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Last year, Capital One dumped me. But now, with only a few days left to go on the Venture X card’s huge 100K welcome offer (expires March 14th), I stepped up to kick the football again. Or, rather, my wife did. She applied for the Venture X and was instantly approved.
A year ago, I was excited when I was approved for the Capital One Venture card. I had never been approved for a card by Capital One before and so I was happy to finally be able to dive into the Capital One ecosystem. After all, Capital One keeps making their “Miles” better and better. First, they introduced the ability to transfer to airline and hotel partners, and later made most of those transfers one to one. This made the Venture card (which earns 2x everywhere) one of the best around for unbonused spend. Then, they cancelled me. I hadn’t done anything unusual with the account. I hadn’t manufactured spend or purchased anything questionable with the card. But they decided for some reason that they didn’t like me. They shut down my account with no real explanation. Worse, they gave me only half a cent per Capital One Mile earned.
Why I wanted back in (for love of the Game)
Frequent Miler (both the blog and podcast) is all about travel rewards, and Capital One is a significant player in that space. Yes, I could leave it to others on the Frequent Miler team to cover Capital One stuff, but I want to play too! To me, travel rewards is a great game where “winning” means travelling the world in luxury. I started this blog more than 10 years ago because I love this game and wanted to share it with others. I still love the game today and it irks me that Capital One has banned me from a growing segment of the game.
Why Venture X
The fact that the big 100K welcome offer was coming to an end was the reason to sign up now, but the reason for picking the card at all had more to do with its ongoing benefits:
- Venture X pays for itself: The card has a $395 annual fee, but it includes $300 in statement credits annually for bookings made through Capital One Travel, and 10,000 bonus miles each year upon renewal. That combination means that we can easily get $400 in value per year to justify the card’s $395 annual fee even if we don’t use the card in any other way.
- Free authorized users: My wife can add me as an authorized user for free. Hopefully that won’t encourage Capital One to shut her down!
- Capital One Lounges: Once I get an authorized user card in my name, I’ll have access to Capital One’s airport lounges. So far there’s only one, at Dallas Fort-Worth airport, but it gets great reviews and more are coming (lounges at Dulles and Denver airports are expected to open this year).
- 10x rewards for hotel bookings: Both the Chase Sapphire Reserve and the Capital One Venture X offer 10x for hotels and car rentals booked through their portals. I don’t like to book chain hotels this way because it means not earning hotel points or elite credits on those stays. But I often book independent hotels and I’m happy to earn 10x then. The problem I have with the Sapphire Reserve is that Chase’s portal never seems to have the hotels I’m looking for! I usually then end up booking through Hotels.com instead (they have their own “buy 10, get 1” rewards program, but I’d rather earn 10x transferable points). I expect that Capital One’s portal will offer better coverage than Chase’s. Plus, Nick has found that Capital One’s portal often has better prices (see: Capital One Travel vs Chase Ultimate Rewards Travel, head-to-head).
I would have included other features on this list too, such as Priority Pass and cell phone protection, but I get these benefits with other cards already. They are reasons for me to consider cancelling other cards in the future, but they’re not currently a concern for me.
Will they cancel us again?
I don’t know why Capital One hates me, but it probably has to do with a bank account of mine that they shut down in 2015 (see my Capital One shut down post for details about that). If that’s the case, then they should be OK with my wife. I don’t think she was named on that old bank account (but, honestly, that was so long ago that I don’t remember for sure). Of course, they could match us up by name and address, but I don’t know why living with a persona non grata (i.e. me) would rub off on my wife.
The real risk, I think, happens if/when she adds me as an authorized user. I need her to do that to gain entrance to Capital One lounges if she’s not travelling with me. So, I’ll wait until that seems eminent before asking her to add me as an authorized user. But once that happens, I wonder if Capital One will see my name and take action against us. I imagine an employee furtively dialing “the number” reserved for “situations,” and somewhere an old-style analog phone will ring and a shadowy figure wearing gloves will pick up the phone, listen a moment, and say “I’ll take care of it,” before hanging up.
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I’m pretty sure I know the answer to this, but can an AU transfer Venture miles from the primary account holder’s Venture X account to the AU’s accounts in transfer partners’ programs?
This is provided an AU has their own login for Venture X.
I didn’t know it was possible for the AU to have their own login. Can you do that? I am an AU on my wife’s Venture X and I have a Capital One login, but that AU card doesn’t show up in my login….
When entering your transfer program info, the name field only allows for the primary cardholder’s name. There’s no way to switch it to an AU’s name, so I don’t think there is any way to transfer to an AU’s loyalty account apart from transferring Capital One Miles to the AU’s Capital One Miles card. For example, if your AU has a VentureOne card (no annual fee), you could transfer your Venture X miles to their VentureOne card and then they could transfer to their loyalty programs.
Thanks for the reply.
RE: I didn’t know it was possible for the AU to have their own login.
Actually, I didn’t think an AU could have their own login. Probably no credit card program allows this (but I could see it being useful–even for the credit card companies as another marketing channel).
My P2 got the Venture X. I just have the regular Venture.
So, we’ll just have to phone in to transfer the miles to my account (if a need arises) before transferring to an airline partner. Wish it could be easier than that (not that it’s that hard).
Oh. Well yes, you can transfer from your Venture to P2’s Venture X and then P2 can transfer from their Venture X to their loyalty programs (or vice versa).
Amex AUs get their own logins and Amex Offers.
Not to discourage you, I am in one of our local group, couple of years ago one of the member was shut down for MS, and C1 shut down all the card holders at that address, including his moms Kohls charge card.
You can donate to help Ukraine via AirBnB and trigger the $200 credit on the Venture X. Free money to do some good!
https://www.airbnb.org/help-ukraine
Greg, I’m intrigued about the lounge in Denver.
As for strategy, a lounge visit isn’t worth it if your wife gets cancelled with points in the account, so make sure you empty it out before you try the AU add on for yourself. It could be an interesting story.
My wife got approved about a month ago, and I got added as an AU. I was thinking to apply for this card but I think I need to be removed as an AU first? But if I get denied, can I get added back to my wife’s account as an AU?
No, you don’t need to be removed as an AU before applying.
Did it – instant approval and glad I did.
Cool
I’m trying to convince myself to apply, but I’m just not sure it’s worth the 5/24 slot and 3 HP. $300 travel credit? What a pain in the ass. No I don’t want to book hotels through C1 and not get elite benefits. I also have thousands in airline credits from Amex plats to burn, so the $300 to me comes at a high opportunity cost. Id say I value it at about $200. DFW lounge? Useless to me, since AA shut me down and I’m on the west coast. For me this card would be purely about the signup bonus, but I can get 100k for much less than $395 and the hassle of the travel credit. Im leaning against applying.
Don’t forget about the extra $200 Vacation bonus (still a hassle to use) if you apply before 3/14. may not sway you, but something extra to think about.
I’ve had very fleeting moments to apply. Honestly, I simply do not trust Cap 1. What they did to Greg was the final straw. I did not trust them before and sure not afterwards. Another reason, I don’t want to give-up the spend from Amex/Chase. The only transfer partner Cap 1 has I would like is Accor and @ 1:2 is very favorable. However, no Cap 1 in P1 or P2 wallet/drawer.
Ok – I have no C1 cards but regularly get “you’re already approved” emails from them. Credit score 816. 8 total credit cards. No mortgage, car payment, any debt. Twice I have applied for the Venture X – twice denied because of “too many revolving accounts open”. Should I get a toe hold with one of the lesser cards that I am pre-approved for? Or just hang this up as a lost cause?
Curious how many revolving account you have open? (I have 17, 6/24, 2/12). Cap1 has thrice denied me for the venture and savor for too many accounts. Some people seem to be reporting c1 is more lenient on the X.
I wouldn’t bother with lesser c1 cards. My role of thumb is don’t burn an unless getting $500+ value from the SUB.
With no SUB, the X is generally a ‘break even’ at best unless you are going for some very specialized transfers.
Citi double cash is a 2x with no annual fee now earns transferable thank you points.
Great question, but I have no idea whether that would help or not. If it were me (and if I weren’t a blogger in this space), I’d probably just give up on C1
Good luck! I was denied for the Venture X in December, even though I have checking and savings accounts with CapOne and a Quicksilver (that I admittedly don’t put spend on anymore).
I had considered trying to upgrade my Quicksilver to a Venture X, but I decided that it’s not worth it without the signup bonus. I have other lounge options for the occasional times I’m at those airports. And I book all my hotels on hotels(dot)com – and with the combo of (1) their “buy 10, get 1”, (2) 15% off gift cards – though not as frequently available now, and (3) the points I earn buying the gift cards, I figure I am still probably better off there than with 10x on the CapOne portal.
And the only CapOne transfer partners that I’d really be interested in that I don’t have access to with Chase/Amex are Turkish and maybe Wyndham (for Vacasa). But both of those programs seem like they are such a pain to book with that I’m not sure how much I’d use them anyway.
Yep, all of that makes good sense to me.
Two questions somewhat related:
1. if I add P2 as an AU, does that decrease P2’s chance for approval if she applied for this card herself in the future?
2. if I add P2 as an AU, does that eliminate my ability to get a referral bonus if she applies for this card in the future?
I’m assuming being an AU takes up a 5/24 slot? I’m surprised you had an open slot and if so would use and open slot to be an AU instead of sign up for another card with a SUB for yourself.
THanks Larry:
So the big question is, does being an AU count as being a current Capital one credit card customer? or will C1 still see an AU as a “New customer” (assuming they have no other C1 CC).
I see what you mean now. I’ve never known a bank to treat an AU as a customer, so I’m pretty sure you’ll still be OK.
Being an AU only takes up a slot with respect to automatic approvals. If denied for a Chase card due to AU cards pushing you over 5/24, you can call and get those removed from the count.
Put the sign-up bonus to the side.
What incremental value does the Venture X have over the Sapphire Reserve doesn’t?
What incremental value does the Venture X have over the “regular” Venture?
After repeated honest attempts, I’ve never found value at Capital One that isn’t already somewhere else. Yes, Capital One has been on a path of improvement — especially with the additional of transfer partners and the addition of 1:1 transfer ratio. But, as a whole, Capital One is still unimpressive.
Whoops — remove “doesn’t” at the end of the second sentence.
For me, C1 now has BA (which means they have AA), Chase no so I have shifted between both.
Chase has BA. They also issue their cards.
Yes I have their BA card! Already duly noted, thx
And Chase will have transfer bonuses.
My own whoops! Chase has BA but not Choice
good luck getting AA flights with BA miles…
Agreed.
In those cases I would look for availability on AA with Etihad Guest, also a C1 partner (but not Chase)
Was easy getting AA flights with BA points, but since the 1st of the year, forget it. It has to be economy and city pairs no one wants to go. AA advantage has gone off the rails in terms of points. I guess catching-up for the SimplyMiles promo.
Just FYI, it’s possible to edit your own post within a certain time frame.
Reno Joe,
I believe Greg’s point is that the VX is a great card for playing the “game” – not that it’s a card to replace them all.
So what if it’s unimpressive in the new perks department – the point is that it has the benefits we’ve come to expect out of this level of card and it currently has a good welcome bonus.
I find it impressive to drop a SR to a SP and save on AF, get 100,000 points that transfer to many of the same partners as Chase, effectively drop the VX annual fee to $95 after $300 back in travel credits, effectively drop VX annual fee to +$5 after 10,000 anniversary points, and keep the same perks I had with the SR…
I absolutely agree. Which is why I said sign-up bonus to the side. Yes, grab the sign-ups bonus. Grab the bonus for every card. I’m not saying don’t get it.
Sorry for the confusion.
I just don’t see it as a keeper for ongoing spend. That’s all.
Yeah, I see where you’re coming from.
Just to play devil’s advocate… What if I offered you a card that essentially had no AF, got 2x everywhere, and could transfer some of the same partners you already have access to…would you want to have available to use?
I understand where you’re going with this. And, for some there’s value. But, then, there are other cards that earn 2x — admittedly with fewer features.
For my purposes, 4.5 to 6 percent cash back on all purchases is a better value.
Yeah, like the Amex Business Plus (blue) 2X up to $50K and no annual fee. Have two and the card is a no brainer. And there’s terrific SUB available now.
For me, the Venture X pays for itself. I can’t say that about the $95 Venture. I get it that many don’t value the $300 in travel through the portal at near face value, but I’m pretty confident that I could earn that annually without breaking a sweat. So, I see the Venture X as a free after rebate way of playing within the C1 ecosystem.
Becoming an AU to risk the account just for the matter of lounge access is not worth it. You are most often travelling with your spouse…who would be able to guest you in with her card, no? I think the final decision on whether or not you are a trustworthy AU comes down to Mrs. Miler. She seems bright, and would likely say ‘no thanks, pal’.
I will delay the decision for hopefully a long time. As long as we’re travelling together, I won’t need the AU card. And even when travelling myself, I won’t need it if I’m anywhere except the few airports with a C1 lounge. So, I think I have quite a while before needing to decide whether to risk it. Hopefully I’ll find a good way to spend all of the points before doing so.
I wouldn’t even bother for the lounge where you’ll get some crackers and a coke. Not worth the hassle and I’m sure you have access to Centurion or Delta lounges at those airports anyway, or an actual restaurant with real food.
That lounge is so cush. I finally visited last week. It is by far the nicest airline lounge at DFW, & it’s not stuffed to the gills, esp with little kids, like Centurion & AA Flagship (just next to it btw).
The art, layout, & natural light were all so cheery & the multiple presentations scattered about the lounge were thoughtful & presented so didn’t create people hovering over any individually. Charcuterie Cones were a hit.
Best of all was the to-go section at the front. We got a bag of mixed nuts & (good) chicken salad sandwiches for the plane along with bottled waters. Everything in the case was packaged for flight or use after!
Capital One thought of everything when they designed their lounge, including pleasant people to staff & constantly clean it.
Hopefully your wife will earn the SUB & transfer/spend the points before any issues with you added as an AU! Our whole family got cards, too, so looking forward to reading your redemption strategies.
Yes, I was thinking the same: spend the points before adding me as an AU!
You’re No Samuel Jackson (or Jennifer Garner)!!!