topic Re: What to do with my cards? in Credit Cards

What to do with my cards?

RyGuy46901 — Wed, 16 Dec 2015 00:55:57 GMT

Hello all! Looking for some suggestions on how to combine/get rid off, etc. of all of my accounts? Please let me know your feedback!!

	Outstanding Balance	Credit Line	Interest Rate
American Express Premier Rewards Gold Card	$0.00	NPSL	N/A
American Express Gold Delta SkyMiles 61007	$0.00	$4,100.00	13.24%
American Express Starwood Preferred Guest Card 31006	$0.00	$2,000.00	16.24%
American Airlines AAdvantage Master Card by Barclays Bank	$0.00	$10,000.00	12.99%
Bank of America Cash Rewards Signature Visa	$3,000.00	$10,000.00	16.99%
Discover It Card	$0.00	$11,400.00	14.24%
Chase Sapphire Visa Signature	$0.00	$10,000.00	12.24%
Chase Southwest Premier Visa Signature	$0.00	$5,000.00	15.99%
Chase Marriott Rewards Premier Visa Signature	$0.00	$6,500.00	15.99%
Chase United Airlines MileagePlus Explorer Visa Signature	$0.00	$5,000.00	15.99%
Citi Dividend World MasterCard	$3,885.51	$10,100.00	11.24%
Capital One Venture Visa Signature	$0.00	$10,000.00	20.90%
Capital One Quicksilver Visa Signature	$0.00	$10,000.00	17.90%
Best Buy store card	$0.00	$10,000.00
Macy's store card	$0.00	$10,000.00

Re: What to do with my cards?

Anonymous — Wed, 16 Dec 2015 01:00:36 GMT

I'm not sure if the cards with balances are daily drivers that you pay in full or something that you're paying over time, but if it's the later the first thing I'd do is check your Discover for a 0% offer if you're not paying them off in a few months. (I know, not what you asked, but since you went through the trouble to post balances, that's what jumped out at me).

Re: What to do with my cards?

RyGuy46901 — Wed, 16 Dec 2015 01:12:10 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
I'm not sure if the cards with balances are daily drivers that you pay in full or something that you're paying over time, but if it's the later the first thing I'd do is check your Discover for a 0% offer if you're not paying them off in a few months. (I know, not what you asked, but since you went through the trouble to post balances, that's what jumped out at me).

The Citi and Bank of America have 0% for a year or more I belive its actually 18 months. So I will be paying them off within that time.

Daily drivers right now basically is the AMEX gold and thats it.

Re: What to do with my cards?

Anonymous — Wed, 16 Dec 2015 01:18:06 GMT

Very good (and not apparent from the original post).

Re: What to do with my cards?

kdong1996 — Wed, 16 Dec 2015 01:22:24 GMT

First I'd request a CLI on the Venture and Quicksilver. Then combine the Venture into the Quicksilver.(Lower APR, No annual fee, backup no FTF rewards card)

Convert Citi Dividend into the DoubleCash for a 2% card (Kinda overlaps with Discover It as it is now)

For the Chase cards do you use any of the benefits the cards provide? You can freely combine/move limits with them so I would move the CLs and close 2 or 3 depending on which ones you actually use.

I'd leave the BoA and Discover It alone for gas/groceries and rotating categories.

Depending on if which cards you actually have use for I'd maybe move the limit of one Revolving Amex card and close the other

Maybe close the AA Advantage depending on if you use the benefits

I'd close the store cards if you have no use for them.

Edit: Do you care for rewards? Did you want to maintain a relation with the banks or just want to minimize number of cards?

Re: What to do with my cards?

RyGuy46901 — Wed, 16 Dec 2015 01:28:50 GMT

@kdong1996 wrote:
First I'd request a CLI on the Venture and Quicksilver. Then combine the Venture into the Quicksilver.(Lower APR, No annual fee, backup no FTF rewards card)
Convert Citi Dividend into the DoubleCash for a 2% card (Kinda overlaps with Discover It as it is now)

The open date on the Quicksilver is too new for it to be combined and I tried doing a CLI on both but they wouldnt do it saying the usage has not been high enough compared to the CL. Once it does pass the 6 month mark I should try again combineing the Venture into the QS.

I forgot to put in that the Dividend is actually being converted into the Thank You Prefered card and I am just paying the Citi card down and not even using it. Citi is my oldest account opened in 2008.

For the Chase cards do you use any of the benefits the cards provide? You can freely combine/move limits with them so I would move the CLs and close 2 or 3 depending on which ones you actually use.
I'd leave the BoA and Discover It alone for gas/groceries and rotating categories.
Depending on if which cards you actually have use for I'd maybe move the limit of one Revolving Amex card and close the other
Maybe close the AA Advantage depending on if you use the benefits

I have been with Chase from the Saphaire since 2010, the APR is low and the CL is great. United has been reducing air service from my home airport and I do not really fly them much. Have a bunch of bonus miles still left. SWA is a good card to have because they have good service and like the bonus miles every year. I stay in Marriotts most often and like the free night per year.

BoA and Discover are good, I agree.. I am paying both down from a 0% offer.

I'd close the store cards if you have no use for them.

I do shop at Macys and Best Buy from time to time and the CL's are huge I would say for a store card.

Edit: Do you care for rewards? Did you want to maintain a relation with the banks or just want to minimize number of cards?

I really like rewards. I am just trying to maxamize rewards and get the most out of the cards. Most of these cards were opened due to sign up bonuses. I want to maintain a relation with the banks, I do not want to have a whole bunch of cards just sitting around either...

Re: What to do with my cards?

kdong1996 — Wed, 16 Dec 2015 01:57:46 GMT

You can move the United limit into your other Chase cards when you don't need it anymore.

How do you feel about the Barclay card and Amex cards?

Is there a reason for converting it into the Thank You Preferred? It seems to have lackluster rewards. (Unless you value TY points)

I think the first thing that should be done is to assess which cards have benefits that outweigh the monetary annual fee. Then move limits/close cards from there. Cards with no annual fees can just be sockdrawered unless you absolutely don't want any excessive cards

Re: What to do with my cards?

Anonymous — Wed, 16 Dec 2015 16:55:26 GMT

@RyGuy46901 wrote:
Hello all! Looking for some suggestions on how to combine/get rid off, etc. of all of my accounts? Please let me know your feedback!!

Outstanding Balance Credit Line Interest Rate American Express Premier Rewards Gold Card $0.00 NPSL N/A American Express Gold Delta SkyMiles 61007 $0.00 $4,100.00 13.24% American Express Starwood Preferred Guest Card 31006 $0.00 $2,000.00 16.24% American Airlines AAdvantage Master Card by Barclays Bank $0.00 $10,000.00 12.99% Bank of America Cash Rewards Signature Visa $3,000.00 $10,000.00 16.99% Discover It Card $0.00 $11,400.00 14.24% Chase Sapphire Visa Signature $0.00 $10,000.00 12.24% Chase Southwest Premier Visa Signature $0.00 $5,000.00 15.99% Chase Marriott Rewards Premier Visa Signature $0.00 $6,500.00 15.99% Chase United Airlines MileagePlus Explorer Visa Signature $0.00 $5,000.00 15.99% Citi Dividend World MasterCard $3,885.51 $10,100.00 11.24% Capital One Venture Visa Signature $0.00 $10,000.00 20.90% Capital One Quicksilver Visa Signature $0.00 $10,000.00 17.90% Best Buy store card $0.00 $10,000.00 Macy's store card $0.00 $10,000.00

Guess the first question is which card offer rewards that you are interested in? How fast do you plan on paying those balances off? I would move those balances to the lowest interest cards and pay them off then look at which cards charge a annual fee that you don't use and get rid of those. I would try to keep your oldest account open and your higher limit cards to keep your over all utilization low. Hard question to really answer without knowing more info.

Re: What to do with my cards?

tntexans72 — Wed, 16 Dec 2015 17:36:46 GMT

I personally don't like to pay AF for cards I don't use. It brings no value. The AF when they are due are pretty $$$$ if you add them all up annually. It makes the card worthless, unless you need the CL for score padding IMO. Doesn't look like you do!

Re: What to do with my cards?

RyGuy46901 — Sat, 19 Dec 2015 03:01:58 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
@RyGuy46901 wrote:
Hello all! Looking for some suggestions on how to combine/get rid off, etc. of all of my accounts? Please let me know your feedback!!

Outstanding Balance Credit Line Interest Rate American Express Premier Rewards Gold Card $0.00 NPSL N/A American Express Gold Delta SkyMiles 61007 $0.00 $4,100.00 13.24% American Express Starwood Preferred Guest Card 31006 $0.00 $2,000.00 16.24% American Airlines AAdvantage Master Card by Barclays Bank $0.00 $10,000.00 12.99% Bank of America Cash Rewards Signature Visa $3,000.00 $10,000.00 16.99% Discover It Card $0.00 $11,400.00 14.24% Chase Sapphire Visa Signature $0.00 $10,000.00 12.24% Chase Southwest Premier Visa Signature $0.00 $5,000.00 15.99% Chase Marriott Rewards Premier Visa Signature $0.00 $6,500.00 15.99% Chase United Airlines MileagePlus Explorer Visa Signature $0.00 $5,000.00 15.99% Citi Dividend World MasterCard $3,885.51 $10,100.00 11.24% Capital One Venture Visa Signature $0.00 $10,000.00 20.90% Capital One Quicksilver Visa Signature $0.00 $10,000.00 17.90% Best Buy store card $0.00 $10,000.00 Macy's store card $0.00 $10,000.00
Guess the first question is which card offer rewards that you are interested in? How fast do you plan on paying those balances off? I would move those balances to the lowest interest cards and pay them off then look at which cards charge a annual fee that you don't use and get rid of those. I would try to keep your oldest account open and your higher limit cards to keep your over all utilization low. Hard question to really answer without knowing more info.

Oldest accounts are AMEX gold, Discover IT, Citi card,

Plan on paying them off within 18 months or so.

Re: What to do with my cards?

Anonymous — Sat, 19 Dec 2015 15:03:56 GMT

Very nice.

I think you should apply for new cards.

Re: What to do with my cards?

TrialByFire — Sat, 19 Dec 2015 15:26:37 GMT

Why? OP is trying to consolidate.

Re: What to do with my cards?

RyGuy46901 — Sun, 20 Dec 2015 15:54:02 GMT

Yes exactly I'm trying to consolidate. So any other suggestions??

Re: What to do with my cards?

NRB525 — Sun, 20 Dec 2015 16:48:44 GMT

@RyGuy46901 wrote:
@kdong1996 wrote:

I forgot to put in that the Dividend is actually being converted into the Thank You Prefered card and I am just paying the Citi card down and not even using it. Citi is my oldest account opened in 2008.

Edit: Do you care for rewards? Did you want to maintain a relation with the banks or just want to minimize number of cards?

I really like rewards. I am just trying to maxamize rewards and get the most out of the cards. Most of these cards were opened due to sign up bonuses. I want to maintain a relation with the banks, I do not want to have a whole bunch of cards just sitting around either...

When you start earning TY points with the Preferred, you will eventually want to consider the TY Premier or Prestige to be able to transfer those points, right? Each of the other cards has a TY Points bonus that ties in with your rewards strategy. If you have AA miles on the Barclay card, then the Citi AAdvantage sign up bonus can combine with those.

When was the PRG opened, if it is one of your oldest accounts? Are any of your AMEX Revolvers backdated to that year, or were they opened after they stopped backdating?

Keep in mind the Delta Gold card has a direct benefit in first checked bag, so flying Delta twice in a year uses that benefit. Plus priority boarding and other little perks.

Re: What to do with my cards?

RyGuy46901 — Sun, 20 Dec 2015 16:55:38 GMT

Well honesty the Citi card I am just trying to pay off as quick as I can, so I don't really care about earning points that much with that card. They changed it from the dividend card to the TY preferred automagically and it's now a world MasterCard apparently.

The PRG was opened in 2009- one of my oldest accounts. The Delta was opened about a year ago so I believe it is backdated to 09 my online account has member since 09 along with the card.

I probably will fly delta at least once maybe twice so yes it is worth having most likely. I also have a pretty steep miles balance with delta due to the sign up bonus.

Re: What to do with my cards?

RyGuy46901 — Mon, 21 Dec 2015 00:55:12 GMT

Here is a more up to date list... I forgot to include APR and open date

American Express Premier Rewards Gold Card		NPSL	N/A	9/1/09
American Express Gold Delta SkyMiles 61007	$0.00	$12,300.00	10.24%	2/3/15
American Express Starwood Preferred Guest Card 31006	$0.00	$2,000.00	16.24%	4/1/15
American Airlines AAdvantage Master Card by Barclays Bank	$0.00	$10,000.00	12.99%	8/26/11
Bank of America Cash Rewards Signature Visa	$3,000.00	$10,000.00	16.99%	1/1/11
Discover It Card	$0.00	$11,400.00	14.24%	12/1/09
Chase Sapphire Visa Signature	$0.00	$10,000.00	12.24%	8/1/10
Chase Southwest Premier Visa Signature	$0.00	$5,000.00	15.99%	2/2/15
Chase Marriott Rewards Premier Visa Signature	$0.00	$6,500.00	15.99%	4/1/15
Chase United Airlines MileagePlus Explorer Visa Signature	$0.00	$5,000.00	15.99%	4/29/15
Citi ThankYou Preferred World MasterCard	$3,885.51	$10,100.00	11.24%	6/1/08
Capital One Venture Visa Signature	$0.00	$10,000.00	20.90%	2/10/15
Capital One Quicksilver Visa Signature	$0.00	$11,000.00	17.90%	8/12/15
Best Buy store card	$0.00	$10,000.00		4/1/11
JCPenny store card	$0.00	$4,700.00		4/1/15
Macy's store card	$0.00	$10,000.00		5/1/08

Re: What to do with my cards?

Anonymous — Mon, 21 Dec 2015 01:07:37 GMT

So you can apply and get a new credit card and more options for consolidate.

If not, just tranfer balance for cards that have lower APR. It's obviously.

Re: What to do with my cards?

takeshi74 — Mon, 21 Dec 2015 14:46:14 GMT

@RyGuy46901 wrote:
Hello all! Looking for some suggestions on how to combine/get rid off, etc. of all of my accounts? Please let me know your feedback!!

It is impossible to provide meaningful feedback without your needs/wants/preferences/priorities. None of this is about the cards themselves but how the cards suit the individual. You need to give us a lot more information if you want feedback.

All I can say based on your OP is do not close cards with balances. They can report as maxed.

You have cards form multiple rewards programs. Do you have sufficient spend to really take advantage of all these programs are are you bogging down your rewards accumulation and redemption by spreading your spend too thin? Are you able to maximize point/mile value by using redemption methods that maximize value with each program? Or does it make sense to consolidate and focus on one prorgram? I don't see any information in follow up responses that would help us to determine this. It's something that you should be considering before applying. Don't just apply to try cover all bases. If you want to maximize rewads on spend then you need to know where your spend is going and maximize rewards on your major spend.

How important are cards like the United card which offers flight benefits? Marriot which offers a free night? I"m not going to go over your entire list but you need to tell us if those benefits justify those cards on their own. I, for example, have the UMPE for its flight benefits even though it isn't as good at earning rewards as UR cards.

How well are you able to take advantage of Discover's quarterly categories? Shop Discover? Are you able to make use of the 10% on Apple Pay through the end of the year? The double cash back promo?

Give us as much as possible on how you're benefitting from each of these cards -- or not. We can't tell just by looking your list.

@RyGuy46901 wrote:
I really like rewards. I am just trying to maxamize rewards and get the most out of the cards.

So what are you major spend categories? What sort of volume for each category (and for noncategory)? You can run the numbers for your spend to see if you're maxmizing rewards on your spend and you should be going over this again to help you decide what to close.

@RyGuy46901 wrote:
I want to maintain a relation with the banks

You don't need to maintain "relationship". Either you qualify or you do not. Relationship can help to a small degree in some cases but it not make or break approvals, CLI's etc on its own despite how others seem to assume it to be a major factor. Your credit profile and your income are the priamry factors.

Re: What to do with my cards?

Anonymous — Mon, 21 Dec 2015 16:32:42 GMT

Capital one will let you combine credit limits...as long as one of your cards has a zero balance...you can drop one card that way....chase will also let you move limits as well...so you cound eliminate two more that way...

Re: What to do with my cards?

RyGuy46901 — Tue, 22 Dec 2015 02:16:32 GMT

@takeshi74 wrote:
@RyGuy46901 wrote:
Hello all! Looking for some suggestions on how to combine/get rid off, etc. of all of my accounts? Please let me know your feedback!!
It is impossible to provide meaningful feedback without your needs/wants/preferences/priorities. None of this is about the cards themselves but how the cards suit the individual. You need to give us a lot more information if you want feedback.

All I can say based on your OP is do not close cards with balances. They can report as maxed.

Yes, I will not close cards with balances.

You have cards form multiple rewards programs. Do you have sufficient spend to really take advantage of all these programs are are you bogging down your rewards accumulation and redemption by spreading your spend too thin? Are you able to maximize point/mile value by using redemption methods that maximize value with each program? Or does it make sense to consolidate and focus on one prorgram? I don't see any information in follow up responses that would help us to determine this. It's something that you should be considering before applying. Don't just apply to try cover all bases. If you want to maximize rewads on spend then you need to know where your spend is going and maximize rewards on your major spend.

When I got a lot of these cards intially, it was to get the sign up bonus. I am probably spreading my spend too thin. I would imagine it would make sense to consolidate and focus on one program. I have high points balances in United and Delta right now.

How important are cards like the United card which offers flight benefits? Marriot which offers a free night? I"m not going to go over your entire list but you need to tell us if those benefits justify those cards on their own. I, for example, have the UMPE for its flight benefits even though it isn't as good at earning rewards as UR cards.

I do geenrally prefer Marriott hotels so the free night is great for me. United has recently been cutting a lot of service from my home airport so it probably makes sense to get rid of the United card. I should close it out and move the CL to what other Chase card do you think?

How well are you able to take advantage of Discover's quarterly categories? Shop Discover? Are you able to make use of the 10% on Apple Pay through the end of the year? The double cash back promo?

I do take advantage of the quarterly categories as needed. Not aware of the Shop Discvoer nor the Apple Pay nor the double cash back promo? Going to focus on paying the bal to $0 quick as possible.

Give us as much as possible on how you're benefitting from each of these cards -- or not. We can't tell just by looking your list.

I like to travel and I like cash back. I want a card that does both for me.
I am not benefitting from having a partner that does not have a lot of service- United is one.

@RyGuy46901 wrote:
I really like rewards. I am just trying to maxamize rewards and get the most out of the cards.
So what are you major spend categories? What sort of volume for each category (and for noncategory)? You can run the numbers for your spend to see if you're maxmizing rewards on your spend and you should be going over this again to help you decide what to close.

Gas, dinning out, entertainment, travel are the major spend categories

@RyGuy46901 wrote:
I want to maintain a relation with the banks
You don't need to maintain "relationship". Either you qualify or you do not. Relationship can help to a small degree in some cases but it not make or break approvals, CLI's etc on its own despite how others seem to assume it to be a major factor. Your credit profile and your income are the priamry factors.

That makes sense.