Upgraded accounts and cards

[dredee0]

How often do you upgrade your accounts? I find that every year or two, I need to look so I dont have bad terms with high limits.  Those cards I just keep as dummy accounts that make my numbers look great, but I dont really use.  Better to have it than not need it, than need it and cant have it OR get it.

[hegemony]

when I was rebuilding I tended to hang onto turd cards longer than I should have. Remember that a closed turd card will still report for up to 10 years and contribute to AAoA

[PotO]

6 hours ago, hegemony said:

when I was rebuilding I tended to hang onto turd cards longer than I should have. Remember that a closed turd card will still report for up to 10 years and contribute to AAoA

 

Oh, on the contrary brother @hegemony, turd cards are valuable as long as there is no AF.  

 

Turd cards are a valuable part of the average credit pimp's estate.  For example, let's say you are in an F-16 over Kzakisturd and you know your days are numbered.  You bail out and in the few minutes left before you will parachute down to an area filled with insurgents, you use your turd cards to buy your family a new car.  Your family gets a new car and the turd card issuer gets FITA.  

 

Don't get mad, get even.

[shifter]

1 hour ago, PotO said:

You bail out and in the few minutes left before you will parachute down to an area filled with insurgents, you use your turd cards to buy your family a new car.

Can't you equally as easily use your Amex Black for that purchase? And why stop at a car when you can buy them a yacht! 

[PotO]

3 minutes ago, shifter said:

Can't you equally as easily use your Amex Black for that purchase? And why stop at a car when you can buy them a yacht! 

 

Yes, I could use my AmEx.  But the purpose is to use a card issued by someone you absolutely hate and want to get revenge with since they can never collect from a corpse.  And I like AmEx. 

[RehabbingANDBlabbing]

I’m of two minds on this issue. Being a credit-ho, you need those old turd cards to boost your average age of accounts and score, to a certain extent. On the other hand, it really is tedious keeping up with using some of these cards with low limits or no tangible benefits. 
 

A couple of them right now, I’m considering dumping are the Delta Reserve AmEx, Dillard’s store card, and maybe my Truist Travel Visa. I really just don’t use these at all. And now that I have the Platinum Card, the Delta Reserve AmEx really only has two features I like, the guest passes for the Delta lounge and the free checked bags. They may give me a retention offer this year or I might downgrade it. Dillard’s I have been keeping to build my relationship with Wells Fargo, but I’m kinda iffy on pursuing that now. Truist is a low limit card ($2,500) and the points structure is lame. It does have a free TSA/Global Entry credit and no annual fee, so that’s something. But really, I’m just barely keeping these alive.

[PotO]

12 minutes ago, RehabbingANDBlabbing said:

I’m of two minds on this issue. Being a credit-ho, you need those old turd cards to boost your average age of accounts and score, to a certain extent. On the other hand, it really is tedious keeping up with using some of these cards with low limits or no tangible benefits. 
 

A couple of them right now, I’m considering dumping are the Delta Reserve AmEx, Dillard’s store card, and maybe my Truist Travel Visa. I really just don’t use these at all. And now that I have the Platinum Card, the Delta Reserve AmEx really only has two features I like, the guest passes for the Delta lounge and the free checked bags. They may give me a retention offer this year or I might downgrade it. Dillard’s I have been keeping to build my relationship with Wells Fargo, but I’m kinda iffy on pursuing that now. Truist is a low limit card ($2,500) and the points structure is lame. It does have a free TSA/Global Entry credit and no annual fee, so that’s something. But really, I’m just barely keeping these alive.

 

Most of my garbage 💩 could be cancelled without hurting my AAoA, I believe.  That said, I will still keep them.  You never know when a 💩 will melt and you find a diamond inside.  Besides, I have a long-term secret strategic plan which relies on the old adage "Hold your friends close, but hold your enemies closer."

 

I have the Delta Platinum and you get free checked baggage with that.  I don't know if I get the lounge access, but if not it's pretty cheap.  I don't even use the lounges much.  

 

I also have Dillard's. I shop there from time to time and only applied because the cute sales lady insisted.  Besides, the Dillard's in Las Vegas is in @hegemony's neighborhood.  I like to drive by and see @Kat58's car parked in the driveway.  

 

Right now the biggest 💩 card I have by far is the X1.  

 

Anyhow, it's easy to keep up with the whole card portfolio by just spending maybe 1/2 hour a week with Excel and MS Money.   

[centex]

On 9/12/2022 at 11:25 AM, dredee0 said:

How often do you upgrade your accounts? I find that every year or two, I need to look so I dont have bad terms with high limits.  Those cards I just keep as dummy accounts that make my numbers look great, but I dont really use.  Better to have it than not need it, than need it and cant have it OR get it.

A card with crappy limits is not worth keeping,  A card with no annual fee but a seemingly high APR and a decent line isn't necessarily worth axing.  FFS, I couldn't even tell you what most of my APR's are since I don't revolve a non-promo balance.  APR isn't something that gets reported to the bureau.  A/F isn't either, but it IS something I know exists and if I cannot get at least that much value out of the card, it goes to pasture...some A/F cards DO have value, but ONLY if you can extract the value!

[PhoenixDown]

I pretty much have the cards I want to keep after Sync closed my Banana Republic account for nonuse. The only thing I look at periodically are my travel specific cards to see if they are still wortht he annual fees. For my Marriot and AA card I believe it is. 

Edited September 21, 2022 by PhoenixDown