Does Getting a Ton of Credit Cards Hurt Your Credit?

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 I should've written the title for this post in the tone it's usually asked, and also in the negative form, a semi-whiny affair, based on zero research and only hearsay from people asking the same question and thus perpatuating the never-ending wheel of travel mediocrity.

What people usually ask is: Doesn't getting a lot of credit cards (pause for the obligatory "like"), LIKE, hurt your credit?

At which point a funny thing happens: The person who just asked the question, and I'm assuming we're at Chipotle because it's a fabulous dining option, immediately forgets HE/SHE asked the question. They just go back to eating their insipid burrito bowl, moving their jaw back and forth like a cow in so many east Texas pastures.

But I regress.

Getting lots of credit cards, getting the perks (usually travel rewards, aka points, aka business class flights), and then closing the cards does not hurt your credit. What hurts your credit is not paying off your credit cards. Not paying off bills. Defaulting on loans. Missing car payments. Missing child support payments. Missing persons. Missing birthdays. Misbehaving.

But no, you can get that Alaska Airlines credit card, and then you can get that Delta credit card, and then you can get that JetBlue credit card so y'all can fly that Mint one way from SEA to NYC and have that lie "flet" bed, and then close all those cards, wait 36 months, do it all over again, and it will not hurt your credit one bit. Or at least that's been my experience, since this is what I've done consistently for the past 10 years and my credit score is amazing (see: semi amazing).

In other news, I'm chilling in my boat and thinking of "traveling" to the shower with a quick layover at the bathroom. Roundtrip flight. Free.

No, but seriously, I'm thinking of going to Togo in January. Anyone wanna come?