well, my issue is i've almost always had bad credit, so managing her good credit has been a bit different for me 
so making the smartest financial decision isn't exactly clear-cut to me here, even if it seems obvious to others.
here is a snapshot of her cards:
15,500: 7 years old in about 2 weeks
14,000: 7 months
10,000: 5 years, 3 months
5,000: 1 year next month
2,000: new chase freedom opened friday
store cards, she has 6. the oldest card she has is 7.5 years old, just a $1,920 CL. they range from $1,100 to $4,000, & most were opened between 2007 & 2009. only one was opened this year, her sears card, which was opened in march.
her total util right now is about 25%.
Take this example...if you have roughly 62,000 in credit, and are currently at 25% util. of that credit, then losing that trade line would lower your credit profile to around 46,500, and from that your overall util. would jump to over 33%.
thanks simon. yea, i did the math, but it wasnt an astronomical increase, so it wasn't a very convincing argument 
@laz98 wrote:well, my issue is i've almost always had bad credit, so managing her good credit has been a bit different for me
here is a snapshot of her cards:
15,500: 7 years old in about 2 weeks
14,000: 7 months
10,000: 5 years, 3 months
5,000: 1 year next month
2,000: new chase freedom opened friday
store cards, she has 6. the oldest card she has is 7.5 years old, just a $1,920 CL. they range from $1,100 to $4,000, & most were opened between 2007 & 2009. only one was opened this year, her sears card, which was opened in march.
her total util right now is about 25%.
Two things to consider: impact on longest history/ AAoA, and impact on util.
With the slightly older store card, longest history is OK.
Ten years from now, this might impact her AAoA, but as long as it keeps reporting (even though closed), it's still helping.
-- so far, so good, I think
The potential issue is if she lets balances report. This card is almost 1/3 of her total available revolving credit. If she ever has big balances report (i.e., for a big BT at 0%), closing this card might hurt.
I'd recommend dividing her usual reported balances by the new total credit available ($46,500 - 15,500). What's the new reported util? If it's not over 9%, I'd say go on and don't worry about it.
-- duh me, I just saw that you posted that she has ~25% reported util... This is such a big CL that you might want to bite the bullet and hang onto it until the reported balances are reduced.
thanks hauling, for that awesome in-depth reply!
yeah, our tendency to carry balances comes & goes, so i guess i will have to keep it, until she gets another really high limit card. we were hoping chase would at least give her 5k, but no dice 
i'm waiting for her auto loan inquiries to drop in november to try to get her in with usaa 
@laz98 wrote:thanks hauling, for that awesome in-depth reply!
yeah, our tendency to carry balances comes & goes, so i guess i will have to keep it, until she gets another really high limit card. we were hoping chase would at least give her 5k, but no dice
Did you try calling them and see if they will waive the AF? It's worth a try. Check the "My Offers" tab on her USAA. She may already have a pre-approved offer. Also, the effect of inquiries diminishes after a year; if they are older than tht, maybe it's time to apply now. Or if they are recent, why not apply and risk getting denied, knowing that the inq will drop off pretty quickly anyway?