Any reason why...
 

you can't apply for a bunch of airline credit cards and transfer the miles into another program that offers 2 points for every mile?

You can do whatever you like, but be aware the a sudden increase in credit card applications lowers your credit score significantly, so don't do it if you plan on buying a car or house in the near future.

Hey,
I have a couple of credit cards that I want to cancel, what is the best way to get rid of them, I have heard if I cancel them all at once , it will impact my credit.
but I never use these anymore and would like them closed

thanks for the advice

I don't know why canceling them would affect your credit. I would just call them and cancel.

Actually, I recently read an article that cancelling cards may negatively affect your credit score. This is referenced in the following links:

http://moneycentral.msn.com/articles...pitol/5505.asp

http://moneycentral.msn.com/articles...redit/6285.asp

Steve

[This message has been edited by Windjammer (edited 08-08-2002).]

If you read the article carefully, it does not say that cancelling a credit card negatively affects your credit score.
It does say that consolidating a number of credit card balances to just one or two cards and cancelling the others may negatively affect your score, since you will now have a higher outstanding balance vs. credit line on those remaining cards.

I believe that ExpoTrac is correct in his assessment of what the article says.

Actually your total available credit impacts your score. If you cancel cards that are not used and those cards have a high total credit limit, you could lower your score.

craig5571,
Why not just put the cards away somewhere and leave the accounts open? I don't know if canceling cards at once hurts your credit, but having accounts open that have a low or no balance helps even if you never use them. So they can still be beneficial.


Cheers.

I guess I could keep the cards, i have a discover platinum that I got in 99 that I never even used...

I just applied for it, to get 50$ offered by priceline at the time..

I dont carry any credit card balances, I pay everything off each month or other month..

Having a card even with a zero balance is still an open line of credit, and counts in how much credit you have outstanding. If you have a bunch of cards, closing the accounts is the better thing to do if you are planning on buying a house or car in the future. Keep 2 or 3 cards at the most. It will show you have good credit history. Having alot of "open credit" will count against you even if you don't have a balance. Cards that you close will have the message "Account closed at the request of customer" listed on your credit report. This is not a bad thing.

Every credit card offer you receive in the mail is reported on your credit report but does not affect your credit score. Call your bank and credit card companies and ask to be put on the "do not distribute list". You can also ask them to stop constantly raising your limit without your consent. Credit card companies love to extend more and more credit to their best customers, even if you don't need it. I had the limit actually lowered about 5 years ago on my credit card just because I didn't need 20K on 3 different cards. That is 60K in credit, which is excessive and could lower your chances of the best interest rate on a house or car.

just my 0.02

should I close the cards all at once? or spread it out over a period of months.. I dont have any plans to use them again..

I use only Worldperks card or my newly acquired delta amex platium , depending on where I can get the most miles.

I flew first class on my honeymoon (last month, (paid for coach)

thanks!!

However, this is not always true. Promotional offers, even those including "pre-approved" offers are reported on your credit report, but at least with Equifax and Experian these are listed as PRM for promotional. No bank or lender can see the lines noted as PRM, only you can when you get a copy of your credit report. Of course if you return the application then it does become viewable. I am not sure if this holds true for all credit agencies.


Cheers.

Closing them all at once will have zero negative impact on your score since they will be reported as voluntary closures. If the bank(s) were to close them for you..that's a different story. Since open un-used credit lines are viewed as contingent liabilty, if you are not using them nor have plans to use them - close them.

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I Love New York -- Viva España

just wanted to say thanks for all the help!
this is a great forum..

Nobody actually addressed the fact that except in very rare cases, balance transfers to not earn any miles. So you could spend whatever you like, but will probably only get miles 1 time - so you should spend on the ones with double miles, not try a balance transfer. And balance transfers often (not always) have large transaction costs associated with them.

And prncess674 - the Fair Isaacs folks who create the FICO score say that actually having more lines of credit open is a good thing (if you aren't using them), because a prime factor in calculating the score is the percentage of credit that you have that you are using. I don't know how other creditors look at multiple accounts, but I know the Fair Isaacs president said in an interview that there is a misconception about open accounts.

You are paying your balances every month, so it does not really sound like you have to worry. When buying a home,I canceled several unused cards. My loan agent told me the only thing that could raise my score (it is very high already), would be to NOT pay off my cards every month, and carry a small balance in at least three different accounts. You will have a different score with each of the three agencies, and it is not like a few points will generally make or break a decision to extend credit.

The main reason I close un-used cards is that I tend to get hit by fraud alot, and it is easier to keep tabs on less cards.

If you have no balances on those accts and you close them that will be no negative effects it will actually raise your score. Because it will reduce your outstanding aval. credit on revolving accounts.

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Sorry mama i gots to get all the miles i can

Brian

There are a couple of more issues that are not being addressed:

First of all, if you close out a couple of cards an you do carry balances on the others, this will raise your percentage of debt to outstanding availability and lower your FICO score

Second, part of your FICO score is based on your oldest open account - make sure you don't close accounts you have had forever

Finally, there is a bit of art to this score system. For example, we all know that too many credit requests will lower the score. At the same time however, applying for a receiving a card now and then will raise the score. You might want to go to the FICO web site and read up on all of these issues, however the acutally system is a black box and they will not get specific about how changes will effect you.