I definitely don't need/want another credit card but the $50 off for Amazon is very tempting! I'd probably use it, pay it off, and never use it again...
Have you ever done this? Any major con's about doing so?
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I did this once at a store. I was buying all our wedding party jewelry at New York & Company and if I bought the card I got a huge discount, it was worth it saving $250 dollars! Used it, paid it off in store, cancelled it a few weeks later.
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Way back when I was in college, I got an Old Navy credit card (my first credit card) because I needed clothes for my internship and they had a deal to get 20 items at 20% off and they were having an amazing clearance sale.
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I've done it a couple times, but it's a hassle to then cancel the card.
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I have opened store cards for extended interest free financing options (Home Depot and Best Buy) when we were outfitting our new house. But I've never opened a card for a discount. Leaving additional cards open and unused still increases the total credit available to you which can have an effect on loan applications. And card cancellations also hit your credit score (though it's usually a pretty quick recovery it's not something you want to do shortly before applying for a mortgage or car loan, etc).
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Ugh I totally want to get the Amazon card just bc I shop there so much! I don't have a problem paying cards off but I also don't want to have so many cards!
My mom totally made me open a card once somewhere to get a discount on a big item... I totally forget where and what happened to the card, haha!
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Nope!
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Not really a discount but I opened one that offered 6 months interest free because I was trying to pay for a training course while in college and I just didn't have the cash since I was working part-time and barely making above minimum wage. I still have the card though!
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I've done a couple of times. Right when we bought our first house, we opened a Macy's card (to buy furniture) and a Circuit City card (for new tvs).
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I have in the past, to get the new customer discount.
Those were store credit cards, though.
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When I was younger and didn't know any better. Now no, don't want more cc on my credit report. Even with a zero balance.
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We have for the 0% option at Home Depot and Best Buy. And we recently did this for our windows in our house...
As for a discount, we did it when we bought our first house and bought a living room set and bedroom set for pottery barn...10% off, 5% back and free shipping - it was worth it. I still use the card now for the 5% back when we make big furniture purchases - but we usually pay it off straight away.
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My brother does this all of the time in order to get things like airline miles and other points. We opened up a credit card that gave a lot of AA miles and put all of our wedding expenses on that card in order to pay for our honeymoon flights as well as a few others. As long as there is no annual fee to pay and you keep it at a zero balance, it really doesn't hurt your credit much. In fact, it helps your debt ratio. Yes, if you have too many open, not good but I have no problem opening up a cc if the deal is worth it. Currently the only store cc I have is the Banana Republic card since I shop at ON and Gap a lot.
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I don't even have any!
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@Adira: I've never actually cancelled a card, but I've had them closed due to inactivity.
@snowjewelz: Lol, thats my problem! I wouldn't have a problem paying it off, I just don't need/want it. But $50 would buy almost all of E's bday gifts at no cost to me.
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@josina: I was so tempted to do it before but kinda forgot about it, now you totally make me want to get one too ahhh! The cash back would be useful too considering how much I order... I almost wish I had gotten it in the beginning b/c of how much $ I've already spent there!
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Nope. I have 2 active credit cards (one for online purchase and one for IRL purchases) and one inactive one, which I will more than likely never activate.
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Yes I've totally signed up for a bonus or discount but my personal threshold is $300+.
While total open credit lines may be a factor in getting a loan, low utilization % of your credit is a positive to your credit score, though this could decrease your average age of accounts which is a negative to your score. I figure it's kind of a wash in the end.
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Nope. It's not worth my time on the phone to cancel the damn thing.
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I wouldn't, it just hurts your credit score
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Only for very large purchases and something I know I'll probably use the card again. We opened one up at BRU when we bought nursery furniture and completed our registry. It was totally worth it and has never hurt my credit!
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I would for a store card only if it would be a really decent savings (like, I would for a Home Depot card to get the initial 10% off if I was outfitting my entire kitchen with new appliances – something like that); I probably wouldn’t for $50. That said, if you’re talking about the Amazon Chase card, I have it and find it to be a really decent reward card so if you’re going to use it and pay it off each month and buy lots on Amazon it’s a decent card to have.
I did just open a Disney Chase card because they gave me $300 in Disney gc for opening the account and we’re going on a Disney cruise next year so wooohooo free onboard credit.
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We opened a Pottery Barn one when we bought furniture for our new house. It doesn't always hurt your credit. Our mortgage rate actually went down based our opening. (We pay off our AmEx in full every month and don't have a limit, so the PB card/balance was a plus.) We then paid it off in full after closing.
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I wouldn't for $50. I don't have any store cards but I've opened cards for the rewards before (mostly travel rewards).
@yoursilverlining: Oooh I need to look into the Disney one.
@rattles: You're right about it not always hurting your credit score. On-time payments and credit utilization are two of the biggest factors in your credit score. We pay off our cards each month and always on time and our credit scores have both gone up!
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@sunny: I think you had posted a while ago about a site that provided some insight into how a credit score is calculated...do you happen to recall what it was?
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We've done it for the 0% interest on big ticket items.
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Too much hassle and not great for your credit rating.
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@looch: I don't recall which site I posted before, but this one provides the same info:
http://www.myfico.com/crediteducation/whatsinyourscore.aspx -
@sunny: hrmm, doesn't look like I remembered, but I still think it's an interesting read.
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@josina: Several times in the past (like in my early twenties) for store discounts - Victoria's Secret, The Limited, Old Navy, etc. It was a big mistake for me because I continued to use the cards beyond that first day and rack up debt. I'm older and wiser now.
That $50 on Amazon is tempting though, especially with the holidays approaching!
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I did when I was like, 18... Victoria's Secret, Macy's, Nordstrom, did Wet Seal or Charlotte Russe have one? If so, I probably had cards there.
And that's the story how my credit was fucked by the time I was 19.
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Our policy is no more plastic. We have two credit cards (with different reward programs) and we pay off the balance each week when I do our budget. That way we never carry a balance unless it's an emergency (which we then pay off asap). We have worked really hard to pay off debt and improve our financial standing, so no more plastic for us!
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@HabesBabe: story of my life too! At 18: you qualify for all the cards! Get them all for the discount! At 20: oh shit, credit is fucked. Next 7+ years cleaning it up and rebuilding it. At least we learned those lessons then.....
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i think i did it with Sears and Macy. With president's choice, i got a free box of cookies for agreeing to them sending me the application, but when i got it, i never sent it in to get the card. oops. they were good cookies though.
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I do this ALL the time and my credit has stayed okay. We already have all the major stuff (car, house) so I'm not worried if I ever end up having "bad" credit. I just leave the account open and sometimes use it if I get a decent promotion to use it again.
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We did this right after we bought our house because we had an entire house to furnish. The store CCs offered us a discount and deferred financing. We made it a point to pay off the balances before crazy interest rates kicked in. Then, one by one we closed the cards.
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Heh, DH and I were just deciding to apply for a new card so we can pay online for LO's new daycare. We are fairly cavalier about applying for new cards since we've always both had great credit and we always pay everything off every month. So it's all about reaping whatever benefits we can get.
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@PawPrints: that's what my husband and I did. We opened a Marriott card and we only pay for lo daycare on it. We figured we pay so much, we might as well earn a vacation out of it!
We've done it for big ticket items (furniture, treadmill, etc) and have always cancelled it right away. As far as I can tell, it has never hurt our credit.
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