Which card(s) should I cancel?!?

[Cashbackjunky]

Hey all!

I've just been approved for the last card I want to get for a long while and in the past 3 months I've increased my total credit from $30k to $176k with the addition of 5 new cards and CLI's.

I'm looking to trim the fat from my CR and wanted to know the opinion of all you FICO guru's out there of which of my cards (if any) I should close down. My current cards are as follows (with years opened and CL):

- Discover (CL: $14,500 opened: 1991)
- Wells Fargo platinum (CL: $2,900 opened: 2009)
- BofA Cash Rewards (CL: $25,000 opened: 2013)
- Synchrony car care credit (CL: $25,000 opened: 2014)
- Chase Freedom (CL: $5,500 opened: 2016)
- Capital One Quicksilver (CL: $10,000 opened: 2017)
- AmEx BCP (CL: $34,000 opened: 2017)
- Capital One Venture (CL: $30,000 opened: 2017)
- Chase Amazon Prime (CL: $9,000 opened: 2017)
- Chase Sapphire Preferred (CL: $20,200 opened: 2017)

Do you guys think I should close any of them down?

I've been thinking of closing the Wells Fargo card down for a while as they haven't given me ANY sort of CLI recently... They are very stingy and I never use the card.

Also, been thinking of closing the Synchrony card because of the fact that it "doesn't look good" on my CR to other lenders because it's a car care store card, but it has a CL of $25,000! Decisions decisions!

Any and all advice would be much appreciated!

Cheers!

[Anonymous]

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@Cashbackjunky wrote:
Hey all!

I've just been approved for the last card I want to get for a long while and in the past 3 months I've increased my total credit from $30k to $176k with the addition of 5 new cards and CLI's. Question....you have a 1991 Discover Card...then nothing until 2009 and then BHAM! 2013-2017 spree. What happened in between 1991 and 2009? 

I'm looking to trim the fat from my CR and wanted to know the opinion of all you FICO guru's out there of which of my cards (if any) I should close down. My current cards are as follows (with years opened and CL):

- Discover (CL: $14,500 opened: 1991) Don't you dare close this one. 1) its a Discover and 2) it is your oldest credit card 
- Wells Fargo platinum (CL: $2,900 opened: 2009) This offends me. Close it! 
- BofA Cash Rewards (CL: $25,000 opened: 2013) One of your older accounts, but do you use it? Do you have a BofA checking/savings to get the bonuses?
- Synchrony car care credit (CL: $25,000 opened: 2014) This offends me as well. Do you use it? 
- Chase Freedom (CL: $5,500 opened: 2016) Not bad for the quarterly 5% catagories and pairs well with CSP
- Capital One Quicksilver (CL: $10,000 opened: 2017) Keep; combine the Venture credit line with this and close Venture when AF comes due.
- AmEx BCP (CL: $34,000 opened: 2017) Always nice to have an Amex around. I do not really understand the Preferred cards and their AFs though.
- Capital One Venture (CL: $30,000 opened: 2017)  Meh. Cards like this are only beneficial for the sign up bonus. See QS above.
- Chase Amazon Prime (CL: $9,000 opened: 2017) No comment
- Chase Sapphire Preferred (CL: $20,200 opened: 2017) If the rewards structure benefits you and you can warrant the $95 AF, keep

Do you guys think I should close any of them down? Honestly, 5 of your cards were opened this year; another 2 are less than five years old. Why did you open so many new accounts only to decide that you need to trim the fat? No disrespect intended, just wondering. 

I've been thinking of closing the Wells Fargo card down for a while as they haven't given me ANY sort of CLI recently... They are very stingy and I never use the card. Absolutely close this one. 

Also, been thinking of closing the Synchrony card because of the fact that it "doesn't look good" on my CR to other lenders because it's a car care store card, but it has a CL of $25,000! Decisions decisions! Very few lenders actually manually review anymore and the computers only look at open date, negatives and balances. If you no longer use this I would close it. You have more than made up for that $25K limit 

Any and all advice would be much appreciated!

Cheers!

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[Cashbackjunky]

@CO_NATIVE, to answer your questions:

- I am an AU on my father's Discover card (I was born in 1991, Wells Fargo card was MY first card).
- I have a BofA checking and savings (do most of my banking with them) and use the card for the 3.3% back on gas - after redeeming to my account).
- I'm going to keep the AmEx, I got the preferred because my SO and I spend more than $3,167 per year on groceries to wash out the AF.
- I spend A LOT on Amazon which is why I got that card, why no comment? Lol
- I'm going to close the Wells Fargo if they don't give me a CLI next try.
- As for my Synchrony card, I NEVER use it but it has a huge CL and is one of my older cards, which is why my hesitation to close it.

I really appreciate your response!

Anyone else with some suggestions?

Cheers!

[Anonymous]

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@Cashbackjunky wrote:

@Anonymous, to answer your questions:

- I am an AU on my father's Discover card (I was born in 1991, Wells Fargo card was MY first card). Ohhhh that makes more sense. Well, I still have my first card, my Capital One MasterCard. Although I do not use it much, I get a kick out of still having my first card still opened that I got when I was 18. So you will have to decide if you want to keep the Wells Fargo around for the same reason or move on. 
- I have a BofA checking and savings (do most of my banking with them) and use the card for the 3.3% back on gas - after redeeming to my account). Excellent. I do this as well, besides being a hot card design (pictures do not do it justice) the 2.2% groceries and 3.3% gas (with checking/savings bonus) is great. 
- I'm going to keep the AmEx, I got the preferred because my SO and I spend more than $3,167 per year on groceries to wash out the AF. Everybody is different, if the card works for you then its a keeper. Amex is great to have around.
- I spend A LOT on Amazon which is why I got that card, why no comment? Lol I mean, I do shop at Amazon from time to time, but I feel that Amazon is killing industries and jobs. You could say I do not like change; but thats progress. If the card works for your spending there is no harm in this card either. 
- I'm going to close the Wells Fargo if they don't give me a CLI next try. Thats too bad they were your first card. I have actually never banked with them and therefore, my hatred of them is kind of idiotic. I guess its because when I was a teen I really hated Californians (they were the first to invade Colorado) and WF is a CA bank so I think thats where it came from. Still hate them, WF that is, not Californians.  I had great luck with CapOne as my first card. They really grew with me and that allowed me to keep that card all these years. Most people give two you-know-whats about their first cards, but me...I'm sentimental LOL. 
- As for my Synchrony card, I NEVER use it but it has a huge CL and is one of my older cards, which is why my hesitation to close it. Understandable. You could put this one on notice until you can get your current credit lines to make up for it. Also, if you do not carry much debt, you do not have to worry about utlization and then the loss of this limit shouldn't hurt you. 

I really appreciate your response!

Anyone else with some suggestions?

Cheers!

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[Anonymous]

Wells Fargo I'd definitely ditch. They don't seem to want to grow with you, so I wouldn't keep them.

Synchrony- yeah, the CL is nice but if you are never going to use it, what's the point?

As for the rest? If you use them, keep them. A rather panned response, perhaps, but I see no use to closing cards if you get use out of them.

[Cashbackjunky]

Thanks for the responses, @CO_NATIVE! I think I may just SD the Wells Fargo and Synchrony card for now.

I am sentimental too about my Wells Fargo card (even though I hate WF now for not growing with me), the card still means something to me. Even though functionally it doesn't serve a purpose. I'm so torn!

I ALWAYS PIF, so my huge CL'S don't matter too much, it's still nice to have that $25,000 Synchrony card I can use just in case my car needs repairs for 6 months of free financing... I just don't want THEM to close it due to inactivity (that would look a little worse on my CR, as opposed to me closing the card).

Cheers!

[Anonymous]

First and foremost, your credit lines on majority of your cards are impressive!  Now In regards to your question, my personal opinion is to SD the ones you dont want or use instead of canceling, especially if theres no annual fee. If you can.....put a charge on them 6 months or once a year and if thats too much work for you then just SD and leave it alone and If they close due to inactivty then so be it (cause you were going to close it anyway). That's how im going to approach the way I SD my cards from now on. Also for whats it worth it seems like a lot of people's cards stay open for many years even without activity, so chances are the ones you SD prob will stay open regardless for a darn good while. Just my 2 cents.

BTW, you  have enough prime lenders on your credit report such as BofA, Amex, Chase to overshadow the Synschrony card that you think will make you look bad, if it even does. 

[Gmood1]

Nope, just throw them in the SD. Unless they're causing you distress, keep them. You never know when you might need them or the bank offers​ you an incentive to use one. If I'd closed​ cards that I don't use daily. I know for a fact, I would have missed out on some great promotions and discounts that I never saw coming. Better to have and not need, than to need and not have.

[AverageJoesCredit]

Close them all. Who needs credit when you got cash?

[AverageJoesCredit]

Jk, No need to close , sd , but if i had to choose WF. Also have you ever thought of apping for your own Discover, you might find it easier to get over 20k on it with your profile?

Lol CO_ NATIVE, good point on Amazon. Sad, but true.