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My entire impression of Capital One changed in November when they announced that they would be adding transfer partners to their program. Suddenly, one of the big cash back hitters became a player in the aspirational travel game. With this addition, it prompted me to write my first ever post recommending a Capital One card: The Capital One Spark Miles for Business Card.
Capital One doesn’t just offer transfer partners to their business cardholders, the perk is available on their personal cards as well. The top of their personal card heap is the Capital One Venture Rewards. Let’s take a look at what makes this card one you should heavily consider adding to your wallet.
Details:
- 50k welcome bonus after $3k spend in 3 months from account opening
- 2x miles on every purchase
- 10x miles on purchases made with hotels.com
- $100 credit for Global Entry and TSA Pre
- Transfer miles to 14 partners
- No foreign transaction fees
- $95 annual fee – First Year is waived
50k Welcome Bonus
After you’ve spend $3k in 3 months you’ll be rewarded with 50k welcome bonus points. Now, the main thing to consider here is that Capital One doesn’t transfer 1:1 to its transfer partners, but rather 2:1.5 and even 2:1 with Singapore and Emirates. Make sure you take this into consideration when planning to allocate your points.
One thing to also note: you’re earning 2x points on every purchase. So for most airline partners you’re earning 1.5 airline miles on every dollar you spend.
2x on everything
No limit, and as I just mentioned above, you’ll get 2x on every. single. purchase. Aside from Emirates and Singapore, you’ll be earning 1.5x airline miles on every single purchase.
10x at Hotels.com
This is absolute beast return. This is especially true when booking properties that aren’t a part of any loyalty scheme like Peninsula or Four Seasons.
Note: You won’t be able to accrue elite nights or enjoy elite perks when booking through Hotels.com, but when you’re earning 10x points…it may not matter. This is especially true if you’ve already hit status, or you’re purchasing a room that includes breakfast or club level that would ordinarily be an elite benefit.
You’ll also earn Hotels.com points – I think the double dip here and earn rate are a very compelling reason to keep this card in your wallet.
For us…It’s all about the 14 airline partners: FLY IN LUXURY + COMFORT
The ability to transfer into other programs equates to unlocking increased value in your points. For instance, Aeroplan is a partner, and you can redeem just 70k Aeroplan miles to fly Lufthansa First Class from the US to Europe.
In fact, Aeroplan, Air France, Avianca, Cathay Pacific, Singapore, Emirates, and Etihad are all programs we’ve extensively written about in the past that facilitate the aspirational redemptions we want to achieve. Now, they’re Capital One partners as well.
- Aeromexico
- Air Canada Aeroplan
- Air France/KLM
- Alitalia
- Avianca
- Cathay Pacific
- Emirates ( 2:1)
- Etihad
- EVA
- Finnair
- Hainan
- Qantas
- Qatar
- Singapore Airlines ( 2:1 )
Approval tips
Capital One will only process one credit card per 6 months…so if you’ve already applied for one in that time frame, you’re going to have to wait. This means both business and personal. Recently picked up their Spark Miles for Business card and its whopping 200k welcome bonus…you’ll need to wait.
Can you combine your miles with other Capital One accounts? This is incredible.
Yes, you can combine your points into one account. This applies to accounts under your name, and also to ANYONE else that has a Venture or Spark account. Pretty awesome.
How quickly do you accrue the bonus and miles?
Anecdotally, people are reporting that Capital One is crediting accounts with points when the purchases hit the account rather than having to wait until the statement processes.
Conclusion: more competition is better for the market
I already have cards with Citi, Chase, Barclay, and Amex but have avoided adding Capital One because of its prior concentration on cash back. I like redemptions that put me in hotels and cabin that I wouldn’t pay for out of pocket, and greatly outsize the value of cash-back.
As a result of Capital One’s program changes, I now have long term plans to add both the Capital One Spark Miles for Business and the Capital One Venture Rewards to my wallet.
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