@MT64 wrote:Hoping to get recommendations/feedback on the best pathway moving forward in regards to timing new accounts and possibly closing some old ones out along with reasoning. After scouring tons of threads here noting others closing older accounts for various reasons (low CLs, no CLIs, bucketed cards, etc.) I started asking myself, why am I not doing the same?!
I suppose it was initially in fear of bringing down my overall CL as a whole but now realize that's kind of silly given their low limits and shouldn't matter much if I'm able to:
1. Increse my current limit with Disco in the next 2-4 months
2. Open 1 or 2 new accounts with a much higher SL finally now having much better scores (760s)
3. AAoA isn't affected by closing a few older accounts out (currently sitting at 5 years - 4/24)
Also wasn't aware that closing an old account wouldn't necessarily negatively affect your overall credit profile. Not sure why it was so ingrained in my mind that the oldest accounts need to remain open for them to 'count' but I see a lot of other people realizing this too, reading through all the threads.
My current lineup:
Grand scheme of things, I only have a handful of cards (6), (1) 6-year mortgage, (1) 1-year personal loan and hopefully an upcoming Auto Loan that I plan on opening before making any other major credit movements later this year.
Cards I love and plan on keeping:
1. Discover: $7,500 (about to graduate 1 year, hoping for my first CLI in the near future)
2. Local CU Visa: $5,000 (love it for the full cash advance availability)
3. Cred.AI Unicorn Card (reports as $1,500, only really wanted it for the metal card and features)
Cards I plan on ridding despite holding them for 10-12 years:
4. Capital One Secured $750 (this was my first card that helped me build to where I am today which I'll remain forever grateful for but since it's not going anywhere, I don't think I should bother keeping it. Somone please advise me otherwise)
5. Capital One Platinum $500 (my first unsecured card after the first one, I was always hoping I would get credit limit increases but they never seemed to come, always with a denial for odd reasons despite my insane recent approvals in comparison with Disco and local CU)
6. Credit One $1,700 (still unsure why Credit One has allowed me to have a much higher CL than both my Capital One cards combined but gotta give them credit for allowing me to have a higher limit in general)
Cards I don't count but add into the CL total mix:
Guitar Center Card $2,000 (no need to get rid of it, might be useful at some point but only at Guitar Center)
PayPal Credit $1,500 (not an actual card but available to use for eBay, plan on keeping, hopefully will increase)
"The 3" Goal Cards and Closing Deadweight (RIP to 3):
I'd like my next card to offer a 0% intro APR for the next year+ for some house renovation work, so in order of what I'm hoping to open within the next 2-years (open to suggestions):
1. Alliant CU: (I see almost everyone that opens an account with them get both great rates and seemingly generous SLs ($10,000) and if they do indeed offer a 0% intro, this would be ideally my next card. Any reason I should consider something else or maybe a backup if not approved for whatever reason? All of my most recent accounts opened will be over 1 year old)
2. X1 - I'm torn with X1. Mainly because of all the CLDs I've seen, yet I still lust for it. Don't ask why... or do. I would love to have a card with a $18k-$24k SL range so that I can actually "use" the cards available to me to some decent extent ($3k-$6k) without completely wrecking my credit score as an adverse result. Plus it still remains to be probably the coolest card next to the Cred.AI card, imo.
3. American Exress - Outside of Discover (which I've finally landed), I've always viewed AMEX as one of the must have cards to add 'eventually', I'm just not really sure which one to aim for. No crazy traveling or rewards to that extent needed but could use as a daily. The only offputting thing is they seem to start you with a much lower SL than the other two cards mentioned, which is why it's last on my list. No AF would be nice.
I did try for an Apple card shortly after my Discover last year but they were only offering $3,000 SL and reading Goldman Sachs had also been doing some CLDs, I decided against it. Thankfully I passed as I had an offer from my CU for the $5k Visa just weeks after that I accepted.
Please forgive my barrage of questions, but:
1. Any reason I should consider AMEX over Alliant CU first? (or any other alternative recommendations?)
2. Should Disco grant me a CLI soon (hopefully), will it have any adverse affect for applying to new cards outside of the SP?
3. Any reason I shouldn't close the two Capital One and Credit One accounts?
4. Should I wait until approved for one of the first 3 'goal cards' and then close the 3 smaller accounts right after? If so, will closing that many accounts at the same time result in any negatives towards my scores?
5. Should I apply for 2 of the 3 goal cards back-to-back in hopes for obtaining them quicker? or apply for the 1 and then wait until next year when my 4/24 drops to 1/24 to apply for the other 2?
6. Anything else I should do specifically to try and reach the 800 Stars?
Ultimate goal is to get to 800+, remove the deadweight, keep and acquire what I consider to be the higher profile cards but adding the Auto Loan into the mix first and foremost. I seem to be stuck at just under 800, hoping the (needed, because it's time to replace my current vehicle) Auto Loan will help push that into the 800+ range within the year but not sure how closing 3 lower CL accounts will hurt, if at all. Maybe pushing for a higher TCL all-around is ultimately what I need on top of the Auto Loan?
Thanks for reading my lengthy post, and for any recommendations / insights you may have to share.
First, some general comments. Since the auto loan is your priority, I would make no changes in the rest of your portfolio until the auto loan is done. I would not place so much stock in starting credit limit; with Alliant you might get a nice starting limit, but with Amex you might get a nice starting limit too, and with Amex it will be much easier to get nice credit limit increases, and they will be SP, not HP.
As to your specific questions, this is what I would do AFTER getting the auto loan signed, sealed, and delivered:
1. Yeah, I would get the Amex BCE before getting the Alliant card.
2. No, a CLI from Discover would have no adverse effect.
3. No compelling reason not to eventually close Credit One and Capital One Secured card.
4. I do think it's a good idea to do the replacements one at a time.
5. No I think it's better to space the applications out.
6. Pay down auto loan as fast as possible, try to have most of your revolving accounts report zero balances, keep your utilization low, make no unnecessary applications or take actions that might generate a HP.
I'm a big fan of closing absolute starter cards!
They are going to report for 10 years so your not going to miss much. Get rid of them and start the new chapter fresh 👍
You can add couple of cards if you haven't add anything recently, Blue Cash Everyday® Card should work for you and has 15mo 0% APR. Also you can SP 3X CLI
X1 Card is good choice, I had them over a year with no issues! You can App with SP and if you like the SL then you can accept with HP.
As far as Discover, they do offer SP CLI couple of times in a row if you put usage on it! You can also call them and ask for promotional 0% APR if you have large purchases coming up.
