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keith -
as hauling pointed out, if your combined utilization is in line, then the high balance card will not hurt so much, though I really suggest paying it down as you can (4-5x minimums is best or more if possible).
Revolving credit is a mixed game....banks act like they want you to transfer balances and pay out over term...but they seem to chane their minds too often. One day you get 0% APR for a year or 2.99% for life of transfer.....but I find that these are often not only teaser rates, but teaser deals....they don't want the long haul, especially right now.
As for your card that charges $4.95 to make an online payment....use your banks bill pay. Worst case scenario, find that rectangular pad you write IOU's on, you know, the old fashioned checkbook and snail mail the payment in. You get a 90% discount cause it costs you a postage stamp. If the only reason you are considering closing is the $4.95....just go bill pay and set the payment up well in advance just to make sure it posts in time (I had one experience that it was off by a day...so I recommend 7-10 days prior to due date).
You didn't really say what your overal CR looks like or FICO is or what your credit portfolio is....so I can't recommend closing an account, just offer advice on how to avoid the fee.
Hope this helps. (note to self p/o = paid off....duh )
What other cc's do you have? How old? CL's? What is your current utilization? Do you PIF, pay mins or what? What derogs do you have?
Thanks on the score....it takes time and patience (which I hate waiting and don't have the patience to develop patience ) but there really is no substitute or choice. If there were, the rules of scoring would just change to offset it anyway. You can tweak and do certain things for immediate or short term gains...but in the end, you have to pay the piper (on time), pay the debt off (and don't run it up again), then wait, wait, wait, rinse and repeat.
If Tribute is your oldes, I don't recommend closing it. Doing so removes it's CL from your utilization calcs and you will lose this tradeline in 10 years from AAoA. Just don't use it a lot, exercise it every month or two with some gas or something, and bill pay or mail a payment 7-10 days out.
You have the right formula.....low utilization with balance on only 1 or 2 cards (most people find 1 actually gives best FICO results).
This also prevents your from allowing debt to creep up on you. Be sure to pay your Savings as hard as you paid your CC's.....you will NEVER regret having cash in the bank, I promise
As your accouts hit 6 months, 12 months, 2 years, etc. and payments are timely, utilization low....a small balance recurs on a single account each month, etc. your FICO will continue to rise over time.
Do not let occassional drops in FICO concern you (the drops for no apparent reason) because as your credit improves you will be "re-bucketed" from time to time and sometimes this results in a temporarty decrease in FICO. And the reason is: FICO is a curve grading scale, it uses averages of your bucket to grade you. When you move from the top of one bucket into the next, you may be low man for a little while, but you will improve.