I got some checks from my BofA Choice Rewards credit card. They're offering 0% APR through 3/09 if I write a check before June. I did a couple of cash advances on this account a couple of years ago when they were offering no fees on them. That doesn't seem to be offered anymore but the fine print now says it is a 4% fee with a max of $90, but if you write it AFTER 6/19 it's 3% (no max listed). I believe the 6/19 date coincides with the statement close date, and you need to have it post by then in order to qualify for the 0% through 3/09. Is this standard for BofA to raise the transaction fee for checks while the 0% promo is in effect? They seem to have increased my credit limit by about $10k since the last time I used this account -- it's now $23,400 which presumably means that I can make money on this even if I pay the $90 fee to write the check for something close to the max, even at the lower interest rates out there now.

One other question: I need to fill out a FAFSA next year. Would this extra money in my bank account hurt me on that or would I just be able to say that I had a matching credit card debt to make it a wash?

About the FAFSA, yeah you need to include it in your cash balances from what counselors tell me. But, I think it's pretty rare that they check up on it, at least from my experience.