How Long do You Wait to Make Final Payment?

[LEMJMcC]

My final payment due date is just around the corner.  I normally pay the remaining balance a few days ahead of the deadline.  How long do you folks wait?

[TeeRick]

A few days ahead in case something goes wrong.  Not on the final day.

[time4u2go]

As long as possible.  No sense letting them hold my money any more than necessary.

[BND]

I have our TA pay it usually 4 or so days ahead.  And, when we do a b2b, we pay them both off at the same time.

[mek]

It usually depends on the cut off date for my Amex, which I pay off each month. If I can push the payment into the next billing cycle, that gives me an extra month to not have to part with my $.  LOL.

[GGLC]

So if my final payment day is the 31st do I have to make it by the 30th or can I do it on the 31st? 

[xpcdoojk]

Exactly, like I pay any other bill.  On the day it is due.  I schedule the payment thru my TA, just like I do on a credit card.  I schedule it to pay on the due date.  

 

JC

[MommaBear55]

9 minutes ago, GGLC said:

So if my final payment day is the 31st do I have to make it by the 30th or can I do it on the 31st? 

Is the 31st on a weekend? If yes, I wouldn't risk it as it may not post until the Monday. I like to do it a day or 2 ahead just so I don't forget on the day of. 

[George C]

We also do it a few days to a week before necessary.

[BND]

21 minutes ago, xpcdoojk said:

Exactly, like I pay any other bill.  On the day it is due.  I schedule the payment thru my TA, just like I do on a credit card.  I schedule it to pay on the due date.  

 

JC

We never carry a balance on our cc so it doesn't matter when we pay it off as we pay off the card every month.  Our TA is a good friend and we try to work around her schedule too as she also works full time.  Being a TA is something she now does for friends and family so she sometimes needs to work around her schedule which is fine with us.

[jamestown478]

I usually pay it approximately 5 days before it is due. 

[LEMJMcC]

Thanks all.  Those responses are right in line with what I typically do.  I, too, am one who does not carry over a balance on my credit card, and I only have the one.  Though sometimes I wonder if I ought to have a second as a back up in case my primary quits working...

[ONECRUISER]

Before Due Date, things happen. I've seen them canceled within hrs of Final time/date...

[Tulsacoker]

89 days out for a 7 night cruise 😉 

[BND]

2 hours ago, LEMJMcC said:

Thanks all.  Those responses are right in line with what I typically do.  I, too, am one who does not carry over a balance on my credit card, and I only have the one.  Though sometimes I wonder if I ought to have a second as a back up in case my primary quits working...

We have a couple of back up cards.  Our primary one is our Amtrak Rewards MC.  Just on Sunday, Amtrak moved banks for their cards.  Our new one was declined yesterday when I got my hair done.  DH called and was sent to the fraud dept.  The explanation:  algorithms haven't figured out spending patterns so it was seeing small purchases as evidence of fraud.  DH decided Sun/Mon would be a good time to buy about 15   $.99 books for his Kindle so they shut the card off.  I was pissed as we lost out on over 250 Amtrak reward points from my hair appt.  I had to use another card.  They turned it back on and it worked for the $75 groceries I bought today.  I just hope it doesn't give us problems on our upcoming trip.  We leave on Halloween for 5 days in FL and then a b2b on Jewel.  No way the algorithm can know spending patterns it's never seen, sigh...

 

Anyway, in my experience most people pay off their cruise at least a couple of days before like we do, just in case something happens.  

[JupiterTwo]

Many of my cruises have been booked within the final payment date, so I was always paying the whole fare at once.

 

My current booking is probably the furthest out I've ever booked, so I'm going to pay within a week of my final payment date.

[neverbeenhere]

I would like a discount for paying all of the reservation upon booking. Other than that, we pay automatically when our TA charges it to my account about a week prior to official final payment date.

[smokeybandit]

Absolutely zero reason to pay prior to the due date (or the TA's due date which is commonly a few days prior to the cruise line's due date).

[mek]

3 hours ago, LEMJMcC said:

Thanks all.  Those responses are right in line with what I typically do.  I, too, am one who does not carry over a balance on my credit card, and I only have the one.  Though sometimes I wonder if I ought to have a second as a back up in case my primary quits working...

In addition to Amex I also have Visa - not everyone accepts Amex and it's good to have a back-up.

[xpcdoojk]

I have a ton of credit cards.  I never carry a balance over.  I never pay a late fee.  I never pay interest.  My TA has an online payment area, exactly like a credit card company/bank has.  It is my money, they get their money when it due.  I am not giving out short term loans.  Scheduling a payment it is just as easy to schedule for the due date as a random 5 days, 3 days, one week etc early payment.  My electronic Calendar let’s me know the due dates, and I pay them a couple of times a month along with Cell phone, utility and other bills.  Probably takes me an hour to pay all my bills this way.  The DW pays all of the bills that are still in the 18th century that require a physical check.  If we ever miss a payment it is one of those, where a bill gets lost in the mail.  All of the others I know exactly when they are due, and for the rest of time since they are set up as recurring events.  

 

I have a credit card for Costco, Sam’s Club, Marriott, Hyatt, Hilton, AA, United, Discover, Capital One, Amex Platinum card, Amex Blue, Home Depot, Amazon, some department stores (Nordstrom Dillards), and a few I never use, but used to.  They all pay me back for purchases in ways that are unique to each.  I get 2% minimum back on every purchase I make.  My credit rating is almost perfect.  

 

JC

[dani negreanu]

I prefer to pay a week ahead. Human mistakes happen, and, luckily, my TA called and alerted me that my card was rejected... Someone typed 3 instead of 8....

 

So, yes, since until lately the interest paid by banks was practically nonexistent, I didn't mind paying ahead 😉

[lenquixote66]

8 hours ago, LEMJMcC said:

My final payment due date is just around the corner.  I normally pay the remaining balance a few days ahead of the deadline.  How long do you folks wait?

As soon as possible.

[DaKahuna]

We pay off a day or two prior to the final payment date.  If it's a B2B, we pay both off at the same time. 

 

 

[deliver42]

About one week before final payment date.

[BND]

5 hours ago, smokeybandit said:

Absolutely zero reason to pay prior to the due date (or the TA's due date which is commonly a few days prior to the cruise line's due date).

Our TA doesn't do that.  She literally pays the cruise line directly using our cc info.  It's one reason I prefer a friend/small TA over the big ones.