Why SO MANY Credit Cards?

[happypill]

Here are a few reasons:

• Your credit score goes down as your utilization goes up, so if you actually want to use any of your limit it impacting your score, you need about 10x the limit.
• Banks sometimes take AA for no reason.  It is prudent to cultivate relationships with many different lenders so you're not affected if such things occur.
• Many cards offer sign-on or annual bonuses.  If someone is going to pay you $400 to apply for their card, why wouldn't you?
• Cards offer different benefits.  You might need several cards to get the best rewards on your higest spend categories.  You might need some other cards that offer high limits.  You might want a card for emergencies that has low APR, cash advance or BT fees.  Other perks include high limits, no foreign transaction fees, other services and more.

Other folks probably have other reasons specific to themselves.

[ddemari]

People have many reasons for a lot of cards. For me I can manage dozens of accounts just fine and use cards for different reasons and go through periods where I want a card and since I have no issue with fearing getting into debt and I can support/ manage the cards I take on more. Granted all these cards have damaged my average account age which is something that I need to work on getting back up. And trying to take no more cards is what I need to focus on now that I have enough cards to meet all needs and then some

[morgacj2004]

Honestly it is addicting but a better habit than smoking or using drugs. Lol. 

[TekkenQQ7]

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@morgacj2004 wrote:

Honestly it is addicting but a better habit than smoking or using drugs. Lol. 

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Addiction is an addiction, and everything has a limit including good and bad 

[Anonymous]

Because with my high scores, i can. And why not?

[Anonymous]

For each person the answer will differ, I have multiple cards because I cash back. I also have a few cards specifically for balance transfers.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

I see...so is this related to the whole "gardening" idea? What is gardening exactly?

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When a person decides to garden they have chosen not to apply for new credit for a set period of time. They can still request SP CLIs but nothing that requires a HP. People garden for different reasons. I garden all the time, but this time I decided to join my fellow myFicoers in the garden. See the Garden Club thread within this forum for more information.

[Discover2016]

I have 9 cards and that is my sweet spot, I would only go to 10 if I got the Venture with a nice sweet limit

[Anonymous]

Sign-up bonuses. New credit card product comes out with new features all the time, and once an account is opened it often makes little sense to close it, so they build up over time. Honestly, being a long-time customer means nothing, absofreakinglutely nothing to most banks. But if you are a new customer with a good (and sometimes not so good) credit, they will woo you with lots of goodies. So you need to be shopping for and jumping to greener pastures over time.

[Sharingan]

The simple answer is because I can, and because it's not anyone else's problem to deal with. For some of us, it's a good problem to have with careful management. All of my cards have a purpose in mind and while there is some overlap/redundancy currently, it will be dealt with when the time comes (AF renewal or simply ready to dispose of a card). 

Lastly, I do enjoy a good sign up bonus and an opportunity to try out a card for a year to determine if it's a good fit. Some cards are keepers, such as the Hyatt and IHG cards. Alternatively, there are also some cards that I've determined to be a terrible fit after the first year and sign up bonus, such as the Venture card, which I'll have to deal with next summer.