Will dumping Cap1 hurt me badly?

[Anonymous]

As stated before I would hold out till your anniversary and then try again to get the annual fee dropped. I have only had a Cap1 card since sometime in 2005 with an annual fee, and I just last month called in reguarding it and my high interest rate and they did 3 things... raised my credit limit from 700 to 5700, dropped my APR from 21.15% to 14.9% and reverted my annual fee for this year. They told me that they CANNOT drop the fee indefinitely but that I can call up each year and have it reverted.... no idea if they were BSing me or not... but ya. I just got a Washington Mutual card for $500 limit but 8.9% APR, that card I will be keeping... Eventually I will slowly drop off any cards that have annual fees, but most likely AFTER I buy my house...

[Anonymous]

in my case..i have a CAP1 card that i didnt use for nearly 3 yrs at all because i dig a big hole for myself with my other credit cards. I paid off everything so i wanted to see if everything is reported closed. And what is see is  this Cap1 card being reported every single month as current. That made me a little happy becuase at least i have one thing on my credit report that was never delinquent. So i called them and told them that i lose my card so they sent me a replacements...

I see that you guys are talking about maxing out the CAP1 to increase the limit that they are reporting..

my question is. Do i have to max it out, let the report it on the next statment date..and pay it off when i get a new statements?

or do i max it out, and pay it off lets say, in two days.

I have a 500 limit as well..

tks,

[Anonymous]

Granted with your fico and income you could get another card with a lower interest rate, no fees, etc no problem.  But the issue with that is history.

In all honesty as rediculous as the AF and the rates are, put $20 a month on the card, pay it off and keep the long standing history on your bureaus.  The long history is going to help you more than having another card only open for the past 6 months with a higher avail balance.

Once you finally get the car you are going for, or whatever your goals are in the next year or two then cancel it out, but as minimal as it is right now, I would keep it open just to show that you have a long withstanding payment history instead of look I got a CC 2 months ago. 

[Anonymous]

You folks have made some really valid points.  I just got approved for another CC with a 11.9% rate, but I don't know the CL yet.  I guess I will bite the bullet and see if I can get the annual fee dropped in Nov.  Theyhave lowered it before, but this time, knowing my numbers, I'm going to push for more, like an APR drop, an AF drop and a CLI.