I have a Southwest Chase credit card that has an annual fee, and want to change to a card that has no annual fee. How can I do that without affecting my credit score?
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The fee does not affect your score. The only factor is your credit usage- the ratio of your balance divided by the credit limit for all of your cards.
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You might find another Chase card that serves your purposes. If you apply and get that with a comparable credit limit then you should be able to close the current one without much effect. Your credit limit will be similar and you won’t lose your years of credit history with Chase.
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If you want to avoid any impact on your credit history, I’d first ask Chase if they can product change your current card to one of their no-annual-fee cards. That usually lets you keep the same account, credit history, and credit limit while getting rid of the annual fee.
If that’s not an option, opening a no-fee card first and then deciding whether to close the old one is another approach. Just make sure the new card is approved before closing anything.I’d also compare the benefits you’re getting from the Southwest card against the annual fee. If you’re still using the perks enough to offset the cost, it may be worth keeping. Otherwise, a product change is
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One idea is to ask bank to move this credit line to a new or existing card. Last time I tried that with BoA and they said they would, but they LIED. I would tend to believe that JPMC would be similarly inclined to lie or flat refuse. So when you lose a credit line your credit score WILL decline. The smaller the loss of credit, the smaller the score decline.
Another factor is how old your card is. If your credit history is 20 years and this card is the 20 year one, I would want to keep it so potential lendor knows you have long credit history.
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Chase/Southwest just jacked up to $229/yr., call Chase and ask to cancel card. They offered me a $229 credit to keep me for another year.
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Does closing one card and opening another really have that big of a negative impact on your credit score?
It potentially affects utilization, length of credit history and new credit which together comprise 55% of the scoring model. How much it affects them is the mystery part.
If Chase allows it, I’d ask for a product change to a no-annual-fee card instead of closing the account. That usually keeps the same account history and credit line, which is better for your credit score. I’d also confirm with Chase whether you’ll keep your account age and available credit before making the switch.