Does converting your credit card count as closing the old account?

I have a Chase United Airlines card and I recently moved to an area where United Airlines does not have great flight selections. I am interested in changing my United Airlines card to another Chase card but I don't want it to hurt my credit score. Would converting the card be considered closing the old card and opening a new one? I've never tried converting a card before so I'm new to this situation.

Thanks for any knowledge anyone can provide!

I also had the united mileage plus chage visa card. I had this card since a year, with no annual fee for 1st year and so i wanted to close it at the end of the first year in order to avoid $60 annual fee. So i called the customer service to close the account but they offered me to convert the card to united mileage plus rewards (instead of the original mileage plus) which has no annual fees. The card number stayed the same and i confirmed with the CSR that there was no credit pull, hard or soft, and there was no closing of any cards since the number stayed exactly the same. only the name of the card changed to "REWARDS" card.

The only difference is i earn 1 mile for every $2 spent with REWARDS card instead of 1 mile for every dollar spent on the original card (half the miles), but who cares? I rarely use the card but i didnt wan't to close the acct since it closing won't help my credit history and also keeping this CC helps me retain my mileage plus miles without expiration date.

Hope this helps and answers your questions.

Good to know that I have options to convert my Chase United Mileage Plus card to a fee-free Chase United Mileage Rewards card.

I'll give Chase a call and see if I can convert to a different Chase card without a hard-pull because I could use that Chase Marriott Rewards card for travel when I stay at Marriotts.

asarat said: I dont know how chase works but I once tried to convert my bank of america student Visa platinum card to platinum plus card.
The CSR told me that I need to close the student account and need a new application for the other card.
Hence, I am forced to live with the student card even till date

Student cards very rarely convert.... the theory being that THE ISSUER was giving you a break when you applied for the Student card, and was not as critical of your credit history. If you want a "real" credit card (sorry about the belittling term), then you need to go through all the steps... at least in the issuers mind.

Otherwise, EVERYONE would apply for a student card, then convert it, then ask for credit ine increases.... all on the original, not-so-critical hard pull...

asarat said: I dont know how chase works but I once tried to convert my bank of america student Visa platinum card to platinum plus card.
The CSR told me that I need to close the student account and need a new application for the other card.
Hence, I am forced to live with the student card even till date

The only card you can convert is WorldPoints Visa based on my own experience, so you should ask CSR for converting your existing BOA student Visa card to the WorldPoints Visa.

I've converted credit cards before. As long as it's Mastercard > Mastercard or Visa > Visa, the credit history (account opening date, etc) is preserved. It's the same theory as if you lost your card and had to get a new account number issued.

So you should keep your credit history even if you switch rewards programs *WITH THE SAME ISSUER*.

A different issue might be whether Chase would let you convert, as it's a co-branded card (partnership with United Airlines). Some agreements with the cobranding association do not permit the card issuer to convert your card from the retailer's program to a different retailer's program. I've run into this before, but it's pretty rare.

Interesting topic.

slc39 said: I've converted credit cards before. As long as it's Mastercard > Mastercard or Visa > Visa, the credit history (account opening date, etc) is preserved. It's the same theory as if you lost your card and had to get a new account number issued.I've got a decsion to make based on your info here. I've had a Sears store card since '96 (it's my oldest card by 6 years over any other card) and recently received notice that they're converting it to a Sears Gold MC. I have the option to decline this change and keep it a store card. I wonder if it'll close my old acct and report a new tradeline or if it'll keep the history? I'd call and ask, but I don't trust CSRs. Since I don't need the card for anything, I'm thinking I may just keep it as is.

Anyone gone through this process with Sears?