Closing credit card accounts after bonus earned?

[Gone Fishing]

Is it generally recommended to close accounts after you take the bonus?  I probably have dozens of accounts at this point and I have been declined for several cards recently with reasons involving too many revolving accounts.  I'm thinking closing some accounts might help but don't want to create some sort of flag on my credit report.  Also, are people taking the bonuses again after a certain time period?

[Philociraptor]

As a general rule, once we meet the minimum spend we have them reduce the credit limit down to $5k. This gives us more room to apply for more cards.

You might also be running into the 5/24 rule or similar, do some research on how each bank looks at your other accounts when considering you for approval.

Most of the cards we apply for waive the first-year fee. If they aren't worth keeping for the ongoing benefits, we wait until the first time the fee is charged to call and ask that they waive the fee. If they don't, we cancel at that point. I would recommend against cancelling the card too soon after receiving the bonus as some banks will blacklist you for gaming the system.

[geekette]

IME, you're not being declined due to open accounts, but too many recently opened accounts.  Chase is infamous for this - 5 new accounts in 24 months and they'll decline you no matter what your credit rating is.  Others may be following suit.  I've gotten picky about opening new accounts.  They have to be worth it.

I will often keep cards or downgrade them to a free card, unless they're an account you can reopen in a couple years to earn the bonus again.  The Citibank American Airlines turned into a Citi Double Cash.  The Chase Sapphire was downgraded to a Freedom.  It helps with your average card age (higher is better) and, assuming you don't load them up, it lowers your utilization rate.

[bacchi]

Please don't close them immediately after the bonus. It makes you look bad -- and banks will ban flagrant abusers -- and it makes churning more difficult.

What Philociraptor suggested: wait for the fee to kick in before taking action.

[Shane]

If you haven't taken it already, this free course, Travel Miles 101, might help.

[chasesfish]

I have one Amex I've kept forever and one card from my bank with no annual fee.

I close every other card 10-11 months in.  There's no "looking bad", its all formula based approvals.  The most important part is rotating between the four major issuers at the right intervals under 5/24.   I just posted my 2018/2019 credit card bonuses with a walk through on the bank rotations.  Keep a spreadsheet and track issuer, date opened, and annual fee.   

I'm in year five with no problems.  @RootofGood has been doing it for at least 10 years the same way.