Should I close old cards?

[Anonymous]

I starting rebuilding credit years ago.  All my beginner cards started with CL of $500 or so and grew to $1k, 2K etc.  In the last couple of months I got my credit score up to over 700 and I applied and received cards from:

Venture $12k 

AMEX Everyday $10k

Discover $7.5k

Wells Fargo $5k

After hard pulls hit my TU dropped back to 687 Eq 710 and EXP 713

With these new cards my total credit line is now $50k with a balance of about $1500.  Util of 3%

Sooooo...what do I do with all these old cards?  I will NEVER use them again except maybe the store cards with special promotions.  If I close them what does it do to my score?  My oldest card is Cap 1 from 2005, and another Cap 1 dated 2008 and another at 2013 (Cap 1 bought up a couple of my old card companies) which I am considering combo to my Venture card.  

I certainly want to close the cards with AF BUT those are my oldest cards.  My Credit History is only 3.9 yrs.

Here is my bundle:

Flagstar $2k  I have a balance of $1.5k at zero interest promo period.  Opened 4/2016

All of these have zero balance

Cap 1 Platinum $1200 with $39 fee  Opened 2013

Cap 1 QS $1200 with $39 fee  Opened 2005

Cap 1 Platinum $1600  Opened 2008

Cornerstone Credit Union $2500  start 2/16  Opened 5/2016

Credit One $2k (annual fee?)  Opened 2012

Juniper (BarclayCard)  $1650  Opened 2006

Toys R Us  $300  Opened 12/2016

Kohls $2k  Opened 4/2016

Sams Club $700  Opened 3/2016

Blaze $2k (annual fee?)  Opened 2013

Dicks $700  Opened 5/2016

Amazon Store Card $1400  Opened 3/2016

Huntington $1k  Opened 7/2016

[jawbrkr]

Everyone says don't close old cards. Me, I ask...if they report for 10 years, whats the big deal? Personally, I close anything I no longer need. I am not the "stick it in the sock drawer" type. Scores always rebound in due time when they drop, assuming you give it a rest and stop applying to a while. But thats just me.

[Anonymous]

I'm looking pretty close at the cards with AF.  The others don't matter but cards like Credit One charge AF at $9 monthly.

[jawbrkr]

Oh hell, I would close credit one. You are way past that card as you are now getting approvals for prime cards.

[manyquestions]

Have you tried to combine the two newer CapOne cards into the 2005 Quicksilver? I'd keep the 2005 open and try to get the annual fee removed. I'd also keep the Juniper 2006 card open. While it's true that closed cards will usually stay on your credit report for ten years, I wouldn't feel comfortable closing the oldest two when there is such a gap between the oldest and the new on your report. Age of accounts is a main factor of credit scoring and it is something that is hard to get back once it is gone. 

I would close the CreditOne with the monthly fee. 

[driftless]

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@jawbrkr wrote:

Everyone says don't close old cards. Me, I ask...if they report for 10 years, whats the big deal? Personally, I close anything I no longer need. I am not the "stick it in the sock drawer" type. Scores always rebound in due time when they drop. But thats just me.

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+ 1  Closing cards is part of the rebuilding process.

[Anonymous]

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@manyquestions wrote:

Have you tried to combine the two newer CapOne cards into the 2005 Quicksilver? I'd keep the 2005 open and try to get the annual fee removed. I'd also keep the Juniper 2006 card open. While it's true that closed cards will usually stay on your credit report for ten years, I wouldn't feel comfortable closing the oldest two when there is such a gap between the oldest and the new on your report. Age of accounts is a main factor of credit scoring and it is something that is hard to get back once it is gone. 

I would close the CreditOne with the monthly fee. 

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My thoughts exactly. Close anything with an annual fee except for that Quicksilver. See if you can get it PCed to the no annual fee version. Plus you might want to close a few of those newer store cards if you don't ever use them. 

[jawbrkr]

That QS from 2005 isnt going to grow anymore. Op has had that card since 2005 and the CL is still that low. Why keep it open? Merge and close. You may have a score drop but it will come back and the card will still report and help AAOA. By the time it falls off, his or her AAOA will be high enough to compensate. The card certainly isnt open to help with utility at that CL. But again, thats just me.

[NRB525]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Cap 1 Platinum $1600  Opened 2008

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See if you can get the CapOne Platinum product changed over to a regular no-AF Quicksilver. That keeps the nice age of the account, gets the 1.5% rewards, and you can move the limits from the other two CapOne with AF into this card. When the Venture fee comes up in a year, if you decide you don't want that fee, you might even roll that Venture limit into this nearly 10 year old card.

Close CreditOne, no question about that. The rest, other than the new ones you just got, should probably be closed. Store Cards can skew spend toward them, which may not be the best place to get those items. If there are significant rewards, then it might make sense.

[IncrsCreditScore1]

Good to see you here, Spock.  And congratulations on the rebuilding.  Here are my thoughts:

Venture $12k   Keep

AMEX Everyday $10k  Keep

Discover $7.5k  Keep

Wells Fargo $5k Not a fan of Wells Fargo

Flagstar $2k  I have a balance of $1.5k at zero interest promo period.  Opened 4/2016  Close as soon as paid off.

All of these have zero balance

Cap 1 Platinum $1200 with $39 fee  Opened 2013

Cap 1 QS $1200 with $39 fee  Opened 2005

Cap 1 Platinum $1600  Opened 2008

As you said, I recommend seeing if you can transfer the dollars to you Venture and then close these.  Even if they won’t let you transfer the dollars to the Venture, I would close them.

Cornerstone Credit Union $2500  start 2/16  Opened 5/2016  Close

Credit One $2k (annual fee?)  Opened 2012   Close

Juniper (BarclayCard)  $1650  Opened 2006  Close

Toys R Us  $300  Opened 12/2016  Close

Kohls $2k  Opened 4/2016   Close

Sams Club $700  Opened 3/2016  Good for 5% gas at Sam;s and if you use Sam’s Club for shopping so keep

Blaze $2k (annual fee?)  Opened 2013   Close

Dicks $700  Opened 5/2016  Close

Amazon Store Card $1400  Opened 3/2016  I would try to open a Chase Amazon card,unless you are 5/24.  If cannot get a Chase Amazon keep if you do shopping at Amazon 

Huntington $1k  Opened 7/2016  Keep.  This is the only card that gives you 3% at WalMart

As you can tell, I am not a fan of store cards and truly not a fan of Cap1 and definitely not Credit One.