It probably wouldn't make too much of a difference. If you have several cards already it would probably hit your score a little. However, there is actually a negative factor of not having enough credit accounts so with one card you might be in that category depending on what else you have open. I use Equifax Score Watch and they have a tool that you can run to see what would happen to your score under different scenarios. You might check out a service like that if you want to get more information.
opening new card will knock about 10 pts off the score which could take 6 months or more to regain, especially if you use more than 30% of available credit when they report to agencies. If your credit is spectacular, not a bog deal, but if your are Alt-A or subprime, it hurts.
Boosting your aggregate available credit can boost your score. Responsible use of the credit will boost your score even more. You should have atleast a Visa, Mastercard, Discover and maybe an American Express card so that you'll always be able to use one of them whereever you are.
I am thinking of requesting a credit limit increase on my current card in order to optimize my credit utilization ratio. However I am worried that the request for a credit limit increase will itself ding the score. Will it?
?....credit limit increase on one card instead of having multiple cards?........credit utilization ratio?......What is your obsession with the score?.......are you going to apply for a mortgage?.......is bankruptcy on the horizon for you?........go to bankrate.com or msn.com and look for articles that have to do with the calculation of the score.