I am new to the site and have been spending the past 2 days reading up on the different CC deals and ways to maximize the bonus offers. I apologize in advance if some of my questions are addressed/were answered in other forums. Also, just some background info to keep in mind regarding my questions: I am 22yo just graduated college and beginning to work and getting married at the end of the summer. My goal is to buy a house in 2-4 years and I assume I need good credit to do that. So....
1. Is there any downside to applying for all these credit cards (credit rating, etc.)?
2. Can I/do you recommend applying for every single card (Citi, Amex, etc.) with a good deal available?
3. Once I am approved and open multiple cards can I cancel the cards once I reach the spending limits needed for the bonus and transfer the miles to one card? Is there any penalty for doing this?
Thanks in advance for the help and I am really sorry if these are annoying questions that have been answered multiple times already. If answers/info is already available please direct me to where I can read about it and I will do so.
Welcome to the forums!
Just a quick note, the advice you'll get on this site (at least from me), is free. You get what you pay for, so look for logic as opposed to accepting anything anyone says.
1. I don't think the inquiries will hurt your scores after 6+ months, though they do stay on your credit reports for two years. You can ask some people in the mortgage industry how they view credit card inquiries that are 12+ months old.
2. Hard to say since we don't know your current credit/income (
etc.) situation, there are many factors to credit. Either way, even with stellar credit there are ~10 great offers currently going on, and it'll be a long shot getting approved for them all. Slow and steady is the way to go in this game (IMHO), at least until you learn the ropes.
3. You're best keeping the credit lines open. It looks good on your report, can possibly be used as a bargaining chip for future applications (offering to transfer credit or close a card), and keeps your utilization low. I'd recommend against consolidating to less cards with higher limits (definitely a risk with Amex), but that's just me. Convert to a fee-free card if you want to avoid annual fees.
There's a lot of information on the
CC forum, use the search box on that page (searches all the threads for that forum). Search there and/or Google any term you don't understand.
