If you transfer over most of the credit limit to another Chase card, the impact of cancelling is negligible. In fact, you also get a negligible bump from the tiny increase in average age of accounts.
Yup. I've done it with Chase multiple times. You just call them up and ask if you can transfer your credit from one card to another. Usually they'll leave some small amount on the card and then you can cancel it while minimizing the credit impact.
From what I've read, canceling accounts lowers the average age of your credit cards and you want your credit accounts open as long as possible to show you're a good borrower. So to avoid an annual fee, just downgrade the card to one without an annual fee and transfer your credit limits. You don't need to ever charge the card again.
Yeah this is a great way to "upgrade" or "downgrade" cards. I know for Amex you have to keep a minimum credit line of $500 but the rest you can transfer to another card that is eligible to be upgraded to or downgraded to. Never done it with Chase so I'm not sure what their minimum is. Yup this is what I did with my Amex card that started charging for an annual fee. I would say if you have both Preferred and Reserve, the best bet would be to "downgrade" the card to Chase Freedom since it's universally one of the best CB cards and has no annual fee. Even if you don't use it, it won't really hurt your credit to do this.
Yeah - generally cycling through these cards is the best way to go from a rewards standpoint. Cancel after 11 months, re-apply 24 months after you got the card the first time and you can get the bonus again. Unless you are really rich and spend a lot on your cards, the bonuses are where the real value is. Between Chase United, Southwest, Ink, Saph Preferrred, Saph Reserve, and then Citi AA and a few others, you can easily collect about a few hundred thousand miles per year just through the bonuses. AMEX is the only major of the providers that has a once-in-a-lifetime bonus (Delta and Starwood -which converts to American miles - are the notable ones there). Chase and Citi tend to make you eligible again after 2 years. And if you have some old no-fee cards that help keep your credit history and age of accounts solid, it actually doesn't hurt your credit at all. I've ordered about 30-40 cards over the last 5 years (cancelled most of them after 11 months) and my credit score seems going up.
I have this card and maxed out the rewards. Easy way to make a quick few hundred. Card is cool too since it has metal and is heavier.
Same. The travel benefit of $300 and the 100k points is too hard to pass up for me. It's basically 2000 towards Disney.
I don't think I've paid for a plane ticket in over a year because of this card. The rewards are awesome.....especially when you use it as your primary card to fund your household.
I just got this as well. As a few others have said, the $300 travel credit is based on your calendar year, not based on your card approval. Therefore, if you apply now, you can have $300 credit before Dec. 31st and then a fresh $300 for 2017 (which you could technically use all before your renewal). Given the travel credit, the 100k points (i.e. for me 100k miles on United because of 1:1), the Global entry, and 50% increase over Preferred on travel and dining, it is a HUGE advantage for anyone who uses credit, but especially for those of us putting $25k+ on it.
Don't forget to activate the Airport Lounge Access and apply for TSA Pre-check (or Global Access). Also calculate the point value at Southwest if you fly with them. It's usually around 1.6cpp so transfer 1:1 and book on Southwest rather than using the UR portal at the 1.5x rate.
But booking it at the cash price using points means you get to earn miles/elite credit for that trip, so you need to factor in that as well.
I wish their travel category included gas like the Citi Premier. I have at least 16k of business travel expense including gas a month
Switching to a no annual fee card and sock-drawer'ing the card is definitely an option. However for people who churn credit card signup bonuses, it's not always the best option. Most of the big CC companies have a limit on total number of CC's per person (in addition maximum total credit limit). For my credit profile, my max was like 5 Chase cards. When I wanted to open a 6th, I had to cancel one I didn't use.
I have two Freedoms, one from a CSP downgrade. I eat really well when it's the 5% restaurants quarter :grin:
Is the credit hit for a low age of accounts really bad? Major seems to rotate numerous cards, and I read you can earn signup bonuses for the same card after two years of closing it. If it's not a big hit to your credit, I'd rather cancel the card and be eligible for signups again in two years.
No not really. It's a small part of the credit score calculation. The CC churn'ing community has mildly distorted what the credit score number actually means. A low average age of accounts was/is supposed to signify risk because of lack of credit history. It doesn't exactly mean that if you have 20 credit cards and 15 are less than 2 years old because you're churning signup bonuses.
