Which Cards Are You Closing in 2016?

[FixnCred]

 

 

Cap1 secured $300. With over 350k in credit I think I can let this one go

Is it your oldest tradeline? Sounds like it might be. You may want to reconsider if it is and see what the next oldest tradeline is and the Delta between the two as it could have unintended consequences.

For AAOA i believe closed accounts will stay on reports for 10 years.

Yeah you just have to worry about the oldest tradeline(s) whatever it is. Doesn't have to be a card. If its not the oldest then yeah close away if you want and you let it work for you for 10 or more years.

 

If your oldest trade(s) are closed accounts and they are at or close to 10+ years past account closed date, then hopefully you have other seasoned accounts to mitigate the ones that will be aging off of your CRs.

 

Also, if you slow down on credit and are not continuing to add tradelines then you will eventually have nothing to replace closed and aged off accounts which will lower your AAOA at that point of drip off. Not to mention the lost of CL if it is a high one. What if you need to carry a balance down the road?

 

I just went through this and its painful... There is no remedy for this. You can't replace the oldest account(s). With no AF they are going to reward me in the many years to come and well into my grandpa ages.

 

The more well aged accounts the better... so long as there is no AF.

 

This whole time I've focused on having clean reports and low UTL which is obviously the most important factors in FICO. I should have also been factoring in my AAOA strategy through AU cards since it was weak due to cleaning up bad tradelines which drastically reduced AAOA.

 

I did not do myself justice as I was so laser focused on the top tier of FICO factoring and not keeping cognizant of the fact that maximizing FICO requires all factors to be healthy or you hit a road block that is not movable without father time.

 

Its not like its a toy limit. You can get a serious limit on that card.

[mrjuggalo9er]

Shell

Dicks

Meijer

Sportsman's

Frn

Aviator if no AF waived

Over stock

Amazon. ...

All useless to me

[Kat58]

I don't close cards.

[JoeBowler]

Closed most of my turds in 2015 (2 FP's, fingerhut, cap1 secured, usaa secured),maybe Target and/or Macy's. Macy's hasn't reported to cra's since August not doing much good, at least Target reports and gave a lil auto cli at 4 months open.

 

Hate Macy's not reporting (Aug and a prior missing month). May make a small charge, hope for update and then close.

 

Only have two closed accounts reporting.

[trubliever82]

 

 

 

Cap1 secured $300. With over 350k in credit I think I can let this one go

Is it your oldest tradeline? Sounds like it might be. You may want to reconsider if it is and see what the next oldest tradeline is and the Delta between the two as it could have unintended consequences.

For AAOA i believe closed accounts will stay on reports for 10 years.

Yeah you just have to worry about the oldest tradeline(s) whatever it is. Doesn't have to be a card. If its not the oldest then yeah close away if you want and you let it work for you for 10 or more years.

If your oldest trade(s) are closed accounts and they are at or close to 10+ years past account closed date, then hopefully you have other seasoned accounts to mitigate the ones that will be aging off of your CRs.

Also, if you slow down on credit and are not continuing to add tradelines then you will eventually have nothing to replace closed and aged off accounts which will lower your AAOA at that point of drip off. Not to mention the lost of CL if it is a high one. What if you need to carry a balance down the road?

I just went through this and its painful... There is no remedy for this. You can't replace the oldest account(s). With no AF they are going to reward me in the many years to come and well into my grandpa ages.

The more well aged accounts the better... so long as there is no AF.

This whole time I've focused on having clean reports and low UTL which is obviously the most important factors in FICO. I should have also been factoring in my AAOA strategy through AU cards since it was weak due to cleaning up bad tradelines which drastically reduced AAOA.

I did not do myself justice as I was so laser focused on the top tier of FICO factoring and not keeping cognizant of the fact that maximizing FICO requires all factors to be healthy or you hit a road block that is not movable without father time.

Its not like its a toy limit. You can get a serious limit on that card.

I got 3 chargers and 2 revolver amexes acouple years ago all backdated to 1969 so my AAOA isn't a problem. I just been lazy and seeing how cap1 is being more generous now I'm going to app for venture and close this secure card after.

[generallissimo]

Feb 2016: Amex Biz Gold

June 2016: Amex Biz Platinum, Chase Ritz Carlton (move credit line to CSP)

Sep 2016: Cap1 Venture (combine with my QS)

[Cosmos Human]

Khols. I just put it into the shredder. I hate their false sales and their bogus coupons. Or vice a versa. Crappy $600 CL.

[generallissimo]

For those of you who plan to close their Chase Sapphire Preferred, two things:

 

1. How do you plan to shred it?

2. You know that Amex PRG doesn't earn 2x on foreign restaurants?

[mendelssohn]

1. Melt it.

 

2. Yes, but I would have to spend a ton in order to justify the AF. I'll use by SPG outside the US.

[lilyflower]

I just closed Amex Green since I don't use it now that I have a PRG and the AF is due next month. (Also, I have no *D so there's no reason to keep this.)

 

I will be closing Chase Amazon shortly and Chase United (probably around the time the AF comes due) and moving the limits to my Freedom.

 

I'm toying with closing one or two store cards but that's dependent on some other factors.

 

A lot of other things I'm going to keep open and let age.

[LV426]

Virgin America

[brainchasm]

I'll probably close my Arrival+ this year. I missed the signup bonus like a dummy, and now it's just not useful to me.

 

I dunno what AMEX is going to do with the Costco cards, but I already moved my limit to my BCP, so I consider the Costco to be on the chopping block.

 

Once my Citi AAdvantage shows up, I'm going to try and move the limit from my Dividend World MC onto the AA card, and then close the Div. I'd rather have a single 20-21k TL with citi than a 12k and a 9k.

 

I think that's it. That's pretty much all the apping I'm going to do too. Inquiries are building up, and I just don't need the offers out there (well, maybe a CSP once everything settles down).

[cv91915]

Thanks, Losluv, for making this thread. Here's my list for 2016:

 

Fidelity Amex (closed in January)

 

In the 2+ years I had this card I didn’t use it enough to reach the threshold to cash out the first reward into a Fidelity account.

 

I had also transferred all but $2,000 of its limit to other cards, so this thing was just sitting there rotting. I had exactly zero desire for a $2,000 Visa card from Elan, so I put it out of its misery early in the year after the new Elan family of Fidelity cards was announced as the replacements for the Fidelity offerings from FIA.

 

Macy’s Amex, Macy’s Store Card

 

I have zero use for these accounts. I almost never shop at Macy’s, and I have no use for the Amex. It was marginally useful on SBS, but honestly, even if SBS returns in its full glory we’d still have more Amices than I’d care to spend the time to use three times in a single day. I’m managing 30 revolving accounts, and these two aren’t coming close to pulling their own weight.

 

US Bank FlexPerks Travel Rewards American Express

 

This card technically also belongs in the next category, but I’m calling this one out in particular because it’s been a really annoying relationship – even beyond the frustration with the rewards program. I have several examples, which I’ll save for later, when I inevitably crap in someone’s US Bank thread.

 

The rewards are advertised to say that you get a $400 ticket for 20,000 points. Two cents per point right? Wrong!

 

The cruel joke is that you can only redeem points in increments of 10,000. Plus, you cannot pay for a portion of the ticket in points and the rest in cash, like you can with the Citi Prestige or Thank You Premier.

 

I found this out the hard way: I located a $402 flight on AA.com. I eagerly went to book this with 20,000 FlexPerks points and $2, but the only option was a 30,000-point redemption. Even if I’d had the extra 10,000 points (which at the time I did not), I wasn’t going to hand them over for $2 in airfare. Absurd.

 

I have about 100,000 miles of travel planned for this year (29,018 are already behind me), so I will eventually find a ticket in the high $500s to cash out my 30,003 points earned from this card, before the card meets its inevitable demise.

 

Cards with Annual Fees – Opened for Bonus Offers

 

I keep a couple of cards with annual fees long-term because they more than pay for themselves. Several others, though, have zero enduring value after the bonuses post. After transferring the available credit to other cards from the same issuer, when possible, on the 2016 hit list when the AFs approach:

 

- Amex SPG (TD’s) [mine is on probation until we see how badly Marriott eviscerates the SPG program]

- Chase Fairmont

- Chase Marriott (mine)

- Chase Marriott (TD’s)

- Chase United MileagePlus Explorer (mine)

- Chase United MileagePlus Explorer (TD’s)

- Citi Prestige (we’re replacing this with a Citi AA Exec for TD, with me as an AU, for Admirals Club access)

- Citi Thank You Premier (mine)

- Citi Thank You Premier (TD’s)

Edited April 3, 2016 by cv91915

[illusemycreditcard]

US Bank FlexPerks Travel Rewards American Express

 

This card technically also belongs in the next category, but Im calling this one out in particular because its been a really annoying relationship even beyond the frustration with the rewards program. I have several examples, which Ill save for later, when I inevitably crap in someones US Bank thread.

 

The rewards are advertised to say that you get a $400 ticket for 20,000 points. Two cents per point right? Wrong!

 

The cruel joke is that you can only redeem points in increments of 10,000. Plus, you cannot pay for a portion of the ticket in points and the rest in cash, like you can with the Citi Prestige or Thank You Premier.

 

I found this out the hard way: I located a $402 flight on AA.com. I eagerly went to book this with 20,000 FlexPerks points and $2, but the only option was a 30,000-point redemption. Even if Id had the extra 10,000 points (which at the time I did not), I wasnt going to hand them over for $2 in airfare. Absurd.

 

I was under the impression that people recommended the card purely for its 2x on category spend, which would net you 3-4 cents per dollar spent.

 

EDIT: Correction; miswritten rewards.

Edited April 3, 2016 by illusemycreditcard

[cranston3]

I closed my Wells Fargo, 19% APR and I'm going to close Chase Amazon.

 

I don't carry a balance but I don't want to do business with these people when other lenders (BofA for example )are far more competitive

[cv91915]

 

US Bank FlexPerks Travel Rewards American Express

 

This card technically also belongs in the next category, but Im calling this one out in particular because its been a really annoying relationship even beyond the frustration with the rewards program. I have several examples, which Ill save for later, when I inevitably crap in someones US Bank thread.

 

The rewards are advertised to say that you get a $400 ticket for 20,000 points. Two cents per point right? Wrong!

 

The cruel joke is that you can only redeem points in increments of 10,000. Plus, you cannot pay for a portion of the ticket in points and the rest in cash, like you can with the Citi Prestige or Thank You Premier.

 

I found this out the hard way: I located a $402 flight on AA.com. I eagerly went to book this with 20,000 FlexPerks points and $2, but the only option was a 30,000-point redemption. Even if Id had the extra 10,000 points (which at the time I did not), I wasnt going to hand them over for $2 in airfare. Absurd.

I was under the impression that people recommended the card purely for its 2x on category spend, which would net you 3-4cpp.

 

 

I think you mean cents per dollar spent... but regardless, the way you earn them is only half the equation.

 

On the redemption end, one doesn't often encounter an airline ticket that costs exactly $400, so you are never going to get full value on flight redemptions. In my example, getting $402 in travel for 30,000 points is 1.34 cpp. Even if the points were earned exclusively from 2x categories (hassle to manage) and you can double that, I still do much better with my Citi Prestige + TYP combo, where I get 4.8% back via 3x category spending (granted, also annoying) toward AA flights.

 

The Citi offerings work better for me because I would pay for the Admirals Club access (~$450) if I didn't have the Prestige card, which covers it for me. As such, I don't count the AF on the Prestige as an actual cost. I also can't comment on the redemption process for other travel products like hotels, because I've never tried. The bulk of our "normal" household expenses related to travel is airfare, since I split my time between two cities and fly back and forth at least once a month.

Edited April 3, 2016 by cv91915

[illusemycreditcard]

I think you mean cents per dollar spent...

 

Yes, I wrote it incorrectly. It has been fixed.

[dansamy]

Credit One, Merrick & combining my last Capital One cards all into one. After I'm done with this whole mortgage thing of course. Pray that I don't get insane.

[Quietman]

Thanks, Losluv, for making this thread. Here's my list for 2016:

 

<snip>

 

US Bank FlexPerks Travel Rewards American Express

 

<snip> I have several examples, which I’ll save for later, when I inevitably crap in someone’s US Bank thread.

 

<snip>

 

CV, you are killing me!!

 

Edited April 3, 2016 by Quietman

[cv91915]

 

Thanks, Losluv, for making this thread. Here's my list for 2016:

 

<snip>

 

US Bank FlexPerks Travel Rewards American Express

 

<snip> I have several examples, which I’ll save for later, when I inevitably crap in someone’s US Bank thread.

 

<snip>

CV, you are killing me!!

 

 

 

 

You can't say that I lack self awareness.

[FixnCred]

This GIF is so disturbing. I am laughing and feeling grossed out at the same time.

[bigpoppa09]

Cap 1 secured.

[Kat58]

This GIF is so disturbing. I am laughing and feeling grossed out at the same time.

 

+1

[Losluv]

 

 

Thanks, Losluv, for making this thread. Here's my list for 2016:

 

<snip>

 

US Bank FlexPerks Travel Rewards American Express

 

<snip> I have several examples, which I’ll save for later, when I inevitably crap in someone’s US Bank thread.

 

<snip>

CV, you are killing me!!

 

 

 

 

You can't say that I lack self awareness.

 

Your welcome CV. I knew you'd come home and make it spicy. I look forward to your dump taking in the next US Bank thread.

 

Sweet Mary, that GIF is disturbing and mesmerizing!

[mendelssohn]

I finally closed my Amex Business Platinum. I was able to get a 25K retention offer a couple months ago and also a 10K bonus for POT, so that was an additional 35K in MR points. The AF had posted by my account and was paid, but I am getting a refund check. My hope is to be able to get a 150K/250K targeted offer for this card in the future.

 

Since earlier this year, things have changed and I have also added some cards for the bonus that will also be closed by the end of the year.

 

 

Already Closed:

Fidelity Amex

Amex SPG Business

Amex Business Platinum

Citi Hilton HHonors

Citi AA Platinum

Citi Business AA Platinum

Citi Exec

 

Will Close:

Chase British Airways Visa

Chase Hyatt Visa

Chase Marriott Visa

BOA Alaska Airlines Visa

BOA Business Alaska Airlines Visa

Amex Platinum (will close and then PC my D* PRG to a Platinum)

Edited July 12, 2016 by mendelssohn