Business Platinum Card from American Express
130,000 MR points
Video: How Does Opening and Closing Credit Cards Affect Your Score?
One of the most commonly asked questions among Miles & Points newbies is how opening and closing credit cards actually affects your credit score.
In this video, let’s clear up some of the misconceptions around this topic by thinking about how each component of your credit profile is affected by each step along a credit card’s life cycle, from the initial application to the first statement being posted, through to product-switching and, if necessary, cancellation.
By breaking down the individual impact to your credit health at every step along the way, you can see how playing the credit card game in a responsible fashion can end up strengthening your credit score over time.
Without further ado, you can watch the video below:
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Business Platinum Card from American Express
- Earn 90,000 MR points upon spending $15,000 in the first three months
- Plus, earn 40,000 MR points upon making a purchase in months 15–17 as a cardholder
- And, earn 1.25x MR points on all purchases
- Also, receive a $200 annual travel credit
- Transfer Membership Rewards points to Aeroplan, The British Airways Club, Flying Blue, and other frequent flyer programs for premium flights
- Unlimited airport lounge access for you and one guest at Priority Pass, Plaza Premium, Centurion, and other lounges
- Credits and rebates for business expenses throughout the year with Amex Offers
- Bonus MR points for referring family and friends
- Qualify for the card as a sole proprietor
- Annual fee: $799
4 Comments
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Great article…Recently switched form RBC Infinite Avion to TD Aeroplan Infinite Privilege …Will downgrade the RBC card, but is it necessary to use on occasion, or is letting it sit with zero transactions the same? Trying to consol all my spending on the TD card to max out the SQM/SQS boost benefits (in addition to other benefits)…Not worried about small dips in credit rating, but AVION is my long time card on my file for sure.
It won’t hurt to let it sit with zero transactions. It won’t actively help either. If you aren’t worried about small fluctuations in credit score, then I’d say just leave it.
Great video. How does charge cards impact credit score? Can you downgrade? I’m thinking of the Amex Platinum. Thx.
Different credit scoring models treat charge cards in different ways. Some credit score calculation models use a “high credit” in place of the credit limit, which is the highest statement balance that a cardholder has had over a period of time; however, other credit score calculations models exclude charge cards entirely from the utilization criterion. If the model uses a “high credit” in place of a credit limit, then you’ll necessarily be posting 100% utilization on your first monthly statement on a charge card, which may also exacerbate the slight negative impact of opening a new card.
You can’t downgrade the Canadian-issued Amex Platinum Card to another product.