I see several members here that have 6+ credit cards (and many with mostly bank CCs) and some with as many as 10! And let’s say assuming not everyone in this category is making more than $200K a year, are you guys keeping zero balances? Because wouldn’t providers frown on you not utilizing the CL?
My main question (as I’m genuinely curious) if you fit this category— What are your top 3 benefits and top 3 drawbacks to having that many cards? Does it help with securing a mortgage, is it now a fun hobby, etc etc? And what, if you have any, is your strategy to maintain or utilize them (aside from figuring which card to use for better rewards)?
Would love to hear from many of you! 🤓
My main question (as I’m genuinely curious) if you fit this category— What are your top 3 benefits and top 3 drawbacks to having that many cards? Does it help with securing a mortgage, is it now a fun hobby, etc etc? And what, if you have any, is your strategy to maintain or utilize them (aside from figuring which card to use for better rewards)?
Would love to hear from many of you! 🤓
personal
biz
Start 1/1/19
Best 11/15/21
Current rebuild
Picked up my 7th card just yesterday and definitely don't make $200K a year
I started out with only 1 card and it stayed that way for 5 years. Then I picked up 3 cards within a month because I got lured in by the SUBs and the spending categorries matched my expenditure patterns perfectly. (Amazon Prime, Discover It, Uber Visa)
Then I started to wander into the world of churning, and looked for cards with generous SUBs and/or benefits, so I got myself a BoA Premium Rewards (for the $500 after 3k spend bonus) and an Ameriprise Plat (basically a $0 AF first year Amex Plat). I realized how lucrative churning SUBs was, so I applied for a BoA Travel Rewards ($250 after 1k spend) because I have a huge payment coming and could easily meet the 1k spend within days.
Top 3 benefits? Getting literally free money (it's tax free!!!) for doing basically nothing, maximizing my bonus categories to cover 95% of my spending, and certain "fringe benefits" like purchase/price/return protection if and when I might need them.
Top 3 drawbacks? Keeping track of cards becomes a headache after the 5th one, especially if you try to micromanage and stick to AZEO (I don't anymore, too much effort for essentially no gain); more cards = higher risk of getting compromised; some banks frown up credit seeking behavior and you may experience AA from a conservative lender.
The benefits far outweight the drawbacks though, and I'm going to continue to churn SUBs for as long as lenders are willing to approve me for the cards. 
Some people here are cray cray (jk, jk...) with the number of cards and limits they have. For me, I have multiple cards for multiple categories of spend, so I'm aiming to get the best return for my dollar with the credit profile I have. Some were older, way before I joined this site (Amazon Prime, Discover for students) just to get credit. About 3 years ago I was stupid and app'd for any card I could while dealing with high utilization (those now closed Cap1 cards) so I'm still "rebuilding" from that (not near as bad as that some people have to/gone through).
High limits are nice for high spend items. I rarely go over $500 on my USAA card, but if I had to for a month, I have that limit to use when necessary.
Keep in mind I'm a engineering college student working as a pharmacy technician...I don't have the spend some of the others members here have...yet
High limits are nice for high spend items. I rarely go over $500 on my USAA card, but if I had to for a month, I have that limit to use when necessary.
Keep in mind I'm a engineering college student working as a pharmacy technician...I don't have the spend some of the others members here have...yet
@Anonymous wrote:Mostly a fun hobby. I have 17 cards (I think) and only carry about $40k on 0% cards, outside of that I don't carry any interest-bearing balance.
Top three benefits-
-Fun managing because I'm a nerd
-Lots of benefits and cash back
-Lots of options depending on what scenarios I run into
Top three drawbacks-
-Always lol/24 so no CSR option
-Sometimes miss a prime SUB because I opted to get a card before announced
-Need multiple wallets and have to plan ahead purchases because of it (there's no way I'm carrying that many cards daily)
I've had zero AA, so as long as you manage your balances within reasonable utilization that's pretty much a non-factor. Almost all of my cards come in handy at least once or twice a year, so I haven't experienced any AA based on lack of usage either. No real strategy for me, I have a running spreadsheet that keeps me abreast of what cards have what balances/utilization and most everything with stellar rewards are set as automatic payments. Just got a mortgage in November and the conversation was never even broached so I can't say it's positive or negative in that aspect.
1. Buy Samsung smartphone
2. Add cards to Samsung Pay
3. Use everywhere because MST >>>>>> NFC
4. ???
5. Profit!
Bonus: Watch Google and Apple fans QQ on the sidelines while you tap your way through checkout 
I'll add that some lenders can look down on high CL with low spend, but it typically seems to only come up when the card is never used except for a 0.99 Amazon GC to keep it alive or when a lender is reducing risk across the board (like what Amex is doing right now).
Worst thing for me was not keeping track of what rewards each card has lol...I have two 2% er'y thing cards and two 5% CB gas cards because of my oversight. Sometimes I worry about the increased risk of credit fraud as well will multiple lines, but I monitor ever card at least weekly. I haven't gotten to the point where I need to plan expenses ahead yet, besides grabbing my Ducks card out of the SD for a run to Cabela's. I'm sure that aspect will get more annoying with more cards later down the line...I haven't even touched the travel/hotel CCs yet
Worst thing for me was not keeping track of what rewards each card has lol...I have two 2% er'y thing cards and two 5% CB gas cards because of my oversight. Sometimes I worry about the increased risk of credit fraud as well will multiple lines, but I monitor ever card at least weekly. I haven't gotten to the point where I need to plan expenses ahead yet, besides grabbing my Ducks card out of the SD for a run to Cabela's. I'm sure that aspect will get more annoying with more cards later down the line...I haven't even touched the travel/hotel CCs yet
I wish I was in this world of CC/FICO gardening when i was in college. Took me years to learn and to finally care. And then it took only 4 months to get smart from what I learned on this forum.
I feel like I’m going down the geeky rabbit hole like I used to do in some old mobile device/phone forums back in the day (pre-iPhone). 17 cards....Wow. “Multiple wallets” cracked me up. Not sure I’ll go that far but I do get an itch to apply to a card just because haha.
@arkane wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:Mostly a fun hobby. I have 17 cards (I think) and only carry about $40k on 0% cards, outside of that I don't carry any interest-bearing balance.
Top three benefits-
-Fun managing because I'm a nerd
-Lots of benefits and cash back
-Lots of options depending on what scenarios I run into
Top three drawbacks-
-Always lol/24 so no CSR option
-Sometimes miss a prime SUB because I opted to get a card before announced
-Need multiple wallets and have to plan ahead purchases because of it (there's no way I'm carrying that many cards daily)
I've had zero AA, so as long as you manage your balances within reasonable utilization that's pretty much a non-factor. Almost all of my cards come in handy at least once or twice a year, so I haven't experienced any AA based on lack of usage either. No real strategy for me, I have a running spreadsheet that keeps me abreast of what cards have what balances/utilization and most everything with stellar rewards are set as automatic payments. Just got a mortgage in November and the conversation was never even broached so I can't say it's positive or negative in that aspect.
1. Buy Samsung smartphone
2. Add cards to Samsung Pay
3. Use everywhere because MST >>>>>> NFC
4. ???
5. Profit!
Bonus: Watch Google and Apple fans QQ on the sidelines while you tap your way through checkout
I've been real slow to pick up on some of the newer technology but I just started up Samsung Pay a couple of weeks ago and I'm trying to get familiar with it. I pre-ordered the new Active watch and I'm pretty excited to get it up and running whenever it arrives. I feel like that would help give me more freedom with my cards as well tbh.