@Anonymous wrote:
OK, joking (sort of); just trying to counter the dozens of posts along the lines of "I have five cards which is way too many, help me pare down."
But seriously, I'm considering adding either the Chase Sapphire Reserve or the Merrill Edge right before or after the first of the year.
CSR will net a quick $550 cash (potentially more if I redeem the URP's more efficiently), plus $200 in travel reimbursements. Probably will cancel after the first year to avoid annual fee. I presume this card still has primary rental car insurance coverage?
Merrill will net 50k points worth $500 cash or $1000 worth of airfare, and no annual fee so no reason to cancel after the first year.
Given that we already have banked 165k United miles, 250k American miles, and 120k USBank FlexPerks points, and not enough vacation time to use them, I'm leaning towards redeeming either the Merrill points or the CSR URP's for cash (horrors, I know).
Thoughts?
Chris.
CSR is 300 for travel, not 200, probably a typo lol. Anyway I would suggest you get whatever you want. It is kind of a tossup with folks being able to get the 300 for 2016 and 2017 you have to change your statement date and that is not guaranteed. However you would get it for 2017 and 2018!
I say DW gets CSR and ML, and you get the ML. Surely you can reallocate some existing boa CL if not close some of the other cards. Hard to tell what type of BOA cards those are but I am betting they have huge limits and low APRs with wonky rewards! But with the high cl and low APR who cares!
Also with the ML its not guaranteed 1000 worth of airfare. Its 25000 points for a ticket up to $500. Sounds like you already have enough miles and not enough time to take trips so take the ML as cash. Even the CSRs too
@Anonymous wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
Just curious.. how much do you spend in AF's OP?It's complicated.
Generally, I hate hate hate annual fee cards, but I do abandon my priciples if it seems to make sense.
The Marriott card charges $85 a/f, but for that I get a free hotel night, which so far we've been able to make use of. But compared to other places we could stay, barely more than a break-even, though, so this one's always on the bubble for cancellation.
The USBank Travel Rewards cards have an annual fee of $49 -OR- 3,500 points. My card is still in its first year, so yet to pay the annual fee. For DW's card we've always chosen to pay the annual fee with points. We use the card for a good deal of charitable contributions during the year, and the extra points have made it worth keeping. With two cards with the identical rewards structure, it raises the question of whether it's worth it to keep both. But every year so far on DW's card, they've offered enough "bonus" opportunities over the year to earn at least 3,500 extra points, so really no downside to keeping it. We'll reevaluate that going forward.
Every year with the AA cards (both Citi and Barclay) I call to cancel. If they waive the fee or offer a rentention deal that's worth my while, I'll keep the card for another year. For example, last year on the Barclay Aviator cards, they gave me a 15k mile bonus for spending $1,500. To me, that more than compensated for the annual fee. For DW, they just waived the annual fee. Citi AA last year was fun. I called to cancel because of the $95 annual fee, they told me if I spent $95, they'd give me a $95 credit, thus compensating for the annual fee. Then after the annual fee hit, I called to cancel anyway, and they refunded the $95 annual fee. Nice $95 gain.
All other annual fee cards are: plunder for the first year, then call before a/f hits and either get it waived, downgrade to a free card, or cancel.
Chris.
wow. thats a whole lot of work. but love that attitude. call them and grain down the AF. way to go OP.
@Anonymous wrote:OP, just an off topic curious question I have. Of your 45+ cards, how many do you never use? By never I mean literally never, or perhaps just once every 6 months for a small purchase just to keep it open. After the "never" category, the next tier say we call the "infrequently used" cards that we define as a swipe every other month or so... about how many cards in your portfolio fit that description?
I've never had more than 5 cards, so I like to hear from people like yourself as I'll never be in that position. I understand that you likely rotate the cards you use the most depending on the time of year, your spend, etc. but I'd imagine if your usage goes up on Card X it would then go down on Card Y bringing your overall numbers relatively the same, so I'm just speaking sort of on an average here regarding my questions above.
Its quite difficult to answer. i have 28 cards. i regularly use atleast 10 cards monthly(thats one of the reason monthly CR says "usage of most cards"). my most beloved card discover IT always hits avg of $500 every month.
@Anonymous wrote:
@driftless wrote:Follow up question: what is your total CL across those 45 cards?
@driftless wrote:
OP, what are your scores if you don't mind sharing?The answer to this question divided by 45 will yield average CL per card. This piece of data is believed by some to be relevant in FICO scoring. It was suggested in another thread once that an average CL of $10k-$11k+ was considered to be the "best" in terms of FICO scoring with a lesser average CL resulting in slightly less points.
I must have missed his total CL as I can divide. 
@driftless wrote:I must have missed his total CL as I can divide.
I don't think he ever said his total CL, and I'm quite sure you can divide just fine. I was just making a statement regarding average revolver CL and how it could potentially impact FICO scoring.