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Hi All. I recently closed my Amex Gold card after holding it for two years. Now I’m looking to close my BAPP as well as I’ve received the companion voucher already.
I plan to stay away from Amex for two years now before getting back into the SUB game.I was wondering if being without a CC for ~2 years will have an impact on my credit score? We plan to buy in 2026 and I don’t have any other mortgage currently.
Thanks!
Don’t forget that to use the companion voucher you need to pay with an Amex of some description (understand it doesn’t need to be in your name)
Don’t forget that to use the companion voucher you need to pay with an Amex of some description (understand it doesn’t need to be in your name)
Yes P2 has an Amex, so that should be fine. 🙂
So you’d have no credit cards at all? Or have I got that wrong?
I would urge you not to do that.
Paying by cash or debit card means you lose important s75 credit card protections for example.
@as02 – why not open a non-Amex credit card account while you are waiting for your respective 2 years to be up?
Yes I can do that (getting a non-Amex card), but was just checking if I really need to as I wanted to avoid paying for multiple cards between me and P2.
But I guess I can always go for a free card just to keep the credit profile active.You could go for a card with a small sign-up bonus. Sometimes Halifax offers £20 to sign up to theirs for example.
You could get a smallish SUB on the free avios Barclaycard and collect avios on non-Amex purchases. If you can spend £20k, you’ll get the upgrade voucher as well.
Every lender assesses your credit profile differently. Affordability is more important for mortgages. Plenty of people get mortgages without ever having had credit cards.
I was wondering if being without a CC for ~2 years will have an impact on my credit score? We plan to buy in 2026 and I don’t have any other mortgage currently.
Forget playing the “credit score” games. You’re looking at this completely the wrong way. The key reason why you shouldn’t do without a credit card is the loss of Section 75 protection, particularly on larger transactions.
S75 is a red herring here. They’ve already said there is a P2, so presumably they have S75 covered by anything of significance going on P2’s card.
That’s right!
Thank you all, for the responses. 🙂
I guess I’ll close my card at the end of this month, and load all major spending on P2’s card. Meanwhile, I’ll take out a free non-Amex card and potentially the Virgin+ card,if there is a SUB offer on it anytime soon.To add to what everyone else has said, it seems a general consensus that having a longstanding credit card helps you when it comes to other credit applications.
I’d suggest picking up the free Virgin Atlantic card (3,000 Virgin points and no FX fees in Europe), the free Barclaycard Avios card (5,000 Avios for taking it out) or even the Halifax clarity (no FX fees worldwide) which should not get in the way of any other applications you might wish to make in the future and occasionally offers cash back.
Then use them occasionally to keep them ticking over and let a mature card profile build up.
Thanks @Froggee!
Just to be clear – you mean that it helps to have the same card for a long period of time (vs. having A card for a long time)?Yes – exactly that. In clichéd terms, it shows that you have been managing credit responsibly for a long time and therefore you are more likely to be responsible as a borrower.
I don’t know how active you are in sign-up bonuses etc but the Halifax clarity is unlikely to ever get in your way as there is never any sign up bonus for it (!) and Lloyds appear happy for for customers to have more than one card with them (unlike Barclays).
So you could do a lot worse than get the Halifax clarity and use it occasionally just so it is there. It might even be handy when travelling. Roll forward a few years and it will likely be a beneficial part of your credit history.
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