I agree that dropping one card may not have much effect on your credit rating, but there's no way I'd have a card again with an annual fee; just too many available that don't have a fee. But having too many credit cards, even with no outstanding balance, may affect your credit rating. I know an older couple (family members) who only got married about 3 years ago, and built a pretty expensive home about a year and a half ago. Each of them had several credit cards before they got married; each is retired with substantial pensions and savings. However, they ran into a problem getting a mortgage because of the large number of "open" accounts.
I have 3 credit cards; use one of them regularly, another when I encounter a place that does not accept my primary card, and the third has been used once in the past 5 years just to see if it was still active; it was. So last year, I decided to cancel that card and called to tell them to cancel it. The guy wanted to talk me out of cancelling it and even sent me a $50 gift card for Home Depot for not cancelling it. /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif Why they would even want me to keep it, when it isn't being used, is a bit beyond my comprehension. /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif And of course there's never a week that goes by without us getting 2 or 3 offers in the mail for additional credit cards that we have no use for. In fact, that's the primary reason I bought a paper shredder. /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif
It is true that many things are tied to your credit score now. We bought this house in September, found with our credit rating, every mortgage company around wanted our business, then when we had the phone service connected (new phone company I never heard of before), they checked our credit rating and said "no deposit" would be required. I told the lady I knew that; I've never had to pay a deposit and she said, "You'd be surprised, but over half our customers do." /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif And of course, the auto insurance company checked credit rating, also.