@revvystoke wrote:
No experience with Chase and Citi & Amex with sockdrawered. I would hate to be cld'd due to inactivity and would definately hate my cr to show closed by lender for inactivity.
What do I need to do to keep these accounts open once I get past the bonus spending requirements? Would I be safe with a few purchases in a year or a small bt and pay slightly above min's. No prior relationship with them so don't know how picky they are, thanks.
Is there a reason why you're not using those cards? CSP has really good benefits / rewards. As for Simplicity and your Delta Amex, you can get it changed to another type of card that benefits you in some way, as long as the account is >13 months.
And to answer your original question, usually it has to be inactive for 6-24 months. The exact duration can vary for each lender. The best way to find out is to call in and ask. Just cook up some reason why you might not be able to use the card for an extended period of time (i.e. working overseas for a year or two), and they'll tell you how long it will take for the account to be closed to inactivity.
The safest way is to charge something every 3-6 months. You could just buy something online, and then cancel the online order after the merchant makes the authorization charge. The authorization charge will fall off after 4-5 business days then.
As for CLD, it really depends. They might if they deem that you have no use for their line of credit, or they might leave you alone. It varies for everyone. If your account is closed, it'll specifically mention that it is closed due to inactivity, and this will rarely hurt you when applying for new lines of credit or during a manual review.
JPMorgan Palladium (100k), AmEx Platinum (NPSL), AmEx SPG (46k), AmEx BCP (42k), Chase Sapphire Preferred (47k), Citi Prestige (31k), Citi Thank You Preferred (27k), Citi Executive AAdvantage (25k), JPMorgan Ritz-Carlton (21k), Merrill+ (15k), US Bank Cash+ (22.5k), Wells Fargo (12k), Bloomingdale’s (12.4k), Chase Freedom (5k), Discover IT (5k).
