BoI Student Loan/Credit cards & Free flights to USA/Canada

becah

Hey guys,
Was just wondering did anyone avail of Bank of Ireland's student loan/credit card promotion where if you apply for a student loan or card in the next few weeks, you get a free return flight to the US or Canada (excluding taxes)?
I'm not doing the J1 but would love to go to the states for a week or two to visit my sister, thinking about going into my branch on Tuesday to talk to them about it.
Anyone know how you go about booking the flight, is it only with certain airlines you can book it with, or how does it work? Are there date restrictions etc?
Also, it says it's interest free for 9 months, but there's no way I could pay it back in 9 methinks! More like 12-18, anyone know how flexible they are about this?
Cheers!

LolaDee

I got the loan but I already had flights booked so didn't avail of the free flights offer. If you don't pay it back within the 9 months then you can still pay it back after that, they just charge interest at the regular student loan interest rate.

duckmusic

A friend of mine did it and has had nothing but hassle trying to get them. He has had to keep hassling the bank, calling them 3 or 4 times a day to find out what the story is with them only to be continually fobbed off.

It looks to me that they introduced it without much thought of how they would implement it. Bit of a disaster... my friend is even thinking of changing bank over it.

At the minute it looks like he is going to have pay for his flights after taking out the loan, even though that was the main reason he took the loan out.

becah

Thanks for the info, I kinda had a feelin that there could be hassle with the free flights aspect, anyone else have any other experiences with the promotion, positive or negative? Many thanks!!

dan1988iel

ya sent away the application for the free flights to boston! still waiting for the voucher to arrive.
Tbh i'd say its only a gimic (to get ppl into the habit of borrowing), i didnt need the loan anyway just took it out to get the free flights.
i'll prob just book my own flights anyway.

becah

Thanks for that, can you remember if they said how long it'd take for the voucher to arrive? I'm looking to go mid June and would want to book flights in the next few weeks, but if I get the loan I'd really want to make use of the voucher! Will go into them tomorrow and see what they say.

dan1988iel

it said to put down on the application for the voucher the date i wanted to go. This date had to be 45 days from when they would receive the application.

They then said it would take two weeks for the voucher to arrive.

So i read all that, worked it out, and put down on the application I wanted to go the 15th of June. Sent it away 3 weeks ago id say but havent got any voucher in the post yet!

BoysNoize

Yeah i was looking at taking out a loan and heading over to the states for 2 weeks in August so this would have been ideal !...

Anyone got anymore info by any chance ??

PeakOutput

my mate took out the loan and is waiting for the form in the post

he was told that you put down 3 destinations you would like to go to out of a list they have and they pick the cheapest one basically

you still have to pay the taxesfor the flight

its an interest free loan so if you are just using it to get the flights take out the loan, dontspend the money, get the flights then use the money to pay off the loan immedietely or do this if they mess you around and you dont get the flights

dan1988iel

someones gona ring me back monday to confirm the flights.
they rang me last friday to ask about dates etc..

apparently flights to boston return are gona cost me 230 euros :), but as ye said above its the cheapest option so have to fly to heathrow first.

don't care tho as long as i get there.

DeadMoney

Hey guys, I just saw this thread now. I am hoping to go to New York in late June and could use all the help I can get financially so I would be very interested in trying to avail of any of these offers. To be honest though something sounds a bit dubious here. So are BOI just going to pay for your flights so you can go and get sh1t faced all summer in the states? Please god tell me this is the case!!
Seriously though, can any student just apply for this? I am with the AIB but I think I might have opened up a BOI account a few years ago when I started college. Do they just pay the non tax part of the flight and you make up the rest?

becah

I eventually went in to enquire and I was told that the offer ended April 31st - I went a few days later so I just missed it which was a shame, but if anyone knows of AIB or any other bank doing a similar offer, let me know please!! cheers!

DeadMoney

I went in to the BOI in trinity today and the offer is still going until May 27th. I spoke with the loans officer and he didn't even question anything such as my methods of repayment etc. They are definitely eager to get students to take loans. I could have told him it was for drugs and he prob would have given it still.
Anyway I told him I wanted to go to the states in late June or early July and he said that the flight voucher would not arrive by then. So basically the flights are no good to you unless you want to go after summer or late summer. It seems messy to be honest. I don't like the way you have to choose 3 destinations and they pick the cheapest one. If you only want to go one city, this is messy and you are just hoping it will work out. I'm sure this offer has worked out for some people but I wouldn't get too excited about the flights part. Loan seems decent though.

dan1988iel

hey,
the deal worked out right good for me. Got my voucher for a flight leaving for where I wanted to go, from June until August, perfect for sum1 doing a J1 like me. I applied for the voucher 3/4 weeks ago though.

DeadMoney

dan1988iel wrote: »

hey,
the deal worked out right good for me. Got my voucher for a flight leaving for where I wanted to go, from June until August, perfect for sum1 doing a J1 like me. I applied for the voucher 3/4 weeks ago though.

Hey Daniel, can I ask where bouts did you apply for the loan? I am hoping to fo to the states in late June but the guy said that would be too early of notice and the voucher would not be ready by then. This is about 5 weeks from now. When you say you applied 3/4 weeks ago, do you mean you actually just started your application?

dan1988iel

ya sent away for the application 2 weeks b4 that, and three weeks after sending application away again (to this WINIWIN place) i heard back from a guy bout it.

Applied in B.O.I., id say 5 weeks could be cutting it tight tho, cos you kinda have to hold tough and wait for them to ring you.

Evo

I got my loan on the 30th of April, got the voucher form today! I was on the phone every week, in the bank twice a week, getting nowhere. They all know me when I walk in now!

They call this service? Absolute joke. Im sticking with my student Ulster Bank accounts.

Meeting the Manager of the branch later this week to share my experience, and close my account, and my parents with there business account, mortgage, car finance, pension, credit cards, savings are closing their accounts one at a time too because of their terrible service.

I bet if I owed them 50 million euro they'd be ringing me everyday!