Credit Card Consolidation

[AAstra]

A lot of conversation here is about card benefits and obtaining cards. However, I was curious about card consolidation and it’s effects. I currently have seven cards and am considering closing three of them. Does anyone have experience with doing several closures at one time and will it crush my credit? I know there may be the potential short term effect of my utilization percentage going up. However, wouldn’t my average age of credit go up due to the card closures being on more recently opened cards? Does anyone know of a site where I could run scenarios of closing certain cards?

Additionally, I may throw a wrench in there with the want to open a card to round out my lineup. I know it contradicts the consolidation but would put me in an ideal card spot that best fits my needs.

[HeavenOhio]

Not knowing the details, I'd say that generally speaking, your plan is fine.

Closed cards will typically remain on your report for up to 10 years or even more in some cases. Sometimes, they do drop off sooner, but that's relatively rare. In short, expect your account age stats to be unaffected in the short term. Longer term, if your oldest card is a lot older than your other cards, you might want to keep it around.

Having three open cards is good for scoring purposes, and some say that five is better. Your plan has you hitting both of those marks.

[AAstra]

Thanks Heaven! Luckily, my two oldest cards will be staying in the mix and the three I’m closing are “newer.” Planning to close a Kay card, Venture One and have considered my Amex BCE but would hate to lose the Amex relationship (Green card is through employer). I’ve also considered closing my Freedom or trying to PC it (just too much overlap of categories with my Discover card so it’s not getting much use).