Help Citi is making me choose between keepimy my low rate or keeping my account open!!!!

[Anonymous]

I noticed this month that my interest rate had jumped from 8.5 to 15.9!!  I called them and they said it's not anything I did but that the bad economy was to blame and If I wanted to keep the account open I'd have to take the lower rate or else When my card expires in Nov my account would be closed-but I'd keep my lower rate!  What is the best decision here?  My scores around 720 right now and I don't want it going down but they are insistent(I went rounds with them plus their manager) 

[llecs]

Same happened to me a couple days ago. For my card, I'm gonna PIF and shelve it.

[Anonymous]

But won't that lower my score?  My age of account or something will be lower, right? 

[llecs]

Not for me. I'm gonna keep it open, but I'm going to pay it off and not use it. Maybe I'll buy a cup of coffee every 3-6 months, with it but I'll never ever carry a balance again. Doing this will help my score as my utilization would be lower.

If you chose to close your card, the age won't drop. It will still report, but will fall off within 10 yrs.