Opening multiple credit cards more beneficial long-term?

[EdMan63]

I can't disagree with what you are proposing. While I generally don't agree with app sprees, 1-2 cards every 6 months to a year is not too bad. Most people outside of this forum only have 3-4 cards total and most Fico high achievers (scores over 760) only have an average of 7 accounts open and closed and apply for credit sparingly. I'm sure many people on this forums scores would be higher if they didn't app so much but that's a personal decision. 

[Anonymous]

I would open all the cards you need now, if your situation allows it, it is way more beneficial in the long run.

If you open all the cards you need now, in two years the inquiries will have fallen off and the new cards will all have two years of age.

On the other hand I would not open a DC at the moment but rather a card with a good sign up bonus like the CSP($625) or Venture($400), or even a Citi Thank You Preferred($200) which you could PC to a Double Cash right around the time you won't be using the Discover IT as much. The DC will give you a big 0 if you open it now. 

Opening a Discover is a really good strategy while they are still doing the X2 on cashback. 

[Anonymous]

"I agree that 3 cards would be optimum, with 2 reporting a zero balance, and 1 reporting a small balance."A bit confused here.

Lets say I use $250 on chase, and $250 on discover, and $10 on citi.

I proceed to fully pay chase/discover to zero balance by the end of the month. Your saying I should leave that $10 unpaid on citi? I might not have understood your point correctly. If so, why would that be beneficial?

[Anonymous]

The right amount of cards is however many you think you can use and handle.  I have four, will wind up with 2, possibly 3.  

It all depends on your goals.  I'm not a bonus chaser who's going to apply for every card under the sun.  I'm not even going to put a majority of my spending on my cards now that I'm pretty much done rebuilding.  10 cards would be way too much for me, but not enough for someone else.  

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

"I agree that 3 cards would be optimum, with 2 reporting a zero balance, and 1 reporting a small balance."A bit confused here.

Lets say I use $250 on chase, and $250 on discover, and $10 on citi.

I proceed to fully pay chase/discover to zero balance by the end of the month. Your saying I should leave that $10 unpaid on citi? I might not have understood your point correctly. If so, why would that be beneficial?

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Because you get Fico cool points for not having 0% utilization. As strange as that might seem, the best way to maximize your scores is to leave a balance of approx. 5% of your total credit limit on one of your cards. Of course you can pay it off right after the statement cuts and not incur any interest, then repeat next month. 

You don't have to do this every month as the utilization only matters in the present. So if you're in the market for some credit, this is a good and quick way to increase your score.

You can experiment with utilization, anywhere between 1% and 9% to see what is best for your score.

[newhis]

@sergiulucian88, thank you, I didn't know that Citi allow PC. I'll think about getting a Citi with bonus then PC to DC.