Questions and Answers

Would cancelling a recent credit card help my credit by improving my credit age, hurt my credit by lower my utilization denominator (although I pay my credit in full each month), or have no real impact?

Specifically, I recently got a capital one venture card to take advantage of the introductory offer and hotels.com partnership for my honeymoon. This saved me a few thousand dollars on the honeymoon accommodation so it was definitely worth while.

This would not be a card I see myself using much in the future however, as I do not use hotels.com too often.

The card would show up, as cancelled, so I’m not sure how it impacts the credit history portion of your score. Unless you pay off the card in full before the cycle closes each month, a balance is still reported. You’d be lowering available credit and yeah it’ll negatively impact your score though I can’t imagine it’d be too bad.

Still, why not keep it for a year and then cancel it? Can’t remember if it has an annual fee or not but if not, it could help your credit score in the long run.