Key Points
A Reddit user is wondering if opening up a new card once a year is too much.
While getting new cardholder bonuses is attractive, opening cards too frequently can damage your credit and put you at risk of missed or late payments.
Instead of opening too many cards, consider researching and finding one or two really great cards that are a good fit.
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A Reddit user is thinking about taking an unconventional approach to earning credit card rewards. The original poster said in a recent thread that he wanted to open a new credit card every year. He’d pay his insurance on it, which would give him enough charges to qualify for a new cardmember bonus. He could then take advantage of all the perks the card offered, including the rewards and that new cardmember bonus, which was effectively free money.
The poster wanted to know if this was a bad idea and if there were any downsides to it. So, let’s take a look at whether it is a good strategy or one that isn’t likely to pan out in the end.
Pros and cons of opening a new credit card
The OP’s plan to open a new card and make an insurance payment with it each year isn’t necessarily the worst idea in the world. In fact, there’s one big perk of taking this approach. If the OP opens the new card specifically to pay insurance premiums, this should hopefully give him enough money to earn the new cardmember bonus for that card, without feeling pressured to spend on a bunch of stuff. New cardmember bonuses often require you to spend $500 or even $1,000 or more in the first three months to qualify for added cash back, rewards, or miles. Covering one big fixed cost on the card eliminates the need to do that, reducing the chances of overspending.
However, there are also some big downsides to opening a new card every year, including the following:
- Too many inquiries hurt your credit score. Inquiries are requests to check your credit when you apply for a new loan or a new card. They stay on your credit history for two years, and too many can reduce your score because applying for so much credit in a short time suggests you may be getting into too much debt.
- You’ll lower your average age of credit. This is another important part of your credit score. A longer average age of credit is better, as it shows you have been responsible for a long time. Unfortunately, if you open a new card each year, your average age of credit will remain shorter because you’ll constantly be adding a new credit line.
- You’ll end up with a lot of cards to manage. Getting a new card every year can leave you with an overwhelming number of credit cards. It may soon become hard to keep track of everything, which means you could risk missing payments. You could also end up using the wrong card for each purchase because you can’t really remember which of your many cards provides bonus rewards for gas, groceries, or travel.
- There’s an opportunity cost. When you spend time researching, opening a new card, and changing your payments to it, this can all take time. If you have other, more lucrative or more fun things that you could be doing with your time, you may not want to waste it chasing a few hundred dollars in credit card rewards.
- Your card issuers may cut you off. Card companies don’t really want customers who open their card to get a new cardmember bonus and then leave the cards sitting in a drawer instead of using them. You could find yourself eventually getting cut off from getting new credit, as some companies have rules on how frequently you can apply for cards. Your card issuer could also close accounts or reduce your credit limit if you aren’t using your cards regularly, which would be hard to do if you have a ton of them.
All of these downsides must be carefully considered because they may convince you that opening new cards all the time isn’t worth it.
Is opening a new card every year a smart choice?
For many people, opening a new card each year is simply too much. It’s a lot easier to find one or two great cash back cards, charge as much as you can on them, and make the most of your rewards that way. Just check out the card options available, find one that is a good fit for you, and make sure you pay off your card on time and in full every month.
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