Originally Posted by jerry crump
I noticed much of what people list as best deal involves a possible ding on the credit report. Is everyone factoring that in as a potential cost?
For those with pretty good credit to begin with, most 'dings' on your credit report for the offers mentioned here are minor. I have taken advantage of several credit card promos in the past year or two for example and have a 'ding' on my credit report for it but I have faithfully closed accounts which were only opened for such offers and my FICO score remains quite high. So unless you have other not-so-creditworthy factors, this should not be a major concern.
It is to your advantage however to not close credit cards which have been open a long time even if you don't use them. But closing accounts with very little history makes little difference.
And note that the FICO scale goes to 850, not 1000 as mentioned above.