Which cards to close?

[Anonymous]

I just recently went on an app spree, but now I have too many cards and would like to close a few. Which ones should I close? The only two cards below that are over 2 years old are the Quicksilver and the USAA Visa. The freedom was opened last year, and everything else was opened in the past 6 months.

Chase Sapphire Preferred - $23,000
Citi Prestige - $26,000
Capital One Venture - $15,000
USAA Amex - $15,000
Capital One QS - $13,500
NFCU Flagship - $10,000
Uber VISA Sig - $5,000
Discover - $3,000
USAA Visa - $3,000
Chase Freedom - $1,000

[Anonymous]

Well, since you're now over 5/24 i would keep both of those in case you want to PC one down the road to something else or shuffle limits for better use after a PC.

I would try to combine a couple of the overlaps like USAA / Cap1 just to get the # of cards down but retain the history and CL.

Other than that it comes down to fees for the higher tier cards and if they provide the same benefits or not.

[Anonymous]

I doubt you need all 3 travel cards at the top end. Meaning the CSP, the Prestige and the Venture and all of them have annual fees.

If i were you i'd close one or two of them. The primary candidate is the Venture which is denifinetely not worth it after the sub.

Also if a card has no annual fee just stash it somewhere and forget about it. It's just best for your report to keep it.

[Aim_High]

@Debit

" ... I doubt you need all 3 travel cards at the top end. Meaning the CSP, the Prestige and the Venture and all of them have annual fees."

I concur.  However, OP actually has (4) Travel Rewards cards with AFs counting the NFCU Flagship Rewards ($49 AF).

Unless OP does a LOT of business or personal travel, I believe just one good but FOCUSED travel reward card may be best to maximize results. 

I agree that VENTURE does not compete with other cards on that list.  Capital One allows combining credit limits, so close the Venture and transfer the Venture credit line to your Quicksilver.  Keep the Quicksilver open since it's one of your older accounts and raise the QS to around $28K or whatever they will let you transfer.  It now becomes your highest credit line and may help you leverage other lenders for higher credit lines. 

The Citi Prestige is Citi's answer to the AMEX Platinum - Chase Sapphire Reserve market competition.  It's a BIG step above the Sapphire Preferred, Venture, and Flagship Rewards.  So my question is, why does OP have all three tiers of travel cards?  Does OP do a lot of traveling or aspire to?  Based on the limited information I have, it sounds like this card is way out of place in the lineup.  At the $495 annual fee, I would eliminate it unless OP is a jet-setting frequent flier. 

For most casual travelers, I believe one good medium AF - medium benefits travel card is the better fit.  (And then other non-travel related cards.)  The Sapphire Preferred card benefits can be leveraged by rolling points over from the Freedom for 25% more value on the Ulimate Rewards website for travel, which helps to offset your $95 AF on it. 

So for me, for the travel cards portion of this lineup, I would

1) Close CapOne Venture and roll over credit line to QS

2) Close Citi Prestige and get rid of high $495 AF

3) Keep Sapphire Preferred and combine points from Freedom

[Aim_High]

" ... I doubt you need all 3 travel cards at the top end. Meaning the CSP, the Prestige and the Venture and all of them have annual fees."

I concur.  However, OP actually has (4) Travel Rewards cards with AFs counting the NFCU Flagship Rewards ($49 AF).

Unless OP does a LOT of business or personal travel, I believe just one good but FOCUSED travel reward card may be best to maximize results. 

I agree that VENTURE does not compete with other cards on that list.  Capital One allows combining credit limits, so close the Venture and transfer the Venture credit line to your Quicksilver.  Keep the Quicksilver open since it's one of your older accounts and raise the QS to around $28K or whatever they will let you transfer.  It now becomes your highest credit line and may help you leverage other lenders for higher credit lines. 

The Citi Prestige is Citi's answer to the AMEX Platinum - Chase Sapphire Reserve market competition.  It's a BIG step above the Sapphire Preferred, Venture, and Flagship Rewards.  So my question is, why does OP have all three tiers of travel cards?  Does OP do a lot of traveling or aspire to?  Based on the limited information I have, it sounds like this card is way out of place in the lineup.  At the $495 annual fee, I would eliminate it unless OP is a jet-setting frequent flier. 

For most casual travelers, I believe one good medium AF - medium benefits travel card is the better fit.  (And then other non-travel related cards.)  The Sapphire Preferred card benefits can be leveraged by rolling points over from the Freedom for 25% more value on the Ulimate Rewards website for travel, which helps to offset your $95 AF on it. 

So for me, for the travel cards portion of this lineup, I would

1) Close CapOne Venture and roll over credit line to QS

2) Close Citi Prestige and get rid of high $495 AF

3) Keep Sapphire Preferred and combine points from Freedom

[K-in-Boston]

Welcome to the forums.  Before any of us can really answer your question, we need to know what kind of rewards you prefer to go after (points/miles or cash back) and if points/miles, how do you typically use them?  If one is going after travel rewards, a CSP or CSR are fairly essential if one has a Freedom and/or Freedom Unlimited card. Not everything is one-size-fits-all for everyone.  So without knowing that, and what your typical spend is, we can really only make suggestions based on our own spending and redemption.

Also depending on how one uses their points, multiple travel cards are not at all redundant.  If one is interested in Virgin Atlantic and/or Flying Blue (Air France/KLM) points, for example to book award fares on Delta Air Lines, a strong case can be made for having cards that earn ThankYou, Ultimate Rewards, Membership Rewards, and Marriott points, as all 4 of those major programs can transfer to Virgin or AF/KLM, where premium cabin Delta flights can be booked for often a fraction of the SkyMiles needed to book them through Delta.

[Aim_High]

More information on three of cards would be helpful

as well as knowing what spending categories OP would maximize every month?

Which cards does OP have?  (Cash-back or rewards varies on each one.)

Discover has multiple cards (IT - 5% categories, IT Miles, or IT Chrome?)

USAA has multiple AMEX cards.  (Rewards or Cash-back Rewards?)

USAA has multiple VISA cards. (Rewards, Preferred Cash-back Rewards, Low Rate Advantage, or the now-unavailable Unlimited Cash-back rewards?)

[Aim_High]

More information on three of cards would be helpful

[Aim_High]

as well as knowing what spending categories OP would maximize every month?

[Aim_High]

Which cards does OP have?  (Cash-back or rewards varies on each one.)

[Aim_High]

Discover has multiple cards (IT - 5% categories, IT Miles, or IT Chrome?)

[Aim_High]

USAA has multiple AMEX cards.  (Rewards or Cash-back Rewards?)

[Aim_High]

USAA has multiple VISA cards. (Rewards, Preferred Cash-back Rewards, Low Rate Advantage, or the now-unavailable Unlimited Cash-back rewards?)

[Aim_High]

@K-in-Boston

  "... depending on how one uses their points, multiple travel cards are not at all redundant."

I agree to a point, but I believe it's relative to the situation.  I think that statement really only applies to frequent or business travelers who can take full advantage of these more advanced and creative techniques using different points programs.

For the average citizen or casual business traveler, multiple travel cards can be unnecessary and a wasted expense if AFs are involved.   I believe that there are many people who rarely travel out there who are much better served with having excellent cash-back only cards with no AFs and not even trying to play the travel game. 

[Aim_High]

  "... depending on how one uses their points, multiple travel cards are not at all redundant."

I agree to a point, but I believe it's relative to the situation.  I think that statement really only applies to frequent or business travelers who can take full advantage of these more advanced and creative techniques using different points programs.

For the average citizen or casual business traveler, multiple travel cards can be unnecessary and a wasted expense if AFs are involved.   I believe that there are many people who rarely travel out there who are much better served with having excellent cash-back only cards with no AFs and not even trying to play the travel game. 

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the great feedback!

So I’m a heavy traveler. I’m on the road about 80%-85% of the year. I book my own travel and spend roughly $10,000-$15,000 a month on credit cards. I PIF monthly. That said, I’d prefer to rack up rewards and spend the rewards on flights/hotels for vacations with the family.

My big miss in opening up various credit lines was that I chose the CSP instead of the CSR. That would be my go to card if I had it.

What negative impact will I have if I close the Capital One Venture card?

If I close all but 3 cards, which 3 should I keep? I need to keep a healthy limit for travel, and am wondering what type of growth I can expect out of each card. For example, what is a realistic limit for the Prestige? Or the Sapphire?

My credit is roughly 740-750 and I make roughly $150K/year with all work expenses reimbursed.

[Aim_High]

@NEWUSER2108

"...So I’m a heavy traveler. I’m on the road about 80%-85% of the year. I book my own travel and spend roughly $10,000-$15,000 a month on credit cards. I PIF monthly."

Ohhhh .... Well 'Why Didn't You Say That in the First Place!?!" 

That does change a lot.  I assume your employer is reimbursing you for all that spend?

You may benefit from having those multiple travel cards after all.

Chase would likely do a PC from the CSP to the CSR and it could be well worth your while.

So, you didn't answer my earlier questions yet about the other cards and spending? >>>>

More information on three of cards would be helpful

as well as knowing what spending categories OP would maximize every month?

Which cards does OP have?  (Cash-back or rewards varies on each one.)

Discover has multiple cards (IT - 5% categories, IT Miles, or IT Chrome?)

USAA has multiple AMEX cards.  (Rewards or Cash-back Rewards?)

USAA has multiple VISA cards. (Rewards, Preferred Cash-back Rewards, Low Rate Advantage, or the now-unavailable Unlimited Cash-back rewards?)

[Aim_High]

"...So I’m a heavy traveler. I’m on the road about 80%-85% of the year. I book my own travel and spend roughly $10,000-$15,000 a month on credit cards. I PIF monthly."

[Aim_High]

[Aim_High]

More information on three of cards would be helpful

[Aim_High]

as well as knowing what spending categories OP would maximize every month?

[Aim_High]

Which cards does OP have?  (Cash-back or rewards varies on each one.)

[Aim_High]

Discover has multiple cards (IT - 5% categories, IT Miles, or IT Chrome?)

[Aim_High]

USAA has multiple AMEX cards.  (Rewards or Cash-back Rewards?)

[Aim_High]

USAA has multiple VISA cards. (Rewards, Preferred Cash-back Rewards, Low Rate Advantage, or the now-unavailable Unlimited Cash-back rewards?)

[Anonymous]

The USAA Visa is a very old card and I have no idea what rewards it comes with.

The USAA Amex is the cash back rewards plus card.

The Discover is the 5% rotating category card.

No AF on the Freedom, USAA cards, discover, UBER or QS.