Will getting a second credit card help my credit rating?
This very much depends how you use that second line of credit and what your current credit is. There are of course many more combinations buy you can probably infer the impact based on these cases.   Your credit score is based on your likely hood of being profitable to a creditor should they issue you credit. This is based on your history of your ability to manage your credit.  Having more credit and managing it well shows that you have a history of being responsible with greater sums of money available.  If you use the card responsibly now then you are more likely to continue that trend than someone with a history of irresponsibility.  Having a line but not using it is not a good thing.  It costs the creditor money for you to have an account.  If you never use that account then you are not showing that you can use the account responsibly so if you are just going to throw the card in a safe and never access it then you are better off not getting the card in the first place. No. Getting more credit lowers your credit utilization ratio (if you don't use it), which raises your credit rating, this can also be done by asking for a higher limit on your existing credit card. Also, there is a chance that the company you got your first card from won't pull your credit a second time when they go to the underwriter. As any extensions of credit lower your credit score, although the credit utilization ratio is weighted more heavily. "Besides your credit score, there are other smart reasons to have a second line of credit.  (Your credit score doesn't affect you the majority of your life, but when it does whoooooo boy does it.) Should the first bank you have credit with create or find a clerical error, a second line of credit can provide a cushion while you sort it out with the first Should physically damage a card, or have it stolen, having a second backup at home will be helpful as you wait for a replacement. Getting a second line of credit with a different institution than your first allows you the flexibility to cancel one and move your business should the deal become unfavorable to you. Multiple lines of credit in of itself is a plus to your credit score (albeit a small one) You can organize your finances.  One card handles the recurring payments in your life, the second incidentals.  The expected activity type might make it easier to detect fraud. When you get your second line of credit, get it from a different institution than where you have any other business now.  (A credit union if you can, or a small local bank).  Make sure there is no annual fee, and if there is a reward, be certain it is worth it.  Cash back is my favorite because I can spend cash where I like, whereas ""points"" have to come out of product in their catalogs.  Lower interest rate is best of all.  Even though you always plan on paying it off every month like clockwork, you might one day run into an issue where you cannot.  Lower interest rate becomes very important in that plannings scenario."
I have found that between the Discover card and a Visa/Master Card a person has everything covered. In my case the Discover card had the best deal (cash back) and the Visa/Master Card took care of those times a vendor didn't take Discover. One big Box store (Costco) did trip us up, so we did end up getting an American Express card. But Costco is dropping that requirement in 2016. One advantage of only having a few cards is that the increase in your total credit line will be split among fewer cards. In your question the highest  max limit on one card is $2500, what will you do if you have to take a flight at the last minute and the Airline ticket is more than that? If you need a higher limit, ask for one of your existing cards to raise it; don't go out and get another card. If you see that one of the companies that you already have a card with has a better card, you can ask them to convert your account to that better card.  Yes higher total limit does help your utilization ratio portion of the score. But there is some opinion that they also look at the utilization ratio per card. So hitting one card to nearly the max can hurt your score. Three caveats about the number of cards: Your plan will work to increase your total credit capacity (good for your credit score) and reduce your utilization (also good).  As mentioned, you will need to be careful to use these cards periodically or they will get closed, but it will work. The question is whether this will help you or not.  In addition to credit capacity and utilization, your credit score looks at things like These factors may hurt you as you continue to open accounts.  You can easily get to the stage where your score is not benefitting much from increased capacity and it is getting hurt a lot by pulls and low average age. BTW you are correct that closing accounts generally hurts your score.  It probably reduces average age, may reduce maximum age, reduces your capacity, and increases your utilization. Credit scores are designed to reflect your ability to make payments on time. As long as you're not closing your old credit card account, you will only see a minimal impact on your score. See estimated credit score breakdowns below: "After this happened the second time, I wonder if there could be a ""catch"" on this.  No I mean, what is my bank's real motivation for allowing me to spend more money.  Credit card companies make money in a few ways. By giving you a higher limit the credit card company hopes you will spend more on the card. This immediately gets them more merchant fees and if they are lucky means you will have to carry the balance for a while earning them interest. If they get really lucky you will miss a payment or two earning them some fees. Of course if they let you borrow too much you might never pay it back. So the credit limit is a balancing act. Letting you borrow more money gives them the potential to make more money but also the potential to lose more money. As you build up a history of paying as agreed they feel comfortable lending you more money." The answer to your question is no. Your credit rating is the way creditors let each other know whether you are in a good position and have a strong tendency to repay your debts, not whether you are an easy target for making money on interest and penalties associated with failing to repay debts in full.  The fact that you make your payments on time will definitely not lower your credit rating. While the banks are not making as much money on you as they would if you carried a balance, they are also not spending a lot of money on you, nor losing a lot of money on people like you failing to repay debts.  The transactions charged to the retailers cover the costs of operating your card and then a little bit.  That is enough to make you worth keeping as a customer.  They are happy with your arrangement. The formula for credit rating computation is proprietary, but we know what the factors are overall.  Making payments on time consistently is a positive, not a negative factor.  However, they do look at the number of cards and overall mix of cards and other types of debt.  For example, if you have a very large amount of credit capacity in your cards and no mortgage, that could possibly be a negative.  If you have opened some of those accounts recently, it could be a negative.  If you have a larger number credit cards than they think is good, that could be a negative. There are other things as well that could be bringing your score down.  Probably worth it to take a look. If you want to get an idea of what factors are adding positively and negatively to your credit score, I'd encourage you to visit CreditKarma.com, Quizzle.com, or another source intended to help you understand and improve your credit rating. "The comments section to Dilip's reply is overflowing.  First - the OP (Graphth) is correct in that credit scoring has become a game. A series of data points that predicts default probability, but of course, offers little chance to explain why you applied for 3 loans (all refinancing to save money on home or rentals) got new credit cards (to get better rewards) and have your average time with accounts drop like a rock (well, I canceled the old cards).  The data doesn't dig that deep.  To discuss the ""Spend More With Plastic?"" phenomenon - I have no skin in the game, I don't sell credit card services. So if the answer is yes, you spend more with cards, I'll accept that. Here's my issue - The studies are all contrived. Give college students $10 cash and $10 gift cards and send them into the cafeteria. Cute, but it produces no meaningful data. I can tell you that when I give my 13yr old $20 cash, it gets spent very wisely. A $20 Starbucks card, and she's treating friends and family to lattes. No study needed, the result is immediate and obvious. Any study worth looking at would first separate the population into two groups, those who pay in full each month and those who carry a balance. Then these two groups would need to be subdivided to study their behavior if they went all cash. Not a simply survey, and not cheap to get a study of the number of people you need for meaningful data. I've read quotes where The David claimed that card users spend 10% more than cash users. While I accept that Graphth's concern is valid, that he may spend more with cards than cash, there is no study (that I can find) which correlates to a percentage result as all studies appear to be contrived with small amounts to spend.  As far as playing the game goes - I can charge gas, my cable bill, and a few other things whose dollar amounts can't change regardless. (Unless you're convinced I'll gas up and go joy-riding) Last - I'd love to see any link in the comments to a meaningful study. Quotes where conclusions are stated but no data or methodology don't add much to the discussion.  Edit - Do You Spend More with Cash or Credit? is an article by a fellow Personal Finance Blogger. His conclusion is subjective of course, but along the same path that I'm on with this analysis." We want to be able to get two cards (related: is it difficult to ask the credit card issuer for two cards, even if the account belongs to one person?) with the best credit limits and perks. No, it's actually quite common to have authorized users on your account.  They typically get a separate card with their name on it, but it's attached to your account and may or may not have the same number. Would it be better for me to apply for the card on my own, or would there be an advantage to having her co-sign? Probably faster/easier to just apply yourself and add her an an authorized user.  I know some issuers even offer additional sign up bonuses for adding an authorized user. As an afterthought, as her credit improves she can apply for the card and add you as an authorized user to again reap some more signup bonuses. In my own case, my credit score went up drastically after I closed cards.  It did go down a bit (like 10 points) in the short term.  Within 6 months, however, I did see significant gains.  This would include closing the American Express card that I had for like 10 years.  According much of what I read, you should never close a AMEX card.   I did and it did not hurt me. What helps all this is that my utilization is zero. The length of time you have established credit does improve your credit score in the long run. As long as you can avoid paying interest, you might see if you can get a card with cash back rewards. I have one from Citi that sends me a $50 check every so often when I have enough rewards built up. You want to have 2-4 credit cards, with a credit utilization ratio below 30%.  If you only have 2 cards, closing 1 would reduce your credit diversity and thus lower your credit score.  You also want at least 2 years credit history, so closing an older credit card may shorten your credit history, again lowering your credit score.  You want to keep around at least 1-2 older cards, even if they are not the best. You have 4 cards: But having 2-4 cards (you have 4) means you can add a 5th, and then cancel one down to 4, or cancel one down to 3 and then add a 4th, for little net effect.  Still, there will be effect, as you have decreased the age of your credit, and you have opened new credit (always a ding to your score). Do you have installment loans (cars), you mention a new mortgage, so you need to wait about 3 months after the most recent credit activity to let the effects of that change settle. You want both spouses to have separate credit cards, and that will increase the total available to 4-8.  That would allow you to increase the number of benefits available. One of the other things you could do to improve your score would be along the lines of what Pete said in his answer, but using the current financial climate to your advantage. I'm not sure what interest rates are available to you in the UK, but I currently have 4 lines of credit aside from my house. One is a credit card I use for every day purchases and like you pay off immediately with every statement. The other three are technically credit cards, however all three were used to make purchases with 0% financing. The one was for a TV I bought that even gave me 5% off if I pay it off within 6 months. That cash has been sitting in my savings since the day I bought it. I'm making regular payments on all three, but not having to pay any interest. My credit score dropped 25 points with the one as it was an elective medical expense (Visian eye surgery), so for the time the balance is near my credit limit. However, that will bounce back up as the balance lowers. My score was also able to take that hit and still be very high. If you don't have 0% (or very close) available, your better bet would be to follow the other suggestions about saving for a sizable down payment, or other every day expenses like a cell phone. "I wrote How Old is Your Credit Card? some time ago. The answer is yes, this helps the credit score, but this factor, age of accounts, is pretty minimal. Grabbing deals, as you did, I'm actually down to a ""C"" for this part of my score, but still maintain a 770 score." If you don't have other installment loans on your credit report, adding this one could help your credit. That could potentially help you get a better interest rate when you apply for a mortgage. There are positive and negative factors. Positive: Negative: Also, unless I missed it and someone already mentioned it, do keep in mind the impact of these credit cards balances on your credit score. Over roughly 75% usage on a given credit account reflects badly on your score and has a pretty large impact on how your worthiness is calculated. It gives the impression that you are a person that lives month to month on cards, etc. If you could get both cards down to reasonable balances to where you could begin paying on them regularly and work them down over time, that will not only look incredible for your credit report but also immediately begin making your credit worthiness begin to raise due to the fact that you will not have accounts that (I'm assuming here) are at very high usage (over 75% of your total limit.) If you have to get one card knocked out just to get breathing room, and you're boxed in here -- or honestly even if the mental stress is causing you incredible hardship day to day, then I suppose blow one card out of the water, reassess and start getting to work on that second card. I hope this helped, I'm no expert, but I have had every kind of luck with credit cards and accounts you could think of, so I can only give my experience from the rubber-meets-the-road perspective. Good luck! "You should probably call the travel agency and complain. Not that they will care, but if by any chance they do - they can ask PayPal to remove the block. This is what is called ""authorization pending"". Usually, a credit card transaction has two stages: The merchant requests its payment processor to authorize the transaction. The processor will contact the card issuer with the transaction details and will get the authorization code which will be passed to the merchant. At that stage the transaction enters the ""pending"" stage on your account. The merchant submits the transaction and gets the money from its payment processor, who forwards the transaction to the card issuer and gets the money from there. The card issuer charges the card owner. The transaction should have the same authorization code received in step #1, and by matching it to the pending transaction, the card issuer removes the pending transaction, and posts the actual transaction. However, if the transaction in step #2 doesn't include the code from step #1, the match doesn't occur and you see the situation you have now: both the actual transaction and the pending are active. In this case the merchant should contact its merchant processor and request the revocation of the authorization code. The processor will then forward the request to the card issuer, who will then remove the pending transaction. As you can see - multiple parties have to actually care for that to happen, and many times they don't, because they don't have to. As to the period - it's up to the card issuer (PayPal in your case), but 1 month is a very long time. Usually it's about a week or two, unless it's a hotel/car rental. In any case - once it expires, it will go away on its own and if you don't mind for the amounts to be blocked until then - just let it expire. The fact that you used a debit card for this transaction is irrelevant. Unless it was a pin transaction, debit card transactions are processed as credit card transactions by processors. For pin transactions, there process is different and you shouldn't see doubles. If it was a pin transaction - contact PayPal and check with them what's going on. Generally, PayPal is not to be used as a ""bank account"", it is merely a payment processor, and it is advised to remove the money from there as soon as possible."