New credit card fee - should I close account?

[bea694]

I've had a certain credit card since 1993, but I never use it. I got a letter from the company today stating that my account would now be charged a $60 annual fee unless I use my card for $2400 or more in annual purchases. I don't plan to do this. I'd like to call and tell them to close my account, but I'm hesitant to do so because it has such a long history. Any advice? Thanks!

[dachshundqueen]

What other credit do you have available to you?

If it represents a large amount of your available credit, and/or you have a lot of your available credit used up, it could negatively affect your credit score (if that is of concern to you).

Liz

[newbymom05]

I cancel cards all the time. No way would I keep a card that threatened to charge me $60.

[laohaire]

First, ask yourself how critical having a top credit score over the next year is for you.

Closing an account isn't going to make your credit bad, though you might lose a few points if it's your oldest account. But it doesn't matter if you don't plan to mortgage, refinance or get a car loan in the near future.

I would cancel the card. The only reason I might consider keeping it open a while is if I was planning to refinance or something in the next month or two. (And even if I were, I'd still consider cancelling). To me it's insane to pay crazy fees just to increase (by a little bit) a credit score. While I'm a responsible consumer, don't pay late or anything, I've stopped making decisions based on what it does to my credit score, I used to assume it was soooo important to get every point possible, but it's not. Pay your debt. Be responsible. Don't pay fees just to save a couple of points.