Hi, signed-up in 2012 but really hitting the site now.

I have the following:

Chase Freedom - used this for a while
AAdvantage Visa - for the sign-up miles
SPG AmEx - for the sign-up miles

I'll probably keep the Chase open because it has a long history but for the other two, do you think I should close them? That way I can try signing up again in a year and also because SPG AmEX has a annual fee. I'm just cautious about losing any points if I close my CCs.

I'm also thinking about applying for the below:

US Airways Dividend Miles Premier World MasterCard (Chairman's)
Hilton HHonors Visa or Hilton HHonors AmEx (not sure which is better, can i sign up for both?)
Any other recs?

Thanks!

Assuming you are aware abt the min period before re-applying for AMEX and Citi. What are your plans - domestic or international travel, hotel points?

Currently there are many good offers - you can plan for a churn depending on your credit score.

Thanks domino007.

I'm in the US and I would love to travel internationally.
That's why I want to sign up for the cards that give you hotel points or miles.
I'm hesitant on getting cards that have annual fees (unless waived for the 1st year, in which case I think I would cancel before the fees hit for the 2nd year)... unless you can convince me otherwise... maybe there are times where keeping the cards and paying the fees would be worth it, but I'm not sure if I fall into that category. I'm still learning all this stuff.

My other concern is if I enroll for too many different programs over time, and I don't keep the cards, I'm thinking it would be a nightmare to keep those programs active (transferring points)? Please give me your opinion on that... would it be better to concentrate on a few programs instead? E.g. I keep the CHase Freedom and re-enroll for a few credit cards every year (SPG, Hilton, Marriott, etc.) and transfer the Chase points to those other programs to keep them active?

I'm not sure what the min periods are for the two but I'm guessing they're at least 1 year.

I have a mortgage already and don't forsee myself applying for refi or another mortgage. When I got my mortgage, my scores were in the upper 700s.

Thanks, GT

If you are looking for cards that can give you hotel OR mile points i would recommend both the Sapphire preferred and the Ink Bold/Plus. If you sign up for those you'll end up with 90K points that can be used transferred to airline or hotel programs. I personally wouldn't close the SPG. The yearly fee isn't that much and the points can be oh so valuable.

Hotel wise there are some good Hilton HHonors deals out there. 2 free weekend nights, 60K bonus points, etc. At the end of the day you'll need to have a game plan of what you want to do with your points.

There are plenty of other opinions out there but those are just my quick and short 2 cents.

Dad to GO, thanks.

The Sapphire Preferred seems good, but the Ink Bold/Plus wants me to spend a total of $10K in the first 3 months... that's too high of a spend for me.

You indicated that the SPG points can be valuable... can you expand on that?
If I close my SPG card, I would still be able to keep the points right?
My thought was that I would sign-up next year to get more SPG bonus points.
Will they delete my points if I cancel the card?

Thanks again.

Minimum time before you can apply for the same card again like Citi AA cards again is 24 months.
There are many cards with first year fee waived - you might have search for the best offers (Chase UA card, US Airways are some examples).
For keeping an account active apart from your option (transfer UR points) - there are other options (shopping thru online portals, car rentals etc).
Ink bold has $5K offer (50K points) offer currently, mix it with sapphire & that can be a good start up for UR points.
SPG points (like UR points) are flexible (transfer to airlines with bonus (20K spg =25K airline miles), used for hotel stays with cash+points option etc). Some of the hotels under SPG brand are very costly and the SPG points that you can use for stay give a very nice option. Its as valuable as UR points (personally maybe more).

Just to add Chase allows you to have one card (or offer) only once. You cannot apply for similar product again in the lifetime (unless the product is different like visa & MC).

domino, thanks for the info. i will do more research!

There is a link out there for Ink Plus with 5k spend in 3 months.