biggestbopper

The question of the effect of applying for lots of credit cards on FlyerTalkers' credit ratings has recently been discussed at length in another thread entitled How many affilitated cards do you have? in MileBuzz. (sorry, I can't figure out how to post the link).

After reviewing that thread I hold to my original opinion, which is that while applying for, and not getting, credit cards hurts your credit score, applying and getting the cards has very little effect. When an account is opened the inquiry is supposed to be automatically merged into the newly opened account (when first use is reported to the bureau) and so the inquiry effectively disappears and has no effect on your credit score.

Gather your miles while ye may!

phantomtiger

You are Correct (as stated in my previous post #15)
The main reason an application is rejected is because the persons score is low to begin with= remember those bad habits (late payments, heavy loans, in debt?), these are the main culprits that will haunt you in the long run, not so much the multiple cards.

But on the other hand, its the cancelation of those same cards (decreasing your liability) that will hurt your score more than actually having those cards active and having a greater liabilty, so go figure.

If anyone can actually link the thread on the multiple card issue (posted above) I would like to view that sometimes. Thanks

lmagnott

The thread mentioned in the previous post is How many affiliated credit cards do you have?

Another older, but still interesting thread in the MilesBuzz forum on the same topic is Applying/Canceling Card and its effects

larceny

I just called to 'cancel' my AA Gold MasterCard and was offered the 3,000 miles immediately. The entire conversation was under three minutes.

kat99

I tried to cancel my Citi AAdvantage Gold MasterCard and was given 7500 to stay. My annual fee doesn't kick in until July so I took the miles and will cancel in June.

huge

I just called to cancel my Citi AAdvantage business card and was offered a $50 credit on the card to offset the $50 annual fee that is scheduled to show up in June. Is there anything preventing me from taking the credit, spending it, and then cancelling the card anyway to avoid the annual fee?

mnieric

Has anybody done this with their Citi AAdvantage - Business Mastercard yet? I'm curious to know the mileage retention offer range before I call them...Thanks!!!

jgold

For what it's worth, I threatened to cancel by AA MasterCard and got 2,000 miles (just last month). Now the question is once I do cancel it, how long do I need to wait before reapplying so I can get the 15,000 introductory bonus...

biggestbopper

I canceled my personal AAdvantage account a month or so before the annual fee waiver was go to expire. I had stopped using it a couple of months before because Citi will not pay out the miles on the current statement when you cancel the account (pretty sneaky on their part).

Then, less than a month later I decided to get another, new personal AAdvantage Citi card. I applied for the 20K offer, got a call from Citi a week or so later saying I was approved and would be getting the card soon.

However, the card is still on the way, and so is the 20k bonus.

ExtraInRedShirt

I just cancelled my AAdvantage Platinum card. I got an offer of
"3000 miles (but you still have to pay annual fee)". uhhhmmm - no
"5000 miles, pay the fee" - still no.
"Transfer the available credit to my other Citi card" - never heard the offer before, but no (just because I was in a bad mood for not getting annual fee waved).
"Thank you, have a nice day. Your account has been closed" - works for me...