>My recent experience< with my Synchrony Verizon Visa made me reconsider how I manage all my credit cards. I know some of our members have discussed how they have spreadsheets, notebooks, or other methods for tracking their credit cards, whether that be by card attributes (age, credit limit, APR, due dates, etc.) rewards earned by category, monthly charges and activity, or other factors. I've never done that consistently, although I've sometimes made temporary lists. However, since joining My FICO several years ago, I have tended to keep many more open accounts that I used to keep. I currently have 27 open revolving personal or business cards. Often, I shift spending towards certain cards for meeting SUBs or to help in earning CLIs, which means I neglect some of my other accounts.
Questions for the community:
- Do you track your credit cards?
- What do you track and how do you track it?
I just did a tally on my accounts. Of my 27 accounts, I see I used 11 (40%) in the past 30 days, which is higher than I anticipated. However, a few of those were purposeful and focused spending, for examples - PenFed Power Cash Rewards and Synchrony Verizon, both for targeted rewards SUB and for keep-alive. I have a few travel cards with an annual fee. The AF keeps the card active at least once every 12 months and often includes some perks. For one example, my Marriott Business card has a free night credit to offset the AF cost, opens a new rate when booking rooms that is sometimes advantageous, and gives me additional night stay credit towards higher elite status. But I don't need to actually swipe the card to get any of that or keep it alive. Right now, I'm working on a large $15K spending requirement on my AMEX Business Platinum card SUB.
Here are my other stats.
Within 30 days: 11
30-60 days: 1
60-90 days: 0
180-90 days: 6
Within one year: 4
Within two years: 3
More than two years: 1*
*My AACU card was last swiped on 11/30/17 - almost 7 years. Not only is it still alive, but they gave me a $3K CLI on it this year!
I also have ONE card which I have NEVER used. 
My >Synchrony Lowe's card< was accidentally approved on a whim with a $13K SL on 02/27/2024 and >CLI'd to $35K< on 04/30/2024. After my Verizon experience, I will probably make a point to swipe it soon. (I already get a great 10% military/veteran discount every day at Lowe's so it beats the 5% rewards on the card.)
And looking at the above, I recognize a few cards that need to see some "LUV" soon. 
I also tend to let my rewards accrue, whether travel points or cash. Sometimes it's worthwhile to "bank" them, such as with Chase Ultimate Rewards or AMEX Member Rewards being worth more when used for travel or transfer to partners. Sill, it's definitely time to cash some in.
