How many CC trade lines do you have? What is the perfect number?

[Anonymous]

That sir, is a lot of Annual Fees.  How do you determine how many fee cards to keep and whether or not its worth the additional cost?

[iwazl71]

52 total accounts;

29 open:

1 mortgage

2 installments

1 LOC

1 charge

24 revolvers

23 closed

[Stralem]

5 open credit cards (check the sig)

1 closed credit card

A whole bunch of student loans

Feh. I'm at the point where I don't want to even look at another credit card application form. Some people are happy with 10 or 20 cards or more. Me? 6 was my ultimate limit, and I got rid of one because even that number didn't sit well with me.

Also because that particular card came with an annual fee. Yeah, f*** that noise.

The limits on my cards aren't the greatest, though. The highest is $1500, the lowest is $900; being so low, they've forced me to be hyper-vigilant about staying below a hard limit of 30% utilization on any one card. But... I suppose that's a good thing when all is said and done. Oh well. If I weren't wary of applying for more trade lines and actively aging out 10 hard inquiries right now -- 5 of which are a year old at least -- I'd gun for some throwaway never-to-be-used card like a Slate to bump my total limit and help util.

[Blackbeauty212]

I have 21 open TL altogether and CK gives me an A for my number of open accounts......

3 Installment Loans: 

Student Loan 

Discover Personal Loan

Car Note 

2 LOCs:

Citi 

Philly Fed Credit Union 

10 Major CCs: 

Capital One No Hassles 

Chase Amazon

Chase Amtrak Guest Rewards

Chase Ink Classic

Citi Forward 

Citi TYPreferred 

Discover IT 

PayPal Extra MC

Philly Fed Credit Union 

Walmart Discover

6 Retail/Store CC/CLs: 

Amazon

Bill Me Later (Doesn't Report) 

JCP

PayPal Smart Connect

QVC

Raymour Flannigan 

Only cards I carry a balance on are Citi TYP for BTs, Chase INK still in the 0% period. Amazon, BML, and Raymour Flannigan while in the free financing periods.  

[zeusta20]

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@dddewdrop wrote:

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@zeusta20 wrote:

carD*...oops.lol.

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   I like your cards. I want to get a Citi and Wells Fargo at some point. Then I will have all the major banks covered.

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Thanks! I just want the Amex BCE, then HOPEFULLY I'll be done.haha. I'm pretty satisfied with my credit card line up. At this point, I just want higher limits. I just want AT LEAST one card that has 10k. My overall CL is 23.2k But I want at least one card to have 10k+ and the rest to be at least 5k or higher. Thats my ultimate goal right now. 

[zeusta20]

My total CREDIT line up period is...

6 Open Credit Cards

0 Closed

1 Unsecured Personal loan

1 Auto Loan

I hate debt with a passion. I wish I could just win the LOTTO and pay everything off! lol

[dddewdrop]

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@Stralem wrote:

5 open credit cards (check the sig)

1 closed credit card

A whole bunch of student loans

Feh. I'm at the point where I don't want to even look at another credit card application form. Some people are happy with 10 or 20 cards or more. Me? 6 was my ultimate limit, and I got rid of one because even that number didn't sit well with me.

Also because that particular card came with an annual fee. Yeah, f*** that noise.

The limits on my cards aren't the greatest, though. The highest is $1500, the lowest is $900; being so low, they've forced me to be hyper-vigilant about staying below a hard limit of 30% utilization on any one card. But... I suppose that's a good thing when all is said and done. Oh well. If I weren't wary of applying for more trade lines and actively aging out 10 hard inquiries right now -- 5 of which are a year old at least -- I'd gun for some throwaway never-to-be-used card like a Slate to bump my total limit and help util.

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Hmm. Yeah. I am going to add at least 2 more tradeines at some point in the future. I would like t have higher CLs because i feel like mine are still very low to the point that I can't really make any big purchases with them. Maybe that is for the better however...

[UFGuy2006]

Well, good call out. I plan on cutting a few of the AF ones... some of them are relatively new for either bonus signups or other benefits with the first year being free. See below:

Amex BCP - First year not free but came with 250 bonus. Was planning to cut but has already paid for itself through normal grocery usage.

Amex PRG - First year free with 50k bonus. This card will be chopped soon.

Amex SPG - First year free with 35k bonus. is my go to card for most everything as I am a SPG guy. Will end up keeping.

Barclays US Airways WMC - First year free with 40k bonus (and recent 15k bonus over 3 months). Will be keeping for the 10k annual bonus alone (and to take advantage of these adhoc point bonuses).

Chase MP Club VS - First year free and club access; as a 1k I get a $60 credit to the AF on this card. I fly weekly and have definitely used the club access 1-2 times a week; but United clubs have seriously gone down hill definitely considering to chop this one (or downgrade to a no fee card).

Chase Marriott Prem VS - First year free with 70k bonus. Only signed up for the bonus and will chop soon.

Chase Sapphire Pref WMC - First year free with 40k signup bonus; I had high hopes for this card but it just isn't used. Will either downgrade or close all together before the fee hits.

Citi AA Amex - First year free with 50 k points; will plan on keeping if I can get adequate retention bonuses annually. 

Citi TY Prem VS - First year free with 50k sign up; also recently got additional 10k points for spend. will plan on keeping if I can get adequate retention bonuses annually. 

Well thats it. My thought process and my madness ;-)

[dddewdrop]

   Thanks for the info. There is a wide range of  strategies and trade line numbers out there. The common thread is everyone seemos to have a strategy of onsome sort and everyone seems to have some sort of plan for the future.