I just closed a credit card. Here’s why.

In the world of travel hacking, credit cards are king. You’ll find countless travel hackers opening and churning credit cards to attain high sign-up bonuses (SUBs). And, when so many cards are being opened, you might be wondering when (if ever) is the right time to close a credit card.

I went on my first travel hacked trip in 2018. My now-husband and I both opened Chase Sapphire Preferred cards when we got engaged. We put all wedding expenses on those cards and used the points accrued to take a four-country, two-week European honeymoon.

Despite our incredible trip that was covered primarily with points and miles, we only started chasing SUBs starting in 2022. Prior to that, I held three credit cards – all three of which I still have open today.

Credit Card Background

When I started looking more into serious travel hacking, I read many articles about using business cards to accrue tens of thousands of points. Qualifying for a business card is much easier than you may assume. Because of my side hustle that brought in a few hundred dollars a year, I was able to qualify for the Chase Ink Business Unlimited. Similar to the Freedom Unlimited, this card earns 1.5 points on every purchase.

After hitting my sign-up bonus and earning my points, I added these points to my Chase Ultimate Rewards account. I set up a small recurring payment on this card so that the account wouldn’t be closed, but otherwise did not touch the card in the year or so since hitting the sign-up bonus.

Why I decided to close the credit card

While we have opened several new credit cards over the last few years, we do not open new cards every 30-90 days like some travel hackers. There’s no one way to travel hack – but this is what works for us.

Keeping credit cards open helps with your average age of credit and percent of credit used. These are just two aspects towards your credit score. And a higher credit score means you’re more likely to continue to be approved for new cards. This card also doesn’t have an annual fee, so it’s not like I was losing money by having it open.

All of these would suggest that it might make sense to keep the card open, right? Here’s why I ultimately decided to close the credit card.

1. Chase has restrictions on how much credit you have with them. I have many Chase cards as it’s our preferred points currency. If a new card comes up in the future, I don’t want to be prevented from eligibility due to all my credit with them.
2. There’s no annual fee, but I’m also not getting any benefits from the card.
3. The card offers 1.5x on all purchases, but I already have another Chase card that does that.
4. As a business card, this does not show up in my credit history in terms of age or credit utilization. I’m not losing any thing that would help my credit score by closing it.
5. Also, I wanted to close it!

Conclusion

As mentioned, we open cards when it makes sense for us. The number of credit cards I have has gone up in the last few years, but I have no interest in having dozens. For the reasons outlined above, it made sense to close it. I made sure my bills were paid off, transferred all my Ultimate Rewards points, and closed the card. My credit score has not been impacted at all.

Friendly reminder to always leave your card open at least a year after hitting the sign-up bonus. There are some reports that a bank will claw back the points from the sign-up bonus if you close the credit card within a year.