Easy ways to keep a CC active & avoid closure or CLD

[Anonymous]

Thanks for this. Two years ago I paid my Synchrony off and didn't use them for like three months. They closed all my accounts. 

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

I always suggest just taking all of your SD cards to anywhere with a self checkout once every 3-6 months... a place like the grocery store, Home Depot, Target, wherever.  Take out each SD card at the self checkout and swipe it.  It will bring up your total... "$150, correct?" and you hit "no" and type in $3.00 or whatever.  Next card, repeat the process until you're done with all of the cards getting a minor swipe.  Finish off the remaining $140 or whatever on your grocery/HD/Target card or whatever best suits that spend. 

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I think Amazon reloads are a lot easier, as you can do it from home

[sxa001]

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@sladesurfer wrote:

Mobile Wallet for me. Half of my card apple watch and other half on my iphone...Use it at my works Vending machines

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 I will second this one, adding the cards that you can to Android Pay or Apple Pay makes it really easy to rotate cards, anytime I see the Contactless symbol I try to pay with my watch or phone and I can quickly flip to whatever card I want to use.

My Marriot card is my only non-store card that doesn't regularly get any love since I have it almost exclusively for hotels, during a normal travel year it gets used almost every month for either work or personal travel.  I have my Marriot tied to my lunch drop account so it would get a few lunches a month even if I didn't have any hotel spend.  Of course I haven't been in a hotel or the office since March so I have put some grocery spend on it.  Having less cards does help, but I do see now my last charge is from July 26th, so I probably need to get something on it soon.  

We'll see how long Comenity keeps my blue nile card open, I received the courtesy email from them and made a $50 purchase for a bracelet for my wife earlier this summer, but I got the card simply for 0% APR offer on engagement/wedding rings, the issue I have is that if it closes that is a near 10% drop in my overall revolving CL.  Maybe I should buy their cheapest piece of jewelry every 3-6 months haha! 

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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I think Amazon reloads are a lot easier, as you can do it from home

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To each their own I suppose.  I've never done an Amazon reload / don't ever use GCs for anything, so for me it's just not my thing.  Most people go to the grocery store regularly, so it's not like a special trip needs to be made every 3-6 months to accomplish the self-checkout method and the entire process takes about 10 seconds per card.

[601flyguy]

I have store cards that Ive had for years and never used. I just pay $1 every 6 months or so and that keeps them active. 

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

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I think Amazon reloads are a lot easier, as you can do it from home

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To each their own I suppose.  I've never done an Amazon reload / don't ever use GCs for anything, so for me it's just not my thing.  Most people go to the grocery store regularly, so it's not like a special trip needs to be made every 3-6 months to accomplish the self-checkout method and the entire process takes about 10 seconds per card.

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If you never use amazon then obviously not a good match.   But it's nothing to do with gift cards per se (despite the Amazon terminology).   Basically you are just adding to your Amazon balance that is then used for the next purchase.

[ccquest]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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If you never use amazon then obviously not a good match.   But it's nothing to do with gift cards per se (despite the Amazon terminology).   Basically you are just adding to your Amazon balance that is then used for the next purchase.

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Also a great way to meet requirements for banks that need X transactions on a debit card per month to earn Y. If you regularly buy on Amazon, it is just moving some of the expense to a different time and not costing you anything more. Same thing with internet/utility bills if the company supports it (mine does).

[Anonymous]

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@ccquest wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

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If you never use amazon then obviously not a good match.   But it's nothing to do with gift cards per se (despite the Amazon terminology).   Basically you are just adding to your Amazon balance that is then used for the next purchase.

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Also a great way to meet requirements for banks that need X transactions on a debit card per month to earn Y. If you regularly buy on Amazon, it is just moving some of the expense to a different time and not costing you anything more. Same thing with internet/utility bills if the company supports it (mine does).

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Depending on which cards you have, it might cost a little more, as you lose some of the say 5% you could earn using an Amazon card.    But even if you have to use a no rewards card, losing 5% of 50c every now and then isn't going to make a lot of difference!

[SecretAzure]

I didn't know about Amazon Reloads. This seems like an ideal way to keep cards active. Does anyone know if this would be viewed badly by Chase during Freedom's 5% CB on Amazon? It seems kind of like MS but I'm not sure. 

[Credit12Fico]

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@SecretAzure wrote:

I didn't know about Amazon Reloads. This seems like an ideal way to keep cards active. Does anyone know if this would be viewed badly by Chase during Freedom's 5% CB on Amazon? It seems kind of like MS but I'm not sure. 

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You are just pre-paying Amazon. It's not MS.

MS is buying things that can be converted to cash and using that to pay off the credit card, rinse and repeat for points.