Is it okay to close 1 new card after getting 2?

[Uh]

Hi all, I'm new here, and have maybe made a bad mistake. This year I got the 4 credit cards that are the most useful to me, but after reading the forum here it seems I should have got them slower or farther apart. I was only missing a "Visa" branded card to finish my collection that is 5 store cards including 2 comenity backed and one MasterCard all new this year.

I closed the pop up windows for 2 comenity backed visas while I was shopping & planning for summer vacation because I didn't want the HPs for a $500 limit since my MC is only at $1k through Capital One. Then Comenity bank sent me a pre-approval letter via snail-mail for Total Rewards so I figured it was a sure thing and researched it some more to find it would probably be a $1k minimum online. I took them up on the offer and still ended up with an HP. But I did get the $1k limit anyway so worth it to me.

Then the next day I got another letter via snail-mail for the Sportsman's Guide Visa that said all I had to do was say "yes". After thinking about it I thought I'd use those rewards more than I'd have time to take vacations to use the Total Rewards benefits, so I said yes and was approved for the SPG Visa also (don't know the credit limit on that yet).

When I applied for the Sportsmans Guide Visa I thought I'll simply call Comenity and ask them to close the Total Rewards Visa since I don't need to have 2 visas. But then after reading through comments I see that it's dangerous to contact Comenity since so many people had AA and apparently one of the triggers for them to shut down accounts is to contact them according to a lot of posts here. Unfortunately the other trigger is applying for whatever is "too many" of their cards in a small time frame, too, which I didn't know either!

Now I don't know what to do.  If I don't activate the Total Rewards Visa will it close automatically? Or do you think Comenity will close both Visas anyway since I accepted their snail mail offers for both on the same week? I'd hate to call them to let them know I only want one please close the other & have them end up closing both or me saying I only want the SPG Visa but that's the one they were going to close anyway. 

I feel stuck and don't want to make the situation worse --- please let me know what would you do?

[Aduke1122]

Honestly I would close down as many store cards are you can bc big lenders don't like that see someone with a lot of store accts , you will find it hard to get into good lenders with good limits having all them store cards , as far as if it will hurt you to close them , no they stay on your report for 10 years and are still figured into your AAOA , the only thing it could hurt is your overall Utilization

[Uh]

Oh thank you for saying so, I had no idea 4 store cards was too many. It's hard trying to figure out the right 'mix' of account types for rewards or special financing, so appreciate the help.

[Anonymous]

I agree, store cards don't offer much advantages.  Be patient and strategic so you don't burn through a bunch of hard pulls for nothing.  During my rebuild that was the mistake I made.  Fortunately most are falling off this year but I did set myself back a bit on cards I ended up closing.  I would suggest joining a credit union or two, Penfed and NFCU tend to be the best for credit cards.  If you can get into NFCU that would be your best option.  

[Uh]

Do you know if the credit pull for Penfed is a HP or SP?

[Uh]

Oh I should have searched before asking the HP or SP question. I did find that Penfed like most if not all Credit Unions do HP not SP. Thank you anyway!

[Anonymous]

Except for store cards and the SCT, you will get a HP any time you apply for credit (bank, credit union, etc).

Personally, I would:
-Close any store cards you won't use. Compare perks, rewards and interest rates.
-Get an installment loan. Look into a shared/secured loan from an FCU.
-Garden a couple months, keep util low (under 9 percent) and request CLI as frequent as possible.

Then I would app for a card with better rewards or a lower APR.
Instead of, or before, gardening as I said above you may want to check out a secured credit card. BOA, Discover, Citi and NFCU offer this.

[AverageJoesCredit]

Just to be clear, you dont have to close your store cards because people either dont like them or you are " supposed" to. If you have already taken the hits, or pulls, and you do use them, just let them help you build your credit profile by letting them age and showing responsible use with you credit. If you can get sp cli with them great.

Now going forward, make sure that anything you app is beneficial to you and your growth. The thing with Sync and Comenity is getting too many too soon can create problems so be cautious and research well. As to your new Visas, its always possible they can AA or close them but until they do just use them as they were intended for. Just try to pif so that should that day come you arent left holding the bag so to speak. Good thing is you now know to research abit first so you are on the right path

[Anonymous]

You shouldn't eschew store cards totally, particularly if there are merchants that you shop at regularly from whom you really want to have their cards to use (especially if they offer decent rewards programs), but you should be cautious about how many you apply for and have in your portfolio. Only get the ones that you really want and that you plan to use regularly, and follow all the principles for using cards responsibly that you do with bank cards. I personally would think really hard about whether it's worth it in the long run to use the SCT, as we are now getting a lot of reports that issuers are closing or otherwise AA'ing many cards that users got through this maneuver.

[K-in-Boston]

I also don't think 4 store cards are too many, but I would garden as your signature says and leave them open for the time being.  The damage of the new accounts is already done and won't go away from just closing them.  Use the ones that make sense for you, request CLIs when they're known to be SP (including your CapOne) and let them age.  By the time you get to your gardening goal date, you should be in a great position to get "big boy/big girl" cards, then clear out what you don't need.