Credit Cards

What are Capital One Credit Card application rules?

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What are Capital One application rules?

Capital One has made tremendous changes to their program, and I thought it would be beneficial to put together a quick guide regarding application rules. Years ago it used to be quite easy to pick up a Capital One credit card, but in the past few years the rules have gotten more stringent and hopefully this will help you navigate the rules. It’s also something worth examining since I think they offer the best ultra premium credit card on the market for most people: The Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card

Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card

4.9
4.9/5

If you’re looking to add a super premium card to your wallet without having to calculate whether you’re recouping the annual fee every year… the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card may very well be the best fit for you.  2x miles everywhere, lounge perks, and great travel partners make this a killer card

Welcome Offer

75k Capital One Miles after $4k in 3 months

Annual Fee

      $395

Points Earned

Transferrable Capital One Miles

The Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card offers 2x miles on every single purchase you make, a $300 annual credit when booking in Capital One Travel, 10k Miles every year you keep the card ( worth a minimum of $100 in portal ), Priority Pass, Cap1 Lounge Access + when booking via the Capital One Travel Portal you’ll earn 10x miles on hotels and car rentals + 5x miles on flights. 

The travel credit and 10k anniversary bonus miles alone recoup the $395 annual fee and they have a great list of transfer partners. 

It’s an absolutely killer offer from Capital One.

Leave your referrals here: 

  • 2x miles on every single purchase without limit
    • 10x miles hotels and rentals cars in Capital One Travel Portal
    • 5x miles flights in Capital One Travel Portal
  • $300 Annual Credit within the Capital One Travel Portal
  • 10k bonus miles after each anniversary
  • Lounge access
    • Capital One Lounge Access
      • 1 location currently and 2 more scheduled for 2022
      • 2 guests allowed and $45 for every guest after that
      • Authorized Users get access as well
        • Add 4 Authorized Users free of charge
    • Priority Pass Select access
    • Unlimited complimentary access for you and two guests to 1,300+ lounges, including Plaza Premium lounges
  • Up to $100 TSA PreCheck or Global Entry credit
    • Credit valid every 4 years
  • Complimentary Cell Phone Insurance
  • Hertz President’s Circle Status
  • No fee for up to 4 authorized users
  • $395 Annual 

The best ever offer was 100k after $10k spend in 6 months when the card first debuted, but 75k has been the offer ever since.

We keep an up to date spreadsheet that lists what the highest offers: You can find that spreadsheet here.

Main Cast: 

Cards that earn flexible points and should be used on the bulk of your purchases.

Supporting Cast:

Cards that earn fixed points in the currency of the airline/hotel and can not be transferred at attractive rates. These cards yield benefits that make it worth keeping, but not necessarily worth putting a lot of your everyday spend on. 

How many Capital One credit cards can I have?

This is a great question and the anecdotally the answer has always been  2 personal cards. This doesn’t include business cards or their cobranded cards like BassPro or Cabela’s. However… recently, this rule has always been strictly enforced.

How often can I get a Capital One credit card?

The rule has normally been regarded as such: Capital One will limit you to 1 new card every 6 months. This rule applies not only to personal cards, but to business cards alike. To further clarify, if you get a Capital One Venture Rewards, you’d have to wait 6 months to get a Capital One Spark Miles even though one is personal and the other is business.

  • Remember that if you already have 2 personal cards it doesn’t matter if its been 6 months, you won’t get approved

There have been some exceptions to this rule when it comes to the Capital One Venture X and the Capital One Spark Cash Plus

  • It seems that people have been approved for both of these cards even if you have gotten another Capital One card in the past 6 months
    • Don’t count on this unequivocally, but there have been a lot of data points to back this up

How often can I get a bonus? 48 months

Up until recently, as long as you were approved, you’d get the bonus. Some people even have two of the same card – although Capital One does reserve the right to deny a bonus and has kept fairly vague terms.Invalid request error occurred.

Now… you may see the following language on applications leading us to think they have a 48 months across the board: 

“Existing or previous cardmembers are not eligible for this product if they have received a new cardmember bonus for this product in the past 48 months.”

This means that if you currently have the card, you probably won’t be able to get another, although this language is so new that we don’t have many data points. It also means, if you have had the card, canceled, but it’s been fewer than 48 months since you got the original bonus…you won’t get it. Good to know.

What are Capital One transfer partners?

Here’s a pretty chart regarding Capital One transfer partners. I’m really impressed with how far Capital One has come in just a few years regarding their push to establish themselves in the travel rewards ecosystem. This is an impressive list of partners and all but two are 1:1

a group of logos on a white background

 

How has Capital One made improvements to their program?

Not only did they introduce transfer partners a couple of years back, but they recently ago they improved nearly all of their partners to 1:1. This is amazing since both the Capital One Venture Rewards and Capital One Spark Miles earn 2x miles on every single purchase.

  • The following partners are now 1:1
    • Aeromexico Club Premier
    • Air Canada Aeroplan
    • Avianca LifeMiles
    • Air France Flying Blue
    • British Airways Executive Club
    • Cathay Pacific Asia Miles
    • Choice Privileges
    • Etihad Guest
    • Emirates
    • Finnair Plus
    • Qantas Frequent Flyer
    • Singapore Airlines
    • TAP Air Portugal Miles&Go
    • Turkish Airlines Miles and Smiles
    • Wyndham Rewards
  • Accor transfer 2:1
  • EVA transfers 2:1.5

A bit more on the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card

  • 2x miles on every single purchase without limit
    • 10x miles hotels and rentals cars in Capital One Travel Portal
    • 5x miles flights in Capital One Travel Portal
  • $300 Annual Travel Credit within the Capital One Travel Portal
  • 10k bonus miles after each anniversary
  • Lounge Access
    • Capital One Lounge Access
      • 2 guests allowed and $45 for every guest after that
      • Authorized Users get access as well
    • Priority Pass Select access
  • up to $100 TSA PreCheck or Global Entry credit, every 4 years
  • Complimentary Cell Phone Insurance
  • Hertz President’s Circle Status
  • No fee for up to 4 authorized users
  • $395 Annual Fee

a close-up of a credit card

Learn More

Affiliate Link

 

Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card

4.9
4.9/5

If you’re looking to add a super premium card to your wallet without having to calculate whether you’re recouping the annual fee every year… the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card may very well be the best fit for you.  2x miles everywhere, lounge perks, and great travel partners make this a killer card

Welcome Offer

75k Capital One Miles after $4k in 3 months

Annual Fee

      $395

Points Earned

Transferrable Capital One Miles

The Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card offers 2x miles on every single purchase you make, a $300 annual credit when booking in Capital One Travel, 10k Miles every year you keep the card ( worth a minimum of $100 in portal ), Priority Pass, Cap1 Lounge Access + when booking via the Capital One Travel Portal you’ll earn 10x miles on hotels and car rentals + 5x miles on flights. 

The travel credit and 10k anniversary bonus miles alone recoup the $395 annual fee and they have a great list of transfer partners. 

It’s an absolutely killer offer from Capital One.

Leave your referrals here: 

  • 2x miles on every single purchase without limit
    • 10x miles hotels and rentals cars in Capital One Travel Portal
    • 5x miles flights in Capital One Travel Portal
  • $300 Annual Credit within the Capital One Travel Portal
  • 10k bonus miles after each anniversary
  • Lounge access
    • Capital One Lounge Access
      • 1 location currently and 2 more scheduled for 2022
      • 2 guests allowed and $45 for every guest after that
      • Authorized Users get access as well
        • Add 4 Authorized Users free of charge
    • Priority Pass Select access
    • Unlimited complimentary access for you and two guests to 1,300+ lounges, including Plaza Premium lounges
  • Up to $100 TSA PreCheck or Global Entry credit
    • Credit valid every 4 years
  • Complimentary Cell Phone Insurance
  • Hertz President’s Circle Status
  • No fee for up to 4 authorized users
  • $395 Annual 

The best ever offer was 100k after $10k spend in 6 months when the card first debuted, but 75k has been the offer ever since.

We keep an up to date spreadsheet that lists what the highest offers: You can find that spreadsheet here.

Main Cast: 

Cards that earn flexible points and should be used on the bulk of your purchases.

Supporting Cast:

Cards that earn fixed points in the currency of the airline/hotel and can not be transferred at attractive rates. These cards yield benefits that make it worth keeping, but not necessarily worth putting a lot of your everyday spend on. 

Overall

Capital One has made the most exciting changes to their program this year, and they have moved to the top of my list of cards to add to my wallet. The betterment of their transfer partner list and transfer rate have made this program arguably one of the best in the space. If they would loosen their rules on how many cards you can hold and the ability to convert cashback rewards into miles – this would be a truly allstar program. A big part of me believes this is in the works, although I have no evidence to support this inclination other than the moves they’ve made over the past few years tells me “they get it.”

You can redeem 85k Cathay Pacific Asia Miles to fly QSuites from the US to Doha. One of the many fantastic redemptions of the Cap1 program.

a man sitting on a desk with his legs raised

Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities.

a blue credit card with lines and symbols

Learn More

 Affiliate link 

Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card


4.8
4.8/5
The Chase Sapphire Preferred® is a great starter card that earns Premium Ultimate Rewards that can be transferred into over a dozen partners many of which are US based including Hyatt, Southwest, United, IHG, and Marriott.

Welcome Offer

60k Points after $4k spend in 3 months

Annual Fee

$95

Points Earned

Transferrable Chase Ultimate Rewards

  • 3x on dining
    •  including eligible delivery services for takeout
  • 3x on select streaming services
  • 3x on online grocery purchases
    • (excluding Target, Walmart and wholesale clubs)
  • 5x on all travel purchased through Chase Travel Portal
  • 2x on all other travel
  • $50 Annual Credit on hotel stays purchased via Chase Travel
    • The begins immediately for new cardmembers and after your account anniversary for existing cardmembers
  • 10% Anniversary Bonus
    • Every year you keep the card, your total spend will yield a 10% points bonus. If you spend $10k in a year, you’ll get 1k bonus points
  • Chase Sapphire Preferred® continues to redeem at 1.25c in the Chase Travel Portal and the slew of other benefits remain in tact including primary rental car insurance, purchase protections, etc.
  • Points are transferrable to 13 Ultimate Rewards partners
  • Redeem in the Chase Travel center for 1.25 cents per point
  • No foreign transaction fees
  • Suite of Travel and Purchase Coverage
    • Primary rental car coverage is my favorite

We keep an up to date spreadsheet that lists the best ever offers: You can find that spreadsheet here.

Historically 80k is a very, very good offer and hit in both 2022 and 2023. In 2021, we saw the offer hit an all time high of 100k. Who knows if that will ever come back.

Main Cast: 

Cards that earn flexible points and should be used on the bulk of your purchases.

Supporting Cast:

Cards that earn fixed points in the currency of the airline/hotel and can not be transferred at attractive rates. These cards yield benefits that make it worth keeping, but not necessarily worth putting a lot of your everyday spend on. 

The Chase Sapphire Preferred® is exceptional starter card and offers transferrable Ultimate Rewards, and pairs well with other Chase cards.

If you carry this card alongside Chase’s cashback cards like the Chase Freedom Flex℠and Chase Freedom Unlimited® or the business versions: Ink Business Cash® , Ink Business Unlimited® you can combine the points into Preferred account and transfer into hotel and airline partners

Annual fee is quite low at $95 a year + you get a 10% anniversary bonus on points + $50 hotel credit in Chase travel.

The responses below are not provided or commissioned by the bank advertiser. Responses have not been reviewed, approved, or otherwise endorsed by the bank advertiser. It is not the bank advertiser's responsibility to ensure all posts and/or questions are answered.

20 Comments

  • Lauren October 4, 2023

    https://i.capitalone.com/JZr8zE91X In case anyone else wants to reap the benefits of an AMAZING rewards card! It doesn’t look like the 90k promo is available anymore, but this gets you 75k bonus miles after $4k spend in 3 months!

    Love Capital One and THANK YOU Zach for all these amazing articles; SUPER helpful, love following your account!

  • […] Just a bit of a head’s up if you’re thinking of applying for a Capital One credit card in the future…it seems as though there is a new 48 month clause that has been inserted into the bonus language – h/t ddg.  Now, if you have received a new cardmember bonus on the card you’re applying for in the past 48 months, you won’t be eligible for the bonus. We have added this to our complete guide to capital one applications here. […]

  • William August 15, 2023

    Capital One SavorOne: Earn $200 back after spending $500 in the first 3 months.

    https://i.capitalone.com/JDfhMaeAE

    Good Luck! Thank You So Much!

  • safwan August 14, 2023

    Your breakdown of the various rules and restrictions Capital One has in place was incredibly helpful. It’s great to know what to expect and how to approach the application process wisely.

    By the way, if you ever find yourself in Dubai and need to stock up on groceries, make sure to check out best groceries available in dubai. They have an amazing selection that’s sure to satisfy all your culinary needs in the city.

  • […] Currently Capital One is running a very attractive public offer on the Capital One Venture Rewards, but some have gotten pre-approval, targeted offers of 100k after $10k spend in 3 months. We’ve added this to our google spreadsheet that lists the best offers on the card. It’s also worth noting that the VentureOne has a targeted offer as well of 40k after $1k in purchases. Make sure you brush up on Capital One application rules here. […]

  • Mike July 25, 2023

    I received venture x bonus in Nov 21, cancelled it in Oct 22. Can I apply venture card to get 75 k bonus?

    • Miles July 26, 2023

      Technically that shouldn’t be an issue, the biggest thing I’ve noticed is that if you’re approved, you’ll get the bonus. So you should be good to go

  • Jess June 30, 2023

    I used someone’s link on this site and got approved! Absolutely love this card! Here’s my Venture X referral link: https://capital.one/44p0pk3

  • […] One also sets certain limitations and guidelines for credit card applications that should be considered. One notable restriction is the “Capital […]

  • Peter May 12, 2023

    Capital One VentureOne: Earn 20k miles after spending $500 in the first 3 months.

    https://capital.one/44Hq8oS

    Good Luck! Thank You!

  • Jessica January 27, 2023

    Love the Venture X! Just redeemed for business class to Europe on Air France. Appreciate anyone using my link!

    Here’s my Venture X referral link: https://capital.one/3IhBDdZ

  • Rajesh January 23, 2023

    Here’s my Venture X referral link, so you can enjoy the most recent promotion:

    https://capital.one/3UcLkgz

  • William January 23, 2023

    Capital One Venture X: Earn 75K miles after spending $4000 in the first 3 months.

    https://capital.one/3tNYUvH

    Good Luck! Thank You!

  • Bond007 May 28, 2022

    Just got approval for the 3rd card. Instant approval! CapX, Venture 75k, quicksilver.

  • Laura February 28, 2022

    I’m interested in the Venture X down the line, but I already have a student Journey and a SavorOne. Does anyone know if Cap1 allows you to upgrade either of these cards to a Venture X or would exempt a card like the Journey from counting toward the 2? Or would I have to cancel one?

  • Darin February 28, 2022

    To clarify what other commenters have already noted, if you have too many credit cards in your credit report than Cap One likes (undetermined how many that is), you will not get approved.

  • Christian April 27, 2021

    You mention that someone can have 2 cards. Can you get the same card twice?

    As the previous comments illustrate, Capital One can be awfully tough to get approved for. Any idea why?

  • Mark April 27, 2021

    Yeah I’m not sure who they are targeting but I can’t get approved. I have one card I’ve had with them for 20 years.

    • al August 12, 2023

      Yup. Seems like everyone has at least one bank that refuses to do business with them regardless of how stellar your credit report may be. CapOne is that bank for me too. No problem getting approved with most every other bank but gave up even trying with CapOne awhile back. Not sure what it is in their algorhythm that red-flags me, but whatever it is, it’s locked me out.

  • Gene April 27, 2021

    The first rule is — don’t bother applying.

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