Should I cancel my old CC with annual fee? Affect Credit Score?

[FloridaSunshine]

What is the name of your state? FLORIDA

Hello,

One of my credit cards (happens to be Captial One) is charging me an annual fee of $59. If it was a new card then I would have no trouble canceling it. However, it happens to be my oldest card (7+ years). I have an excellent credit score and excellent history with Capital One yet, after speaking to several supervisors, I guess their hands are tied by company policy and they are not offering any waivers even after I cordially but sternly threatened to cancel. Ever since I opened the account I was able to call and have them waive the annual fee charge -- but not this year.

Also, none of my other CC cards have any fees to speak of. My second oldest card is only about 4 years old.

So, would it affect my credit score significantly if I cancel my card and save the $59? OR should I bite the bullet and pay the $59 (possibly every year) just to keep my credit score unaffected?

I know it is not an exact science without knowing all the variables (although I know the basic "dos" and "don'ts", I am clueless as to how they derive scores) but please let me know how badly, if anything, canceling my card would affect my score? If you need any extra information then please feel free to ask.

Thank you in advance for your help.

[IrishNodak]

I posted this same question a couple years ago. All I can tell you is that we cancelled TWO of our oldest cards(they happened to be with the same company, one was a MC and the other a Visa). They were charging us crazy fees even tho' we'd never been late, always paid more, and had excellent credit.

It did not hurt our credit one bit. In fact, our scores climbed. They were 7 years old and our next oldest was 5 years. I would cancel. That money adds up.