Credit Card Question...

[misskitty100]

Just curious, we use only 1 credit card for EVERYTHING. Are there advantages to having lots of credit cards? I just found out a family member has a credit card to Eddie Bauer, Chevron etc. in addition to their Visa card.

If you pay everything off in full each month, why would one want more than one card?

[tbb113]

Pros - some stores offer discounts/rebates to card member
- in case of a financial emergency, you have more than one card to fall back on
- may raise your credit score if they are used responsibly

Cons - may lower your credit score (more available credit)
- easier to get into serious debt

[juliew]

Pros - some stores offer discounts/rebates to card member
- in case of a financial emergency, you have more than one card to fall back on
- may raise your credit score if they are used responsibly

Cons - may lower your credit score (more available credit)
- easier to get into serious debt

I think this covers it pretty well.

Also if a card gets lost or stolen, you have another just in case. On the other hand it is more to keep track of in terms of making payments and watching for unathorized use.

[funnybone]

We each have our own cards and then we have a joint card as well. We basically only use one card since it's the United miles card and DH flies with them all the time. We pay it off each month. It's also important if you are married to have your own card for your own credit rating, even if you don't use it.

The harm to your credit rating in having too many cards is when they are balances on many of them. If you have no balances, then then you are fine. You are best to have one or two cards with high credit limits, than several cards with low limits. It's the % of debit vs credit where it affects your rating.

You can find more info at www.bankrate.com

[phantomcg]

The harm to your credit rating in having too many cards is when they are balances on many of them. If you have no balances, then then you are fine. You are best to have one or two cards with high credit limits, than several cards with low limits. It's the % of debit vs credit where it affects your rating. You can find more info at www.bankrate.com

Actually having too many open cards, even without balances, can hurt your credit rating, although not as badly as having too many with balances. I routinely see credit reports on clients (I work in private banking for a large bank) and you will see reports that are discounted due to "too many open lines". They do take into account the availability of possible debt.

Cheryl

[funnybone]

Actually having too many open cards, even without balances, can hurt your credit rating, although not as badly as having too many with balances. I routinely see credit reports on clients (I work in private banking for a large bank) and you will see reports that are discounted due to "too many open lines". They do take into account the availability of possible debt.

Cheryl

That's good to know. How many is too many? My idea of too many is more than 4 or 5.

[phantomcg]

That's good to know. How many is too many? My idea of too many is more than 4 or 5.

I don't know that there is a set number of too many - my guess is that it is based on the credit limits (as a percentage of your income) rather than the number of cards.

Cheryl

[Member10000]

I have a couple of cards as well, but only use one. I really don't see the benefit in having too many. I'd rather send one payment out a month, than several. Now, I can see if you had a business or had to track some expenses separate, then there is definitely a need to use more than one. That said, you should have more than one, for the reasons already mentioned.

[mbrogier]

I think other than what has already been stated, the advantage to having different cards is the bonus programs some offer. The American Express Costco offers gives you a cash back bonus, many store cards like Victoria Secret and Eddie Bauer have special sales and discounts. Everyone has their own angle. You just have to figure out which one works better for you along with interest rates and terms.

[Kay Henderson]

If you travel with a spouse/partner, it is handy for each of you to to have a card from a different company in case one must be canceled due to being lost or stolen. Otherwise, I see little reason to have more than one.

Kay

[DanaSD]

We have one that earns miles that we use for all of our joint expenses and then DH and I each have our own for our personal stuff (clothes, music, etc). Its also good because then we have a back up to our main cc - things like when we had fradulent charges, we had to get a new card so for a few weeks we used our other card. Also sometimes when traveling, they freeze our account until they talk to us to make sure that its us using the card - good to have backup until thats taken care of.

Then I have a Banana Republic card - I like this card because you get rebates and free shipping for purchases over $50 for BR, gap, old navy. Sometimes I open other cards for free financing for a year, discount etc but I usually cancel these when the deal is over.

[Valerie226]

We keep 2 visa cards, one we use all the time & the other is for backup if our card is lost, stolen, eaten by a machine etc. Yes, I did once have a card get sucked into a cash machine never to be seen again. Fortunately the bank was open & things got fixed right away. We have several times had temp hold on an account when traveling & Visa wants to make sure your card was not stolen. Usually it's cleared in seconds but it could be very inconvenient if it didn't.

I use gas cards and couple department stores. For the gasoline it's easier to detect double billing or other mistakes when the charges are not buried in several pages of every other thing you've bought two months ago. Gas charges are the one area where mistakes happen (in my experience) fairly often, so I avoid using major cards if I can. department stores offer nice perks with their cards so I keep a couple of those too.

[momqat]

Also sometimes when traveling, they freeze our account until they talk to us to make sure that its us using the card - good to have backup until thats taken care of.

I always notify my main cc company before I travel, especially when I go out of the country -- I tell them the general area to expect purchases from and the time frame and I've never had any hassles. (Also that way they know that if any charges are being made in my home area, something is amiss ;) )

[honeygirl1971]

I always notify my main cc company before I travel, especially when I go out of the country -- I tell them the general area to expect purchases from and the time frame and I've never had any hassles. (Also that way they know that if any charges are being made in my home area, something is amiss ;) )

I always do this too, but once they still froze the account. I had a zero balance, so it wasn't like I had met my limit or anything, it was JUST the fact that the charges were in London, even though I had specifically told them I would be there for x amount of time and they had noted it on my account. They apologized profusely, but obviously that didn't change the fact that I had been inconvenienced. I notify them whenever I travel, and this did only happen once, but it CAN still happen.