[Tex]

I am not an expert in this at all, so take this all with the appropriate grain of salt.

I have been told by people in the know that opening and closing credit cards causes only minor dings to your credit, to the tune of only a point or two.

I frequently open and close cards within a few months period just to take advantage of whatever freebie is offered (15,000 miles, 10% off first purchase, whatever). My credit rating is as yours, quite healthy. When I check my rating periodically, I do get the "too many cards opened in last 12 months" message, but since my number is well over 700, I don't really care.

Personal opinion: you're far worse to be actually paying out annual fees than accepting whatever minor hit you might take for closing a card.

My 2 cents.