Short Term or Long Term Value?

[Anonymous]

I am with SouthJamaica on this. I generally only get cards that I can build and will provide ongoing benefits to me. There are a lot of apps that I have debated and almost pulled the trigger on that would be simply sub chasing with minimal benefit for use after the sub. From my perspective I want a card that I will continuously use.

[Andypanda]

Right now i am going for long term and what i call medium term benifits. I believe it is going to be a little white before i can the chse amazon prime (5/24 issues) and the citi dc with a decent sl. So i got the discove it card. I plan on using the card for a little over ayear and the sd it.  I got the cap1 qs, which had helped a lot by giving me a high cl,mand help age my AAoA. Again, I will sd it when i get the citi dc. It served its purpose beyong just a sub. Th cc might not have made a lot of money off me since i pif, but i don’t think they lost money because they get plenty of swipe fees to make up for ehater bonuses i got.

[wasCB14]

I already have cards that fit my spend well in terms of rewards and protections, so most of the value I might get from a new card is in the form of the bonus and perks.

The bonus is a short-term consideration, but several cards have valuable perks that merit the AFs: annual nights, credits, lounges, companion certificates, etc. Those are absolutely long-term considerations - just not ones that involve much ongoing spend.

It's fairly uncommon for me to get something without a nice bonus.

[Anonymous]

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@SouthJamaica wrote:

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@KLEXH25 wrote:

When you apply for a credit card, do you consider how well it will serve you in the long term? Or do you only consider your current, short term needs? I'm thinking of applying for the AMEX Gold, because I can see it serving my needs for the next year or two, but I don't know if it will continue to be valuable to me beyond that. And since the only PC options are the Green or Platinum, in all likelihood, I'll end up closing it. Would you still bother? Am I overthinking this?

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I'm of the view that it's best to get only cards you are planning to keep. It harms your credit scores too much to open and close accounts.

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In general, I tend to agree with this way of thinking... As long as the card doesn't have a killer AF, it's not doing you any harm by keeping for many years. You can just stick it in a draw, and maybe just pull it out to use it a couple of times a year just to show activity on your report, and to pick it a few points to balance out the AF, if there is one.  But yeah, seems like you'd be doing more harm than good by closing a card that is helping to build up your overall AOAs, and good payment history.  I have a $500 CL Cap One card that I don't really used anymore, since I have 7 others with much higher limits and rewards, but I am not going to close that $500 card since it has years of good payment history on it. I will just use it a few times a year to show it still has a pulse.

[Anonymous]

I guess I’m the only one who had my husband get Amex cards because I think they’re cool lol and don’t really care how much the annual fee is.

[wasCB14]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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In general, I tend to agree with this way of thinking... As long as the card doesn't have a killer AF, it's not doing you any harm by keeping for many years. You can just stick it in a draw, and maybe just pull it out to use it a couple of times a year just to show activity on your report, and to pick it a few points to balance out the AF, if there is one.  But yeah, seems like you'd be doing more harm than good by closing a card that is helping to build up your overall AOAs, and good payment history.  I have a $500 CL Cap One card that I don't really used anymore, since I have 7 others with much higher limits and rewards, but I am not going to close that $500 card since it has years of good payment history on it. I will just use it a few times a year to show it still has a pulse.

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If a card has a $39 AF (common on some old Cap1 cards) then trying to earn $39 worth of rewards on it isn't necessarily best. If someone is determined to keep an old card despite the AF, it could make more sense to spend $1 on it every few months to show activity and earn much more than $39 in rewards by directing the rest of the spend to other, better cards...cards someone may be using on an everyday basis.

Freedom is my oldest card and I'm certainly happy that there's no dilemma about whether to keep it open.

[kdm31091]

I personally wouldn't apply for a card like the Gold unless it really meets your needs. The AF isn't waived and $250 is a lot to pay for a card if you aren't sure it's really beneficial for you. "Long term" with credit cards is relative. Programs change, sometimes for the better and sometimes not. If you compare cards that were available even 5 years ago to now, there are some considerable differences. The point is that it's a fluid market. Also, your spend and lifestyle habits can and do change. For example, you may eat out a lot now, but later decide it's better to eat at home more, meaning dining rewards may become less important. At the same time, you don't want to appear to be a churner, which banks are cracking down on more and more with various algorithims, and constantly opening and closing accounts makes you look that way.

So I'm somewhere in the middle. You can't expect to make a permanent portfolio because programs change, your lifestyle and spending habits change, etc, but you also don't want to appear to be churning (and it's not great for your credit to be constantly opening and closing accounts).