Should I leave my high-limit credit card open with zero balance?

WillPS

MorningcoffeeIV said:

WillPS said:

MorningcoffeeIV said:

With balances like that, I wouldn't go closing anything.

Quite the judgment. Unlike the lenders, you've no idea if the OP is on the minimum wage or a 6 figure salary

Clearly it's not 'quite the judgement'. If I had those balances I wouldn't close any cards.

Please don't assume that my decision is wrong or that I haven't thought about it. You have no idea what I earn. Even if I wasn't on a six figure salary, I wouldn't close them. If I were on minimum wage, I would understand that the chances of me getting further credit would be virtually non existent.

What the OP earns is irrelevant to my decision, as his income is not mine.

You weren't asking for advice about closing a card with a high limit... why would it matter what your salary is?

WillPS

alexanderalexander said:

Thank you to everyone for your thoughts on this.

It seems that the consensus is that I should leave it open in the hope of being offered an "existing customer" BT offer. If none is forthcoming, however, I should close it. 

Let me know if anyone disagrees with this conclusion.

It's certainly a valid approach - the one thing I would flag up is that in my experience the fees associated with 'existing customer' balance transfers are almost always higher than the ones available on the market for new customers.

If you're aiming to transfer 5 figure sums in future the gap between a low fee and a high fee is likely to be hundreds of pounds - but of course that's very small change compared to what the interest would otherwise be.

MorningcoffeeIV

WillPS said:

MorningcoffeeIV said:

WillPS said:

MorningcoffeeIV said:

With balances like that, I wouldn't go closing anything.

Quite the judgment. Unlike the lenders, you've no idea if the OP is on the minimum wage or a 6 figure salary

Clearly it's not 'quite the judgement'. If I had those balances I wouldn't close any cards.

Please don't assume that my decision is wrong or that I haven't thought about it. You have no idea what I earn. Even if I wasn't on a six figure salary, I wouldn't close them. If I were on minimum wage, I would understand that the chances of me getting further credit would be virtually non existent.

What the OP earns is irrelevant to my decision, as his income is not mine.

You weren't asking for advice about closing a card with a high limit... why would it matter what your salary is?

Why would the OP's salary matter to my statement that I would not close one of my cards?  It would be MY salary that mattered, not his 

You appear to be confusing the OP and myself.

WillPS

MorningcoffeeIV said:

WillPS said:

MorningcoffeeIV said:

WillPS said:

MorningcoffeeIV said:

With balances like that, I wouldn't go closing anything.

Quite the judgment. Unlike the lenders, you've no idea if the OP is on the minimum wage or a 6 figure salary

Clearly it's not 'quite the judgement'. If I had those balances I wouldn't close any cards.

Please don't assume that my decision is wrong or that I haven't thought about it. You have no idea what I earn. Even if I wasn't on a six figure salary, I wouldn't close them. If I were on minimum wage, I would understand that the chances of me getting further credit would be virtually non existent.

What the OP earns is irrelevant to my decision, as his income is not mine.

You weren't asking for advice about closing a card with a high limit... why would it matter what your salary is?

Why would the OP's salary matter to my statement that I would not close one of my cards?  It would be MY salary that mattered, not his 

You appear to be confusing the OP and myself.

You're the one confused, not me the OP is asking for advice for themselves. What would be best for you in your own opinion is not helpful, not least because there are no known parallels. Your post in isolation inferred a judgment that your situations were somehow similar but you have no way of knowing that.

MorningcoffeeIV

WillPS said:

MorningcoffeeIV said:

WillPS said:

MorningcoffeeIV said:

WillPS said:

MorningcoffeeIV said:

With balances like that, I wouldn't go closing anything.

Quite the judgment. Unlike the lenders, you've no idea if the OP is on the minimum wage or a 6 figure salary

Clearly it's not 'quite the judgement'. If I had those balances I wouldn't close any cards.

Please don't assume that my decision is wrong or that I haven't thought about it. You have no idea what I earn. Even if I wasn't on a six figure salary, I wouldn't close them. If I were on minimum wage, I would understand that the chances of me getting further credit would be virtually non existent.

What the OP earns is irrelevant to my decision, as his income is not mine.

You weren't asking for advice about closing a card with a high limit... why would it matter what your salary is?

Why would the OP's salary matter to my statement that I would not close one of my cards?  It would be MY salary that mattered, not his 

You appear to be confusing the OP and myself.

Your post in isolation inferred a judgment that your situations were somehow similar

I see. I think what you inferred from my post was wrong.

I'm sorry that you misunderstood my comment. At least that now explains the confusion!

friolento

Martico said:

Brie said:

 My experience only but MBNA seem to be regulars at offering deals (most months), Santander less often (4,5 times a year), M&S occasionally (twice a year).  Haven't had one from Barclays in at least 5 years or more.

My experience - MBNA, Halifax, Virgin, Barclaycard pretty much continually have a BT offer open for me (BC and Virgin offer the best rates and longest times), and M&S only occasionally. 

Do you find their offers useful? All the ones I have seen come with BT fees that wipe out, or exceed, any profit I can make from stoozing. I don’t use BT for borrowing, either, so all those frequent/ permanent BT offers don’t do anything for me 🥲

Martico

friolento said:

Martico said:

Brie said:

 My experience only but MBNA seem to be regulars at offering deals (most months), Santander less often (4,5 times a year), M&S occasionally (twice a year).  Haven't had one from Barclays in at least 5 years or more.

My experience - MBNA, Halifax, Virgin, Barclaycard pretty much continually have a BT offer open for me (BC and Virgin offer the best rates and longest times), and M&S only occasionally. 

Do you find their offers useful? All the ones I have seen come with BT fees that wipe out, or exceed, any profit I can make from stoozing. I don’t use BT for borrowing, either, so all those frequent/ permanent BT offers don’t do anything for me 🥲

Not the BTs so much, as I no longer carry balances. But I jumped on Virgin last year when they offered an 18 month money transfer at 2.5%. And on Barclaycard on an 18 month money transfer at 3%