Want to Cancel Longest Open Card - Effects on Score and AAoA?

[Anonymous]

As the title states. I currently have 5 accounts, the oldest was opened 8/16. I want to close it because there's a $95 annual fee that's charged this month, and I don't use the card anymore. All other accounts were opened 5/17 or later.

Will my credit score/AAoA/other factors be affected negatively if I close my card? Is it worth paying $95 to keep the account open?

[pipeguy]

The simple answer is there will be very little if any effect on your scores.

Consider your AAoA is between 1 and 2 years, closing a single card even your oldest at just 2 years old will have basically no effect on the AAoA factor. 

[Anonymous]

I would just close it.  There will be zero impact at all on your credit scores. 

Since the account is only a year older than your next oldest account(s) in 10 years when it falls off of your CR your AoOA will only drop from ~12 years to ~11 years, which isn't a significant change.  If there was a 5+ year gap between your oldest and next oldest card, perhaps a different approach would be worthwhile. 

What is this card that has a $95 AF?  Is it a Amex Preferred card by chance?  If so, another option would be to downgrade it to the regular non-AF version and just SD the card.  If it's not an Amex and is some other card with a $95 AF, perhaps there's an option to downgrade that as well.

;

[Anonymous]

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@pipeguy

Consider your AAoA is between 1 and 2 years, closing a single card even your oldest at just 2 years old will have basically no effect on the AAoA factor. 

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AAoA is not impacted at all by closing a card, whether AAoA is 1-2 years or 11-12 years.  A closed card will stick around on your CR for roughly a decade, still being factored into your AAoA.

[SouthJamaica]

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@Anonymous wrote:

As the title states. I currently have 5 accounts, the oldest was opened 8/16. I want to close it because there's a $95 annual fee that's charged this month, and I don't use the card anymore. All other accounts were opened 5/17 or later.

Will my credit score/AAoA/other factors be affected negatively if I close my card? Is it worth paying $95 to keep the account open?

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No it's not worth $95 to keep the account open.

[Anonymous]

Sounds to me like a throwaway card.

[Anonymous]

thanks for the suggestions everyone. there is lot misinformation online i guess about how closing your oldest card really decreases your credit score. the card in question is the td aeroplan visa signature. no downgrade option.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

thanks for the suggestions everyone. there is lot misinformation online i guess about how closing your oldest card really decreases your credit score. the card in question is the td aeroplan visa signature. no downgrade option.

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Some of it is just miscommination.  The ovewhelming advice is not to close your oldest account.  But hidden in that advice are assumptions that in your case turn out not to be true.  The general rule assumes that your oldest card might be much older than all your other cards.  It also assumes that there is no annual fee.

Your card is roughly the same age as your other card and there IS an annual fee.

[pipeguy]

I have to admit that I keep open a pretty useless AmEx that I've had since 1978 (the original "card" I seem to remember has chiseled out of a stone tablet) and I'm not a fan of AmEx but it's kind of neat to have an account that is 40+ years old. I run a couple of hundred a year through it, just to keep it open but I really have no use for this account 

[Anonymous]

Cool to know that in decade you'll have a 50+ year AoOA!  I'd keep that thing open as well.  How much of a gap is there between the age of that trade line and your next oldest?