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@Anonymous wrote:
I think the only no annual fee card I have is my Discover so I’d keep that. My AMEX is my oldest card because I used the trick this board told me and got my card back dated to my first card in college which was 20 years ago. I’ll keep my AMEX Platinum because it’s the one card we actually use and pay off every month. All the rest of the cards I’ve had for 5 years.
If that Amex card is really back dated 20 years in your CRs and not just on the webpage then I think it’s worth the AF (If you can afford it). I’d find a way to keep that and cancel the newer AF cards. But you know your finances better so it’s ultimately your call.
@Anonymous wrote:
I asked this in the credit card forums but it might be better for this one. <snip>
Hi @Anonymous and welcome to the myFICO Forums. I've merged both of your threads here in General Credit Topics to eliminate confusion and receiving responses in two different places.
@Anonymous wrote:
Yes my AMEX shows 20 years on my credit report.
If you want to answer another posters question or post. Hit "Reply" Then hit the "Quote" button. Then type your responce. Welcome.
@Anonymous wrote:
I first joined this forum many years ago when I had terrible credit and wanted to improve it. I did, I got a lot of credit cards, I got a mortgage, I got good credit. My credit score is now 779 and I have no credit card debt yet I still have all these cards with hundreds of dollars in annual fees a year. I want to cancel these cards because I don’t want to pay annual fees for cards I don’t use, but I’m worried it’ll tank my credit if I cancel them.
Has anyone had any experience with this? And if I call the banks and have them cancel my cards, will they waive the fee or offer me a card without a fee? I’m just not sure what I should do. Next year my husband and I will probably be looking to buy a new house so I don’t want to tank my credit before we do this and then I can’t bring it up quickly.
Since you have low utilization, and will still have low utilization, yes you should feel free to close the cards you don't use which have annual fees.
It will not affect your scores adversely in the near future, and some mortgage loan officers prefer a profile with few revolving lines of credit. Most of your closed accounts will stay on your credit reports for many years.
If you close your oldest account today, and 10 years from now it falls off your credit report, that might affect your score at that time, but you will probably have such a well seasoned profile that it won't make a difference.
@Anonymous wrote:Closing revolving lines will decrease your average account age which does affect your FICO score.
Incorrect information above. Closing revolving lines has no impact at all on AAoA as both open and closed accounts impact AAoA equally. Closed accounts will remain on a CR for 10 years typically, so any adverse impact from their closure won't happen for a decade.
OP, go ahead and close your AF cards. Or, see if you can downgrade the AF cards to non-AF versions or PC them to non-AF products. At that point you can SD them and not have to worry about the fees. As long as you have a couple of non-AF cards (like Discover) in your profile that remain open you'll be just fine.