About a year and a half ago, I decided to gradually re-enter the points and miles game. Despite working for arguably the best points and miles blog in the space (ok ok, I may be biased), I had essentially retired from the game otherwise. For instance, aside from being an authorized user on an old IHG credit card, I no longer had any credit cards personally.
My priorities
My main motivation for re-entering the game was actually my credit score. With just one credit card, it was easy for my credit utilization to look high, and I’d lost focus on monitoring it well. I remembered how well my credit score had done when I was more active with rewards cards, and figured it was time to decrease my credit utilization rate by increasing lines of credit. (As a reminder, covering your balance each month is an important way to avoid fees that nullify the use of rewards and also keep a healthy credit score).
Because I wanted a very low-hassle strategy for my reintroduction and because I wanted to improve the average age of account metric of my credit score with cards I’d be able to affordably keep year after year, I decided to focus on no-annual-fee cards for starters.
Here’s the $0 credit card wallet I ended up with, to gradually re-enter the points game
| Card Offer and Details |
|---|
 ⓘ $190 1st Yr Value EstimateClick to learn about first year value estimates $200 Cash Back $200 after $500 spend in the first 3 months from account openingNo Annual Fee 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. Recent better offer: $200 after $500 spend in the first 3 months from account opening, a $50 statement credit after making the minimum payment for 3 months, and a $100 credit for travel booked through Capital One within first cardholder year. Earning rate: 8% cash back on Capital One Entertainment purchases ✦ 5% on hotels and rental cars booked via Capital One Travel (terms apply) ✦ 3% on dining, entertainment, select streaming services, and purchases at grocery stores (excluding superstores like Walmart® and Target®) ✦ 1% everywhere else Base: 1% Portal Hotels: 5% Grocery: 3% Dine: 3% Card Info: Mastercard issued by CapOne. This card has no foreign currency conversion fees. |
This card earns cash back and, unless you have another Capital One miles card, the earnings can’t be transferred to travel partners. But because my primary focus was credit score health and earnings from spend – not strictly travel rewards – this card made sense to me. Especially since dining and grocery are two of my primary expense categories and each earns 3%.
| Card Offer and Details |
|---|
 ⓘ $683 1st Yr Value EstimateClick to learn about first year value estimates 50K Miles ⓘFriend-ReferralThis is a friend-referral offer. A member of the Frequent Miler community may earn a referral bonus if you are approved for this offer 50K after $4,500 spend in the first 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 Venture Business card. Earning rate: Earn 5X miles on hotel, vacation rental, and rental car bookings through Capital One Business Travel ✦ 1.5X miles everywhere 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 ✦ Transfer Miles to airline miles & hotel points |
The next card I got about a year later was actually not the Capital One VentureOne Business Credit Card as displayed above, but the Capital One Spark Miles Select business card, which was rebranded to this card earlier in the spring. The things that attracted me to the Spark Miles Select card are still true of the Capital One VentureOne Business credit card, though. The primary thing I was concerned about this time, aside from sticking with my goal of no annual fees, was a pathway for using my Capital One earnings for travel partners. The VentureOne card (as well as the Spark Miles Select card) allows transfers to travel partners like Air Canada Aeroplan, Air France KLM Flying Blue, and more. Not only that, but since you can move your Capital One cash back to your miles-earning card, it provides a pathway to use cash back from my Savor One card for transfer partners.
I have been disappointed by the Capital One Business Travel portal, as I’d hoped to earn 5X on at least some travel expenses that way, but unfortunately the portal’s rates are almost never competitive enough to validate spending through the portal instead of other channels. Even so, I’m still grateful I now have a transferable currency with travel partner transfer options. It’s a start!
See how to turn Capital One cash back into miles below…
(Note that the bonus is actually temporarily elevated on this card, until June 8th, 2026.)
Bottom Line
With this strategy, I can use the Capital One Savor card as my daily spender, earning a decent rate of 3% back at my two primary spend categories (grocery and dining). Then, when travel plans come up, I can move the earnings from my Savor card to my Spark Miles Select card for a more bang-for-my-buck use, transferring to travel partners. And while opening myself up to annual fees would have given me access to better welcome bonuses, my priority for returning to the game was something low-hassle where I wouldn’t have to work to make sure I’m getting my money’s worth out of the annual fee, and where I could plan to keep my cards around for an improved average account age.
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Did you describe anywhere why you went to no credit cards in your own name? I don’t see a great reason to do that instead of, say, a 2/3 card 0 AF setup (Fidelity 2% cashback, grocery card, Wells Fargo Autograph) or even a single 2% flat cashback card.
Glad you’re back in the game, Carrie! It’s so important to have a card in your own name, in case something happens to your spouse. From stories I see, the bank will shut a card down as soon as the account holder passes without any regard for the AU.
I think no annual fee cards are underrated. Their MSR for a welcome bonus is usually reasonable, no credits to think about, no calling to cancel or product change when second year annual fee hits, no analyzing should I keep or cancel. Great way to start.
+ data point I’ve had with cap 1 portal is really competitive car rental rates in Hawaii buying universal park tickets via the portal.
Pricing on the travel portals is highly variable and property dependent. Carrie, you have not had success with Capital One Travel. For my target properties, I’ve had good success with it and Citi. Greg has had success with Rove. For my target properties, Rove is insanely overpriced. To me, there’s no one-portal solution — each hotel booking necessitates scanning a range of portals. Best of luck.
> Especially since dining and gas are two of my primary expense categories and each earns 3%.
Typo – this should say dining and *grocery*.
But if gas is one of your top spending categories, then the Wells Fargo Autograph would be a great fit for your situation – 3x on gas, transit, streaming, phone plans and travel (also dining but you already have that covered), with no annual fee. And it can transfer points to partners.
I assume you currently use the Spark Miles Select for everything besides dining and grocery?
Ah yes I’ll fix that – you’re right, I did mean grocery. (And you’re also right that gas is my next primary spend category that I need a card for, so thanks for the recommendation!)
And oops – I actually use the Savor for everything but mostly because I forget to bring the Spark Miles Select with me – getting better at this little by little but still lots to learn!
Is Drew still in the game?