Why so many cards?

[Anonymous]

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@Journeygod wrote:

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@brbmake wrote:

I am really new here, and I am enjoying reading many of these threads and learning about credit scores, but I have noticed something.  Many people have their cards with limits in their signiture lines. As I have been reading them, I am amazed at how many cards people have and the total credit lines they have.  Perhaps I have old information, but I was always told that having so much credit available was a bad thing (or a risk) because someone could go out and do a lot of damage quite quickly.  I have 3 credit cards. Total I have about $17,200 in credit on my credit cards.  Whihc, to many people here, is not much. Can someone explain the reasoning to me behind having so many cards? Thanks!

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Every couple of months we get someone like you who starts with, "I'm new here, blah, blah, blah. Why do you guys have so many cards?"

1. Many people on this forum have worked very hard to achieve the credit scores and credit they have. They're proud of their accomplishments...and they should be.

2. We have these cards because we WANT these cards.

Does that answer your question?

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I think the question should be with people who have high credit scores and high income: Why so few cards?  I tell people about basically getting 1000 dollars for spending 2k on a card and they all seem like it is a hassle.  But it can't be that because they all use one reward card with crappy rewards.  I don't really understand it.  It is like people are somehow afraid of the credit card companies.  Like if they got some sign up bonus 9 years ago they shouldn't get a new card as it would destroy their credit. 

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@Journeygod wrote:

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@brbmake wrote:

I am really new here, and I am enjoying reading many of these threads and learning about credit scores, but I have noticed something.  Many people have their cards with limits in their signiture lines. As I have been reading them, I am amazed at how many cards people have and the total credit lines they have.  Perhaps I have old information, but I was always told that having so much credit available was a bad thing (or a risk) because someone could go out and do a lot of damage quite quickly.  I have 3 credit cards. Total I have about $17,200 in credit on my credit cards.  Whihc, to many people here, is not much. Can someone explain the reasoning to me behind having so many cards? Thanks!

---

Every couple of months we get someone like you who starts with, "I'm new here, blah, blah, blah. Why do you guys have so many cards?"

1. Many people on this forum have worked very hard to achieve the credit scores and credit they have. They're proud of their accomplishments...and they should be.

2. We have these cards because we WANT these cards.

Does that answer your question?

---

I think the question should be with people who have high credit scores and high income: Why so few cards?  I tell people about basically getting 1000 dollars for spending 2k on a card and they all seem like it is a hassle.  But it can't be that because they all use one reward card with crappy rewards.  I don't really understand it.  It is like people are somehow afraid of the credit card companies.  Like if they got some sign up bonus 9 years ago they shouldn't get a new card as it would destroy their credit. 

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Too many people listening to Dave Ramsey and his demonization of the CC companies. 

[csryang]

Yeah I think there's a general misconception that getting too many credit cards will ding credit badly. My thought was that way years ago so I can relate.

However, after being in this game for 3 years+, I know it's not true. I have more than 25 cards (up from 2 cards 10 years ago) and regularly applying for them every 6 months. 

My score has not changed too much. Of course, if you plan to apply for mortgage or other important loans, you should probably stop applying for cards at least 1 year prior. 

So for me, why so many cards?

1) Diversify my profile. If one credit card company decides to change their reward structure, I have another one to fall back to.

2) Building relationship with each company. Who knows, I might need other type of loans from them and building a relationship with cards will help.

3) Not to worry about debt/credit ratio that much since I have several cards to spend it on.

4) Getting rewards with points or cash back from daily purchases. I had a crappy reward card from 10 years ago and I only got like $500 cash back from charges throughout the years. Nowadays, I am getting $500 cash back just from less than one year of using combination of my cards.

5) Sign up bonuses - probably the biggest one. Imagine getting free tickets, free nights, primary rental car insurance, airline status... etc all from your credit cards.

The only downside is organization and maintenance of your cards (call for retention bonus, decide if you want to downgrade, make small charges to keep them open etc)... If you are not careful, you might end up paying annual fee that you dont need.