Nadia

Downgrade rather than close, in almost every version of this. A product change to a no fee card in the same family usually keeps the account and its opening date intact, so your history is untouched, and it keeps a line of credit open which helps your overall utilisation.

Before you do it, two checks. First, move or use any points sitting on the card, because points can be forfeited when a premium card is closed or changed and the rules differ by issuer. Second, ring retention and ask plainly whether there is an offer to keep it, worst case they say no and you downgrade the same call.

Also be honest about how many people you have actually spoken to. Ten conversations is not a market test. I did not get a customer until conversation 60 or so, and the rate of learning per conversation stayed high until about 30.

Split whatever cash you carry across at least two places, a small amount in your wallet and the rest in your bag or your accommodation. Same with cards, one in the wallet and a spare somewhere else. The point is not theft so much as the ordinary disaster of leaving a wallet in a taxi at the start of a two week trip.