[eroica27]

I have a CC with chase bank and after having the card for 2 and a half years, not missing a payment, and putting down $1700 to bring the balance to a fifth of the credit limit, they decide to reduce my credit limit by half. its so frustrating, and very irritating as i am scheduled to go on vacation in a few months. although i'm sure they are within their rights to do so, it feels like another kick in the stomach of a very long and growing list of financial bad luck i've had to roll with since there was going to be a me on the planet. I guess i need to vent in order to try and let this issue go too. Its just seems like i just can't catch a break.

[dragonwoman64]

don't take it personally. the economy sucks, people are defaulting like crazy on their cc's. can't you get another credit card, if you need more lee way for your vacation?

[bnorah]

CC companies can be nasty. I opened up a Sears card under Citi bank, and while now I realize that Sears has a high interest rate than any other card I have ever seen, I'm starting to have my regrets. With that being said, I know how you feel. I started out with a limit of $5000 and never missed a payment(actually, always paid more than the minimum), and they increased it up to $7500 at one time, but then recently dropped it down to $4000. I haven't charged a huge amount on there, but I'm soon to be paying that sucker off to not worry about it anymore. I understand your frustration. Hope you have a good vacation, though. I want one!

[mandalinn82]

I had a company CLOSE my credit card, which harmed my score, because I didn't use it enough. I did charge the odd item, but paid it off right away. It was a no annual fee card, so I guess they just weren't making enough money off of me.

[lolcat]

You should call the customer service number on the back of the card, and request that your limit be raised back up to what it originally was. If you politely make the request, the customer service reps are very willing to help. If he/she is not, just ask to speak to their supervisor. If the rep tells you no, just nicely repeat the request until you are transferred.
Sadly, companies are lowering limits if it appears that it is "unnecessarily" high, and it is computer programs that are used in making the determination in a lot of cases like yours. Amazing how much of all that is automated.
I'm willing to bet that if you request your limit be reinstated, it will be. It is worth a try!

[caryesings]

I may sound like a *^(*%, but they did you a favor. If you can't afford the vacation without putting it on the credit card, shouldn't be taking that vacation. If you wanted to use the credit card while on vacation for the convenience and rental car deposit, pay down your balance to 0 and then go on vacation.

[ddc]

Originally Posted by Brown

Seconded. I was going to just post in disbelief that people are still going into debt to go on vacation.

Thirded. Read Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace or Total Money Makeover.

"The borrower is slave to the lender."

[eroica27]

Originally Posted by Brown

Seconded. I was going to just post in disbelief that people are still going into debt to go on vacation.

i actually can afford to go on my vacation. I always have a backup because strange, unique/ crappy situations like this are not uncommon for me. Its frustrating because I have no backup in case of emergencies. (which is the point of having a cc in the first place.)

[mandalinn82]

I just charged a cruise on a credit card. They were offering double reward points for booking travel, so I booked my trip, got my points, and paid it off. I ended up exchanging the points for $200 worth of gift certificates applied to my cruise account.

There are lots of reasons one might use a credit card in the booking and execution of a vacation, and not all of them involve not being able to pay for that vacation. I also like to carry them for backup or in case of emergencies, particularly overseas.

[caryesings]

Sorry, but I still feel if there is not room on the credit limit to carry the card for convenience of charging instead of carrying cash, back up or emergencies, I'm still thinking not the time to be spending money on a vacation. But I know I'm not the average American credit card consumer. I personally charge everything, but also pay off the balance entirely each month.

[mandalinn82]

Carey - I'm with you. I keep a zero balance. But if I was counting on keeping $1500 of emergency backup available on the card, and my limit was halved to $750, I can see being irritated with that (emergency airfare could cost that much, easily).

So since you keep a zero balance, I'm curious - have you had anything closed? I was SHOCKED that I had a card closed out because they weren't making any money off of me (no annual fees and no interest because I paid everything off every month, plus they had to give me rewards points). In retrospect it makes sense (hello? They were making no money!), but I was really surprised by it at the time.

[ddc]

Credit cards should not be used a an emergency backup.
You need cash for that. Real money-in the bank. Or in a mason jar if you prefer.
That's why the quote above is so true:
You, the borrower, relying on the CC company to loan you money can be up the creek if they decide to not loan you anymore money.
Have your own emergency fund then you are not a slave to the CC company

[mandalinn82]

Agreed on all counts, and I think I'm not articulating well

I posted earlier about carrying a credit card on overseas travel as an emergency fund to be backed up with cash from my emergency fund in my bank at home. That's what I meant by being irritated when a balance was cut pre-vacation...would mean I'd have to either carry more cash (which can be stolen) or deal with issues accessing my bank overseas. I should have quoted my previous post, because this was a continuation of that thought

I carry cash and, often, pre-paid no fee gift cards (Amex is great for this) pre-printed with my name that offer lost/stolen protection when I travel, with enough for a bit beyond anticipated expenses. Were an emergency to come up that cost beyond what I'd planned, I'd use a credit card to pay for it, then pay off from my funds at home when I got back.

I'm only saying that being irritated that your balance is lower pre-vacation does not necessarily mean that you're planning on paying interest on that balance when you get home - credit cards have advantages over debit cards (particularly in terms of travel, when a hotel or restaurant or car rental company will put through hold charges that can cause problems because the money has to be removed and then refunded from a debit account...and I've had that process fall apart more than once, meaning I had to go track down where my money went). Depending on your individual cards, too, there are other benefits to purchasing with credit and paying it off...one of my cards has automatic trip insurance for travel, and another includes basic insurance for rental cars, meaning if I cancel a trip or am in an accident in a rental car, I'm covered if I booked using the appropriate credit card (but not if I used a debit card). Regardless, you pay it off when you get home, or interest makes things a LOT more expensive than they need to be!

[caryesings]

Originally Posted by mandalinn82

Carey - I'm with you. I keep a zero balance. But if I was counting on keeping $1500 of emergency backup available on the card, and my limit was halved to $750, I can see being irritated with that (emergency airfare could cost that much, easily).

So since you keep a zero balance, I'm curious - have you had anything closed? I was SHOCKED that I had a card closed out because they weren't making any money off of me (no annual fees and no interest because I paid everything off every month, plus they had to give me rewards points). In retrospect it makes sense (hello? They were making no money!), but I was really surprised by it at the time.

No, haven't had that experience, but 2 of the 3 cards I have keep bumping UP my limit without my asking. I carry a Visa just in case I'm in a place that doesn't take Discover so I only use that card about every third month and yet I just looked and the limit is now up to $20K. But maybe the reason they haven't cancelled on me is I'm using just enough for them to hope I start using it more??

Hey, and as long as we're talking about credit cards and travel, did you know about calling your CC company to let them know you'll be traveling so that they don't reject suspicious charges? I was very glad someone alerted me to this before I went to Italy. Saved me a hassle that one of my fellow travelers had to go through because she didn't know that you could do that.

[eroica27]

I generally do, because I go to practically the other end of the country. I try to keep something on my card, because I've had them cancelled for not using it enough. Its not as if im some child with a cc for frivolities. I'm very responsible with it, and its main charge, that i paid off, was an unexpected car repair. with my sister out of work and being recently diagnosed as mentally ill, I have had some random expenses (hers) that has depleted a large chunk of my cash. as wonderful as paying for stuff in cash is, its nice to be secure in the knowledge that you have a readily available instead of having to wait on accessing the bank and waiting even longer to get to the super reserve funds. (which have also been eaten into for the same reasons)