What is (avoiding) a new account worth?

[Anonymous]

AF's are irrelevant if the benefits of the card for the individual exceed the AF.  If an AF is $2000, if someone can gross $3000 in rewards and still net $1000 after the dust settles it could very well be viewed as a win.

I just think people too often get spooked by AFs before they even crunch the numbers to see if the benefits exceed the AF for their personal spend/profile.

[p-]

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iced wrote:  For a mortgage, what length of time would you consider to be far enough out to not worry?

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Far enough out that the inquiry is gone (two years) and the AAOA recovered enough to get me back to a good score.  Again, it depends on your situation.  As a rebuilder, if I know I have a mortgage app, I would avoid any new credit for twelve months ahead.  But now, in the 800's, I pretty much do what I want.  Paying on time and good utilization seems to keep me qualified for everything.  

[disdreamin]

Personally, I'd be careful with new credit if you have a mortgage in the foreseeable future, unless your profile is super-squeaky-clean. If it is at all borderline, I'd be hesitant to rock the boat by applying for anything.

FWIW, I've been in the same quandry over a PC versus apping for the new card. One thing I take into consideration is any sign-up bonus the card might offer. If that is high enough, it might push me towards apping instead of PCing. Good luck on your decision!

[driftless]

I think that it is important to note that the OP is going to neutral in terms of the number of cards that his and his reported CL's.

[iced]

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@driftless wrote:
I think that it is important to note that the OP is going to neutral in terms of the number of cards that his and his reported CL's.

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I don't understand what you mean by this. Are you referring to the notion that in the end my total number of accounts and respective limits aren't changing? If I apply for the card then combine, this isn't quite true - the CLs from the old and new card would be combined into a new limit.