Balance transfers can seem like the greatest credit card feature to some consumers. If you don’t like your current credit card terms, you can essentially start over by moving your balance to another credit card issuer. Balance transfers can indeed be a good deal. They can also be used to help you get out of credit card debt through balance transfer debt consolidations. They can also cause problems though, and it’s important that you be aware of common credit card balance transfer mistakes before potentially making them yourself.

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Here are three common credit card balance transfer mistakes, and tips on how you can avoid them:

Mistake: You transfer your credit card balances too often.

A balance transfer can be a fantastic temporary fix to help you get out of terms you can’t work with. For example, if you need a few more months to pay off your current balance but the 19.99% interest rate is making that difficult, you would likely benefit from a balance transfer to a card offering 0% interest on balance transfers for six months (like the ANZ Low Rate MasterCard). You would have six months to pay off that debt interest-free. The problem is if you don’t make any real plan to pay off that debt, and you simply decide that when the offer expires you’ll transfer the balance somewhere else again.

You have to remember that every application leads to an enquiry that stays on your credit file for several years. Future creditors will know what you’re doing, know that they’re not going to profit from the relationship because you’ll bail when interest kicks in, and you could hurt your chances for securing future credit when you really need it. To avoid making this mistake, only apply for one balance transfer card at a time, and make a realistic plan to pay off that balance during your introductory period.

Mistake: You forget about the fees.

While you’re caught up in the idea of getting a 0% interest balance transfer card, you might forget about the fees involved. For example, you could be charged a balance transfer fee (either a set dollar amount or a percentage of your transferred balance). You’ll also be liable for any annual fee on your new card (including rewards programme fees if it’s a rewards card like the ANZ Balance credit card).

In the end, you might end up paying more in fees for the new credit card than you would have paid in interest while staying with your original credit card company. This mistake is easy to avoid. Don’t rush into any credit card offer without first reviewing the terms and figuring out exactly how much it’s going to cost you.

Mistake: You don’t know the real end date of your introductory offer.

Let’s say you got a new credit card, but you still have a balance on an older one. A month after getting your new card, you remember that it came with a special balance transfer rate of 2.99% for six months. You decide to take advantage of it by transferring your old balance. You assume you have six months to pay off that balance before the rate increases. You would probably be wrong.

Balance transfer introductory rate periods generally start the date your card application is approved or the date the card is issued — not the date of your balance transfer. If your card was approved a month before your balance transfer, you would probably only have five months to pay off that balance at the special introductory rate — not six months. Again it’s an easy fix to avoid making this balance transfer mistake. Read all terms and conditions carefully, not only before you apply for a card but also before you decide to transfer a balance to a card you already have. It never hurts to refresh your memory about your card terms.

There really aren’t any good excuses for making common balance transfer mistakes like these. Always review your terms, and never make financial decisions on a whim. It’s also a good idea to review your credit file regularly. That way you’ll know how many enquiries are already on it, and you’ll be able to decide if you really want to apply for another card in the first place.