I closed my Good Sam Store Card today through secure messenger. It had grown for a while there but stalled. Being that it was a pure store card, I could never justify using it at Overton's or Gander for boating stuff since I could always find a better deal elsewhere and use a genuine CB card. I guess that is was my last rebuilder as my two remaining former secured cards graduated long ago and are finally growing. I will combine the Discovers at some point so that will actually remain as one of my oldest cards.
It feels good to be done with that Comenity store card since it was going nowhere with zero use. I will try to replace it with a good card and a larger limit in fairly short order. But what?
@SUPERSQUID wrote:I have 2 commenity store cards, ikea and big lots. i had them about a year with no cli. when i last asked for a cli on the big lots i got the dreaded 7-10 day message and received a letter with a long laundry list of reasons why i was denied.
meanwhile about a week later kohls gave me a 400 cli and the super tight target gave me a cli.
i dont use the commenity cards anymore for the same reason as you, i can get cb from a regular card in that store.
i only keep them to pad my util.
Yup. I didn't need it for padding so I decided to let it go. If they would have made it a MC, I would have kept it.
@spiritcraft1 wrote:... Being that it was a pure store card, I could never justify using it at Overton's or Gander for boating stuff since I could always find a better deal elsewhere and use a genuine CB card .... It feels good to be done with that Comenity store card since it was going nowhere with zero use. I will try to replace it with a good card and a larger limit in fairly short order. But what?
+1 Those are two of the many reasons I moved away from store cards in general. Some store cards can only be used in store and even when you can use them elsewhere, you're often earning points to redeem in store versus more flexible cash back. IMO, they don't contribute to my lineup as well as a general purpose cash or points card. Also, the low limits you cite are something else I've noticed about them. There are exceptions like getting $35K on a Lowe's card or $25K on a Macy's, but many store cards will never grow that well. I also became frustrated at how quickly store cards could be closed by the lender without regular use, which cluttered up my new account and inquiry history. Plus, I don't want to have to set reminders to shop at some store where I don't organically shop or to remember to dig the card I didn't want to carry daily out of the sock drawer to use it. Too many hassles for some additional savings at that store. I'm not saying they are always a poor pick but it depends on someone's shopping profile and habits.
As for which card next, @spiritcraft1, what do you seem to be missing based on your spending? I know we talked about BofA Premium Rewards and/or Customized Cash Rewards, so those would be good options. Would you benefit from a good 5% card like Citi Custom Cash, Chase Freedom Flex, US Bank Cash+, Elan Max Cash Preferred, or Affinity CU Cash Rewards?
@Aim_High wrote:
@spiritcraft1 wrote:... Being that it was a pure store card, I could never justify using it at Overton's or Gander for boating stuff since I could always find a better deal elsewhere and use a genuine CB card .... It feels good to be done with that Comenity store card since it was going nowhere with zero use. I will try to replace it with a good card and a larger limit in fairly short order. But what?
+1 Those are two of the many reasons I moved away from store cards in general. Some store cards can only be used in store and even when you can use them elsewhere, you're often earning points to redeem in store versus more flexible cash back. IMO, they don't contribute to my lineup as well as a general purpose cash or points card. Also, the low limits you cite are something else I've noticed about them. There are exceptions like getting $35K on a Lowe's card or $25K on a Macy's, but many store cards will never grow that well. I also became frustrated at how quickly store cards could be closed by the lender without regular use, which cluttered up my new account and inquiry history. Plus, I don't want to have to set reminders to shop at some store where I don't organically shop or to remember to dig the card I didn't want to carry daily out of the sock drawer to use it. Too many hassles for some additional savings at that store. I'm not saying they are always a poor pick but it depends on someone's shopping profile and habits.
As for which card next, @spiritcraft1, what do you seem to be missing based on your spending? I know we talked about BofA Premium Rewards and/or Customized Cash Rewards, so those would be good options. Would you benefit from a good 5% card like Citi Custom Cash, Chase Freedom Flex, US Bank Cash+, Elan Max Cash Preferred, or Affinity CU Cash Rewards?
Yes, a 5% rotator or two would be great. The Affinity would also insulate me from the whims of SyncB, plus add another 5% in qtr 4. I have been a member for 3 months. A 3% CB card would be great. If AOD didn't work. the US Alliance could work but they are fickle. The BofA would be nice with the preferred boost and that could be a card that grows into a big limit.
I have closed a few cards with the Good Sam being the latest. I figured that closing it before they did would be good. I plan to combine my Disco's after the 1st year bonus and if NFCU ever allows it again, combine those. I am covered well in travel with the AMEX Business charge cards, the Marriott and the DW has Hilton and Delta. We have racked up a horde of travel related points. Being vaxxed, we have started to finally take some time away with hotel getaways and now have two airline trips booked as well. MR and travel point / miles are such a windfall after years of putting so much zero reward spend on Debit cards while in the early stages of rebuilding.
I like many of your ideas, and the 2 card combo. In our case we have the benefit of business spend to gain points and CR beside personal spend. I am in that area of being freshly rebuilt and needing to redefine what card is needed rather than getting whatever someone would approve me for. Not that anything is certain but I have a completely different profile than 6 months ago. Everything is on the table aside from Chase as 5/24 is not happening anytime soon.
Just to add, I have nothing against Comenity, it was just a card I could not figure out how to use it. One less thing to worry about. Again, if I would have had the MC version, I may have kept it.
