Cancel, Continue or Increase Limit?

chattyuk

Hey all,

In an odd situation here. Earlier in the year I took out an aqua card so I could get fee free spending when I went abroad. As I was a student I was given a £250 limit (Pretty useless).

Now I have a job I decided to replace the card with the Halifax clarity (much greater limit for any spending aboard, contactless etc).

As I now have no need for the aqua card I was about to cancel it but I've read the guide on here (which suggests mightn't be the best option) and Aqua have just sent me a letter saying they're happy to increase my limit to £1000.

I only need a credit card for the fee free spending abroad (also the section 75 benefits) so from my point of view cancelling the Aqua card makes the most sense. But how will this look like from a credit rating point of view? Am I better to cancel it, keep it or keep it and increase the credit limit?

Any help would be appreciated

Marcio45

I would keep both even if aqua wont get used as much. Length of time of having a card is also important on your credit report, and to be fair having two cards and managing them well is probably better from a lender point of view.
It starts becoming an issue when people have too many cards (some people ten or more) and/or they are maxed up (most of the credit limit used).
Concerning Aqua limit increase i woukd accept because £250 is way too low to be meaningfull.

ForeverAwake

If you have no use for the card anymore just cancel it

Aqua will cancel the card anyways after months of inactivity.

Dobbibill

It's always handy to have a spare card.

What if you Clarity card got lost/stolen/broken while you were abroad.

Does the Aqua card you have not offer 0.5% cashback on your purchases? A nice perk that Clarity doesn't offer.

Ultimately it's up to you but have you heard the saying 'don't put all your eggs in one basket'

Deadbeat

£1000 is a reasonable limit for a backup card. If it doesn't have any fees then it's worth keeping.

PeacefulWaters

Contingency plan.

Keep it as a back up card. Use it occasionally. Or even use it monthly and clear in full by direct debit if that would help you earn on current accounts.

The day your Clarity Card lets you down and Aqua bails you out you'll understand why it's worth keeping.

Yawn

This is an obvious point but don't cancel the Aqua card until you've been accepted for another card. It's tempting to cancel the first before applying for the second but that might leave you without any. (Made that mistake myself once.)

Are you sure you don't want to apply for a cashback or reward card? That way you have two cards offering different benefits?