Dead end credit cards vs Keep forever credit cards

[shalane85]

I'm trying to figure out what are good cc and bad cc? Which one of my cc are considered dead end, never going to upgrade, get a cli,etc.. or which cards are for keeps and will grow with you. Heres a lit of my cc. Any input is needed.

Orchard Bank AF 59 CL 300 opened June 2005

Capitol One AF 29 CL 500 opened December 2007

Capitol One AF 59 CL 750 opened July 2008

Macys CL 100 opened February 2009

Credit One Bank AF 69 CL 250 opened February 2009 DO I EVEN NEED THIS CARD?

I AM TRYING TO REBUILD MY CREDIT AND ESTABLISH A STRONG HISTORY SO ARE ANY OF THESE CARDS WORTH KEEPING?

[Anonymous]

Keep the cards for now so you can get some age on your credit history.  Please don't close them, your credit score will go down.  I know how frustrating it can be to have small limits but, you do have Trade lines reporting on the 3 CCR amd that can only help you. 

[Anonymous]

I do agree not to close them "FOR NOW". With that said all are dead end cards except for Macy's. Keep them for age right now then after 24 months close that credit one which I would close right now anyway as it's such a ripoff card.

[Anonymous]

As a long term perspective, I'd certainly keep Capital One - it's an excellent card if you're going overseas. Try calling customer care/backdoor # and inquiring about the possibility to combine two c1 cards.

Macy's is good, because it's a store card and it contributes to "credit mix".

[Guardian]

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@shalane85 wrote:

I'm trying to figure out what are good cc and bad cc? Which one of my cc are considered dead end, never going to upgrade, get a cli,etc.. or which cards are for keeps and will grow with you. Heres a lit of my cc. Any input is needed.

Orchard Bank AF 59 CL 300 opened June 2005

Capitol One AF 29 CL 500 opened December 2007

Capitol One AF 59 CL 750 opened July 2008

Macys CL 100 opened February 2009

Credit One Bank AF 69 CL 250 opened February 2009 DO I EVEN NEED THIS CARD?

I AM TRYING TO REBUILD MY CREDIT AND ESTABLISH A STRONG HISTORY SO ARE ANY OF THESE CARDS WORTH KEEPING?

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Forgive me if this sounds insensitive, that is not my inention, but all the cards you have listed are dead end cards. However, given the current climate and how difficult it is to secure credit, keep them and let them ride out until either they kill it or when you have better credit to replace them. The age of accounts at the very least will help you. Personal recommendation, dead end or not, keep them for now and let them ride out until you have secured better first.

ADD: I missed the Macy's in the list, keep that one because its a store credit and that will always help  the mix, but the rest different matter.

Message Edited by Guardian on 03-04-2009 11:52 AM

[Anonymous]

What makes the cards he listed dead end...the CLs?  The companies offering?

[Guardian]

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@Anonymous wrote:
What makes the cards he listed dead end...the CLs?  The companies offering?

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Just my opinion, I can't speak for anyone else, its the companies, as well as the category of creditor they are, and also the fact that the cards may or may not grow with you and the interest rates and annual fees could drag down their values. Hope that helps.

[score_building]

Creditcardskeptic wrote:
What makes the cards he listed dead end...the CLs?  The companies offering?

-the extraneous fees

-the sub par cs

-limited CLs and limited/unavailable or pay to play CLIs

-they don't necessarily leave the best impression w/ other lenders if you have too many (though it still counts as good history if you treat them right just like other cc)

-cards typically ineligible for product change 

-low limits beget low limits = dead end

one or two can serve a useful purpose if other types of accts. are temporarily unavailable to you, but too many can lead to diminishing returns.

in many cases just delaying app for a few months can net better offers and you can avoid these low tier cards altogether.

[Anonymous]

Those cards will grow minimally(except macys) if at all, if i were you i would get a bofa secured and wait a year until it unsecures before any new cards. BofA secured will turn into a great card you should be able to keep forever( after unsecures you can change to rewards card, get limit increases ocassionally) Between a bofa secured and macys you should be able to get your limits up. My macys card has gone from $300 to $2400 in less than a year with a little use($10 every 3 months) and calling for increases every 3 months

Message Edited by hotsaka on 03-04-2009 09:24 PM

[Anonymous]

OK...so just to be clear...a good card:

1. Is one that can grow with you, meaning, CLIs

2. One that has minimal or no feess

3. Doesn't require you to put up a deposit for a CL or a higher deposit for a higher CL

4.  A respectable CL

Anything else...Im new to the game here.  I have recently acquired 2 cards:

USAA total rewards (MC) , 15,000 limit

Edward Jones Rewards (MC) , 7,000 limit

How do these two rank?