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jc0481

macrumors regular
Original poster
Mar 16, 2005
227
0
I will be buying a new Macbook pro the lowend one and just was wondering if anybody has an Apple credit card, and how do you like it?
 

MovieCutter

macrumors 68040
May 3, 2005
3,342
2
Washington, DC
It's not an Apple Credit card, it's a Mastercard offered through Juniper bank. The APR is pretty high. I would buy your machine on one credit card and transfer that balance to another one with a 0% APR promotion if available. I did that with my $4000 Quad, bought it on one card, transferred it to another card at 0% for 12 months.
 

jc0481

macrumors regular
Original poster
Mar 16, 2005
227
0
Sorry my mistake

So what credit card did you get for the 0% apr and anybody know a good website that lists current credit card promotions? Thanks
 

WSFrazier

macrumors regular
Feb 9, 2006
105
0
alienex said:
does it have an apple logo on the card itself?

I was also curious if it had an Apple logo on it. Not that I would ever get one, APR is way too high.
 

jsw

Moderator emeritus
Mar 16, 2004
22,910
44
Andover, MA
As mentioned earlier, it's a Mastercard offered through Juniper bank. There is no Apple logo - just a Juniper one.

Worthless card, IMHO.
 

ekenny

macrumors regular
May 28, 2005
178
0
New York
jsw said:
As mentioned earlier, it's a Mastercard offered through Juniper bank. There is no Apple logo - just a Juniper one.

Worthless card, IMHO.

When I bought a mini last June I got the card so I could get 0% APR for 3 months, that was with Juniper. However, I did the same with the MBP and the card was issued through a different company (also does not have the apple logo, but is a master card). I was wondering if this was normal or what. Also, as of just now, it still doesnt have the charge on it for the MBP.

Like another poster said, these cards are pretty worthless, their APR is very high, and they dont offer any benefits. The only reason worth getting one is to not have to pay interest for 3 months (so you can just pay the min payment).
 

WildCowboy

Administrator/Editor
Staff member
Jan 20, 2005
18,390
2,829
FYI, always be careful of balance transfers to 0% APR cards. Generally, any money you send in first pays off balance transfers, then goes toward your purchases on that card.

So say you've got $500 in charges during a month and you transfer a $3000 balance from another card to take advantage of the 0% APR on balance transfers. You get your bill and you send in $500 to pay off your own charges, letting the $3000 transfer ride at no interest. Nope...doesn't work like that. Your credit card company will take $500 off of your transferred balance, leaving you with $2500 in balance transfer that isn't being charged interest, but your own $500 in charges isn't paid off, so you get nailed for huge interest payments. The only way to pay off that $500 in charges is to pay off the entire transferred balance, so you have to cough up the whole $3500 anyway.

So the moral of the story is that if you're going to transfer a balance to a card offering 0% APR on transfers, only a do so on a card with no outstanding balance and do NOT charge anything else to the card.
 

WildCowboy

Administrator/Editor
Staff member
Jan 20, 2005
18,390
2,829
Kimi said:
If the 22.3% APR is so bad, why would you want an Apple Card in the first place? Do you get a discount or something?

You just get 90 days interest-free.
 

itsbetteronamac

macrumors regular
Apr 27, 2003
171
0
I got the "Apple" credit card, it is/was a Direct Merchants Bank Mastercard. It came with 90days 0%, and the interest rate is 11.9% I believe, but I think that rate actually might be going up. I am most likely going to transfer the balance over to my parents home equity for a cheaper rate of like 6%. The percent interest is based on your credit score, and can be as low as 9.9%. It's not awful, but there are way better choices out there
 

MovieCutter

macrumors 68040
May 3, 2005
3,342
2
Washington, DC
WildCowboy said:
FYI, always be careful of balance transfers to 0% APR cards. Generally, any money you send in first pays off balance transfers, then goes toward your purchases on that card.

So say you've got $500 in charges during a month and you transfer a $3000 balance from another card to take advantage of the 0% APR on balance transfers. You get your bill and you send in $500 to pay off your own charges, letting the $3000 transfer ride at no interest. Nope...doesn't work like that. Your credit card company will take $500 off of your transferred balance, leaving you with $2500 in balance transfer that isn't being charged interest, but your own $500 in charges isn't paid off, so you get nailed for huge interest payments. The only way to pay off that $500 in charges is to pay off the entire transferred balance, so you have to cough up the whole $3500 anyway.

So the moral of the story is that if you're going to transfer a balance to a card offering 0% APR on transfers, only a do so on a card with no outstanding balance and do NOT charge anything else to the card.

Exactly, I always leave a card or two empty to transfer the balance to so I don't run into that problem. People should leave their cards with no balance in the first place...but Apple updates their stuff far too often :D
 

ITASOR

macrumors 601
Mar 20, 2005
4,398
3
You should use an Amex card...don't they double warranties or something? Either way, they've always been a good company IMO.
 

alep85

macrumors regular
Jun 4, 2005
131
0
ITASOR said:
You should use an Amex card...don't they double warranties or something? Either way, they've always been a good company IMO.

I love American Express. I have a Gold Rewards Card and a Blue from American Express. Put the MBP on the Gold Rewards Card because from January 1st to February 28th, all purchases give double points, and everyday puchases (gas, cell phone bill, groceries, etc.) get TRIPLE points. BOOYA, 4000 reward points for my MBP!
 

ftaok

macrumors 603
Jan 23, 2002
6,487
1,572
East Coast
ITASOR said:
You should use an Amex card...don't they double warranties or something? Either way, they've always been a good company IMO.
True, Amex extends the standard warranty by one year. However, if you purchase an extended warranty, then the Amex extended warranty is void. So it's not like you can get the 4th year covered by buying Applecare.

Anyways, not everyone can qualify for an Amex card. And there are other "platinum" cards that do offer extended warranties and such.

ft
 

kcmac68

macrumors newbie
Sep 1, 2006
1
0
How is the Apple credit card?

to answer your question there is not an apple credit card that i know of...but to apply for a credit card that you can use to purchase the mac just go to any credit card website: like http://www.creditcardsuperstar.com
hope this helps
;)
 

tipdrill407

macrumors 6502
May 26, 2006
373
0
Wait... I'm lost how is this card that's being mentioned, an "Apple Credit Card" if it has no apple logo on it and has nothing to do with apple?
 

Demon Hunter

macrumors 68020
Mar 30, 2004
2,284
39
tipdrill407 said:
Wait... I'm lost how is this card that's being mentioned, an "Apple Credit Card" if it has no apple logo on it and has nothing to do with apple?

It's just a third-party that Apple uses for new customers needing credit, I think.
 

Macky-Mac

macrumors 68040
May 18, 2004
3,505
2,553
ftaok said:
True, Amex extends the standard warranty by one year. However, if you purchase an extended warranty, then the Amex extended warranty is void. So it's not like you can get the 4th year covered by buying Applecare.

ft

that's different then what Amex told me when I called them....I was considering a purchase and wanted to know what the coverage was if I bought applecare as well......what they told me is that repairs would be covered by applecare's extended warranty in years 2 & 3 and then the Amex extension would come into effect after that so that you would get a 4th year of coverage by using the Amex card.....at least that's how they explained it to me
 

ChickenSwartz

macrumors 6502a
Jul 27, 2006
903
0
Macky-Mac said:
that's different then what Amex told me when I called them....I was considering a purchase and wanted to know what the coverage was if I bought applecare as well......what they told me is that repairs would be covered by applecare's extended warranty in years 2 & 3 and then the Amex extension would come into effect after that so that you would get a 4th year of coverage by using the Amex card.....at least that's how they explained it to me

I have a Blue too. It is a great card, lower APR than most other cards plus cash back.

I was planning on using it to buy my MBP and learning this makes me happy. Here are the plan details:
"If you purchase an additional service contract or extended warranty with a product which is otherwise eligible under the Buyer's Assurance Plan, and the combined coverage provided by both the original manufacturer’s warranty and the purchased service contract does not exceed five years, then the product is eligible for coverage under the Buyer's Assurance Plan. The Buyer's Assurance Plan will extend the warranty time period and mirror coverage of the original manufacturers' warranty up to one additional year after both the original manufacturer’s warranty and the purchased service contract have expired. "

Also, AMEX has a Purchase Protection Plan:
"protects that item for 90 days from the date of purchase if it is stolen or accidentally damaged, including vandalism...Coverage for computers, and their core components, one of a kind items, jewelry, watches and furs is limited to $2,500 per Occurrence"

That makes me very happy for 90 days.

If you are going to pay the balance off within a month, this is better than the Apple Credit. I you are going to pay it off in 90 days (the free interest period for Apple Credit), I would still say that the Amex deal is better.

Edit: For the OP: usually with free interest periods on credit cards, if the entire balance is not paid within the promotional period (i.e. 90 days) or the minimum payments are not made the entire interest from those 90 days will be charged to you. If you take advantage of this offer be sure to pay it off in 90 days.
 

QuarterSwede

macrumors G3
Oct 1, 2005
9,785
2,033
Colorado Springs, CO
The Juniper Card (which I got) had an APR of 13.74% for me. In fact, there are 3 different APR's you can qualify for. It just depends on your rating, etc. as to what you'll get. When I bought my PB I did so with the intent of paying it off before the interest kicked in. After 3 payments of $716.80 I fully owned my PowerBook without paying for interest. Pretty good for someone that had a lower paying job. If I could do it, anyone can. After you're done with it, call them up and cancel it or just stop using the card if you're worried about your credit rating getting messed up.
 
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