Citi Credit Cards

[b2mje112]

Does anyone know how the $100 Gift Card works?

I have one Citi Card already and use it all the time, and have gotten multiple Gift Cards from just the one Credit Card. Would I be able to get a new Gift Card (from their Introductory Offer) with every new Citi Card I sign up for? I think I have seen there are about 4 or 5 more cards out there.

Thanks

 

[Liss]

I think it would only work if you close out your old account and sign up for a new one. I tried awhile ago to get a second card, but the system knew I already had a Citi card. You probably don't want to open too many credit card accounts anyhow. Doesn't look too great on your credit report.

 

[He3x]

Your question may have been answered here:
http://www.mymoneyblog.com/archives/2006/05/drive_a_lot_cit_1.html

If you have *many* cards, you may want to close some of them, not because of credit score, but for management to keep track of them. Even if you don't use them, you need to know that every one of them is in secured place.

But on contrary to what people believe, closing credit card accounts will most likely hurt your score.


http://moneycentral.msn.com/content/Banking/Yourcreditrating/P41876.asp

 

[Liss]

That's true, but why would you go out and open a bunch of new credit card accounts. It does hurt your credit in that your total line of credit is being wasted over a bunch of different cards. If you go to get a house and you've got over $30,000 or whatever in credit lines on credit cards, you're not going to be happy.

 

[He3x]

I think the article mentioned that when you open credit card accounts, the damage is done, the score is already adjusted. The score got hit when application is processed. Therefore, if you see yourself getting a mortgage within a year, it's not a good idea to apply for credit cards now. But if you already have bunch of cards for a while, it's not going to make any difference to close or not to close.

From my experience, the keys are:
1. do not carry any balance in any cards.
2. use only 1 or 2 cards, do NOT even rotate the usage.