I would close all of those except the BestBuy, which might have some use in the future. The other cards are from subprimer lenders and will need to be eliminated at one point or another in the future.
I think the best way to do it is close out one card every 6 months to avoid negative impact in your credit scores. If you're really in a rush then do every 3 months. Closing some of these accounts will greatly affect your AAoA, not to mention if you ever want to apply for anything right after closing a whole bunch of accounts at one time it's looked upon negatively. Rank the cards with AF based on CL, rewards, etc. (so far looks like they're a whole lot of subprime) and start knocking those babies out one at a time. Slow and steady wins the race 
[Edit]: Also, I would apply for your prime cards BEFORE closing out the subprime ones, just for AAoA and good payment history purposes!
@wwtthhpp wrote:
@HiLine wrote:I would close all of those except the BestBuy, which might have some use in the future. The other cards are from subprimer lenders and will need to be eliminated at one point or another in the future.
All at once or gradually as suggested in the first reply. The Citi Thank You Preferred card take care of about half of the total CLI for those 5 cards so I am thinking come May/June, apply for another and have them all closed by that time, even the Best Buy card.
Yay, nay?
Closing all accounts at once may raise a red flag if you'll be applying for other cards soon; closing them gradually as aforementioned would be more advisable. I think one every couple of months would be fine, especially if you'll be slowly obtaining prime cards as well. You can even try to get a few more prime cards some time in the next 1-2 months (apply all at once to increase your chance!), and once you get them, get rid of all the subprime cards as soon as possible. The rule of thumb is to obtain new cards before you get rid of old ones.
Closing cards will not affect your credit history length or average age of accounts for another 10 years.
Apply for a card or two that you like. If you get the card you want. Then close all your other accounts. No need to wait as your AAoA will not be effected by closing them, and you don't have any utilization issues.
Just make sure you get the cards you want before you close anything.
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Before I started this thread I read the Closing Credit Cards stickied thread. That thread specifically states that AAoA won't be affected by closing CC accounts which to me signals that I can close them all at the same time without any negative effects but I'm seeing several replies here that advise against that. Am I reading that thread right or is there something I am missing?
I mean I can understand why I would want to space out opening new accounts due to the inquiries but the closing accounts still has me a little baffled due to what I've read and the replies I have received here.
I would like to thank you all for your help though, I appreciate the response.
Also, what cards or accounts would you advise applying for next? Besides the cards listed above, here are other accounts that I have as well:
Walmart Discover: 2000
Amazon Store Card: 5500
Dell Financial: 3500
Gettington: 2000
Macy's: 2000
Home Depot: 5000
Citi Thank You Preferred: 3500
I have about $200 total balance on all the cards combined. I'd like to get 2 more eventually, a MasterCard and AMEX preferred. Any suggestions on that front?
@wwtthhpp wrote:Before I started this thread I read the Closing Credit Cards stickied thread. That thread specifically states that AAoA won't be affected by closing CC accounts which to me signals that I can close them all at the same time without any negative effects but I'm seeing several replies here that advise against that. Am I reading that thread right or is there something I am missing?
I mean I can understand why I would want to space out opening new accounts due to the inquiries but the closing accounts still has me a little baffled due to what I've read and the replies I have received here.
I would like to thank you all for your help though, I appreciate the response.
Also, what cards or accounts would you advise applying for next? Besides the cards listed above, here are other accounts that I have as well:
Walmart Discover: 2000
Amazon Store Card: 5500
Dell Financial: 3500
Gettington: 2000
Macy's: 2000
Home Depot: 5000
Citi Thank You Preferred: 3500
I have about $200 total balance on all the cards combined. I'd like to get 2 more eventually, a MasterCard and AMEX preferred. Any suggestions on that front?
The closing credit card threads is mainly focused on the effect to your FICO score. As is said around here (sometimes not often enough), score isn't everything. So, while closing cards has no immediate effect on your AAoA, and only affects your score to the extent it affects your utilization, it is easier to get new credit if you show you have established credit. I'm guessing people warning you against closing everything at once were concerned you might leave yourself with little to no other credit available, and then you would make it more difficult for yourself to get approved for other cards. However, since you have several other established lines, I wouldn't worry about closing a bunch of cards at once.
And yes, you can call all your CCs and ask them to waive AFs, change products, etc., but there's a balance to this. The cards that you are looking at closing look to be all cards from credit building/rebuilding days. You're just going to have to make those calls again next year to see if they'll waive fees again. If you don't care to go through that, then close them. That's what I would do.
Starting Score: ~500 (12/01/2008)
@wwtthhpp wrote:Before I started this thread I read the Closing Credit Cards stickied thread. That thread specifically states that AAoA won't be affected by closing CC accounts which to me signals that I can close them all at the same time without any negative effects but I'm seeing several replies here that advise against that. Am I reading that thread right or is there something I am missing?
I mean I can understand why I would want to space out opening new accounts due to the inquiries but the closing accounts still has me a little baffled due to what I've read and the replies I have received here.
I would like to thank you all for your help though, I appreciate the response.
Also, what cards or accounts would you advise applying for next? Besides the cards listed above, here are other accounts that I have as well:
Walmart Discover: 2000
Amazon Store Card: 5500
Dell Financial: 3500
Gettington: 2000
Macy's: 2000
Home Depot: 5000
Citi Thank You Preferred: 3500
I have about $200 total balance on all the cards combined. I'd like to get 2 more eventually, a MasterCard and AMEX preferred. Any suggestions on that front?
Closing many accounts at once may imply financial troubles or credit card abuse. Either way, some creditors may view that as suspicious behavior. However, since you already have so many prime or near-prime cards, I don't think closing the crappy cards will raise a red flag, since it's natural that you'd want to consolidate credit if you have more than 10 cards. (Hey you should've told us about the other cards up front! It's a game changer! 
)
Not sure what you mean by Amex Preferred. But if you want any Amex, an easier one would be Delta Gold Skymiles. As for Mastercard, you can take a look at some other Citi-issued cards.