Do all these Credit Cards ruin your credit?

[JS69]

I have been a lurker here for a while and the thing I am trying to figure out is how anyone here who takes advantage of all these CC deals have good credit? One thing that is constantly told to me is when you cancel a CC your credit score goes down.

Can someone who has done multiple CC offers from this sight tell me what kind of credit they have?

Thansk

[elikay]

Do a search for credit score it should be within sight and you will find a thread about it.

[AsherO]

I have been a lurker here for a while and the thing I am trying to figure out is how anyone here who takes advantage of all these CC deals have good credit? One thing that is constantly told to me is when you cancel a CC your credit score goes down.

Can someone who has done multiple CC offers from this sight tell me what kind of credit they have?

Thansk

Welcome to the forums!

Do some Googling on credit score factors, there are some good overviews out there. There are many factors to a credit score, and simply applying for a few cards won't hurt your score much (a 4-8 point ding per credit pull IME), and your score will recover within 3-6 months. The triple browser method should help you mitigate those pulls.

Now, there are other factors which might ruin your score, such as if you use too much of your credit, or if you have so many cards that you forget to pay your bill on time etc. But to answer your question, the hit from simply opening new cards is negligible. If you slowly build up your credit, you'll soon be able to apply for lots of cards and build up a nice mileage portfolio, as many here have done.

[Fan of Dan]

Credit score aside I wonder if opening and closing a lot of cards makes you look like someone who likes to take advantage of companies etc. and plays games and if that can affect getting a mortgage?
Do they do these type of character checks? Can they even see all the cards I may have churned? 

[Smokey Joe Robinson]

Credit score aside I wonder if opening and closing a lot of cards makes you look like someone who likes to take advantage of companies etc. and plays games and if that can affect getting a mortgage?
Do they do these type of character checks? Can they even see all the cards I may have churned?

If youre looking for a house and are possibly within 6 months of a mortgage you should not be here. Not that we dont love you, but youre definitely affecting your future mortgage.

[LAXtraveler]

If youre looking for a house and are possibly within 6 months of a mortgage you should not be here. Not that we dont love you, but youre definitely affecting your future mortgage.

Would you say the same thing about looking for good financing/leasing on a car?

[Smokey Joe Robinson]

Would you say the same thing about looking for good financing/leasing on a car?

I have heard similar said for an auto loan...but I cant imagine it being as severe as for a mortgage.

[Dan]

I don't think anyone here has more cards that I do and I got top rates from mortgage and car financing without ever slowing down my churns.

My score/report was top-notch according to everyone I spoke to.
No concerns over the number of accounts.

[Smokey Joe Robinson]

I don't think anyone here has more cards that I do and I got top rates from mortgage and car financing without ever slowing down my churns.

My score/report was top-notch according to everyone I spoke to.
No concerns over the number of accounts.

Dan, I would have to say your the exception to the rule...We dont know what goes on behind closed doors, but Im thinking some sort of secret Credit Card mileage secure center blanketed in state of art -ok im getting carried away- but you get my point. You have much more experience than any of us.

[Smokey Joe Robinson]

Credit score aside I wonder if opening and closing a lot of cards makes you look like someone who likes to take advantage of companies etc. and plays games and if that can affect getting a mortgage?
Do they do these type of character checks? Can they even see all the cards I may have churned?

Would you say the same thing about looking for good financing/leasing on a car?

At the end of the day, you have to decide if its worth the risk. Theres definitely no guarantees in this business. As they say YMMV.

[3ZeroT]

One unique thing about AMEX in my experience: when you open a new CC account they seem to report the account as being opened on the date of the oldest/previous card with them.  That really helps the situation considering all the AMEX churning done on this forum 

[AsherO]

One unique thing about AMEX in my experience: when you open a new CC account they seem to report the account as being opened on the date of the oldest/previous card with them.  That really helps the situation considering all the AMEX churning done on this forum 

I haven't noticed this, but it definitely helps with the average age of your accounts.

[LAXtraveler]

I haven't noticed this, but it definitely helps with the average age of your accounts.

I notice it. When I became an AU some time ago on someone else's AMEX I picked up years and years worth of "average credit history" length because I was connected to their card.

[AsherO]

I notice it. When I became an AU some time ago on someone else's AMEX I picked up years and years worth of "average credit history" length because I was connected to their card.

Amex definitely doesn't do this for me, I just checked.

[LAXtraveler]

Amex definitely doesn't do this for me, I just checked.

Weird, I wonder why its different for different people.

[azhoopsfan]

The last time I applied for car lease they said they pull the scores from all three agencies and use the middle number.  So if all your pulls are from Experian, your other two scores would be unaffected by the applications and it would have no effect on your ability to get the best rate. 

That being said, wife and I have gotten over 35 cards in the last year and still have great credit with all three agencies. 

[Dan]

In OH they just pulled one score for financing.

[dans fan]

Credit score aside I wonder if opening and closing a lot of cards makes you look like someone who likes to take advantage of companies etc. and plays games and if that can affect getting a mortgage?
Do they do these type of character checks? Can they even see all the cards I may have churned? 

it cannot affect you for a mortgage or car finance it can affect you with that cc company when they do a internal search

Dan, I would have to say your the exception to the rule...We dont know what goes on behind closed doors, but Im thinking some sort of secret Credit Card mileage secure center blanketed in state of art -ok im getting carried away- but you get my point. You have much more experience than any of us.

he is not a exception (in referance to this at least)

One unique thing about AMEX in my experience: when you open a new CC account they seem to report the account as being opened on the date of the oldest/previous card with them.  That really helps the situation considering all the AMEX churning done on this forum 

not always. usally

Amex definitely doesn't do this for me, I just checked.

they do. i think it goes as far back as the last card issued for that acc ( new card when old expires) sometimes as far back as the opening of the acc

[Smokey Joe Robinson]

it cannot affect you for a mortgage or car finance it can affect you with that cc company when they do a internal searchhe is not a exception (in referance to this at least)not always. usallythey do. i think it goes as far back as the last card issued for that acc ( new card when old expires) sometimes as far back as the opening of the acc

Wrong Quote, cant figure out how to get all of them in here......Anyways, I agree that what I said is not guaranteed, and therefore retract my earlier statements; I didnt not read the post completely; he asks in regards to opening and closing, not score. I was sleep ddfing 
However i do believe a bank has full access to your credit reports and history and being that bankers are people and make their own decisions based on assumptions, it may affect you somewhat. And just because Dan didnt have an issue doesn't mean others won't, I just personally feel that for a few Ks its not worth possibly ruining your mortgage, unless you really know what youre doing (like Dan does-hence exception-not literal just an expression) Perhaps wait till after your mortgage?

[3ZeroT]

One other aspect I'm not sure has been discussed here is there are 'other' reporting agencies besides the big 3 that track additional information about your credit risk, and excessive credit applications / churning can definitely get you denied.   Fortunately these aren't commonly used (yet), but Advanced Resolution Services (ARS) is one of the reporting agencies and is used by US Bank.  It prevented me from getting their 0% no fee card offers until I finally froze my ARS report and then had no problem.