Howdy, FICOites,
First, thanks for all the great advice, dp's, and information on this site. It's great to have a resource like this for people looking to improve their credit profile.
I've been working toward a better credit profile for the past year, and I've made some progress. I have also come to realize that cards which charge an AF have no place in my wallet, and I'd like to start closing them (except my Amex where I am able to recoup the AF). Obviously I understand that this will affect my UTIL (already received CLI on other cards in order to compensate for the cards I plan on closing and I try to practice AZEO), but I'm more concerned with what closing one card in particular may affect my credit profile. Here goes...
These are the Cards I want to close and the dates they were opened, limits, UTIL, and AF:
CapitalOne QS1 - May 23, 2001 (17y 1m), $2,250, 0%, $60AF
CreditOne - October 3, 2016 (1y 9m), $1,800, 0%, $96AF
Other Cards:
Discover - January 31, 1996 (22y 5m), $7,200, 1%, No AF
Macy*s - December 1, 1999 (18y 7m), $2,250, 0%, No AF
Amex Personal Platinum - May 2, 2017 (1y 1m), NPSL, $550
Amex BCE - April 13, 2017 (1y 3m), $1,000, 0%, No AF
Amazon Store Card - July 18, 2017 (11m), $3,500, 0%, No AF
CareCredit - June 20, 2017 (1y 0m), $7,000, 21%, No AF
Curious as to the effect I can expect on my Credit Score for closing the two cards mentioned above.
Thanks in advance for your thoughts and advice!
@Sema-J wrote:Howdy, FICOites,
First, thanks for all the great advice, dp's, and information on this site. It's great to have a resource like this for people looking to improve their credit profile.
I've been working toward a better credit profile for the past year, and I've made some progress. I have also come to realize that cards which charge an AF have no place in my wallet, and I'd like to start closing them (except my Amex where I am able to recoup the AF). Obviously I understand that this will affect my UTIL (already received CLI on other cards in order to compensate for the cards I plan on closing and I try to practice AZEO), but I'm more concerned with what closing one card in particular may affect my credit profile. Here goes...
These are the Cards I want to close and the dates they were opened, limits, UTIL, and AF:
CapitalOne QS1 - May 23, 2001 (17y 1m), $2,250, 0%, $60AF
CreditOne - October 3, 2016 (1y 9m), $1,800, 0%, $96AF
Other Cards:
Discover - January 31, 1996 (22y 5m), $7,200, 1%, No AF
Macy*s - December 1, 1999 (18y 7m), $2,250, 0%, No AF
Amex Personal Platinum - May 2, 2017 (1y 1m), NPSL, $550
Amex BCE - April 13, 2017 (1y 3m), $1,000, 0%, No AF
Amazon Store Card - July 18, 2017 (11m), $3,500, 0%, No AF
CareCredit - June 20, 2017 (1y 0m), $7,000, 21%, No AF
Curious as to the effect I can expect on my Credit Score for closing the two cards mentioned above.
Thanks in advance for your thoughts and advice!
1. Apart from utilization, closing the cards won't affect your average age of accounts until after they drop off the reports which will probably be many years down the road. But at that time yes closing the Capital One card would affect, slightly, your average age of accounts. In your case, I don't think it would be a big deal.
2. Don't even think twice about closing the Credit One account; do it immediately.
3. I would be surprised if you couldn't get Capital One to upgrade to a no-annual-fee card. Just call up and ask if there are upgrades available. If they refuse, then you have a decision to make. Yes 10 years down the road it could cost you a point or two on some of your FICO scores, but so what compared $600 in fees you would have paid?
@SouthJamaica wrote:
@Sema-J wrote:Howdy, FICOites,
First, thanks for all the great advice, dp's, and information on this site. It's great to have a resource like this for people looking to improve their credit profile.
I've been working toward a better credit profile for the past year, and I've made some progress. I have also come to realize that cards which charge an AF have no place in my wallet, and I'd like to start closing them (except my Amex where I am able to recoup the AF). Obviously I understand that this will affect my UTIL (already received CLI on other cards in order to compensate for the cards I plan on closing and I try to practice AZEO), but I'm more concerned with what closing one card in particular may affect my credit profile. Here goes...
These are the Cards I want to close and the dates they were opened, limits, UTIL, and AF:
CapitalOne QS1 - May 23, 2001 (17y 1m), $2,250, 0%, $60AF
CreditOne - October 3, 2016 (1y 9m), $1,800, 0%, $96AF
Other Cards:
Discover - January 31, 1996 (22y 5m), $7,200, 1%, No AF
Macy*s - December 1, 1999 (18y 7m), $2,250, 0%, No AF
Amex Personal Platinum - May 2, 2017 (1y 1m), NPSL, $550
Amex BCE - April 13, 2017 (1y 3m), $1,000, 0%, No AF
Amazon Store Card - July 18, 2017 (11m), $3,500, 0%, No AF
CareCredit - June 20, 2017 (1y 0m), $7,000, 21%, No AF
Curious as to the effect I can expect on my Credit Score for closing the two cards mentioned above.
Thanks in advance for your thoughts and advice!1. Apart from utilization, closing the cards won't affect your average age of accounts until after they drop off the reports which will probably be many years down the road. But at that time yes closing the Capital One card would affect, slightly, your average age of accounts. In your case, I don't think it would be a big deal.
2. Don't even think twice about closing the Credit One account; do it immediately.
3. I would be surprised if you couldn't get Capital One to upgrade to a no-annual-fee card. Just call up and ask if there are upgrades available. If they refuse, then you have a decision to make. Yes 10 years down the road it could cost you a point or two on some of your FICO scores, but so what compared $600 in fees you would have paid?
Thanks for the reply, SouthJamaica.
Good to know that closing the QS1 won't affect anything for now, but may have an effect years down the road. As you say, however, $600 in fees saved along the way. I'm in agreement with your CreditOne assessment. That shall be done post haste.
I should have mentioned in my original post that I've been trying to PC the QS1 for a year. I've called, chatted, written, and they refuse to budge. It doesn't matter that I put spend through the card, or even when I carried a balance for a few months last year, they just give me the same old "this was part of your cardmember agreement..." So I think it's time to chuck 'em.
Thanks for the input BBS. I'll go ahead and close both, and provide the DP when they reflect on my reports.