topic Re: How do you choose between closing a card and sock drawer? in Credit Cards

How do you choose between closing a card and sock drawer?

Anonymous — Mon, 28 Sep 2020 00:28:23 GMT

I have about seventeen credit cards. I am debating between sock drawing, pc-ing, or closing five of them. How do you decide what to do with your old cards? Is there a method for timing account closures? What's the strategy?

The following are in my "burn" list.

Citi AAdvantage (3k CL, opened 02/1

Amex Everyday (1k, 02/18)

Cap One Venture One (5.4k, 08/15)

Chase Amazon Prime (2k, 03/17)

Citi Brooks Brothers (2k, 04/18)

Citi TY Preferred (9.4k, 08/15)

Potential "burn"

BCP (CFU intro grocery offer)

Discover (combine limit onto another card after BT 0% is over)

Re: How do you choose between closing a card and sock drawer?

Anonymous — Mon, 28 Sep 2020 00:32:01 GMT

If it's your oldest account I'd keep it open to help AAoA, though even if you close it it will report for up to 10 years.

If there's no annual fee, there's no harm in keeping it open, other than keeping an eye on it for fraudulent use.

If there's an annual fee and you're not benefiting from the card, I'd close it or PC it to a non AF card.

If you have no use for the card at all (and won't in the future), that for me moves it closer to the "close" list.

Re: How do you choose between closing a card and sock drawer?

wasCB14 — Mon, 28 Sep 2020 00:38:20 GMT

When I moved from the northeast to CA, closing Brooks Bros was an easy call. More casual fashion and I went from two local-ish stores to zero, while the card's benefits were heavily focused on in-store shopping.

My SL was $1,260 and it went to $1,560 two or three months later...but still not enough to buy some of their suits!

For context around that $1,260...about 2 months after my approval I got a $7,500 CSP...so it's not like I had a lousy credit profile.

Re: How do you choose between closing a card and sock drawer?

Anonymous — Mon, 28 Sep 2020 00:41:06 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
If it's your oldest account I'd keep it open to help AAoA, though even if you close it it will report for up to 10 years.

If there's no annual fee, there's no harm in keeping it open, other than keeping an eye on it for fraudulent use.

If there's an annual fee and you're not benefiting from the card, I'd close it or PC it to a non AF card.

If you have no use for the card at all (and won't in the future), that for me moves it closer to the "close" list.

Good point on the oldest account point. Do AA accounts count towards the oldest line/AAoA/utilization? My oldest is on a family member's accounts as an AA. My oldest card is Disco (06/2015) and I have three other accounts opened 08/2015 that I plan to keep around for a while.

Yeah, I just don't see myself using some of those cards. E.g., I have the Amazon Synchrony card and I can't think of a reason to keep the Chase Amazon (I don't even remember why I opened the chase one).

Re: How do you choose between closing a card and sock drawer?

Anonymous — Mon, 28 Sep 2020 00:43:20 GMT

@wasCB14 wrote:
When I moved from the northeast to CA, closing Brooks Bros was an easy call. More casual fashion and I went from two local-ish stores to zero, while the card's benefits were heavily focused on in-store shopping.

My SL was $1,260 and it went to $1,560 two or three months later...but still not enough to buy some of their suits!

For context around that $1,260...about 2 months after my approval I got a $7,500 CSP...so it's not like I had a lousy credit profile.

I also moved to California. I'm in grad school right now, but when I am done, I will be in a "wear your suits" profession. I heard it is only slightly more casual here compared to East Coast - wear East Coast business casual and keep a suit in the office.

Brooks Bros filed for bankruptcy though, so we'll see if they are still around.

Re: How do you choose between closing a card and sock drawer?

ToxikPH — Mon, 28 Sep 2020 00:45:53 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
I have about seventeen credit cards. I am debating between sock drawing, pc-ing, or closing five of them. How do you decide what to do with your old cards? Is there a method for timing account closures? What's the strategy?

The following are in my "burn" list.
Citi AAdvantage (3k CL, opened 02/1x) Downgrade to $0 AF card, keep AA miles alive
Amex Everyday (1k, 02/18) Would keep if you have other MR cards but SD if not to keep balance alive
Cap One Venture One (5.4k, 08/15) PC to QS if possible as the V1 is terrible
Chase Amazon Prime (2k, 03/17) I don't use Amazon that much but this card is up to you
Citi Brooks Brothers (2k, 04/18) Never heard of it so up to you
Citi TY Preferred (9.4k, 08/15) PC into a R+ or DC if you aren't using

Potential "burn"
BCP (CFU intro grocery offer) Will be useful after the intro is over, downgrade to BCE then upgrade back later
Discover (combine limit onto another card after BT 0% is over) I fully support combining

I'm just gonna put what I would do with this line up but your situition is 100% gonna be different then mine. First some points, I main in points but have CB cards as back up. I'm a huge fan of Amex, Delta, and Hilton so Amex points is my main "currency" but do have Citi as backup.

Re: How do you choose between closing a card and sock drawer?

sxa001 — Mon, 28 Sep 2020 00:50:09 GMT

OP I think you mean AU (Authorized User) accounts and yes those count towards your average age of credit, this is one reason if someone has a good profile with cards that have been open for a long time adding you asn AU is a good idea.

In terms of deciding to sock drawer versus close an account. I don't see any harm in just putting cards in the sock drawer if there is no AF, if it is your oldest card it would be good to keep it open and use it perodically (every 3-6 months) to try to keep it open. I probably wouldn't rely soley on AU cards for my credit history, personally.

Re: How do you choose between closing a card and sock drawer?

kdm31091 — Mon, 28 Sep 2020 01:13:50 GMT

I would keep the oldest account open, and in general if no annual fee there is no pressing reason to close it as long as you're okay with keeping an eye on it for fraud. That said, it's fine to close accounts that no longer serve you a purpose.

Re: How do you choose between closing a card and sock drawer?

Anonymous — Mon, 28 Sep 2020 01:16:46 GMT

I did mean AU (I'm operating on three hours of sleep - sorry). Thanks!

I am an AU and it is about 5 years older than my oldest card. The account holder wanted to close the account but they kept it opened to keep the AAoA up.

One annoying thing is I had to take out some student loans, and it ended up happening in four disbursements. They adjusted the COA a few times, which increased how much you can take. Four separate loans instead of just two, which will really impact the AAoA. It's like a $30k loan and two $500 loans.

Re: How do you choose between closing a card and sock drawer?

Anonymous — Mon, 28 Sep 2020 01:33:55 GMT

@ToxikPH wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:

Cap One Venture One (5.4k, 08/15) PC to QS if possible as the V1 is terrible

I just checked and have an offer to PC to QS on the website, but I would not be eligible for the signup bonus. Maybe in the future I would want to just get the signup bonus? I have the CFU and Citi DC.

@ToxikPH wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:

I'm just gonna put what I would do with this line up but your situition is 100% gonna be different then mine. First some points, I main in points but have CB cards as back up. I'm a huge fan of Amex, Delta, and Hilton so Amex points is my main "currency" but do have Citi as backup.

Once I start working (in two years), I plan on doing regular trips from California to the East Coast (perhaps monthly) and the Amex plat would be great for rewards. The Chase UR partners are really great for me though, so it'll be a hard choice. If work sends me on enough travel, perhaps it will make sense for me to get both.

Why are you a big fan of Hilton? I have been using them for a while but thought that their reward system wasn't too great. I coincidentally stayed at Hilton properties in the past and racked up some points. Now, I keep an HH card around because I have 300k points, and I am aiming for 400k for a vacation. I plan on opening an Aspire sometime in the next year to get the signup bonus. After that, I think I'll hop over to Hyatt or Marriott. Is there something really great about Hilton that other hotels are missing?

This was helpful because I was thinking along similar lines. Thanks for your response - I appreciate it.

Re: How do you choose between closing a card and sock drawer?

wasCB14 — Mon, 28 Sep 2020 01:45:07 GMT

Which CA and east coast airports?

(Schwab) Amex Platinum works well for me not just for rewards but also the lounge footprint between ONT/LAX, SFO, JFK, and BOS.

Travel has stopped with COVID, but I got a nice retention offer and the card has some "stay at home" value, too.

Re: How do you choose between closing a card and sock drawer?

ToxikPH — Mon, 28 Sep 2020 01:46:24 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
@ToxikPH wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:

Cap One Venture One (5.4k, 08/15) PC to QS if possible as the V1 is terrible
I just checked and have an offer to PC to QS on the website, but I would not be eligible for the signup bonus. Maybe in the future I would want to just get the signup bonus? I have the CFU and Citi DC.
@ToxikPH wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:

I'm just gonna put what I would do with this line up but your situition is 100% gonna be different then mine. First some points, I main in points but have CB cards as back up. I'm a huge fan of Amex, Delta, and Hilton so Amex points is my main "currency" but do have Citi as backup.
Once I start working (in two years), I plan on doing regular trips from California to the East Coast (perhaps monthly) and the Amex plat would be great for rewards. The Chase UR partners are really great for me though, so it'll be a hard choice. If work sends me on enough travel, perhaps it will make sense for me to get both.

Why are you a big fan of Hilton? I have been using them for a while but thought that their reward system wasn't too great. I coincidentally stayed at Hilton properties in the past and racked up some points. Now, I keep an HH card around because I have 300k points, and I am aiming for 400k for a vacation. I plan on opening an Aspire sometime in the next year to get the signup bonus. After that, I think I'll hop over to Hyatt or Marriott. Is there something really great about Hilton that other hotels are missing?

This was helpful because I was thinking along similar lines. Thanks for your response - I appreciate it.

I'm not sure if you would like the Savor over the QS but C1 does have a two card limit so if you want the Savor card I would PC the V1 to QS as it'll be a little more useful but with F.U. and DC I'm not sure I'd use the card more than padding/age.

I'm a fan of Hilton because of their partnership with Amex and the Aspire card. I started as a fan of Amex which grew into a love of Delta so MR points became my main currency. I do prefer Hyatt honestly but don't have access to Chase cards (lol/24). If you are going MR though your two choices are Hilton and Marriott so I personally would choose Hilton as to me they seem more customer based than Marriott. If you do end up with Chase though Hyatt is a great redemption option (2cpp!) and their hotels are quite nice.

Re: How do you choose between closing a card and sock drawer?

wasCB14 — Mon, 28 Sep 2020 01:47:28 GMT

Also, one thing I like is to cluster with a small number of lenders. I'm willing to keep CFU despite it being kind of useless since I have 4 other Chase cards and I have to check the Chase site now and then anyway. But I closed my Cap1 QS after PCing because it was superfluous with my other cards and extra effort to monitor.

Re: How do you choose between closing a card and sock drawer?

Anonymous — Mon, 28 Sep 2020 02:05:52 GMT

@wasCB14 wrote:
Which CA and east coast airports?

(Schwab) Amex Platinum works well for me not just for rewards but also the lounge footprint between ONT/LAX, SFO, JFK, and BOS.

Travel has stopped with COVID, but I got a nice retention offer and the card has some "stay at home" value, too.

I would go from SFO/OAK to JFK/LAG/EWR. If I did 6-8 round trips a year, do you think it would justify getting the Plat instead of CSR? I do not think my spending in the next few years would justify getting more than one of those cards. It would be great if I could get rewards for paying off student loans - I'll have $215k when I graduate and plan on living like a college student for a while.

Re: How do you choose between closing a card and sock drawer?

Anonymous — Mon, 28 Sep 2020 02:19:34 GMT

@ToxikPH wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
Citi AAdvantage (3k CL, opened 02/1x) Downgrade to $0 AF card, keep AA miles alive
Cap One Venture One (5.4k, 08/15) PC to QS if possible as the V1 is terrible
Citi Brooks Brothers (2k, 04/18) Never heard of it so up to you
Citi TY Preferred (9.4k, 08/15) PC into a R+ or DC if you aren't using

Potential "burn"
BCP (CFU intro grocery offer) Will be useful after the intro is over, downgrade to BCE then upgrade back later

I PCed Citi TY to DC and Venture One to Quicksilver.

Citi system is "updating" and they couldn't see any PC offers for AAdvantage. AF is in March and they will not prorate refund, so I think I'll just hold onto the card until then. Since the Brooks Bros. is a co-branded card, another dept deals with that so I could not take action there.

I'll close BCP after the next statement cuts because I did an Amex offer and want to make sure that posts first.

Re: How do you choose between closing a card and sock drawer?

Anonymous — Mon, 28 Sep 2020 02:23:48 GMT

@ToxikPH wrote:
I'm a fan of Hilton because of their partnership with Amex and the Aspire card. I started as a fan of Amex which grew into a love of Delta so MR points became my main currency. I do prefer Hyatt honestly but don't have access to Chase cards (lol/24). If you are going MR though your two choices are Hilton and Marriott so I personally would choose Hilton as to me they seem more customer based than Marriott. If you do end up with Chase though Hyatt is a great redemption option (2cpp!) and their hotels are quite nice.

I "liked" Amex for their CLI. But they cut all of my limits pretty harshly over the summer. Amex cards use to make up my biggest CL but now its a pretty small part. Amex giveth, Amex taketh.

Re: How do you choose between closing a card and sock drawer?

wasCB14 — Mon, 28 Sep 2020 02:52:01 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
@wasCB14 wrote:
Which CA and east coast airports?

(Schwab) Amex Platinum works well for me not just for rewards but also the lounge footprint between ONT/LAX, SFO, JFK, and BOS.

Travel has stopped with COVID, but I got a nice retention offer and the card has some "stay at home" value, too.
I would go from SFO/OAK to JFK/LAG/EWR. If I did 6-8 round trips a year, do you think it would justify getting the Plat instead of CSR? I do not think my spending in the next few years would justify getting more than one of those cards. It would be great if I could get rewards for paying off student loans - I'll have $215k when I graduate and plan on living like a college student for a while.

If you can use the card's other features...airline extras with one airline, Uber credits, Saks credits...then I suggest you get it...at least if you tend to fly Delta or United.

Re: How do you choose between closing a card and sock drawer?

SouthJamaica — Mon, 28 Sep 2020 02:55:05 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
@ToxikPH wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:

Cap One Venture One (5.4k, 08/15) PC to QS if possible as the V1 is terrible
I just checked and have an offer to PC to QS on the website, but I would not be eligible for the signup bonus. Maybe in the future I would want to just get the signup bonus? I have the CFU and Citi DC.
@ToxikPH wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:

I'm just gonna put what I would do with this line up but your situition is 100% gonna be different then mine. First some points, I main in points but have CB cards as back up. I'm a huge fan of Amex, Delta, and Hilton so Amex points is my main "currency" but do have Citi as backup.
Once I start working (in two years), I plan on doing regular trips from California to the East Coast (perhaps monthly) and the Amex plat would be great for rewards. The Chase UR partners are really great for me though, so it'll be a hard choice. If work sends me on enough travel, perhaps it will make sense for me to get both.

Why are you a big fan of Hilton? I have been using them for a while but thought that their reward system wasn't too great. I coincidentally stayed at Hilton properties in the past and racked up some points. Now, I keep an HH card around because I have 300k points, and I am aiming for 400k for a vacation. I plan on opening an Aspire sometime in the next year to get the signup bonus. After that, I think I'll hop over to Hyatt or Marriott. Is there something really great about Hilton that other hotels are missing?

This was helpful because I was thinking along similar lines. Thanks for your response - I appreciate it.

I have all 3 of those, and definitely prefer the Hilton to Hyatt and Marriott.

But I can't say there's any magic to it, I just find it much more useful.

The Hyatt points are the most valuable, but (a) they're much harder to earn and (b) there are fewer Hyatt properties to choose from.

The Marriott points are worth only slightly more to me than the Hilton points, but are harder to come by.

I seem to always get a free full breakfast at the Hilton properties I've stayed at, but not at the other two.

Recently I had a negative experience with Marriott's points. I was planning a 2-night stay, had 1 free night award, and 37,500 points. I saw that the room I wanted, was 35k one night and 40k the other. So when I called to make the reservation I opted to use points for the 35k night and the free night award for the other. But the representative said my free night award was only good for 35k points, and I'd need to buy points to make up the difference. So I did, and they forced me to buy more points than I needed, because they only sell them 1k at a time, and charged me 1.25 cents apiece even though they were only worth 4/10 of a cent. So I had to pay $37.50 for something that was only worth $10