Deals.Woot

If you don't use it, why have it? Maybe I don't understand your problem.

With the CCs, I use, they send me a new one, I call, and 30 sec later...I'm good for another 4 years or so.

I haven't had what you said happen to me. But, I keep cards open, and try to use them all at least once or twice a year (and pay them right off). I've been told by various people that it can help your FICO score if you have a good "debt owed" to "credit available" ratio, as well as having long-term established creditors.

I just don't open new cards anymore. Got all I need :-)

I use the card, just not very often. I usually like to keep this card open only for the very occasional large purchase where I get 12-24 months at 0% interest. I haven't done that since maybe 2005. Plus, most of the things I would buy probably aren't priced the best at Best Buy anyway.

So the bottom line is, although I don't use it, I enjoy having it in case I do choose to use it in the future. I do not enjoy having it, and then having it closed because I am not using it. I make my complaint, however, with the full understanding that this is what they need to do to keep their credit cards viable for them, and therefore I will make the occasional purchase because hey, it's business, and if I want their card I have to play by their rules.

I get a little bit scared when I think of the number of people who mortgage their futures over credit card interest ... but that's a topic for a whole other discussion.

Thanks for the conversation, all.

Also, a clarification:

My comment was NOT aimed at credit cards that expire on the expiration date printed on the card.

My comment was aimed at credit cards which, due to periodic inactivity, either expire, close, or have their credit line reduced. The worst is credit cards that do this without notice, but sometimes they send you an email or a paper notice in the mail.

Sorry for the confusion.

Your FICO score is based on many things, but some of them are length of account history (ie. how long you've had the account) and percentage of available credit used (never use more than 30% of the credit limit on any card or 20% of your total credit).

When you close an account, especially a long standing one, your average account age drops, so your FICO gets dinged.

When you close an account, especially one with a high credit limit, your total available credit drops, so your FICO gets dinged.

In terms of your FICO score, it doesn't much matter if you pay off the bill every month or pay the minimum, though with few exceptions, paying credit card interest long term is a mistake.