Hello, wondering if you all can help point me in the direction of a good cc. Which cc is your favorite and why? I have the Disney Visa cc, Southwest, Alaska cc, capital one. Primarily used disney and alaska in the last year but I feel like I could do better and need some starting points. I pay off my full balance every month so interest rates aren’t important to me. Do people generally close their accounts after they accrue the bonus pts? Does that lower your credit score?
Going to try to keep this simple- but that’s pretty hard given the questions. This advice is given based on the assumption that you are looking to add just one or two cards.
Let's start with closing accounts. Yes, you should close them 1) if you don't use them and 2)
IF they have an annual fee. If they don't have an annual fee, and the amount of available credit available is relatively high- then keep them even if they just sit in a drawer and rarely get used. Based on my score and all the fluctuations I have seen over the years to my score by doing 'x' and seeing a resultant 'y' to my score- IMHO available credit line affects your overall score a considerable amount. We have been debt free for decades and pay for everything as we acquire it, and with low utilization (which means we use a small percentage of credit available to us) my score stays well over 800 unless we are acquiring a lot of new cards over a short period of time- then 'hard pulls' (this is when an issuer accesses your credit report when you apply for a card) will drop it under 800 for a period of time. If the cards you are thinking of cancelling have an AF, open another card with the same issuer that does not have an AF- then TRANSFER your available credit to that new card before cancelling it. That will keep your utilization low (available credit high), thus keeping your score relatively the same- and prevent the lowering of your score that you are concerned about.
Some cards we keep because we use the benefits, others with no AF we keep because of utilization/available credit line as described above (the ones that stay in a drawer). Honestly, the Disney Visa is a terrible choice to use for everyday spending. We have one, and keep it for the occasional benefit we can use (and the credit line/utilization)- but we rarely use it.
Given the cards you have outlined, if you only want to get one card- I would recommend the Chase Sapphire Preferred. If you travel and eat out a lot- the recommendation would be for the Chase Sapphire Reserve. For those folks that are comfortable only carrying a few cards, it is better to pick cards that have more of a ‘universal currency’. So- for example- the two Chase cards above use Ultimate Rewards. These points can be transferred to multiple airlines and other travel related businesses- and can also be used through the Chase travel portal to pay for a whole trip if enough are available. AmEx has a similar program with Membership Rewards, but Ultimate Rewards are ‘worth more’ per point, which is why the Chase cards get the recommendation. Also, there are a bunch of rules that different issuers have- so there is an order in which one should apply for cards. The smartest way to maximize return when applying for cards is to start with Chase cards and go from there. To be clear, these cards get the recommendation because of their sign up bonuses. Once you get the bonus- there would be better choices for everyday spend. But since I am trying to keep this simple- the Sapphire (either one) is a WAY better choice than the Disney card to switch your everyday spend to.
That said, if you want to jump into this travel hacking ‘game’ and pay for a bunch of your travel with sign up bonuses- then start by reading the ENTIRE thread from the beginning. Pay attention, and re-read what you don’t understand. At first, it will seem like a foreign language- but at some point the ‘system’ or ‘game’ or ‘hobby’ will become clear. At that point, you need a plan. Some of us have MILLIONS of points and miles banked for upcoming travel, which is why it is hard to recommend just one card- as between my wife and I we have many dozens of cards. Start slow, and ask questions when you don’t understand something. Save your questions, as most of them will get answered by the time you get through this thread. Yeah- it's 'homework'- but the payoff can be huge.
You should pick a card (or cards) with a goal in mind- regardless of what others are using. That’s why it is always better to start with the ‘universal currency’ cards- as they are more flexible in how you can use the points. So anyways, this has gotten a lot longer that planned- so going to end this novella
