I'm going to ramble a bit feel free to skip since the post will run long, but if anyone is interested in chiming in on which cards I should keep/cut let me know. So I am trying to plan out my 2020 credit path and even some thoughts on how it could impact 2021, because when it comes to cutting cards you need to make sure that your other cards can pick up the benefit slack to an acceptable amount. My focus is point redemptions on premium air travel and hotels. Below are the cards I have that I am trying to decide what to do with as well as a few I may want to pick up. Some of these cards need to go because there is just too much overlap. I'm currently 4/24
Freedom Unlimited - safe, no AF no reason to get rid of it
Freedom 5% card- safe, no AF no reason to get rid of it
Chase Hyatt card- brand new card just got for SUB. Gives a free cert each year. May put 15k spend on it this year for an additional free cert. Sometimes it provides point discount on room redemptions will probably hold it beyond the first year.
Ink cash card - x5 card. No AF. Have had this card for years. Its a good card but I am thinking of closing it to free up the credit line and reapplying for it to get another SUB.
Chase ink unlimited - only a month or two old. No AF. Will likely hold it indefinetly. Using it for 0% APR now. After first year probably won't be using it at all though, so maybe I'll close it to free up credit if need be.
Chase ink business preferred card - like 3 months old. There is an AF. Will hold it for at least a year. Will hold it longer if I get rid of CSR or maybe even keep it just for the cell phone insurance. It gives 3 times on travel.
CSR - Probably one of the cards I am struggling the most with. Renewal is supposed to be in March so if that is the case I can renew at $450. I have another two years until the bonus lockout is up on my sapphire cards. I don't put spend on this card except to use up the travel credit. Best feature is that the PP membership allows restaurant access when there is no lounge. Have had that happen twice. The meals weren't stellar but it was something. This is something Amex PP does not offer. Travel spend could go on CIP. Restaurant spend has been going on Amex gold for four points. Have a couple of cards that offer PP access.
amex business blue plus - safe. No AF good for non cat spend if not meeting spend incentive 2 pts per dollar.
Amex everyday card- Safe. No AF sits in SD.
Amex gold card- I'm not sure about this card. I just took a retention offer and met the required spend so I will have this card for another year anyway. Beyond that I do not know. I like it for the grocery spend bonus and the restaurant bonus. The $100 airline credit has become harder to use though, especially with hundreds of dollars of credits that I need to use on my other cards.I'm wondering if I might be better off PCing it to a green card (assuming I cant get the SUB on the green card again) and just using my everyday card on grocery spend. After a year maybe I will downgrade my aspire to a surpass card and use that on grocery spend since its a bonus category and try to spend 15k for the free night.
Amex hilton business surpass - Have had this card for half a year. I toyed with the idea of spending 15k on it for a free night, while I am in the garden but I'm thinking I will ditch it after the year is up.
Amex hilton No AF card - This card is in the SD. I keep it for credit util purposes but may close it if I want to apply for another amex card.
Amex Aspire card- Just took an upgrade to Aspire with a new SUB, so I will be keeping this card for another year. It will be a lower AF than the plat and CSR and still give me PP membership so maybe it could be worth holding more than one year or maybe I will downgrade it as described above to a surpass for grocery spend and wait to see if I get another upgrade offer down the line while spending towards the 15k for free night. Depends on what I do with the plat & CSR and if I need it for PP membership.
Amex ameriprise plat - the AF is coming up this year on this card. I'm not sure the best move here either. While the PP membership is subpar compare to Chase PP, the plat does offer amex centurion lounges, Delta lounges which could be handy if I decide to go for another delta amex card and a few others that chase does not. There is the airline credit which can be difficult to burn off. The saks credits I use but I wouldnt normally shop at saks. The 5x on airfare is nice but I dont have enough airfare to make that a major selling point over the 3x I can get on the CIP. I have diamond in hilton from the aspire and marriott gold doesnt get you much. I'm wondering if maybe when the AF hits I should just downgrade this to a green card and monitor to see if there are any upgrade offers in the future (how easy is it to get that kind of upgrade offer?). Thoughts on this? My concern is this. I don't know if I will hold the aspire more than a year, since the surpass may be a more appealing card long term for grocery spend. If I had the surpass for groceries and wanted to go for the free night I would probably dump the gold, but I would still need lounge access so I would need either the plat or CSR (not sure when the bonus clock resets on the citi prestige nor am I sure that is the citi card I would want to go for to get the best SUB if I did I could use that for PP membership).
Citi DC - its in the SD with one recurring small charge. When my bonus clocks reset I will go back into working on premium citi cards (I think this would be end of the year) at which time this card could get my non-bonus spend.
Barclays arrival - No Af. SD. Safe
Cap 1 Venture- Mostly SD with spend once in a blue moon. Will PC if I can't get AF waiver. My oldest open card.
New cards:
Currently working on SUBs on Aspire and Chase Hyatt cards, which will last over the next 4-6 months, especially if I go to put 15k spend on hyatt.
Beyond that: I am looking to get another Chase ink cash card after closing the one I have or maybe another CIP? Have heard they don't have a bonus clock on that not sure if that is true?
Towards the end of the year I think I will be eligible again for one of the citi TY cards. I'm currently eligible for the citi AA exec card but I am holding off on that because the SUB is not appealing for the cost of the AF, but its something I am watching. I am also considering a chase united card or IHG card if a good SUB comes out for my last 5/24 slot. As mentioned above I am also considering some of the Delta amex cards that I have not had which would go nicely with the plat delta club access. Maybe I will open a BoA alaska airliness business card. I have heard if I have a BoA account they will likely not demand all the business paperwork and they won't be as inq sensitive as they are if you apply when not having a banking relationship with them.
I don't like closing cards, but with some of these cards going for $550 pop its hard to justify keeping them all around. Sorry for rambling.
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@wasCB14 wrote:I'd keep the Ink Cash if the categories are useful for you now and then. It seems wasteful to dump a 5x/5% card, especially given that you like URs. You can always reallocate some of the CL to another business card (I think).
Unless you're using hotels.com or whatever promotions Venture has, I'd go ahead and PC to QS and not bother to request AF waivers anymore. A travel-restricted 2% card seems superfluous. You have many no-FTF cards.
Thanks for taking the time to read all that. Yes I don't really want to get rid of the ink cash since I actually use that card each month, but I am near my credit ceiling with Chase and I would want to make sure I get instant approvals if I go for other chase cards. I'll give it some thought.
In terms of the venture card its usually not a big deal for me to get the AF waived, so I don't mind a little effort. Of course, if they refused to waive the fee I would PC it and then throw the new card in the SD.
@Anonymous wrote:
With the AMEX Ameriprise Platinum - I don’t believe there is a downgrade path for this card. When there was previously an Ameriprise Gold, that was an option but since it was discontinued, that path closed. Past reported attempts of downgrade of this version of the Plat have shown AMEX to treat it as a separate family of cards.
That is unfortunate, because it would have been worthwhile to have the green card and plat at same time. Other than the regular gold and plat are any other cards able to be PC'd to the green? I guess I could close the plat and hope the gold gets an offer for an upgrade to plat. Even though I had the green card in the past before the changes I was considering taking a shot at apping for it to see if I get the popup or not. I dont mind upgrading the gold maybe but I dont think its a good idea to downgrade it since I took a retention offer like 2 or 3 months ago.
I really need to think about this now. I was on the verge of dropping the CSR, but since my renewal is at the $450 rate maybe I should hold on to it for another year and cancel the plat instead and hope I get an upgrade offer on the gold over the next year. Then when I upgrade gold to plat I can just shift my restaurant spend to the CSR. I also have the aspire that gives me a decent return on restaurant spend. There is a centurion lounge coming to JFK this year which would have been useful and I am considering some flights that run through Miami where there is another centurion.
@red259 wrote:I'm going to ramble a bit feel free to skip since the post will run long, but if anyone is interested in chiming in on which cards I should keep/cut let me know. So I am trying to plan out my 2020 credit path and even some thoughts on how it could impact 2021, because when it comes to cutting cards you need to make sure that your other cards can pick up the benefit slack to an acceptable amount. My focus is point redemptions on premium air travel and hotels. Below are the cards I have that I am trying to decide what to do with as well as a few I may want to pick up. Some of these cards need to go because there is just too much overlap. I'm currently 4/24
Freedom Unlimited - safe, no AF no reason to get rid of it
Close - Use Biz Card / Move CL
Freedom 5% card- safe, no AF no reason to get rid of it
Chase Hyatt card- brand new card just got for SUB. Gives a free cert each year. May put 15k spend on it this year for an additional free cert. Sometimes it provides point discount on room redemptions will probably hold it beyond the first year.
Ink cash card - x5 card. No AF. Have had this card for years. Its a good card but I am thinking of closing it to free up the credit line and reapplying for it to get another SUB.
Chase ink unlimited - only a month or two old. No AF. Will likely hold it indefinetly. Using it for 0% APR now. After first year probably won't be using it at all though, so maybe I'll close it to free up credit if need be.
Chase ink business preferred card - like 3 months old. There is an AF. Will hold it for at least a year. Will hold it longer if I get rid of CSR or maybe even keep it just for the cell phone insurance. It gives 3 times on travel.
Close in 1 year use CSR
CSR - Probably one of the cards I am struggling the most with. Renewal is supposed to be in March so if that is the case I can renew at $450. I have another two years until the bonus lockout is up on my sapphire cards. I don't put spend on this card except to use up the travel credit. Best feature is that the PP membership allows restaurant access when there is no lounge. Have had that happen twice. The meals weren't stellar but it was something. This is something Amex PP does not offer. Travel spend could go on CIP. Restaurant spend has been going on Amex gold for four points. Have a couple of cards that offer PP access.
amex business blue plus - safe. No AF good for non cat spend if not meeting spend incentive 2 pts per dollar.
Amex everyday card- Safe. No AF sits in SD.
Close
Amex gold card- I'm not sure about this card. I just took a retention offer and met the required spend so I will have this card for another year anyway. Beyond that I do not know. I like it for the grocery spend bonus and the restaurant bonus. The $100 airline credit has become harder to use though, especially with hundreds of dollars of credits that I need to use on my other cards.I'm wondering if I might be better off PCing it to a green card (assuming I cant get the SUB on the green card again) and just using my everyday card on grocery spend. After a year maybe I will downgrade my aspire to a surpass card and use that on grocery spend since its a bonus category and try to spend 15k for the free night.
Amex hilton business surpass - Have had this card for half a year. I toyed with the idea of spending 15k on it for a free night, while I am in the garden but I'm thinking I will ditch it after the year is up.
Close - you have aspire move CL
Amex hilton No AF card - This card is in the SD. I keep it for credit util purposes but may close it if I want to apply for another amex card.
Close
Amex Aspire card- Just took an upgrade to Aspire with a new SUB, so I will be keeping this card for another year. It will be a lower AF than the plat and CSR and still give me PP membership so maybe it could be worth holding more than one year or maybe I will downgrade it as described above to a surpass for grocery spend and wait to see if I get another upgrade offer down the line while spending towards the 15k for free night. Depends on what I do with the plat & CSR and if I need it for PP membership.
Amex ameriprise plat - the AF is coming up this year on this card. I'm not sure the best move here either. While the PP membership is subpar compare to Chase PP, the plat does offer amex centurion lounges, Delta lounges which could be handy if I decide to go for another delta amex card and a few others that chase does not. There is the airline credit which can be difficult to burn off. The saks credits I use but I wouldnt normally shop at saks. The 5x on airfare is nice but I dont have enough airfare to make that a major selling point over the 3x I can get on the CIP. I have diamond in hilton from the aspire and marriott gold doesnt get you much. I'm wondering if maybe when the AF hits I should just downgrade this to a green card and monitor to see if there are any upgrade offers in the future (how easy is it to get that kind of upgrade offer?). Thoughts on this? My concern is this. I don't know if I will hold the aspire more than a year, since the surpass may be a more appealing card long term for grocery spend. If I had the surpass for groceries and wanted to go for the free night I would probably dump the gold, but I would still need lounge access so I would need either the plat or CSR (not sure when the bonus clock resets on the citi prestige nor am I sure that is the citi card I would want to go for to get the best SUB if I did I could use that for PP membership).
Citi DC - its in the SD with one recurring small charge. When my bonus clocks reset I will go back into working on premium citi cards (I think this would be end of the year) at which time this card could get my non-bonus spend.
Close - you Amex BBP 2x MR points are better the TY points
Barclays arrival - No Af. SD. Safe
Close
Cap 1 Venture- Mostly SD with spend once in a blue moon. Will PC if I can't get AF waiver. My oldest open card.
Close
New cards:
Currently working on SUBs on Aspire and Chase Hyatt cards, which will last over the next 4-6 months, especially if I go to put 15k spend on hyatt.
Beyond that: I am looking to get another Chase ink cash card after closing the one I have or maybe another CIP? Have heard they don't have a bonus clock on that not sure if that is true?
Towards the end of the year I think I will be eligible again for one of the citi TY cards. I'm currently eligible for the citi AA exec card but I am holding off on that because the SUB is not appealing for the cost of the AF, but its something I am watching. I am also considering a chase united card or IHG card if a good SUB comes out for my last 5/24 slot. As mentioned above I am also considering some of the Delta amex cards that I have not had which would go nicely with the plat delta club access. Maybe I will open a BoA alaska airliness business card. I have heard if I have a BoA account they will likely not demand all the business paperwork and they won't be as inq sensitive as they are if you apply when not having a banking relationship with them.
I don't like closing cards, but with some of these cards going for $550 pop its hard to justify keeping them all around. Sorry for rambling.
I suggest the above and thin the herd. Stick to MR & UR points and Hilton or Hyatt for stays. I would never suggest to spend 15K on a hotel card for an additional stay because you would be taking away those dollars for MR or UR points.
You have many cards overlaping close them and move the lines and who cares about closing cards if you aren't going to use them. SDing barclays and CO does nothing for you.
Personal Cards: Amex Plat | Amex Delta Res | CSR | Citi AA Exec Business Cards: Ink+ | Amex BGR
@redpat wrote:
@red259 wrote:I'm going to ramble a bit feel free to skip since the post will run long, but if anyone is interested in chiming in on which cards I should keep/cut let me know. So I am trying to plan out my 2020 credit path and even some thoughts on how it could impact 2021, because when it comes to cutting cards you need to make sure that your other cards can pick up the benefit slack to an acceptable amount. My focus is point redemptions on premium air travel and hotels. Below are the cards I have that I am trying to decide what to do with as well as a few I may want to pick up. Some of these cards need to go because there is just too much overlap. I'm currently 4/24
Freedom Unlimited - safe, no AF no reason to get rid of it
Close - Use Biz Card / Move CL
Freedom 5% card- safe, no AF no reason to get rid of it
Chase Hyatt card- brand new card just got for SUB. Gives a free cert each year. May put 15k spend on it this year for an additional free cert. Sometimes it provides point discount on room redemptions will probably hold it beyond the first year.
Ink cash card - x5 card. No AF. Have had this card for years. Its a good card but I am thinking of closing it to free up the credit line and reapplying for it to get another SUB.
Chase ink unlimited - only a month or two old. No AF. Will likely hold it indefinetly. Using it for 0% APR now. After first year probably won't be using it at all though, so maybe I'll close it to free up credit if need be.
Chase ink business preferred card - like 3 months old. There is an AF. Will hold it for at least a year. Will hold it longer if I get rid of CSR or maybe even keep it just for the cell phone insurance. It gives 3 times on travel.
Close in 1 year use CSR
CSR - Probably one of the cards I am struggling the most with. Renewal is supposed to be in March so if that is the case I can renew at $450. I have another two years until the bonus lockout is up on my sapphire cards. I don't put spend on this card except to use up the travel credit. Best feature is that the PP membership allows restaurant access when there is no lounge. Have had that happen twice. The meals weren't stellar but it was something. This is something Amex PP does not offer. Travel spend could go on CIP. Restaurant spend has been going on Amex gold for four points. Have a couple of cards that offer PP access.
amex business blue plus - safe. No AF good for non cat spend if not meeting spend incentive 2 pts per dollar.
Amex everyday card- Safe. No AF sits in SD.
Close
Amex gold card- I'm not sure about this card. I just took a retention offer and met the required spend so I will have this card for another year anyway. Beyond that I do not know. I like it for the grocery spend bonus and the restaurant bonus. The $100 airline credit has become harder to use though, especially with hundreds of dollars of credits that I need to use on my other cards.I'm wondering if I might be better off PCing it to a green card (assuming I cant get the SUB on the green card again) and just using my everyday card on grocery spend. After a year maybe I will downgrade my aspire to a surpass card and use that on grocery spend since its a bonus category and try to spend 15k for the free night.
Amex hilton business surpass - Have had this card for half a year. I toyed with the idea of spending 15k on it for a free night, while I am in the garden but I'm thinking I will ditch it after the year is up.
Close - you have aspire move CL
Amex hilton No AF card - This card is in the SD. I keep it for credit util purposes but may close it if I want to apply for another amex card.
Close
Amex Aspire card- Just took an upgrade to Aspire with a new SUB, so I will be keeping this card for another year. It will be a lower AF than the plat and CSR and still give me PP membership so maybe it could be worth holding more than one year or maybe I will downgrade it as described above to a surpass for grocery spend and wait to see if I get another upgrade offer down the line while spending towards the 15k for free night. Depends on what I do with the plat & CSR and if I need it for PP membership.
Amex ameriprise plat - the AF is coming up this year on this card. I'm not sure the best move here either. While the PP membership is subpar compare to Chase PP, the plat does offer amex centurion lounges, Delta lounges which could be handy if I decide to go for another delta amex card and a few others that chase does not. There is the airline credit which can be difficult to burn off. The saks credits I use but I wouldnt normally shop at saks. The 5x on airfare is nice but I dont have enough airfare to make that a major selling point over the 3x I can get on the CIP. I have diamond in hilton from the aspire and marriott gold doesnt get you much. I'm wondering if maybe when the AF hits I should just downgrade this to a green card and monitor to see if there are any upgrade offers in the future (how easy is it to get that kind of upgrade offer?). Thoughts on this? My concern is this. I don't know if I will hold the aspire more than a year, since the surpass may be a more appealing card long term for grocery spend. If I had the surpass for groceries and wanted to go for the free night I would probably dump the gold, but I would still need lounge access so I would need either the plat or CSR (not sure when the bonus clock resets on the citi prestige nor am I sure that is the citi card I would want to go for to get the best SUB if I did I could use that for PP membership).
Citi DC - its in the SD with one recurring small charge. When my bonus clocks reset I will go back into working on premium citi cards (I think this would be end of the year) at which time this card could get my non-bonus spend.
Close - you Amex BBP 2x MR points are better the TY points
Barclays arrival - No Af. SD. Safe
Close
Cap 1 Venture- Mostly SD with spend once in a blue moon. Will PC if I can't get AF waiver. My oldest open card.
Close
New cards:
Currently working on SUBs on Aspire and Chase Hyatt cards, which will last over the next 4-6 months, especially if I go to put 15k spend on hyatt.
Beyond that: I am looking to get another Chase ink cash card after closing the one I have or maybe another CIP? Have heard they don't have a bonus clock on that not sure if that is true?
Towards the end of the year I think I will be eligible again for one of the citi TY cards. I'm currently eligible for the citi AA exec card but I am holding off on that because the SUB is not appealing for the cost of the AF, but its something I am watching. I am also considering a chase united card or IHG card if a good SUB comes out for my last 5/24 slot. As mentioned above I am also considering some of the Delta amex cards that I have not had which would go nicely with the plat delta club access. Maybe I will open a BoA alaska airliness business card. I have heard if I have a BoA account they will likely not demand all the business paperwork and they won't be as inq sensitive as they are if you apply when not having a banking relationship with them.
I don't like closing cards, but with some of these cards going for $550 pop its hard to justify keeping them all around. Sorry for rambling.
I suggest the above and thin the herd. Stick to MR & UR points and Hilton or Hyatt for stays. I would never suggest to spend 15K on a hotel card for an additional stay because you would be taking away those dollars for MR or UR points.
You have many cards overlaping close them and move the lines and who cares about closing cards if you aren't going to use them. SDing barclays and CO does nothing for you.
It helps with credit util and CO especially is my oldest card but both are significantly helping with account ages.