Frequent Miler's latest team challenge, Million Mile Madness, is almost done! The last two weeks Greg, Nick, and Stephen competed to earn 1 Million SAS miles by flying 15 airlines. But who completed the challenge with the most Speed, Affordability, and Style?
When I first created our Best Credit Card Offers page, about 6 years ago, I included mini reviews with each card. Since then I’ve done a poor job at keeping that going. To fix that, I’m working on adding mini reviews to each card, one bank at a time. Since I had exactly zero mini reviews for the Capital One cards despite them having a number of excellent early spend bonus offers, I decided to start there. What follows are the mini reviews that can also be found in the Capital One section of our Best Offers page. Expect to see similar updates for other banks in the near future.
| Card Offer and Details |
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150K Miles ⓘ Affiliate Earn a one-time bonus of 150K miles after $30K spend in the first 3 months$395 Annual Fee Recent better offer: Expired 3/31/23: 250K Miles after $50K in spend. FM Mini Review: Similar to the Venture X consumer card, the business version offers annual rebates that easily mitigate the fee for those who travel often and could be worth it for the lounge access and travel protections given the cost/benefit ratio. Unlike the Venture X, free authorized users do not get Priority Pass access. The card earns 2 "miles" per dollar on most purchases just like the Capital One Venture X Rewards card, which are worth exactly 1 cent each toward travel. This makes the return on most spend similar to a 2% cash back card (though in this case you must redeem your miles to offset travel in order to get 1 cent per mile). One big advantage over cash back: Capital One allows transfering their "miles" to airline miles & hotel points. Click here for our complete card review Earning rate: 10X miles on hotels and rental cars booked via Capital One Travel ✦ 5x on flights and vacation rentals booked via Capital One travel. ✦ 2X everywhere else. Card Info: Visa issued by CapOne. This card has no foreign currency conversion fees. Noteworthy perks: $300 annual credit for bookings made through Capital One Travel ✦ 10,000 bonus miles starting at first anniversary ✦ Up to $120 application fee credit for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck® ✦ Capital One Lounge Access ✦ Priority Pass w/ unlimited guests ✦ Plaza Premium lounge access ✦ Cell phone insurance ✦ Trip insurance ✦ Primary CDW coverage ✦ Redeem miles for travel at 1 cent per mile ✦ Convert "miles" to airline miles & hotel points |
$2,000+ Cash Back ⓘ Affiliate Earn a $2K cash bonus when you spend $30K in the first 3 months + earn an additional $2K bonus for every $500K spent within the first year.. (Rates & Fees)$150 Annual Fee Recent better offer: Expired 3/14/22: $3K after $50K spend in 6 months FM Mini Review: This may be a good option for business owners who prefer simple cash back rewards. Note that this is a pay-in-full card, so your balance is due in full every month. Earning rate: 2% everywhere ✦ 5% on hotels and rental cars booked via Capital One Travel Base: 2% Card Info: Visa issued by CapOne. This card has no foreign currency conversion fees. Big spend bonus: Spend at least $150,000 annually and get $150 annual fee refunded. Noteworthy perks: No foreign transaction fees ✦ No preset spending limit |
75K Miles ⓘ Affiliate 75k miles after $4k spend within first 3 months. (Rates & Fees)$95 Annual Fee Alternate Offer: Airport Kiosk offer of 80K miles after $4K spend in the first 3 months See this post for details. Recent better offer: Expired 9/9/24: 75K after $4K spend in 3 months + $250 Capital One Travel credit in first cardholder year FM Mini Review: This card earns 2 "miles" per dollar, which are worth exactly 1 cent each toward travel. This makes the return on spend similar to a 2% cash back card (though in this case you must redeem your miles to offset travel in order to get 1 cent per mile). One big advantage over cash back: Capital One allows transfering their "miles" to airline miles & hotel points. Click here for our complete card review Earning rate: 2X miles everywhere ✦ 5X miles on hotels, vacations rentals and rental cars booked via Capital One Travel Card Info: Mastercard issued by CapOne. This card has no foreign currency conversion fees. Noteworthy perks: Receive up to $120 application fee credit for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck® ✦ Redeem miles for travel at value of 1 cent per mile ✦ Convert "miles" to airline miles & hotel points ✦ No foreign transaction fees |
75K Miles ⓘ Affiliate 75k miles after $4k spend within first 3 months. (Rates & Fees)$395 Annual Fee Recent better offer: Expired 3/14/22: 100K after $10K spend in 6 months + $200 credit for vacation rental spend in first year FM Mini Review: This card offers annual rebates that easily mitigate the fee for those who travel often. Authorized users are free and also get access to perks like Priority Pass, Capital One Lounges, Plaza Premium lounges, and more. The card earns 2 "miles" per dollar on most purchases just like the Capital One Venture Rewards card, which are worth exactly 1 cent each toward travel. This makes the return on most spend similar to a 2% cash back card (though in this case you must redeem your miles to offset travel in order to get 1 cent per mile). One huge advantage over cash back: Capital One allows transfering their "miles" to airline miles & hotel points. Click here for our complete card review Earning rate: 10X miles on hotels and rental cars booked via Capital One Travel ✦ 5x miles on flights and vacation rentals booked via Capital One travel. ✦ 2X miles everywhere else. Card Info: Visa Infinite issued by CapOne. This card has no foreign currency conversion fees. Noteworthy perks: $300 annual credit for bookings made through Capital One Travel ✦ 10,000 bonus miles each year starting at first anniversary ✦ Up to $120 application fee credit for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck® ✦ Capital One Lounge access ✦ Priority Pass membership w/ unlimited guests (lounges only) ✦ Plaza Premium lounge access ✦ Cell phone insurance ✦ Trip insurance ✦ Primary CDW coverage ✦ Redeem miles for travel at value of 1 cent per mile ✦ Convert "miles" to airline miles & hotel points |
50K Miles ⓘ Affiliate Earn a one-time 50K miles bonus when you spend $4,500 in the first 3 months. (Rates & Fees)$0 introductory annual fee for the first year, then $95 Note: Most Capital One Business credit cards (including this one) DO count against Chase's 5/24 Rule FM Mini Review: This card is similar to the Spark Cash Plus card, but it has the advantage that "miles" earned with this card can be transferred to a large number of airline & hotel programs. Earning rate: 2X Miles everywhere ✦ Earn 5X miles on hotels, vacations rentals and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel Base: 2X (2.9%) Card Info: Mastercard issued by CapOne. This card has no foreign currency conversion fees. Noteworthy perks: Redeem miles for travel at value of 1 cent per mile ✦ Convert "miles" to airline miles & hotel points ✦ No foreign transaction fees ✦ Up to $120 fee credit for TSA PreCheck® application fee or Global Entry application fee |
50K Miles ⓘ Friend-Referral 50K after $4,500 spend in 3 months from account openingNo Annual Fee Note: Most Capital One Business credit cards (including this one) DO count against Chase's 5/24 Rule Information about this card has been collected independently by Frequent Miler. The issuer did not provide the details, nor is it responsible for their accuracy. FM Mini Review: This card is similar to the Spark Cash Select for Business, but rewards are intended to be used to offset travel purchases. This is a good option for business owners who prefer simple rewards with no annual fee, and who value free travel over cash back. If you spend more than $19K per year, though, go for the 2X Spark Miles card. Earning rate: 1.5X miles everywhere ✦ Earn 5X miles on hotel and rental car bookings through Capital One Travel Base: 1.5X (2.18%) Card Info: Mastercard issued by CapOne. This card has no foreign currency conversion fees. Noteworthy perks: Redeem miles for travel at value of 1 cent per mile ✦ Convert "miles" to airline miles & hotel points ✦ No foreign transaction fees |
$750 Cash Back ⓘ Affiliate Earn a $750 cash bonus when you spend $7,500 within the first 3 months. $0 introductory annual fee for the first year, then $95 FM Mini Review: A good option for business owners who prefer simple cash back rewards. Earning rate: 2% everywhere ✦ 5% on hotels and rental cars booked via Capital One Travel Base: 2% Card Info: Visa Signature issued by CapOne. This card has no foreign currency conversion fees. Noteworthy perks: No foreign transaction fees |
$500 Cash Back ⓘ Affiliate One time bonus: $500 after $4,500 spend in 3 months from account opening. (Rates & Fees)No Annual Fee Note: Most Capital One Business credit cards (including this one) DO count against Chase's 5/24 Rule Recent better offer: Expired 9/9/24: $750 Cash Back after $6k spend in 3 months FM Mini Review: This is a good option for business owners looking for simple cash back rewards with no annual fee. If you spend $30,000 or more per year, though, you would be better off with the 2% Spark Cash Plus card. Earning rate: 1.5% everywhere ✦ 5% on hotels and rental cars booked via Capital One Travel Base: 1.5% Card Info: Mastercard issued by CapOne. This card has no foreign currency conversion fees. Noteworthy perks: No foreign transaction fees |
20K miles ⓘ Affiliate Earn 20,000 bonus miles once you spend $500 on purchases within the first 3 months from account opening. (Rates & Fees)No Annual Fee FM Mini Review: Decent welcome bonus for a card with no annual fee, but other cards offer better rewards for ongoing spend. Click here for our complete card review Earning rate: 1.25X miles everywhere ✦ 5X miles on hotels and rental cars booked via Capital One Travel Card Info: Mastercard issued by CapOne. This card has no foreign currency conversion fees. Noteworthy perks: Redeem miles for travel at value of 1 cent per mile ✦ Convert "miles" to airline miles & hotel points |
$250 Cash Back ⓘ Affiliate One time bonus: $250 after $500 spend in 3 months from account opening. (Rates & Fees)No Annual Fee Earning rate: 3% on dining, entertainment, select streaming services, and purchases at grocery stores (excluding superstores like Walmart® and Target®) ✦ 8% cash back on Capital One Entertainment purchases ✦ 5% on hotels and rental cars booked via Capital One Travel (terms apply) ✦ 1% everywhere else Base: 1% Dine: 3% Grocery: 3% Other: 3% Card Info: Mastercard issued by CapOne. This card has no foreign currency conversion fees. Noteworthy perks: No foreign transaction fees |
$200 Cash Back ⓘ Affiliate One time bonus: $200 after $500 spend in 3 months from account opening. (Rates & Fees)No Annual Fee FM Mini Review: While you can do better with a 2% cash back card that has no annual fee, the Quicksilver card often offers excellent discounts with popular services such as Spotify. Earning rate: 1.5% everywhere ✦ 5% on hotels and rental cars booked via Capital One Travel Base: 1.5% Other: 5% Card Info: Mastercard issued by CapOne. This card has no foreign currency conversion fees. Noteworthy perks: No foreign transaction fees |
A note about Capital One credit card applications
When you apply for a Capital One credit card, you’ll usually get hard inquiries on all three credit bureau reports (most banks pull from just one or two). This can be an issue if you already have a lot of inquiries. Some who apply for cards often like to balance out their inquiries by applying for cards from issuers that pull from different bureaus in order to avoid getting denied for future applications due to “too many recent inquiries”. If you only apply for a few cards per year, this is probably not going to be an issue for you. To see which credit bureaus each bank pulls from in your state, search the CreditBoards Credit Pulls Database.
Also note that Capital One does report business credit cards to the credit bureaus. So, unlike business cards from most other banks, Capital One business cards will count against your 5/24 status which can make it harder to get certain Chase credit cards in the near future. More info can be found here.
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I agree that Capital One is not the best choice (my experience is with personal CC as I don’t have any gigs to do business CC). We got Venture cards (1 for me + 2 for spouse) and canceled them after one year and have been denied ever since.
I also read a few times that Capital One doesn’t really like to issue more than 2 personal CC’s to the same applicant. I’ve even considered to cancel my Quicksilver because I’ve not used it for years. I’d love to decrease the # of CC’s I have, but OTOH I’ve had Quicksilver for so long I’m hesitant to cancel it. I wonder how many points I’d lose on my FICO score if I did it and how long it would take to regain them.
Also worth noting that their business cards show up on personal credit report if the owner’s SSN is used in the application instead of an EIN. Found this out the hard way after making a $20,000 charge for a conference site 2 weeks before trying to refinance my house. I reached out to Cap1 to ask them to remove the account from my personal report and was told no.
I’m sure it happens even if you use an EIN. That info is already at the bottom of this post
Sorry. Missed that. Read too fast. That’s a really important point these days. I don’t recall seeing that anywhere other than your article.
Greg, you might want to think about highlighting that Capital One often denies applicants who have very good credit and a lot of open cards. Their sweet spot customer is one with okay credit who has pretty good income and thus might run up some debt on the card and pay interest over time. They have little desire to have churners or people who will pay the card off in full each month as customers.
I got a couple of Capital One cards no problem back before I started churning in earnest, and have been denied by them twice since then. Read similar reports on reddit and flyertalk. Seems likely many of your readers will be wasting 3 (!) hard pulls for nothing by applying for Capital One cards.
Your analysis makes sense. A few years back, Cap One readily handed me two credit cards (a journey and a quicksilver) within a year after declaring bankruptcy. I found it strange, even considering that I had discharged like 14k alone on a Cap One card during said bankruptcy. XD
Thanks, good suggestion!