I am planning on a trip next summer that will include purchasing two airline tickets with American Airlines for about $800.
It looks like Citi has a credit card offer where I can earn 30k miles and $100 off to help pay for the tickets. This will be not quite enough to cover the flights, but it would cut down the cost to about $300 or so, covering the cost of two tickets at 12.5k miles each ($400 off) and then $100 off the remaining bill.
However, I will be shopping for a mortgage in early 2014 and am wondering if opening this card will significantly impact my credit score. I currently only have 2 credit cards that are ~2 and ~5 years old, so opening another this close would drag down my average length of accounts further. So far I have been meticulous with my credit and have a score in the mid 700s. Also, the card has a $95 annual fee, waived for the first year. Even if I cancel the card after I take out a mortgage, I would at least be paying $95. I do not spend on travel regularly, so the card wouldn't get used much if at all.
Is this being penny wise and pound foolish? Not sure how much doing this would impact my credit score/potential mortgage rate to save ~$400.