I love credit cards so much!

[MrPTato]

its really up to you.
Cancelling - if the card has a big bonus, cancel the card. You can sign up for the card again after x years to receive the bonus. ie, citi bank TY cards has a rule where if you hold a TYP card, u cannot sign up for another TYP card and get the bonus. best to chance. There is also rumors that you may not get approved a 2nd time around. ive heard the Sapphire cards are like that but its YMMV.
downgrading - downgrading is best if there is nothing connected. you should downgrade your CSR if you dont think u can make it work for u. Remember, your credit utilization will be affected. you should always keep it below 30%. you may need to do 1 transaction a year to keep the account open.

Also keep in mind on what else effects your card. One of them is AAOA(Average Age of Account). If you cancel your oldest card, it could potentially drop your credit score.

Closed cards stay on your reports and still age, even closed, for 10 years so that won't change anything on your scores.

 

[CyndiLouWho]

its really up to you.
Cancelling - if the card has a big bonus, cancel the card. You can sign up for the card again after x years to receive the bonus. ie, citi bank TY cards has a rule where if you hold a TYP card, u cannot sign up for another TYP card and get the bonus. best to chance. There is also rumors that you may not get approved a 2nd time around. ive heard the Sapphire cards are like that but its YMMV.
downgrading - downgrading is best if there is nothing connected. you should downgrade your CSR if you dont think u can make it work for u. Remember, your credit utilization will be affected. you should always keep it below 30%. you may need to do 1 transaction a year to keep the account open.

Also keep in mind on what else effects your card. One of them is AAOA(Average Age of Account). If you cancel your oldest card, it could potentially drop your credit score.

We don't really travel enough to make the CSR worth $450. The only travel we really do is free with CC bonuses. lol.
What would you downgrade CSR to?
DH & I both have AA Citicards plus he has Business one. So maybe I'll cancel his regular one.

 

[Ngwira]

I received that one too and applied on Friday. I paid a $15 Fast Fee to expedite the card which arrives tomorrow. Most of my recurring bills come due next week and I need them charged to the card to help meet the spend. After I get my bonus, we'll work on getting it for DS. We want to stay at the Poly for the first time next January so this will go toward that stay.

Thinking about applying today as I have to pay the remainder of summer camp which is $750.00 by March 31. Also have a $1100 balance on our August Disney trip. That's 2/3rds of the minimum spend right there...

 

[Ngwira]

We don't really travel enough to make the CSR worth $450. The only travel we really do is free with CC bonuses. lol.
What would you downgrade CSR to?
DH & I both have AA Citicards plus he has Business one. So maybe I'll cancel his regular one.

CSR is a keeper card for me as it's essentially $150 a year after travel credit. The ability to redeem travel at $1.50 is awesome. I booked a room going for $299 a night for 13,900 UR points. It's a Marriott renaissance hotel, category 7. If I were to book using points on Marriott website it was 40,000 points. Plus UR can be transferred to so many partners. SW and Hyatt are the two I would use the most. So I'm keeping it.

 

[Ngwira]

We don't really travel enough to make the CSR worth $450. The only travel we really do is free with CC bonuses. lol.
What would you downgrade CSR to?
DH & I both have AA Citicards plus he has Business one. So maybe I'll cancel his regular one.

Downgrade to freedom.

 

[CyndiLouWho]

CSR is a keeper card for me as it's essentially $150 a year after travel credit. The ability to redeem travel at $1.50 is awesome. I booked a room going for $299 a night for 13,900 UR points. It's a Marriott renaissance hotel, category 7. If I were to book using points on Marriott website it was 40,000 points. Plus UR can be transferred to so many partners. SW and Hyatt are the two I would use the most. So I'm keeping it.

My issue is we won't accumulate enough points to do much.

 

[Ngwira]

My issue is we won't accumulate enough points to do much.

You have to look at how you spend your money. A majority of my household discretionary spending goes to dining and travel. So the 3x points adds up quickly for a family of 4. I imagine that if you had the ink and you manufactured spending, those points would add up even faster. I don't do either but still see the benefit as I spend a lot in the bonus categories.
If you don't spend a lot in those areas then no, it wouldn't work for you.

 

[Ngwira]

Thinking about applying today as I have to pay the remainder of summer camp which is $750.00 by March 31. Also have a $1100 balance on our August Disney trip. That's 2/3rds of the minimum spend right there...

Applied and instantly approved for $12,500 credit line .

 

[CyndiLouWho]

You have to look at how you spend your money. A majority of my household discretionary spending goes to dining and travel. So the 3x points adds up quickly for a family of 4. I imagine that if you had the ink and you manufactured spending, those points would add up even faster. I don't do either but still see the benefit as I spend a lot in the bonus categories.
If you don't spend a lot in those areas then no, it wouldn't work for you.

Yes that's where I have the problem. We eat out once a week or less. Travel is once or twice a year.
I don't want to mess with MS. Most of our expenditures are groceries and utilities (Cell, cable/internet, etc)

 

[MrPTato]

Applied and instantly approved for $12,500 credit line .

Congrats! That's what mine started at in May.

 

[Ngwira]

Yes that's where I have the problem. We eat out once a week or less. Travel is once or twice a year.
I don't want to mess with MS. Most of our expenditures are groceries and utilities (Cell, cable/internet, etc)

I don't blame you. I don't want to mess with MS, either. We eat out once a week too but it adds up. We also have 6 trips coming up in the next 7 months. Next year, we have 2 big ones. So at least for the near future, CSR makes sense. It may not make sense in 2019, so who knows.
For groceries I've heard that the Amex blue cash preferred is great. One of the ink cards make sense for utilities. Not sure which one.
I normally buy my groceries from Target or Trader Joe's which doesn't code as grocery store for many cards, unfortunately. I pay my utilities directly as they all charge a fee for paying with a credit card.

 

[Ngwira]

Congrats! That's what mine started at in May.

nice. This is my first foray into the fixed value cards like the Arrival plus. I heard the Wells Fargo propel is dead. That leaves the venture card. Will be getting that down the road...

 

[Ngwira]

Over 192,000 MR points frozen by AMEX. Luckily, all my travel for 2017 is booked so I have no immediate need for the points. But, yes, this sucks and no I don't plan to renew any of my AMEX cards. My CSR is my go to card for spend, now.

I was able to use 1 MR point on amazon to take $25.00 off a $50.00 Starbucks gift card. The promo code is "Amex17ever". You have to use at least 1 MR to get the deal. I'm pretty sure my MR points are still frozen, though.

 

[calypso726]

I looked the the Barclaycard. Do I understand correctly that it's used primarily as a statement credit for travel charges?

Yup! It's the one of the ones I used to help wipe off the cost of excursions on a Disney cruise and wipe out the cost of Disneyland Paris tickets.

I want to get rid of a few cards. Is there any real advantage to downgrading a card vs canceling outright. Frankly, I'm tired of tracking this many cards, especially as I'm adding more cards.
I have a Citi Sears card, no fee, and want to cancel that one. We've had it a long time and use mostly for appliance purchases but we remodeled last year, not looking for appliances anytime soon. We also have the Chase Sapphire & Reserve. Thinking of cancelling CSR before renewal or should I downgrade?

Chase cards are too valuable to cancel outright in my opinion. My suggestion would be to downgrade it to a CSP, Freedom or Freedom Unlimited if you are under 5/24 and can then get the CSP. Only the CSR, CSP and Ink+ and Ink Business Preferred cards can get UR points that transfer directly to hotels and airlines.

My issue is we won't accumulate enough points to do much.

This is where utilizing bonus categories and shopping portals really helps. We try to max out our Freedom bonus categories every quarter if possible which is 5X/$.

nice. This is my first foray into the fixed value cards like the Arrival plus. I heard the Wells Fargo propel is dead. That leaves the venture card. Will be getting that down the road...

Be forewarned that applying for the Venture will earn you 3 hard pulls.

 

[Ngwira]

Yup! It's the one of the ones I used to help wipe off the cost of excursions on a Disney cruise and wipe out the cost of Disneyland Paris tickets.



Chase cards are too valuable to cancel outright in my opinion. My suggestion would be to downgrade it to a CSP, Freedom or Freedom Unlimited if you are under 5/24 and can then get the CSP. Only the CSR, CSP and Ink+ and Ink Business Preferred cards can get UR points that transfer directly to hotels and airlines.



This is where utilizing bonus categories and shopping portals really helps. We try to max out our Freedom bonus categories every quarter if possible which is 5X/$.



Be forewarned that applying for the Venture will earn you 3 hard pulls.

Thanks for the heads up...no immediate need for that card. I do have the quicksilver.

 

[CyndiLouWho]

Yup! It's the one of the ones I used to help wipe off the cost of excursions on a Disney cruise and wipe out the cost of Disneyland Paris tickets.



Chase cards are too valuable to cancel outright in my opinion. My suggestion would be to downgrade it to a CSP, Freedom or Freedom Unlimited if you are under 5/24 and can then get the CSP. Only the CSR, CSP and Ink+ and Ink Business Preferred cards can get UR points that transfer directly to hotels and airlines.



This is where utilizing bonus categories and shopping portals really helps. We try to max out our Freedom bonus categories every quarter if possible which is 5X/$..

DH is probably at 5/24, if it inludes AU on my Amex. The CSR is his. Does it count towards 5/24 if a card is changed by issuer? Citibank recently changed DH AA Visa to AA MC, though he had the Visa since 2012.

We do use Discover bonus categories, right now 5% cash back at gas stations. Next quarter it's home improvement stores & warehouse clubs. That will net us nothing since we have a Costco membership.

 

[calypso726]

DH is probably at 5/24, if it inludes AU on my Amex. The CSR is his. Does it count towards 5/24 if a card is changed by issuer? Citibank recently changed DH AA Visa to AA MC, though he had the Visa since 2012.

We do use Discover bonus categories, right now 5% cash back at gas stations. Next quarter it's home improvement stores & warehouse clubs. That will net us nothing since we have a Costco membership.

I honestly don't know but I would not think so.

When the Chase Freedom is Lowe's or Wholesale Clubs we will purchase Disney gift cards at both. We don't redeem the Freedom UR points for cash. Instead we transfer them to our CSR account (CSP before we had the CSR) and use for travel.

 

[Albort]

Closed cards stay on your reports and still age, even closed, for 10 years so that won't change anything on your scores.

apologies, i did not know that.

We don't really travel enough to make the CSR worth $450. The only travel we really do is free with CC bonuses. lol.
What would you downgrade CSR to?
DH & I both have AA Citicards plus he has Business one. So maybe I'll cancel his regular one.

Do you eat out much? 3x on dining is also a big plus. If you plan to downgrade, i guess if you have a Freedom card that you dont max out at all, then go with a CFU. If you already have a CFU, id just credit limit transfer them to either CF or CFU and then cancel the card.

Chase cards are too valuable to cancel outright in my opinion. My suggestion would be to downgrade it to a CSP, Freedom or Freedom Unlimited if you are under 5/24 and can then get the CSP. Only the CSR, CSP and Ink+ and Ink Business Preferred cards can get UR points that transfer directly to hotels and airlines.

i think to CSP wouldnt be a good idea. its only a $55 different, u lose out on 1x points, and also no lounge access either. The protection policy and trip cancellation policies if i recall is better on the Reserve.

 

[Aanna]

i think to CSP wouldnt be a good idea. its only a $55 different, u lose out on 1x points, and also no lounge access either. The protection policy and trip cancellation policies if i recall is better on the Reserve.

That is an interesting point... I was planning on keeping my DH's CSR and my CSP, downgrading *his CSP and my CSR to Freedom cards. I kept thinking that, as much as I love our CSRs, it wasn't worth keeping both at $150 a pop.

But when you remind me that it's not a difference between $150 and $0, but rather just the $55 difference between $150 and $95... I'm thinking that for $55 it will be awfully nice not to have to double check that we're using the right card for all the bookings/dining/etc.

Maybe I need to sleep on it.

 

[wendow]

We don't really travel enough to make the CSR worth $450. The only travel we really do is free with CC bonuses. lol.
What would you downgrade CSR to?
DH & I both have AA Citicards plus he has Business one. So maybe I'll cancel his regular one.

I am still on the fence about whether I will keep my CSR or not. If I downgrade, it will be to the Freedom Unlimited card. I already have the Freedom card.