Open and close Travel Cards for travel or keep it open?

WinterSoldier
WinterSoldier Posts: 10 Forumite
Combo Breaker First Post First Anniversary
in Credit cards
As the Title suggests, I was hoping for experiences and opinions on opening and closing Travel Cards as required of an infrequent traveller, or whether it's best to just always keep it in the background.

I just signed-up for a Halifax Clarity Travel Card for a trip next month and it's likely my next trip after that is another year away, what would be the impact on credit score, for example, if I chose to close that account in the meantime and re-apply on my next holiday? As apposed to just keeping it around and not using it.

Thanks

Comments

  • [Deleted User]
    [Deleted User] Posts: 35,242 Forumite
    First Anniversary Photogenic Name Dropper First Post
    Just keep it open, using it from time to time to prevent any chance of dormancy.

    You don't have a credit score, but repeated opening and closing of accounts can concern lenders.
  • Alexd52
    Alexd52 Posts: 318 Forumite
    First Anniversary Combo Breaker First Post
    As above and another reason to keep it open is that you may be declined when you next apply
  • PRAISETHESUN
    PRAISETHESUN Posts: 3,700 Forumite
    First Anniversary Photogenic Name Dropper First Post
    I personally would keep them open - it saves you the hassle of having to close or re-open them in future. This is particularly important for travel credit cards (as opposed to pre-paid cards) where there are hard credit checks involved - multiple searches in a short amount of time can alarm lenders, and the short average length of open accounts may also put them off. Just made the odd transaction every once and a while to keep them open.

    Also ignore any reference to your credit "score" provided by the CRAs - lenders will never see this. Every lender will generate their own internal score (which you will never see) based upon the contents of your credit file, so what matters most is your credit "history".
  • Nico23
    Nico23 Posts: 2 Newbie
    Better keep it open. As mentioned previously, don't forget to put a coffee transaction from time to time to prevent it from being considered dormant.
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