dfree, depends on the rest of your credit history. I'll probably close mine when the year is up, instead of downgrading it, because I have an older (no-fee) credit card, and I already have the Chase Freedom Unlimited (so my total credit limit is high enough). It wasn't worth it to downgrade because of the $150 Freedom sign up bonus for getting a new card. If you have a similarly solid credit card history, and a high-enough credit score (and/or no reason to use your credit in the near future), closing the card shouldn't be a big deal. If you're worried, some credit score reporting services (I know Credit Karma, but I don't use them anymore, so not sure who else) have "What would happen if I did X?" calculators where you can get a rough estimate of where your score will be.