I am currently using the snowball philosophy to pay off debt. I have about four cards which have a 5.99 for life rate - most of these are chase cards. I do have one balance that was a 3.9 balance transfer and I was thinking of putting it with one of the 5.99 for life rates when the 3.9 rate expires.
Does anyone know if these balance transfer rates can be raised at any time - or is it only if I default on a payment?? I am getting concerned because I keep reading/hearing information that banks are not doing well lately and I wonder if it will only be a matter of time before rates go way up with no promos. I also had chase call me awhile back and offer a 7.9 fixed rate (which I took because I liked the word fixed...) and by the second cycle they raised it to 28.9 just because they could - nothing I did.....
I was wondering if there is anything special about the promotional rates - whether it be a certain period of time or until payoff - where the bank can't raise it unless I default...
Anyone have any ideas?
Thanks!

I would not put all of my eggs in the Chase basket. As you have experienced first hand, they can and will jack you on a whim.
With that said, if you have a backup plan to cover ALL of your Chase debt, go for it. If they jack you, BT them away and continue on your plan. I would worry that they might also CLD you which could hurt your score because of the util.
So my advice is...have an empty card sitting there with a $ for $ limit to whatever you have on a Chase card. Then go ahead and save some interest and sleep well at night

Generally if there's a specific "X%" deal, they're going to have a lot of trouble changing the rate unless you default on one of the terms of the contract.

Thanks for your responses! I am trying not to "put all my eggs" in the Chase basket - I hate the thought of giving them even a penney in interest being they raised my rate over 20% for absolutely no reason! So far chase is the only bank I am getting the "for life" rates. I have gotten many offers from other banks for a specified time but I'd rather have a 5.99 for life than a zero for 6 months and keep trying to look for another deal... I am really focused on paying these off but it will take me a bit of time (goal is by the end of 2009)-and the last thing I want is to wake up one morning and find all my 5.99 went to 29% !!
One other thought I had - why does a bank call and ask you if you want a lower rate? Why don't they just lower it just like they raise it???

Ratejacking is a common CC practice, don't ever rely on a "fixed" CC rate.

Not so, especially with Chase. Chase will offer you a BT promo, let you use it and then jack you because your utilization is high on that card (cause you did the BT).

This hasn't been my experience with Chase. I had a quite a BT riding with Chase for 18 months, and with 0% for purchases also, I got over 90% utilization at times. Probably tanked my overall utilization also. But never heard a peep, and I paid the whole thing on time, and they never charged any interest.

Also DW has a Chase with BT expiring later this year, has been for 18 months, and still going strong.

Same here, I have a Chase card that had 0% on BT and purchase for 18 months. It expires next month and I have never had any issues with them. Highest utilazation I had was probably 80%. The original BT was for about 70% of my CL.

I've had great success with Capital one .. rates for life .. I had 1.9% until the day I paid the card off ..

but I was never late.

Chase pulled the same garbage with me. Enticed me with a BT rate, then rate jacked me due to being too high to my limit (the justification was my util to CL ratio...whatever!). Chase has done this to many, many people. I would check into some of the BTs through credit unions, like PenFed, for example. I BT'd for life of balance at 3.99% away from Chase. Now, Chase is soliciting me again with low BT offers.

You just have to check out the historical practices of the CC company. Many posts out here on CB will speak to the historical behavior of the CC company.

Good luck with your plan on snowballing your debt in order to be debt free. I am doing the same exact thing. Transferred all my high APR cards to low APR cards. It's a long-term committment to get to this goal of being debt free for sure! And, some times, it feels like you will never get there.....

I frequently get 3.99 for life of BT offers from Citibank. In fact, I am tired of getting them. They have become a nuisance. I don't take them because they also charge a BT fee of 3% with apparently no limit.

So far as the Chase rate jack, I would imagine that it probably had something to do with usage vs. CL, age on accounts or something along those lines. I too used a BT through Chase for the 0% 18month deal and haven't heard a peep.

Also, Amex has cards with 4.99 for life BTs as well.

The MAIN downside to almost all of the decent BT offers is low credit lines. If you are looking to transfer, with a puny CL like $5K, that balance to CL can easily get you into trouble.

I've currently got my only chase card maxed on a 5.99% for life offer. Its fine and dandy to take the risk, IF and ONLY IF you've got backups to cover yourself in case they ratejack you. You have to be very careful to always stay under your credit limit when doing this. Divide your available credit by 1.03 to determine the max you can cut your BT check for, to take into account the BT fee. Then make your first payment before the statement cuts to avoid % pushing you over the limit. This will help minimize the risk from one of the most common reasons people get ratejacked, which is going over limit. $0.01 is all it takes.

If it's happened to you before, specially with Chase, then why would you risk it? See what other cards offer..there are a lot of other great BT offers out there..Citi and WAMU come to mind.

I hear so many horror stories with Chase..they're something else.

Chase is a big bank. And they do ratejack. But EVERYONE ratejacks. Crap One claimed not to ratejack, then all the sudden raised EVERYONE's rate by 5%, despite no change in fed funds rate or prime rate. EVERYONE ratejacks.