I really hate for anyone to be caught by spam but the link for citi simplicity posted before appears to be a scam. Try the domain citi.bridgetrack.com
http://citi.bridgetrack.com/usc/05/simplicity/value.html?BTData=C02117A74667B615B564B4CABB0A1ACAB8D938D81F1F1E8FDF9E4F97D4&BT_TRF=275375&app=UNSOL&sc=4DPZE235&m=0DTV000000W&langId=EN&siteId=CB&B=M&ProspectID=BD38EA5FE7BA4B8AAE9D8C31DDBF2FD5

Jay

I'm not sure I read the OP correctly, but it appears you have credit cards both in US and UK ... which makes me ask these pretty naive questions:

1. Is there a way for a US citizen, residing and working in US to get a UK credit card?
2. If so, is UK credit history totally separate from US credit history?
2a. Does UK have its own credit reporting agencies, or TU, EX, and EQ cover UK as well?
2b. If TU/EX/EQ cover UK as well, would UK identity of a person be separate from US identity (e.g. can one run a parallel AOR in UK, regardless of what one's US credit scores are)?

I am planning my first big AOR too. couple of basic questions:

1. Where did you get the credit scores from? Any free trails around that I can use?
2. How are you planning to get the BT money? Did you check whether all of your cards can send you a check?
Moving the BT's to Citi and getting a check from them is one option being mentioned else where. Would anybody here know, whether there is a limit on how much positive balance one can have on Citi card?

TIA

kenblakely said:cyberkost said:I'm not sure I read the OP correctly, but it appears you have credit cards both in US and UK ... which makes me ask these pretty naive questions......

Pretty interesting. This is the first thread I've seen mentioning the 0$ game in the UK. Maybe I just wasn't looking. I live in the UK right now and will be here for another 1.5 years. Your US credit history means nothing here - even for international banks like HSBC. I'm in my 40s, own two houses in the US and make a pretty decent salary that's all verifiable, but I had to start out with a wanky little £2000 credit limit on a credit card, and people tell me I was lucky to get that.

People that do the 0% game over here are called 'credit card tarts'. There's lots of 0% offers, but most are only for 9 months and they *all* come with at least a 2% flat fee. That's 2% up front, reducing the amount to invest. Tally that up with the almost 35% income tax, and it really makes the whole thing not worth the effort.

I'd be interested in the OP's experience doing the 0% game in the UK - maybe I'm missing something....

I actually started all my 0% "rate tarting" in the UK as I didn't want the debt to show up in the US. But as I don't have verifiable income in the UK it's getting harder to get cards.

Unfortunately most UK cards have uncapped fees now, which I think is how the US will go eventually. Try the Morgan Stanley "buy and fly visa". It is capped at £50 fee for 9 months 0%. I'm using that in the UK right now. I put together a list of UK 0% credit card deals back in September. Some of those cards may still be available, but unfortunately uncapped fees are the norm.

Virgin also keep giving me 0% with a fixed fee. I negotiated the fee for £10k from £250 to £150.

For some reason I have some crazy credit lines although I'm not living in the UK.

Citicard 2005 £6,500.00
Barclaycard 2004 £4,500.00
First Direct 2004 £3,200.00
RBS Visa 1998 £4,000.00
Halifax Platinum 2004 £11,900.00
MBNA Platinum 2005 £12,600.00
Virgin (MBNA) 2004 £12,000.00
Halifax One 2005 £8,500.00
Morgan Stanley
Buy & Fly Card 2006 £4,500.00
£67,700.00

kiasuchick said:smithr4 said:highmktgoods said:500 a month is pretty cheap rent...

Also, you need to consider tax implications, bringing your total down a bit.

That's what I was thinking. You're must be either getting a REALLY sweet deal on rent or you're living in a rickety shack somewhere. That said, the AOR strategy is still a great plan if done properly.

Lol there are plenty of people on here who are paying $400-500. I rent a house with two roommates who are never home so it's very sweet deal.

smithr4, even in the SF Bay Area $500 a month rent is not too unusual for single people, especially if you happen to find a apartment-mate who has been holding on to the lease for a while... you don't have to live in a rickety shack to get a deal like that...

Anakin

henare said:anakinskywalker said:smithr4, even in the SF Bay Area $500 a month rent is not too unusual for single people, especially if you happen to find a apartment-mate who has been holding on to the lease for a while... you don't have to live in a rickety shack to get a deal like that...

more like *several* apartment mates ... you'd be hard-pressed to find a 2br apartment in the bay area for $1000/month.

One of my friends has one of those deals I am talking about. He pays $450 a month for a nice room in a 3BR apartment. In that same apartment complex I pay $2000 a month for a 2BR apartment. My friend pays so much lower because his apartment-mates have a lease that is about 10 years old...

Anakin

kiasuchick said:
Starting with my AOR today, then another in my Mum's name in August/September then another in the UK in 2008.


What is the "in my Mum's name" part?
Are you suggesting that you are going to apply for credit using your mothers information?

how do you balance transfer to HSBC card?
is it a visa logo or just a plain debit card?
thanks

chibimike said:kiasuchick said:chibimike said:kiasuchick said:
Starting with my AOR today, then another in my Mum's name in August/September then another in the UK in 2008.


What is the "in my Mum's name" part?
Are you suggesting that you are going to apply for credit using your mothers information?

Yes we have an agreement. She knows exactly what is going on.</blockquote>

Seems risky if not illegal. If the CC companies find out, you could be facing fraud charges unless you have some sort of power of attorney for your mother.

Plus, you will have one hell of a mess if either you or your mother: dies, gets sick, goes bk, gets sued, gets in tax trouble, unexpectedly needs a loan, gets your ID stolen, or gets into a situation where you need government assistance (means tests).

You would certainly be taking AOR to the extreme, but you are also putting your mother and yourself at severe risk with this.

I have power of attorney for my mother as she lives in the US only part of the year and I take care of all her finances in the US.

The risk is the same if they are my credit cards or her credit cards.

I don't see what this big mess is if the money is sitting in an FDIC insured HYS account and the credit cards can all be paid off in a couple of days???

kiasuchick said:chibimike said:kiasuchick said:chibimike said:kiasuchick said:
Starting with my AOR today, then another in my Mum's name in August/September then another in the UK in 2008.


What is the "in my Mum's name" part?
Are you suggesting that you are going to apply for credit using your mothers information?

Yes we have an agreement. She knows exactly what is going on.</blockquote>

Seems risky if not illegal. If the CC companies find out, you could be facing fraud charges unless you have some sort of power of attorney for your mother.

Plus, you will have one hell of a mess if either you or your mother: dies, gets sick, goes bk, gets sued, gets in tax trouble, unexpectedly needs a loan, gets your ID stolen, or gets into a situation where you need government assistance (means tests).

You would certainly be taking AOR to the extreme, but you are also putting your mother and yourself at severe risk with this.

I have power of attorney for my mother as she lives in the US only part of the year and I take care of all her finances in the US.

The risk is the same if they are my credit cards or her credit cards.

I don't see what this big mess is if the money is sitting in an FDIC insured HYS account and the credit cards can all be paid off in a couple of days???

The power of attorney fixes concerns about fraud.

The scary part to me is if you start shifting money across accounts. ie, The money is sitting in your accounts, the debt is sitting in your mothers name. That would be where all my concerns are and I would think it would raise a serious red flag with the banks.

Say the money is in your accounts, the debt is in your mothers name. You accidentally run over 10 people waiting for a bus. You lose lawsuit, your assets (cash in HYS) get frozen, then taken. How do you pay your mothers credit cards??? Or immediately after the accident, you pay off all the CC's in your mothers name. It might be ruled against you that you were hiding your assets by paying off those cards. You would have to try to go in and try to argue that your mother's CC's should get the money before your victims.

If you intend to always keep the money in accounts that match the name the debt is in, it is less of a concern. The cash in HYS is still vulnerable in a lawsuit.

I don't know much about the law in these types of cases, but to me it seems very risky to pull someone else into it. Messing up your credit and having to BK is one thing, messing up your mothers as well is another. Maybe others who know about law in these cases can correct my concerns.