Visa credit card offer for a "free" laptop?

Question

Usually I throw out all the credit card offers I get in the mail, but I received one this week that is kind of different. It's visa card where they send you a dell laptop for signing up. Here are the strings:

You must transfer over $5000 and maintain a minimum balance of $3500 for 18 months.

I'm thinking of getting it because I have roughly $5000 in credit card debt, I probably wouldn't be able to pay it off in 18 months any way. So why not get a laptop rather than pay my current cards interest and get nothing?

I'm pretty sure the interest rate is variable (like what I got now), but I think it's connected to the prime rate.

Has anyone taken this offer? How has it worked out for you?

http://www.4mynotebook.com/

Answer 1

Yeah, I got one of those myself. The interest rate was much higher than my other cards and the extra interest over 18 months would more than have paid for the cheap laptop they were offering.

Connecting an interest rate to prime is pretty meaningless by itself. It's the spread that matters, i.e. prime plus 1% is great while prime plus 20% sucks out loud.

Don't forget that they can change the terms any time they wish so your spread can change a couple of months after you commit and you'll be stuck with the higher interest rate.

Also watch out for the penalty that kicks in if your outstanding balance falls below the minumum required at any time during the contract period. The offer that I got would bill the cost of the laptop immediately but the amount they were charging for it was about twice what it was worth.

Keep in mind that you can get a basic Dell laptop right now for less than $500.00. Figure the payments on that with your current credit card vs taking the free offer and being committed to maintaining debt instead of paying it down. You'll probably discover what I did -- the "free" laptop is a TERRIBLE deal!

Addendum: I just checked out that offer. They don't include information on the penalty. And it's the exact same laptop you can get from Dell for $485.00 today! Still a very bad deal.

Answer 2

You didn't say what the interest on the $3500 min. would be and what it would cost over 18 months. I bet it is more that the cost of the laptop.

Best thing to do is to get out of credit card debt. That takes a lot of will power and if you are a born shopper, it is almost impossible.

With all the automation help banks can supply, have your credit cards paid off early with higher automatic payments from your bank. If you don't see the money, you can't spend it!! Better to spend it on paying off credit cards than waisting on shopping.

Answer 3

You better RE-THINK this one. It is NEVER a good idea to pay off a credit card with another credit card. Many have tried, with disasterous financial results.What you are thinking is not a novel idea.

Answer 4

hehehe......