Let me be clear, I am not closing cc's in order to gain points, I am closing builder cards at the end of the year but need wise advise as to which one or if in fact I should close them at all. Here are a list of my revolving OPEN accounts which are all cc's, starting from oldest to newest:
JC Penny - 1980 [AU]
Capital One - 2007
Chase - 2008
Orchard 0 2/2009
Macys - 4/2008
NY&Co. - 4/2009
Childrens Place - 4/2009
Pottery Barn - 4/2009
The Room Place - 4/2009
JC Penny - 4/2009 [CLOSED]
Restoration Hardware - 5/2009
Best Buy MC - 5/2009
Meijer - 9/2009 [AU]
As you can see, I went on a credit card spree last year!! Of course I wouldnt' close any of them until I have applied and been approved for cc's with limits far greater than the combination of those that will be closed. I had planned to keep all store cards and close the Orchard, BB and Cap1 cards. Now here is where I get a little confused. The two only MAJOR derogs on my account date back to 3/1998 and are both Installment accounts will be deleted this fall, will losing that age affect my AAoA? Or does FICO factor in the AAoA of the total revolving accounts and other accounts separate? In a nut shell, which cards should I close? I apparently have too many store cards, I would like to think that I NEED all of them but realistically, I really don't need them all.
Starting Score: EQ 729, TU 752, EX ? (1/1/2011)
OK, thanks! You are not suggesting I close my JCPenny Card [AU], are you? This card carries 29yrs of history! Maybe you were suggesting that I get rid of the Meijer [AU] card, which is my most recent account? Other than that, only close the bank cards with AF's? I'll have to check to see which if my cap1, BB, chase and orchard cards carry AF's, of course Orchard does. In essence when these derogs are deleted, i will both gain points for not having them AND lose points for not having them because I lose AAoA, right? This FICO scoring is crazy! Anyhoo, I will keep all the store cards open seeing as they are helping my score...wheew, that was close.
This is not good at all . I was hoping to apply for My NFCU cc in Dec-2010 with at least a 760 score, knowing this just throws an ax in my entire plan for new credit acquisition 
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I guess I will have to wait and see. At the beginning of January my util was 69% and I've paid off about $2000 in revolving debt since then and acquired about $3000 in CLI's since that last report. I'm estimating I should be just under 50% util and will continue to average eliminating about 5% util each month until December. All I need to do is keep my eye on the prize.
haulingthescoresup - Dont' you mean, closing accounts won't "hurt" my AAoA?
my oldest card opened in 1980 which remains open(5) "installment" accounts ;(2) which were both opened in 1998 (derogs) and will be deleted later this year, (0 balances) (1)1998 (1) 2001, and (1) 2003cc's; (1) in 2007, (1) 2008 and (10) in 2009
[crazy i know, I got a little out of control but I need them because I was updating my home). I was wondering if the fact that I have 3 accounts opened in 1998 with only 1 remaining after this year, will having that age continue on my account remain a factor in calculating my AAOA, even though the other two were deleted and are no longer being factored. I do remember that my FICO scores didn't suffer that much after going on that application spree last year in 2009. Is it that they were all opened in May and June, relatively at the same time? On one or two of the accounts, my score actually went up a point or two.
Why do I get the feeling that I just either lost or confused anyone who read my above post? If so, please feel free to ask for clarification.