Credit Card Fees and How to Avoid Them

There are Many Assorted Credit Card Fees.  I work hard to avoid the fees.  I work hard for my money I don't like to waste it.

Annual fee - this is a fee charged by some credit cards once a year just for having the card. Most Airline cards and many Premium cards will have an $80 to $500 annual fee. I have a United Airlines card and a premium Chase card that I pay an annual fee on. I have tried to get out of paying the fees on these by calling and asking with no success.  The only way I found would be to cancel the card.

Interest rate - this is the percentage charged on the balance of the credit card that is not paid off in full each month. This is not an issue with me as I pay off my cards in full every month.  

If I do need short-term money I use money from my HELOC.  

Ask for a Zero Percent Offer

If you are needing money and have a good credit history you may call your credit card and ask them if they have any Zero Percent offers for this card.  They will charge you 3% upfront however that is only two months of interest on most cards.  

Late payment fee - this is a fee charged when a credit card payment is not made on time. I have not had a late payment fee in a long time. However I would not try to eliminate that fee if I had one. I have a procedure I would take if I missed a payment or made a late payment. Check out Oops I missed a payment.


Overlimit fee - this is a fee charged when a credit card balance exceeds the credit limit. I have had a couple of credit card companies try to charge me an overlimit fee.  

I have never paid an overlimit fee. A few times Credit card companies have tried to charge me an overlimit fee and I have gotten it refunded.  

I call the credit card company up and nicely ask if they will remove the over limit fee.    I do this after I have paid off the account, less the over limit fee.  

I am always very nice to the customer service people they have a very tough job. 

 However I reason with them on the over limit fee that they chose to accept the charges.  I remind them that I am a very good customer and spend a lot on this card. If the customer service agent cannot remove the fee I asked to speak to their supervisor. 

I'm very nice and firm with the supervisor.  If they will not remove the fee I gently state: “I will stop charging on this card if you refuse to eliminate this over limit fee”. “Do you realize how much your company pays to get a new customer?”  

I do not threaten to close the account.  I never threaten to do something I do not intend to do.

Balance transfer fee - this is a fee charged when transferring a balance from one credit card to another. 

 I have never tried to get this fee eliminated. I have been able to avoid this fee sometimes by spending the money on the card instead of using their check or doing a balance transfer. You need to read the fine print in the balance transfer offer or the 0% balance transfer offer to see if this is possible.

Cash advance fee - this is a fee charged when taking a cash advance from the credit card. I have never tried to use a cash advance.

Foreign transaction fee - this is a fee charged when making purchases in a foreign currency or from a foreign merchant. 

The foreign transaction fee is really easy to eliminate by using a different credit card. Most of the Travel cards and Airline cards have no foreign transaction fee. These are the only cards I would use internationally.  

This is often a highlighted benefit for the cards that offer no foreign transaction fees.