Author Topic: closing a charge card  (Read 8547 times)

Offline est

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closing a charge card
« on: November 10, 2011, 11:16:08 PM »
amex just charged the fee for my premier rewards gold charge card - $175!! not worth even half that! will it affect my credit if I close? or is there any other card to switch to? the rep i just spoke to said cannot switch to a credit card and theres no fee free charge card. true?

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Re: closing a charge card
« Reply #1 on: November 10, 2011, 11:23:17 PM »
amex just charged the fee for my premier rewards gold charge card - $175!! not worth even half that! will it affect my credit if I close? or is there any other card to switch to? the rep i just spoke to said cannot switch to a credit card and theres no fee free charge card. true?

The Zync is $25/year, but the points don't transfer to airline miles.
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Offline Dan

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Re: closing a charge card
« Reply #2 on: November 11, 2011, 01:43:10 AM »
The Zync is $25/year, but the points don't transfer to airline miles.
True, but it does keep your MR points alive until when you decide to get another charge card offer.
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Offline est

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Re: closing a charge card
« Reply #3 on: November 14, 2011, 08:24:50 PM »
i will lose my points if I close the card?

Offline Cholentfresser

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Re: closing a charge card
« Reply #4 on: November 14, 2011, 08:28:49 PM »
i will lose my points if I close the card?
Correct, unless you have another open charge card.
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Offline 123ablack

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Re: closing a charge card
« Reply #5 on: November 14, 2011, 08:54:07 PM »
Hi,

I have the following 3 Amex MR cards  - all opened within the past 12 months.

Platinum Consumer (already paid the $450 annual charge)
Premier Gold Consumer ($175 Annual fee, didn’t get charged yet)
Business Membership Rewards card ($75 Annual fee, first year free)

I have a total of 200.000 MR Points

Is there any reason for me to keep both cards open? Or should I close 1 of them.

Dan always says “with chase it is always a good idea to keep the card open” perhaps by downgrading it to a annual free card for LEVERAGE purposes… (Switching credit lines when trying to get approved for a new card, etc.)  Does the same apply to Amex and specifically to charge cards?   

Offline AJK

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Re: closing a charge card
« Reply #6 on: November 14, 2011, 09:35:17 PM »
Correct, unless you have another open charge card.

Clarification: unless you have another MR-based card. Does not have to be a charge card.
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Offline TC610

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Re: closing a charge card
« Reply #7 on: November 14, 2011, 11:16:15 PM »
i will lose my points if I close the card?
Correct, unless you have another open charge card.
Clarification: unless you have another MR-based card. Does not have to be a charge card.

Wow, how many times can this question come up in one day in different threads??!

Offline gevaldig

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Re: closing a charge card
« Reply #8 on: November 14, 2011, 11:19:49 PM »
Wow, how many times can this question come up in one day in different threads??!
nu zoll shion zien

Offline 123ablack

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Re: closing a charge card
« Reply #9 on: November 15, 2011, 12:38:31 AM »
Quote from: gevaldig link= topic=11256.msg142156#msg142156 date=1321330789
nu zoll shion zien
The good news is, we've just got ourselves a Brandnew Acronym... NZSZ :P

Offline gevaldig

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Re: closing a charge card
« Reply #10 on: November 15, 2011, 08:45:59 AM »
 ;D ;D

Offline est

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Re: closing a charge card
« Reply #11 on: November 16, 2011, 10:36:34 PM »
but again - will it affect my credit score to close?

Offline AJK

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Re: closing a charge card
« Reply #12 on: November 16, 2011, 11:54:22 PM »
Yes, but it still may not be worth $175 AF.
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Offline bubbles

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Re: closing a charge card
« Reply #13 on: November 16, 2011, 11:57:24 PM »
Yes, but it still may not be worth $175 AF.

As was mentioned $25 AF for the zync but I don't know if I would pay that either

Offline AJK

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Re: closing a charge card
« Reply #14 on: November 17, 2011, 12:07:32 AM »
As was mentioned $25 AF for the zync but I don't know if I would pay that either

As per the OP, it looks like she was asking if "will it affect my credit if I close?"

In any case, if you're that worried about closing the line, pay the $25, keep your points from dying the true death (without transferring to someone else as others have mentioned).
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Offline confused

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Re: closing a charge card
« Reply #15 on: November 17, 2011, 02:46:27 PM »
im new to this site , have read what seems to be conflicting advice . many have told of enourmous churning of cc, (im assumming u most close the previous one be4 attempting to apply again) . while there is also much advice about keeping lines open and active and ways to talk the bank out of the fees.
where does the truth lie  can one close and open @ will, or do u need to methodicaly keep cards as long as possible?
  my familly currentl has 5 airline cc which are now finising the initall fee free year is there any reson not to cancel and aviod the fees x5. ( i also have many other fee freecards which have been open a long time . thanks for your input.

Offline Fan of Dan

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Re: closing a charge card
« Reply #16 on: November 17, 2011, 02:46:58 PM »
Yes, but it still may not be worth $175 AF.
Why do you say it will affect credit score? If you have other credit cards which are older and this one is new wouldn't closing it actually increase the average age of your accounts? Or does that average come from all accounts open or closed? Either way what makes you think it will lower the score?

Offline AJK

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Re: closing a charge card
« Reply #17 on: November 17, 2011, 02:48:51 PM »
Credit utilization.
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Offline Avid Reader

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Re: closing a charge card
« Reply #18 on: November 17, 2011, 02:56:03 PM »
im new to this site , have read what seems to be conflicting advice . many have told of enourmous churning of cc, (im assumming u most close the previous one be4 attempting to apply again) . while there is also much advice about keeping lines open and active and ways to talk the bank out of the fees.
where does the truth lie  can one close and open @ will, or do u need to methodicaly keep cards as long as possible?
  my familly currentl has 5 airline cc which are now finising the initall fee free year is there any reson not to cancel and aviod the fees x5. ( i also have many other fee freecards which have been open a long time . thanks for your input.

Better to keep them open and try to get the fees waived, since when you close an account it will give you a temporary credit hit from the lost credit limit. But if you have to close, then closing should only hurt temporarily.

Offline confused

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Re: closing a charge card
« Reply #19 on: November 17, 2011, 05:45:15 PM »
Better to keep them open and try to get the fees waived, since when you close an account it will give you a temporary credit hit from the lost credit limit. But if you have to close, then closing should only hurt temporarily.
thanks for the reply. if your supposed to keep them open how do you churn?