Related Posts
God bless america and frequent flier points
Additional Posts
Nice! The post animation looks good!
She doesn’t need to explain herself to any of us.
Men: where do you buy your casual clothes from?
Any tips for networking outside of the firm?
Chief
New to Fishbowl?
Download the Fishbowl app to
unlock all discussions on Fishbowl.
unlock all discussions on Fishbowl.
Rising Star
dont open more than 2 in a rapid period (of a year). every new credit account lowers your average credit history, and too many too quick is red flag. Source: I have 10 credit cards, 8 of which are locked in a safe, the other 2 I use for points and autopay 2 days before it's credit report date. Never jump above 8% utilization even if I go ham on vacations, clubs etc.
How do you find out the "credit report date"?
Chief
Upside: it decreases your utilization (assuming you don’t spend any more than usual just because you have access to the credit) which is a huge portion of your score. Downside: lots of credit applications are a red flag and lower your score. You can use a free modeling tool through Mint to estimate the impacts.
No real downsides unless you’re planning on applying for a mortgage in the near future - extra credit pulls can be a red flag in the process. Be aware of Chase’s 5/24 rule - they won’t approve you for any of their cards if you’ve had more than 5 inquiries in the past 24 months.
This affects your recent inquiries and your new accounts (both over the last 2 years), and both are components of credit score. Any more than 2 recent inquiries or 4 new accounts are bad from a credit score perspective, but are essentially wiped clean from your score after 2 years
If you decide to cancel one it will effect your average age of credit and having all that line of credit could hurt your score but only in the short-term. The other risk is really just increased risk of fraud, having all those credit cards increases potential risk of hackers getting to you. That's really all though. It's recommended to only have around 4 credit cards since that is all you need.
Average age of account is considered in credit score. Too many new cards could bring your average down pretty low. If you're not looking to get a mortgage anytime soon whatever no big deal. Decreases utilization and increases number of accounts which are both good things. Only thing to consider really is annual fees once the sign up bonus is done. If you cancel an old card to stop paying annual fees you'll also decrease average age of card etc.
I am a huge fan but it is tough to keep track of everything and balance it all, but it has worked well for me with lots of rewards, miles, etc. Credit score will fluctuate a bit but if you pay off balances and on time, it’s no big deal.