To combine two cards into one or not to combine is the question

[Anonymous]

Hello and thank you all for any help. Im new here but I love this sight! Long time lurker I guess.

I have two capital one cards and I qulify for the combing of two cards into one card with the credit lines of both becoming one. It will immediately closing the other.

To qualify, of course have two cards for a set peroiod. One of those cards must have a zero balance with no pending.

One is 3,300 the other 2200. Resulting in one card with a credit lone of 5500.

Here's the meat of the question. 2 fold. 1. Will having two cards with the limits noted above be better for my score or the one card now with a larger limit would be better? 2. In this process, the one card with with the zero balance is the one that gets closed immediate.  Will the closing of the one account be worse for my score than any good the combing of the two accounts into one did for my score?

Thank you again everyone that might be able to offer any insight so I can make a some what informed decesion.

[Anonymous]

just keep your oldest one open an having the larger card looks better because it shows you can handle higher limits.

[SouthJamaica]

---

@Anonymous wrote:

Hello and thank you all for any help. Im new here but I love this sight! Long time lurker I guess.

I have two capital one cards and I qulify for the combing of two cards into one card with the credit lines of both becoming one. It will immediately closing the other.

To qualify, of course have two cards for a set peroiod. One of those cards must have a zero balance with no pending.

One is 3,300 the other 2200. Resulting in one card with a credit lone of 5500.

Here's the meat of the question. 2 fold. 1. Will having two cards with the limits noted above be better for my score or the one card now with a larger limit would be better? 2. In this process, the one card with with the zero balance is the one that gets closed immediate.  Will the closing of the one account be worse for my score than any good the combing of the two accounts into one did for my score?

Thank you again everyone that might be able to offer any insight so I can make a some what informed decesion.

---

I recently did it and regret that I did. Once you combine, they'll make you wait for a long time to get a CLI. I think it's better to have 2 smaller accounts, with different due dates, and just let it be.

[NRB525]

---

@Anonymous wrote:

Hello and thank you all for any help. Im new here but I love this sight! Long time lurker I guess.

I have two capital one cards and I qulify for the combing of two cards into one card with the credit lines of both becoming one. It will immediately closing the other.

To qualify, of course have two cards for a set peroiod. One of those cards must have a zero balance with no pending.

One is 3,300 the other 2200. Resulting in one card with a credit lone of 5500.

Here's the meat of the question. 2 fold. 1. Will having two cards with the limits noted above be better for my score or the one card now with a larger limit would be better? 2. In this process, the one card with with the zero balance is the one that gets closed immediate.  Will the closing of the one account be worse for my score than any good the combing of the two accounts into one did for my score?

Thank you again everyone that might be able to offer any insight so I can make a some what informed decesion.

---

OP, do you have any other credit cards? You only mention the two Capital One cards. If you combine those into one card, and that is the only credit card you have, it might not be the best for your score.

Having said that, however, since the limits are decent, I'm guessing you do have other credit cards besides these two. In that case, as noted above, just keep your oldest CapOne, combine the newer into it (unless the APR on the newer card is really a lot better) and you will be fine. A closed card is no issue on your credit report. I have about half a dozen closed cards, two of which still report balances that I am paying off, and are closed cards.

[Anonymous]

How much of this CL combining trend is really just about paying less in the way of annual fees when the signup bonuses are used up?

[Anonymous]

---

@Anonymous wrote:

How much of this CL combining trend is really just about paying less in the way of annual fees when the signup bonuses are used up?

---

This combing has nothing to do with anything funny ie intrest rates lower on one ect. I am simply looking to do everything i can to have a better score. Annual fees dont bother me.

Thanks and as of now the thinking is to keep em seperate. Lets hear some more

[Anonymous]

---

@Anonymous wrote:

How much of this CL combining trend is really just about paying less in the way of annual fees when the signup bonuses are used up?

---

 It used to (and may still) be the case that Capital One wouldn't lower your APR; their policy was if you want a lower APR apply for the card again.  So people ended up with multiple accounts for that reason.  Of course this has evolved over time, and now another popular reason to apply for multiples was to get a high CL via combining instead of asking for CLI, especially useful since Venture was/is typically generous with SL.  The avoidance of paying AF was a pleasant side effect, but not the driving factor, from what I've seen.

---

@Anonymous wrote:

Here's the meat of the question. 2 fold. 1. Will having two cards with the limits noted above be better for my score or the one card now with a larger limit would be better? 2. In this process, the one card with with the zero balance is the one that gets closed immediate.  Will the closing of the one account be worse for my score than any good the combing of the two accounts into one did for my score?

---

Agreed with NRB and XTERROR...in general having higher limit cards begets approvals for more higher limit cards in the future.  In terms of score maximization, you'd want the older card open to preserve its AAoA (the newer account will fall off after 10 years), but this wouldn't be the only factor:

• instead of spreading purchases across two cards, you'll have them all on one, which may be easier to keep track of
• does your older card have higher APR and/or AF?  If so then maybe it's worth the sacrifice of AAoA to instead merge the older one into the newer one
• do the two cards have different benefits?  It might be worth keeping them both open if you don't want to lose out on one of the card's perks
• you can ask for 2 CLI's with 2 cards, but only 1 with 1 card...some people take advantage of this by asking for CLI on both cards immediately before combining

Of course, there's also the overall question: are you looking to maximize your score for an upcoming financial event (new app, mortgage, auto loan, etc.)?  If so then the maximization makes sense.  Otherwise, letting both continue to age won't affect your score much.  So really it's up to your personal preference!

[takeshi74]

---

@Anonymous wrote:

Here's the meat of the question. 2 fold. 1. Will having two cards with the limits noted above be better for my score or the one card now with a larger limit would be better? 2. In this process, the one card with with the zero balance is the one that gets closed immediate.  Will the closing of the one account be worse for my score than any good the combing of the two accounts into one did for my score? 

---

Take a look at the Closing Credit Cards thread linked in the Helpful Threads sticky.

---

@Anonymous wrote:

in general having higher limit cards begets approvals for more higher limit cards in the future.

---

This meme gets a parroted a lot on credit sites but it's a gross oversimplification.  Limits factor into revolving utilization which falls under Amounts Owed but higher limits do not simply "beget higher limits" on their own.  It's certainly possible to get lower limits even with higher limit cards.  I have multiple $25K cards and a $30K card and I've received $5K approvals.  Do not simply rely on limits or any one factor.  One's entire credit profile and income are taken into consideration for granting limits and CLI's.

[Anonymous]

and yes the whole report and income factors into the limit but creditors will likely give higher limits if they see one $5k limit vs three $2k limits (even though with the three cards you have more credit, it doesn't show you handle higher limits well yet. it shows you handle low limits well)

so, to say that higher limits do not have bearing in getting more high limits is completely incorrect.

[Anonymous]

---

@takeshi74 wrote:

This meme gets a parroted a lot on credit sites but it's a gross oversimplification.  Limits factor into revolving utilization which falls under Amounts Owed but higher limits do not simply "beget higher limits" on their own.  It's certainly possible to get lower limits even with higher limit cards.  I have multiple $25K cards and a $30K card and I've received $5K approvals.  Do not simply rely on limits or any one factor.  One's entire credit profile and income are taken into consideration for granting limits and CLI's.

---

 There's a reason I specifically stated in general as opposed to using absolute terms.  Although it's possible to get low SL's when one already has high SL's, getting high SL's with a portfolio full of low SL's is not very common; there has been plenty of anecdotal evidence (as well as personal experience) where one of the reasons for low SL was due to lack of experience with high credit limits.  No one was claiming that having high limits was the only factor, but it's definitely an important one.