I'm not sure, but applying for and just holding many credit card accounts may hurt your credit rating, even if you don't use the cards. A friend mentioned this to me after having applied for several different cards for their bonus offers (miles, phone minutes, whatever), although he had no intention of using them for very long (just long enough to get the bonuses) or ever carrying over any balances. He decided to close the accounts and then contacted the credit rating bureau or agency or whatever to fix his rating report.

-thornberry