American Express Raising APR, No Opt Out Option

[boosami]

A bunch of my friends have gotten letters this month from American Express raising their APRs to high levels for no reason. Apparently, the original agreement with American Express for credit cards does not include the mostly standard wording that you can "opt out" and close your account to avoid such rate hikes. I haven't gotten a letter for my AmEx charge cards, but they have to be paid in full each month so there's no APR.

Anyone gotten a letter like this lately, or found a way around it (other than transferring the balance to another card)?

[aurielle]

Yep we got the dreaded letter. Fortunately if we do carry a balance on it its usually tiny - lately we've only been using it for Costco shopping trips. I told DH we need to pay it off in full from now on and not carry a balance on it. They raised our APR to Prime Rate + 13.99%. Bastages.

[Radiance]

Me too!

I am down to $530 balance with them. This is the first one I am paying off!
Also, they have lowered my limit as I am paying.

Started at 5000. First they took it down to my balance of 2600
When my balance was down to 800 they took my limit down to 1000, which is the current limit.

Not that I want to max them out, but the available vs limit affects my credit.
I only have amex because I have been able to buy good tickets for some concerts in the past, only reason.

Other than that I like Visa better.

[nycguy567]

i usually dont use american express because of this sole reason. i never carry a balance because its autopaid from my bank account.

i also stopped using discover because they raised my $20 to $50 cash rebate without telling me.

i only use Visa or MasterCard now.

[TheColonel]

They raised the APR on our Starwood Preferred Guest card, but we PIF each month.

[disneysteve]

we PIF each month.

Ultimately, this is the bottom line. Don't use a credit card to make any purchase that you can't afford to pay for in full when the bill comes. Don't carry a balance and you won't ever have to worry about what the interest rate is.

I do think it is totally unfair, though, to raise the rate on money already borrowed. I said the same in another thread on this topic. That practice should be banned. Charge more on new purchases but don't change the terms after the money is already on loan.