typically get sent about 10 days before payment is due.... thus if you set that up you have a full 40 days before yo hit that 30 day mark.. should be more than enough time...

FDW

trouble747

I'm not sure I'm following this. OP claims he was "5 days" late on his payment, but was he really 35 days late?

flyershmlyer

Kind of.

He says he had only "5 days" to rectify the situation once he missed payment due date, and then Chase took more drastic actions by suspending the account. During those 5 days he was occupied with Harvey, with no reliable phone/internet, etc. and not having working credit card further added to his problems.

It seems clear that he missed the payment due date through a fault of his own, by making a (partial) payment before the statement was generated. So people here suggested using autopay.

Whether he was going to fix the situation during those 5 days after the payment due date, absent a hurricane - we don't know. But he called Chase and had account reinstated and late fees taken care of.

trouble747

Oh I follow.

Good luck OP! I have a lot of friends down there, I know it's been a real struggle.

Bow Rider

I'm surprised at how harsh people have been. I think suspending a card for missing a minimum payment is draconian and an atrocious policy, hurricane or not. Charging a late fee, like every one else in the world, would be much more appropriate.

tom911

Is it common for other major credit cards to just charge a late fee and keep the account active? Citi? Amex? Barclays? Discover? Do they all allow that? They'd certainly be taking increased financial risk if a payment is missed on an account that could go into the tens of thousands of dollars. I can see where Chase would want to get the attention of the cardholder as quickly as possible when a payment is missed, after allowing 25 days for it to arrive, and suspending the account certainly accomplishes that.

Productivity

I do move around closer to every week than every month. You and your travel aren't so special, the rest of us work out how to make it happen, you could too.

I manage all my cards manually, as soon as the statement is out I pay them, I would never wait until the last day to pay.

I still have autopayment setup aa a final catcher. You could knock me offline for six months and my card wouldn't get closed for lack of payments. It's a minuscule amount, it's the same every month and it provides a safety net.

Bow Rider

I've gotten a few late fees over the years but never had a card suspended. Not sure what the answer is.

The minimum due is a tiny fraction of the balance, a small financial risk to run for another month and let a person get things straightened out.

takeshi74

No. The consensus here is that if you want to play it safe as possible then make use of autopay to ensure that at least your minimum payment is covered -- on any card & creditor, not just the Sapphire and not just Chase. I have a Sapphire (and I'm in Houston as well) and I don't use autopay myself but plenty find it beneficial as a safety net. If I were in the situation you describe I'd definitely use autopay. You need to take whatever measures are appropriate for your specific situation and preference on risk aversion.

If you aren't paying every statement balance in full then you're going to kill potential rewards. Your interest rate is much higher than even the maximum potential value of UR points.