topic Re: I feel I have too many(8) credit cards. Considering letting 2 or 3 go. Suggestions? in Credit Cards

I feel I have too many(8) credit cards. Considering letting 2 or 3 go. Suggestions?

Anonymous — Wed, 14 Dec 2016 21:08:41 GMT

I am 26 yo. I opened my first credit card in 2012 and accumulated a bunch of cards till now. My credit scores are in the range of 770 - 800. No baddies, no other types of credit. I have total credit of $ 60k across the cards and utilization <1%. I PIF so I don't really care about apr.

I have 8 cards but mostly use Citi DC and put small spend on others, every couple of months so they stay active. I am considering stopping utilization on 2-3 cards so they become inactive inactive. I think it wont have a major impact on my credit, but I would like to hear the thoughts of this community.

Discover. CL $2,500. Age 4 yr 1 mo. Definitely keeping this active- its my oldest card
Cap one QS. $3,500. 3 yr 4 mo. Will keep it active - hassle free 1.5% CB
BoA 321 cash rewards. $4,200. 3 yr 3 mo. Was my gas card, so saw a fair bit of use. Not anymore.
Chase Freedom. $5,000. 2 yr 7 mo. I can't see myself using this card. 5% categories are a hassle
Citi DC. $5800. 1 yr 10 mo. 2% CB yay!
Amex BCE $22,000. 1 yr 6 mo. Keeping this card for Primary car rental insurance
BoA BBR. $10,000. 2mo. good rewards $25 every 3 months
Barclays Upromise. $10,000. 2mo. Lot of hoops to jump through for rewards. Not worth it.

I don't use the BoA 321 card anymore, so I will combine it with BBR and see if I can keep 3 yrs of history. I am definitely letting go Upromise, not worth my time. Maybe I can pc it to Barclays Ring or let it go inactive. Chase Freedom rotating categories are too much effort, I took it for the into 0% apr when I was in college, it was good while it lasted.

Re: I feel I have too many(8) credit cards. Considering letting 2 or 3 go. Suggestions?

driftless — Wed, 14 Dec 2016 21:16:32 GMT

Looks like a good, well thought out plan! I am a believer in fewer but better cards and letting go those that have served their purpose. My cards are in my sig, plus one biz card.

Good luck!

Re: I feel I have too many(8) credit cards. Considering letting 2 or 3 go. Suggestions?

SouthJamaica — Wed, 14 Dec 2016 21:16:56 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
I am 26 yo. I opened my first credit card in 2012 and accumulated a bunch of cards till now. My credit scores are in the range of 770 - 800. No baddies, no other types of credit. I have total credit of $ 60k across the cards and utilization <1%. I PIF so I don't really care about apr.

I have 8 cards but mostly use Citi DC and put small spend on others, every couple of months so they stay active. I am considering stopping utilization on 2-3 cards so they become inactive inactive. I think it wont have a major impact on my credit, but I would like to hear the thoughts of this community.

Discover. CL $2,500. Age 4 yr 1 mo. Definitely keeping this active- its my oldest card
Cap one QS. $3,500. 3 yr 4 mo. Will keep it active - hassle free 1.5% CB
BoA 321 cash rewards. $4,200. 3 yr 3 mo. Was my gas card, so saw a fair bit of use. Not anymore.
Chase Freedom. $5,000. 2 yr 7 mo. I can't see myself using this card. 5% categories are a hassle
Citi DC. $5800. 1 yr 10 mo. 2% CB yay!
Amex BCE $22,000. 1 yr 6 mo. Keeping this card for Primary car rental insurance
BoA BBR. $10,000. 2mo. good rewards $25 every 3 months
Barclays Upromise. $10,000. 2mo. Lot of hoops to jump through for rewards. Not worth it.
I don't use the BoA 321 card anymore, so I will combine it with BBR and see if I can keep 3 yrs of history. I am definitely letting go Upromise, not worth my time. Maybe I can pc it to Barclays Ring or let it go inactive. Chase Freedom rotating categories are too much effort, I took it for the into 0% apr when I was in college, it was good while it lasted.

Barclays doesn't do PC's. You'd have to apply for the Ring, then move the limit over.

Re: I feel I have too many(8) credit cards. Considering letting 2 or 3 go. Suggestions?

austinguy907 — Wed, 14 Dec 2016 22:18:06 GMT

Looking at things I'm going to say you should probably pester Discover a little bit and collect some money to replace those limits you're trimming.

http://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Credit-Cards/Discover-unOfficial-Data-Points/td-p/4802538

Re: I feel I have too many(8) credit cards. Considering letting 2 or 3 go. Suggestions?

Anonymous — Wed, 14 Dec 2016 23:27:08 GMT

@austinguy907 wrote:
Looking at things I'm going to say you should probably pester Discover a little bit and collect some money to replace those limits you're trimming.

http://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Credit-Cards/Discover-unOfficial-Data-Points/td-p/4802538

Thanks for the link. Definietely food for thought. I started with Discover CL of $800 and I think I asked for CLI once. I also had a few auto CLI's to make my final CL of $2500.

Maybe I can increase my Discover CL by a decent bit by the time the useless cards become inactive

Re: I feel I have too many(8) credit cards. Considering letting 2 or 3 go. Suggestions?

austinguy907 — Wed, 14 Dec 2016 23:33:36 GMT

4YO and only 1 CLI request means you should do it whenever you have a chance. They will probably boost you up over 10K in a couple of clicks. Shocking that the auto CLI's didn't amount to more but, then again you did start off under 1K and possibly have a Student version still. If it's still a Student version though then hop on chat and convert it over to a regular IT or Chrome and then hit the CLI button. Etiher way you have some money on the table waiting for you to collect it.

Re: I feel I have too many(8) credit cards. Considering letting 2 or 3 go. Suggestions?

Anonymous — Wed, 14 Dec 2016 23:44:58 GMT

@driftless wrote:
Looks like a good, well thought out plan! I am a believer in fewer but better cards and letting go those that have served their purpose. My cards are in my sig, plus one biz card.

Good luck!

Thank you. "fewer but better" this is definitely the phrase that summarises my beliefs regarding credit cards.

I see you have some premium cards- PRG, CSR. I understand they come with nice travel benefits. Do you travel a lot? I want to do some international travel for summer next year. I will probably get one of those premium cards.

PRG is a great looking card.

Re: I feel I have too many(8) credit cards. Considering letting 2 or 3 go. Suggestions?

Anonymous — Wed, 14 Dec 2016 23:50:53 GMT

@austinguy907 wrote:
4YO and only 1 CLI request means you should do it whenever you have a chance. They will probably boost you up over 10K in a couple of clicks. Shocking that the auto CLI's didn't amount to more but, then again you did start off under 1K and possibly have a Student version still. If it's still a Student version though then hop on chat and convert it over to a regular IT or Chrome and then hit the CLI button. Etiher way you have some money on the table waiting for you to collect it.

Can I check by myself if my card is a student version one? How do I do that.

I just realised it is highly likely my card is a student card. My 2nd card Cap one also started as Journey card and was auto upgraded to QS

Re: I feel I have too many(8) credit cards. Considering letting 2 or 3 go. Suggestions?

austinguy907 — Thu, 15 Dec 2016 00:01:12 GMT

I don't think there's anything on the card that says student on it per se. I've seen some recent posts though saying ti doesn't really matter but, it's always good to check it out if it hinders growth in the CL. Sometimes student cards are limited to how far they can go due to knowing students usually don't have the income to supprot higher limits.

Re: I feel I have too many(8) credit cards. Considering letting 2 or 3 go. Suggestions?

Anonymous — Thu, 15 Dec 2016 06:08:35 GMT

Check Discover and CapOne for CLI. Both soft pulls to check. No harm if you don't get one.

Re: I feel I have too many(8) credit cards. Considering letting 2 or 3 go. Suggestions?

wasCB14 — Thu, 15 Dec 2016 06:15:03 GMT

Is the QS for when you need a Visa? Or no FTFs?

The DC may possibly make it of limited value.

Re: I feel I have too many(8) credit cards. Considering letting 2 or 3 go. Suggestions?

driftless — Thu, 15 Dec 2016 14:39:26 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
@driftless wrote:
Looks like a good, well thought out plan! I am a believer in fewer but better cards and letting go those that have served their purpose. My cards are in my sig, plus one biz card.

Good luck!
Thank you. "fewer but better" this is definitely the phrase that summarises my beliefs regarding credit cards.

I see you have some premium cards- PRG, CSR. I understand they come with nice travel benefits. Do you travel a lot? I want to do some international travel for summer next year. I will probably get one of those premium cards.

PRG is a great looking card.

Yes, we travel a lot, my wife travels much more than I do for business. We are in the Chicago area and we are pretty tied to Chase and United, we have lifetime status on United. I like PRG, while I won't be booking air tickets through Amex, Amex did pick up some nice hotel rooms when we were recently in Victoria, B.C. PRG gets used for gas and groceries stores a lot. Platinum's perks don't help us at all. The Venture is newly PC'd from QuickSilver. I go up Wisconsin a lot to hike, fly fish, photograph, etc. I plan on using Venture to pay for some of the costs of the small hotels and cabins that I stay in. Freedom only comes out for category spending and it has some reoccurring bills on it.

I generally just carry 3 cards, it is pretty simple to keep track of.

Re: I feel I have too many(8) credit cards. Considering letting 2 or 3 go. Suggestions?

Anonymous — Thu, 15 Dec 2016 14:57:04 GMT

Nice. I will be looking to some nice travel cards as well for my 2017 travel.

If you don't mind me asking what did you do with your starter cards? Did you eventually PC them to the premium cards you have now? like with QS -> Venture. I don't use my Discover and CapOne QS cards anymore, but I can't close them as they are my oldest credit accounts.

Re: I feel I have too many(8) credit cards. Considering letting 2 or 3 go. Suggestions?

Anonymous — Thu, 15 Dec 2016 15:03:57 GMT

@wasCB14 wrote:
Is the QS for when you need a Visa? Or no FTFs?

The DC may possibly make it of limited value.

Yes, I plan to use QS for future travel. I think it is the only no FTF card I have. I might get a CSR or an Amex travel card later, then the QS will become redundant.

I dont use my Discover and QS anymore, but they are my oldest accts so I think I will keep them active for now. Maybe I can close them when my other accounts age?

Re: I feel I have too many(8) credit cards. Considering letting 2 or 3 go. Suggestions?

driftless — Thu, 15 Dec 2016 15:38:07 GMT

I have closed all of starter or rebuilding cards except those from Cap One which were combined. I think that closing starter and rebuilding cards is an important part of the rebuilding process. Yes, you can close your cards, they still positively affect AAoA.

Re: I feel I have too many(8) credit cards. Considering letting 2 or 3 go. Suggestions?

Anonymous — Sat, 17 Dec 2016 17:47:00 GMT

I am a bit anal-retentive (with everything, not just this) and thus I have a card for pretty much any use:

1) CSP - Dining/general spend

2) Amex Plat - 5 pts/$ on airfare

3) Discover IT - category spending for 5% back until i hit cap - use this a bit more now because I'm still in first year - after that probably strictly category spend

4) Amex BCP - 6% back on groceries

5) USAA MC Rewards - 5% back on gas

6) US Bank Cash Plus - 5% back on fast food and movie tickets

7) Home depot - I use this strictly for the return policy and the interest free on larger items

I have several other cards with larger limits but those are more of an emergency use stuff. I would consider the USAA Unlimited (2.5% cash back on everything) if they expand it next year all members.

Re: I feel I have too many(8) credit cards. Considering letting 2 or 3 go. Suggestions?

Anonymous — Sat, 17 Dec 2016 21:02:36 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
I am 26 yo. I opened my first credit card in 2012 and accumulated a bunch of cards till now. My credit scores are in the range of 770 - 800. No baddies, no other types of credit. I have total credit of $ 60k across the cards and utilization <1%. I PIF so I don't really care about apr.

I have 8 cards but mostly use Citi DC and put small spend on others, every couple of months so they stay active. I am considering stopping utilization on 2-3 cards so they become inactive inactive. I think it wont have a major impact on my credit, but I would like to hear the thoughts of this community.

Discover. CL $2,500. Age 4 yr 1 mo. Definitely keeping this active- its my oldest card
Cap one QS. $3,500. 3 yr 4 mo. Will keep it active - hassle free 1.5% CB
BoA 321 cash rewards. $4,200. 3 yr 3 mo. Was my gas card, so saw a fair bit of use. Not anymore.
Chase Freedom. $5,000. 2 yr 7 mo. I can't see myself using this card. 5% categories are a hassle
Citi DC. $5800. 1 yr 10 mo. 2% CB yay!
Amex BCE $22,000. 1 yr 6 mo. Keeping this card for Primary car rental insurance
BoA BBR. $10,000. 2mo. good rewards $25 every 3 months
Barclays Upromise. $10,000. 2mo. Lot of hoops to jump through for rewards. Not worth it.
I don't use the BoA 321 card anymore, so I will combine it with BBR and see if I can keep 3 yrs of history. I am definitely letting go Upromise, not worth my time. Maybe I can pc it to Barclays Ring or let it go inactive. Chase Freedom rotating categories are too much effort, I took it for the into 0% apr when I was in college, it was good while it lasted.

You wont be able to easily to combine the 321 into the BBR and keep the history AFAIK. You could try to ask for a PC every few weeks on the 321 to a BBR. The upromise maybe you can PC to a cash forward card if not, close it. Its only 2 months old though so are you just having "buyers remorse"?

Don't close the freedom. If its cash back you are wanting you will want that relationship with chase to get better approvals for their other cards. It would take a ton of spending to get back $1150 in cash on a 1.5 or 2% card....57-76k.....

Re: I feel I have too many(8) credit cards. Considering letting 2 or 3 go. Suggestions?

Anonymous — Mon, 19 Dec 2016 05:16:57 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
I am a bit anal-retentive (with everything, not just this) and thus I have a card for pretty much any use:

1) CSP - Dining/general spend
2) Amex Plat - 5 pts/$ on airfare
3) Discover IT - category spending for 5% back until i hit cap - use this a bit more now because I'm still in first year - after that probably strictly category spend
4) Amex BCP - 6% back on groceries
5) USAA MC Rewards - 5% back on gas
6) US Bank Cash Plus - 5% back on fast food and movie tickets
7) Home depot - I use this strictly for the return policy and the interest free on larger items

I have several other cards with larger limits but those are more of an emergency use stuff. I would consider the USAA Unlimited (2.5% cash back on everything) if they expand it next year all members.

You have some great optimization going on there!

But a don't a lot of those cards have mimimum reward redemption amount? like $25 or $50. And Amex BCP is worse AFAIK, you can only redeem in $25 multiples. So a lot of rewards CB are spread out across cards. How do you deal with that?

Also how many cards do you carry?

Re: I feel I have too many(8) credit cards. Considering letting 2 or 3 go. Suggestions?

Anonymous — Mon, 19 Dec 2016 05:28:50 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
I am 26 yo. I opened my first credit card in 2012 and accumulated a bunch of cards till now. My credit scores are in the range of 770 - 800. No baddies, no other types of credit. I have total credit of $ 60k across the cards and utilization <1%. I PIF so I don't really care about apr.

I have 8 cards but mostly use Citi DC and put small spend on others, every couple of months so they stay active. I am considering stopping utilization on 2-3 cards so they become inactive inactive. I think it wont have a major impact on my credit, but I would like to hear the thoughts of this community.

Discover. CL $2,500. Age 4 yr 1 mo. Definitely keeping this active- its my oldest card
Cap one QS. $3,500. 3 yr 4 mo. Will keep it active - hassle free 1.5% CB
BoA 321 cash rewards. $4,200. 3 yr 3 mo. Was my gas card, so saw a fair bit of use. Not anymore.
Chase Freedom. $5,000. 2 yr 7 mo. I can't see myself using this card. 5% categories are a hassle
Citi DC. $5800. 1 yr 10 mo. 2% CB yay!
Amex BCE $22,000. 1 yr 6 mo. Keeping this card for Primary car rental insurance
BoA BBR. $10,000. 2mo. good rewards $25 every 3 months
Barclays Upromise. $10,000. 2mo. Lot of hoops to jump through for rewards. Not worth it.
I don't use the BoA 321 card anymore, so I will combine it with BBR and see if I can keep 3 yrs of history. I am definitely letting go Upromise, not worth my time. Maybe I can pc it to Barclays Ring or let it go inactive. Chase Freedom rotating categories are too much effort, I took it for the into 0% apr when I was in college, it was good while it lasted.

You wont be able to easily to combine the 321 into the BBR and keep the history AFAIK. You could try to ask for a PC every few weeks on the 321 to a BBR. The upromise maybe you can PC to a cash forward card if not, close it. Its only 2 months old though so are you just having "buyers remorse"?

Don't close the freedom. If its cash back you are wanting you will want that relationship with chase to get better approvals for their other cards. It would take a ton of spending to get back $1150 in cash on a 1.5 or 2% card....57-76k.....

I haven't combined cards before. I didn't realise BOA would cause trouble. Thanks for the heads up.

I got the Upromise for the 5+% CB on some of the local restaurants. But the CB don't easily post, I had to call CSRs couple of times. Not worth it.

I plan let Freedom go inactive, not close. But I see what you are saying, I had my eye on CSP/CSR for a while. Maybe I will hang on to it for now