CyberLegen: yes paypal...you can't transfer money to your own account but you can transfer to your friends account. during transfer use your credit card and after the money gets deposited in bank get it cash from your friend..u need to have trusted friend though.

yes, these banks are jacking up the APRs....two ways I am managing it 1. haven't missed even a single payment till date 2. decline the APR increase when they send the letter to you. You can decline the APR increase but your credit card gets frozen (means you can no longer use it), your previous APR applies and you continue to make your payment until its paid off. After ur debt is paid off, ur account is closed.

I also came to know that if you freeze your account by yourself, banks can't charge interest on it. I don't know to what extend this is true. I googled it all over but couldn't find any good info regarding this. So to test this, I have blocked my maxed out cards (either way I am not going to use it). I can't use it any more but if I need to, I have to call them, report it lost and then I will get the new card. Bank of America said that it will only last for 15 days so I am again calling in 15 days and again freezing it. Wells Fargo (this is the worst bank in my experience, increased my APR from 5.5% to 21.99%) said that they have no such options as freezing the account. I guess it depends upon bank to bank. But anyway, I need to wait 1 month and see if I am charged any finance charges.

I looked for credit union to see if I get loan for lower interest rates, but almost all of them declined it. They want collateral (F1 status). So the best bet right now it transfer all the high apr balance to low APR cards and pay off as fast as I can. I think I neet to pay visit to credit unions again.