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Nothing.
I had 3 Citi Dividend accounts and failed to set calendar reminders for period spend. 2015 was a terrible year for 5% categories so I did not use two of the cards. One had a targeted 5% offer for airfare that I used.
I just received notice that the two account were closed immediately. Similar happened to my wife last year with a forgotten Hilton card. In neither case was there any warning of impending closure.
To humor myself I called the Citi Prestige line. They attempted to re-opened the accounts but could only do so with a new hard credit inquiry. No thanks.
The next quarterly bonus includes drug stores so in a different era I would have been kicking myself.
So, if it happens to you, let it go, and move on.
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sorry you feel that way…still love you 🙂
Many thanks for this, RTC! Would you mind giving us the number of months of inactivity that occurred before the accounts were closed?
If the length of inactivity was the same in both cases, then a single number is fine. But if the length of time was significantly different, then the length of inactivity for each would be helpful.
I have a thread running on a different site that collects case studies for when a CCC decides to close a card due to inactivity. Your hard data would be a big help. Many thanks!
Don’t feel bad. This happened to two of my old Chase cards. But the companies always have the right to change the card type at anytime, so even if you did keep them active it doesn’t stop the bank from converting it to something else.
common sense
@Shannon – you’ve been a bit chippy lately.
How often should i use my unused cards? Once a year?
@Penny – most once a year should be enough, some Barclaycard have terms that rewards can be forfeited it not used every 6 months, mainly a concern for programs like Arrival and Priceline where points sit in the card, those I set up quarterly reminders and I should have set up reminders for these as well.
Been inactive for awhile on both premier and prestige. Thanks for the reminder. Do you know of you lose the thank you points when they cancel?
Thanks for the heads up. I do my best to scatter recurring auto-expenses on cards that otherwise don’t make my wallet – $20 here or $30 there – but it’s not a perfect solution because who has that many recurring expenses?