Applying for new card with same bank and cancelling old one

This question might have been asked before. I am new to this game, and my first major credit application was through Citi and I've had their Dividend card for about 5 years. 3-4 credit cards later (mostly for the bonuses ) I'm 23, and have a credit score in the high 700's. I want to apply for the AA Citi Visa, but I don't like having too many useless cards lying around and want to get rid of the Dividend card. I've heard that canceling your oldest credit line can hurt your score in the short term, but if I apply for the AA card first, then cancel the Dividend, it'll be like the credit line with Citi was never severed right? Help a newbie!

 

American Express seems to carry over your account opening date as long as you have continguous "membership" with at least one of their cards. None of the other banks/issuers do the same, to my knowledge. I would leave the Dividend card open since it is free and is your oldest line of credit.

 

Thanks, autolycus. The Dividend card does have no annual fee so I'll just leave it open, maybe frame it or something. I just hate how they make you collect $50 in cashback before you can receive checks on it!

 

Agree completely, which is why I stopped using it and started looking at travel cards. Glad I did, since I've already gotten some nice trips out of it--or at least made some trips nicer than they otherwise would have been.

It might be a good idea to use the Dividend card once or twice every 5-6 months so Citi won't decide to close it for you. I don't know what their policy is on that, but some issuers will close inactive accounts.

 

The dividend card also has quarterly bonuses in different categories, so depending on your spend patterns, it can make sense to use this card in a quarter instead of a miles earning card.

 

The Dividend card has a 5% cashback bonus this quarter at drugstores that could net you $300 after $6,000 in drugstore (VR) spend.