I love credit cards so much! v4.0 - 2021 (see first page for add'l details)

[Alexle2007]

Finally made Globalist! Plus earned the FNC for reaching the $15k spend and for earning Globalist status, should get a 3rd certificate with my card anniversary in 8 weeks. What are some cool places to use the Cat 1-4 FNC? And I just have to book the rooms by the expiration date correct?
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Congrats! HR Grand Cypress in Orlando is nice. It is close to Disney.

 

[Judique]

I have some questions regarding closing credit cards/accounts. Right now, I have the following cards:

Delta AmEx - member since 2014, just upgraded to platinum for bonus sky miles rewards still need to hit my msr.
Citi card - opened in 2017 - mainly used for balance transfers to lower interest rates.
Discover - opened in 2018 for same reason as Citi.
Disney Chase card - opened in 2019.

I’ve been in bad CC debt for years, hence the balance transfer cards. I’ve been working like crazy a couple extra pt wfh jobs during covid and am at a point I should have all cards paid off by end of May, or close to depending on my hours this month. Needless to say, I’m ecstatic to be at this point.

My questions:
1. Should I close any of the cards?
2. If so, how many?
3. Should I space out the closings?
4. Does it hurt my credit score to keep them open vs close them?

I’m mainly thinking about the Discover and Citi due to the others being rewards cards. TIA for any knowledge you’re able to pass along.

Congrats on getting the cards paid off!!

If you haven't already done so I would suggest creating a cushion before you get any ore cards. Just so when you do get more cards for bonuses, it will be easier to pay off monthly.

But, you've already done the difficult job of reducing the debt. The card I might consider closing would be the Delta - but after you've had it a year and met your MSR and got the points. I would keep my history with the other cards pending getting replacements or others in the family, and I would move into the Chase UR area after the final pay off end of May - maybe wait a month or so after that.

Good luck! It's a nice feeling to have the CC companies paying you instead of you paying them.

I would be careful about closing cards right away. Pace them out and close as you get a new one - not necessarily the same day.

As for your Disney card, while I was reading along I see it may be the fee card. First of all, did you get the 5% offer? If so, this is a nice little bonus on $1500 of spend = 7500 points or 75$ Disney reward $$. You can check for the offer using this link -

Earn 5% total in Disney Rewards Dollars on your purchases

If you have the offer use it, then close or downgrade after the points post and you have moved them to a redemption card.

 

[Killer Fish]

Thought I would share a DP....wife called to downgrade United Explorer card to a no fee version. She was offered $100 statement credit to keep it open for $0 spend. Obviously she accepted the offer. Credit posted a week later.

 

[Limes96]

I’ve been playing the AA anniversary promo game. I think it started yesterday and goes for several weeks. I can’t tell if it’s random or if it actually depends on where you tap the globe to stop it spinning. I got 400 miles for landing on Seattle yesterday and 40 miles for landing on Rio de Janeiro today.

 

[ski_mom]

What is the easiest way to check your credit score and how often does everyone do it? When I see posts about it dropping a couple points when doing certain activities (opening or closing cards, paying off mortgage, etc), I know I should be checking it more often, but not sure what the easiest / best way is.

Thanks!

 

[hsmamato2]

@GBRforWDW - I agree with what is stated here. And since you are fresh out of debt, closing cards is proabably a good idea. @gottalovepluto gave some good advice about keeping only one or two cards for now. We have closed almost all cards that we don't use and have not seen any hits to our credit score. I keep open the 5 cards that I use and two others that come in handy when traveling. Only one of these cards has an AF. I only acure URs, MRs and cash back from Discover IT.

I'm kind of curious about this..... I have a few too many cards (even tho no af on most of them) I've been keeping open to keep the credit scores up, but I find it kind of a pain sometimes keeping track of cards I really have no use for, or even duplicates of.... what kind of hit are we talking to the score for closing cards?

 

[GBRforWDW]

What is the easiest way to check your credit score and how often does everyone do it? When I see posts about it dropping a couple points when doing certain activities (opening or closing cards, paying off mortgage, etc), I know I should be checking it more often, but not sure what the easiest / best way is.

Thanks!

I generally just look at my Fico score. It's an average of the 3, but not always accurate, though close enough.

All my credit card apps have a place to check it and it's updated once a month.

 

[Limes96]

What is the easiest way to check your credit score and how often does everyone do it? When I see posts about it dropping a couple points when doing certain activities (opening or closing cards, paying off mortgage, etc), I know I should be checking it more often, but not sure what the easiest / best way is.

Thanks!

I just check credit karma once in a while. They’ll send emails periodically and that reminds me to have a look.

 

[RhodyKP]

Any recommendations for week long parking at JFK?

I usually use Spot Hero

 

[hsmamato2]

I’ve been playing the AA anniversary promo game. I think it started yesterday and goes for several weeks. I can’t tell if it’s random or if it actually depends on where you tap the globe to stop it spinning. I got 400 miles for landing on Seattle yesterday and 40 miles for landing on Rio de Janeiro today.

I 'earned' 5 spins...... but it won't let me do anything just error page when I try to do it....
ETA....Chrome...(stupid chrome browser) works on firefox. I won nothing of course lol

 

[Limes96]

When do the upgraded boarding reimbursements hit for the SW priority card? I was approved 3/4 (not this yr) so my af didn’t hit until 4/1 and payment for that won’t actually be due until May. I’m guessing they’re already on there because I think I got my yearly bonus miles already.

 

[Limes96]

I 'earned' 5 spins...... but it won't let me do anything just error page when I try to do it....

I used Chrome on my iPad and it worked ok

 

[WVMomof3]

I’ve been playing the AA anniversary promo game. I think it started yesterday and goes for several weeks. I can’t tell if it’s random or if it actually depends on where you tap the globe to stop it spinning. I got 400 miles for landing on Seattle yesterday and 40 miles for landing on Rio de Janeiro today.

5 spins and I got nothing.

 

[happ]

What is the easiest way to check your credit score and how often does everyone do it? When I see posts about it dropping a couple points when doing certain activities (opening or closing cards, paying off mortgage, etc), I know I should be checking it more often, but not sure what the easiest / best way is.

Thanks!

I use the free accounts with the credit bureaus and they send me alerts if anything changes. I also get alerts from creditwise which is free from capital one.

 

[happ]

I'm kind of curious about this..... I have a few too many cards (even tho no af on most of them) I've been keeping open to keep the credit scores up, but I find it kind of a pain sometimes keeping track of cards I really have no use for, or even duplicates of.... what kind of hit are we talking to the score for closing cards?

It's usually just a few points, single digits, when I've closed cards. Timing wise, I don't close more than one at a time and I don't close a card when I'm planning to app for another one soon. Maybe a few points don't matter, but I like to have my score as high as possible.

 

[Psychodisney]

When do the upgraded boarding reimbursements hit for the SW priority card? I was approved 3/4 (not this yr) so my af didn’t hit until 4/1 and payment for that won’t actually be due until May. I’m guessing they’re already on there because I think I got my yearly bonus miles already.

They are available with your use year. On your chase login, click on the "More...", then rewards dashboard. You'll see your upgraded boarding and a ticker for your $75.

 

[iivye]

I'm new to the forum but was big into the points game starting in 2015 for a Disney cruise to Iceland and a trip to Japan. I stopped keeping up with the points and took a European vacation/Disney Med cruise two years ago with less points and more credit card charges which put me into a bad spot. I'm finally getting all that cleaned up and in the past 6 months have closed a 2 Barclays Cards, IHG Chase, Hyatt Chase, 2 Hilton Amex Cards, Bank of America and a Wells Fargo card. All of these were from my initial sign up bonuses in 2015. I still have a Discover card, Citi AA, Southwest and the Disney Chase.

My new goal is to get back into the game for an Octoberfest Disney river cruise and another trip to Japan in 2-3 years. My strategy is to wait another year and then apply for a new round of sign up bonuses. Until then I'm working on earning miles on my AA. In the past I did a lot of manufactured spending with gift cards but this time I'm trying a resale approach. I sell stuff on Ebay and am looking at opening an Amazon seller account. I also work full time. Whew, that was a long introduction.

Looking forward to hearing about other people's experiences and plans. Thanks!

 

[gottalovepluto]

Thought I would share a DP....wife called to downgrade United Explorer card to a no fee version. She was offered $100 statement credit to keep it open for $0 spend. Obviously she accepted the offer. Credit posted a week later.

Nice! I tried a couple months ago but all they offered me was the chance to pay like 8k UA miles to cover the AF. Yeah I passed. In my mind I was like “I miss Amex, they pay you points not to close your card...”

 

[RhodyKP]

UGH. I swear, I have the worst luck. Got the CSP in-branch yesterday and just applied for the CSR and got the declination message.

 

[Limes96]

They are available with your use year. On your chase login, click on the "More...", then rewards dashboard. You'll see your upgraded boarding and a ticker for your $75.

Thanks! I don’t think I’ve seen that page before. I was just looking at the page that shows what benefits you get. Very helpful