How Many Credit Cards Should You Have?

**Money card** · Sep 14, 11, 7:25 pm

Don't worry Jumbo you will do fine. If it makes you feel better I applied about 5-6 times between 1989 and 1998 and got turned down for all. At that time I only had a first fidelity visa.

so how do you like your Discover card? which design do you have? I have the original Black.

do you know which American express card you want to get?

**Money card** · Sep 14, 11, 7:32 pm

Originally Posted by bisbicos

I currently have 4 cc's. Citi forward, Citi university card, capital one journey card, and bank of America AAA gas rewards card. What criteria does Amex look at when you apply for Amex blue chip?

You mean Blue from American Express. A good income and I would say at least 2 other credit cards, a good Visa, and Discover or Mastercard, or a Mastercard and a Discover.

**JNK** · Sep 15, 11, 2:14 am

I'm one of those people who has (or has had, as some are closed) quite a few credit cards opened (hooray for university years and hooray for banks auto-opening bank-issed cards for you!) and who has a personal FICO score of 780+ while still owing on a student loan.

My score was in the 800s earlier before I got the credit score inquiries in 2010 and opened another credit card (the Care Credit). My score is currently 'dinged' with the inquiries and the 'newness' of my most recent card.

That said:

In my personal collection, I have: 2 store cards - Macy's and JCP. 1 Care Credit card (for major medical stuff). 5 major credit cards (and not one Discover... yet). 1 bank-issued line of credit (not a credit card).

I agree; there really is no magic number and what can be a 'good' or 'okay' number of cards to have can depend on your relationship with credit card companies. At least, that is what my own experience is telling me.

Even though I have three American Express cards, American Express would be more than happy to have me open a fourth or more and I am quite positive that they would be happy to extend towards me a very good CL and APR while Chase has told me that I more or less that I am at the point of having 'enough' Chase cards. Citi wouldn't mind me having another card, either, though I know that they might be a little less loose about giving me a higher CL because I know they've been tightening their proverbial belts lately.

On the other hand, I'm not sure what luck I might have trying to open a new account with a company who has never dealt with me before. They might think I have 'too many accounts' open.

**jumbo** · Sep 20, 11, 11:56 pm

Originally Posted by Money card

Don't worry Jumbo you will do fine. If it makes you feel better I applied about 5-6 times between 1989 and 1998 and got turned down for all. At that time I only had a first fidelity visa.

so how do you like your Discover card? which design do you have? I have the original Black.

do you know which American express card you want to get?

5-6 times in the time frame of 9 years is not bad at all (well I think so, not sure though)...
I like the Discover card, that's my primary card that I use.

Was looking for the AMEX Blue cash everyday card, but thought, I'd not get approved so ended up applying for citi platinum select, and now I think I should have applied for something that was easier to get approved. lets see what happens, I have received no decision on the citi card yet.. hope for the best...

**naomibatac** · Sep 28, 11, 6:22 pm

At least two major credit cards from two different issuing companies and a store card from Wal Mart.

**AustinSteel94** · Oct 1, 11, 10:32 pm

I may not have any credit cards yet, But I have banking certifications from a course I toke at school. I would say have up to 10, Keep your balances low but don't get sucked in by all the reward programs or cash back programs. Be sure to read the terms and agreements and if needed talk to a service rep. I personally plan on attaining a visa chase and citi master card and amex. But that's me.

**WillJV** · Oct 27, 11, 1:51 pm

Hello everyone,

So i come from a "horrible credit" background due to personal reasons; however, in order to reestablish my credit I've started by getting those high APRs crappy cards just so i could build some positive history.
With 2 cards for about 4 years which i've used to build credit:

- Capital one (no rewards & $95 annual fee)
- Credit one bank (no rewards & $100 annual fee)

Last year finally i managed to get my credit score to 730 and decided to applied for a reputable better card than the crappy ones i had so i applied for the Amex True Earnings card and i was approved. Now a year later I have a total of 3 credit cards all 3 with positive good credit history yet I still have the 2 crappy ones with charge me almost $200 in annual fees.
I know its not a good thing to close credit cards as you lose history but I've been considering to get chase Freedom or Discover More and maybe close the 2 other cards.

Any suggestions?

**2vette2camaro** · Feb 2, 12, 10:25 am

I have at Least 20 cards, but I know I have a lot more on record, I just don't "physically" have the cards. And I have great credit, and am "self employed"

**Money card** · Feb 11, 12, 9:08 pm

Originally Posted by WillJV

Hello everyone,

So i come from a "horrible credit" background due to personal reasons; however, in order to reestablish my credit I've started by getting those high APRs crappy cards just so i could build some positive history.
With 2 cards for about 4 years which i've used to build credit:

- Capital one (no rewards & $95 annual fee)
- Credit one bank (no rewards & $100 annual fee)

Last year finally i managed to get my credit score to 730 and decided to applied for a reputable better card than the crappy ones i had so i applied for the Amex True Earnings card and i was approved. Now a year later I have a total of 3 credit cards all 3 with positive good credit history yet I still have the 2 crappy ones with charge me almost $200 in annual fees.
I know its not a good thing to close credit cards as you lose history but I've been considering to get chase Freedom or Discover More and maybe close the 2 other cards.

Any suggestions?

I will leave you your answer in another forum. But I have a question for you, you say you live in Miami, what would happen if you had to move job related or family related, to Wisconsin, Idaho, Minnesota in the secluded areas where there's no Costco? Or the closest is 100 miles or more.

Depending upon what level card you have depends what membership fee your paying. what would you do about the membership if you had to leave Miami?

I would always use my own personal cards whenever going into a placeW. hen at Macy's I would always use at the time my first card gold card, Bank 1 platinum or chase platinum. Now it would be my Capitol1 card, Discover or my own personal American Express. Sme as if I went to target I wouldn't use their card I would use my own.

**Money card** · Feb 11, 12, 9:24 pm

those 2 cards are good choices I have the Discover card and I love mine.

do you travel on business or are you looking for suggestions for personal card not related to airlines or hotels?

I have a Capitol1 card, the Venture Gold version with no annual fee and 1.25 miles per dollar spent. It's a great card. he Citi Forward, Select and Dividend are some great cards, it depends on you.

These are a few to think about and if you have any other questions we will all be happy to help.

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