After a frustratingly opaque, months-long roll out (that included a rebranding from the orignal name of Spark Travel Elite), Capital One has “officially” launched their not-really-new business credit card: the Venture X Business. While the benefits and spending perks of this new card are almost identical to the Venture X, the starting welcome offer is crazy, both in terms of total points AND total required spend. Capital One is offering new cardholders 300,000 Capital One Miles after spending $500,000 in the first 12 months.
Even now, months after applications were first being accepted and following a long period where they weren’t, there’s still no public link for this card. The only way to apply for it is through a Capital One Relationship Manager (which sounds like couples therapy but isn’t). Now that the launch has happened, it looks like many folks have been able to get an application link directly from a business banker as well.
The Deal
- New cardholders can earn up to 300,000 miles after being approved for the Venture X Business Card. The bonus has a tiered structure:
- Earn 150,000 miles after spending $30,000 within the first 3 months of card membership.
- Earn an additional 150,000 miles after spending $500,000 within the first six months of card membership.
- Spark Cash Plus cardholders are not eligible for the Venture X Business.
- You must apply via a Capital One Relationship Manager (see comments for tips)
Key Card Details
| Card Offer and Details |
|---|
150K Miles Earn 150K miles after $30K spend in the first 3 months$395 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: 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. Earning rate: 10X miles on hotels and rental cars booked via Capital One Travel ⚬ 5x on flights booked via Capital One travel. ⚬ 2X everywhere else. Card Type: Mastercard Noteworthy perks: $300 annual credit for bookings made through Capital One Travel ⚬ 10,000 bonus miles starting at first anniversary ⚬ Up to $100 application fee credit for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck® ⚬ Priority Pass w/ unlimited guests (includes restaurants) ⚬ 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 ⚬ No foreign transaction fees |
Quick Thoughts
The Venture X Business is effectively the small business version of the Venture X card and is almost identical in terms of benefits and earnings, making it a compelling keeper card. While you have to pay a $395 annual fee, in my opinion the anniversary bonus and $300 travel credit more than offset it, and you also get access to the excellent lounge benefits and 2x everywhere earning. In fact, although Capital One took away restaurants for the Priority Pass membership that comes with the consumer Venture X, business cardholders are still able to access them.
As far as the new welcome offer goes, even the first-tier spend will be a non-starter for many…$30K is a big number. Our Reasonable Redemption Values list Capital One miles at 1.45 cents per point, so that 150,000 points is worth ~$2,175. With the Amex Business Platinum still hanging out at 150K Membership Rewards points for half of the minimum spend, it’s certainly worth comparison shopping to make sure that the C1 card card is the best fit for your situation. It’s also worth noting that, since the Venture X Business does earn 2x on all spend, you’ll actually end up with a minimum of 210,000 C1 Miles after completing the $30K spend.
I don’t recall ever seeing a minimum spend requirement even closely approaching $500,000. That second tier will be out reach for most, even those that have large amounts of business spend. That said, I know some folks who have businesses with many authorized users and can’t change cards frequently based on bonused spend opportunities. For them, hitting the full spend on this offer could be appealing. By the end of the year, they’d have 1.3 million C1 Miles, with a conservative value of around ~$19K. That works out to ~3.8% back on that $500,000 in spending, which is quite competitive. For almost all others, there’s little reason to commit to that kind of spending for only 150K bonus miles.
What about the application via Capital One Relationship Manager? The comments thread has DP’s from multiple folks who were able to successfully apply for the card via Relationship Managers. It seems like the best way to get a hold of one is to message one via LinkedIn, although now that the card is sort-of officially public, I’ve heard of many folks being able to get application links from a Capital One business banker as well. Hopefully, we’ll soon have a public link so those that want to can apply like normal people.
View from the Wing reports that the card will not appear on your personal credit report, so this won’t affect your 5/24 status and the spend won’t be reported on your credit utilization. .
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I have a relationship with one and have the link.
Would you mind sending me the link?
Anyone have contact info for a Capital One Relationship Manager ? Interested in applying for the card.
Capital One on Twitter said:
> Hey, thanks for reaching out to us. We are excited that you are interested in having a credit card with us. At this time, the new Venture X Business card is an exclusive product that is currently being offered through invitation only.
>
> Relationship Managers are assigned to existing Small Business customers based on a predetermined set of criteria. There is no current process available to qualify for or apply to be assigned a Relationship Manager.
Could someone send me the link to apply?
Does anyone have the link to apply? Thanks in advance.
Is there anyway someone can send me the link? Or, send me the ways they were able to obtain one from Capital One?
Will the lack of priority pass for auth users point to a loss of that in the future for the consumer card?
Tim, I have yet to see ANYTHING from Capital One itself actually stating the $500k spending requirement. Can you provide any substantiation from Capital One itself about that requirement?
Yep, confirmed via Capital One bankers and relationship managers. You haven’t seen anything because they still haven’t provided a public link.
Anyone else first think $500,000 was a typo?
Fatfinger
It’s an obvious and reasonable question. And, when no substantiation is offered by any of several blogs who republish the claim, it’s not unreasonable for a reader to ask for substantiation of such an extraordinary claim. Yet, not a single blog has responded. Not even “standby, we’re double-checking.” Quite a disappointment.
Overall 2.6x on that $500k, LoL
@Tim – I just got off the phone with my business card relationship manger. She said the planned launch was by the end of March, but obviously that didn’t happen. She said the new plan is by the end of April. I know this doesn’t help a ton, but fingers crossed the launch will be soon. I need to get my wife a card as well, so she’s trying to keep us updated. If/when she provides more info, I’ll let you know.
My relationship manager just told me that this card is officially launched as of today May 1. I don’t see it available yet, but I’m meeting with her tomorrow to help get my wife applied for it. I can update after that meeting.
We just got off the phone with my relationship manager from Capital One. She was able to provide a direct link to apply. Even though it’s “public” it seems you still need to get a link from a relationship manager.
The “early spend bonus” (aka sign-up bonus) is a quite a bit different than it was previously. An extra 50k points, BUT you have to spend $500k on the card. On the opposite side, you can get 150k miles with “only” $30k spend now.
Earn up to 300,000 bonus miles: 150,000 miles when you spend $30,000 in the first 3 months, and an additional 150,000 miles when you spend $500,000 in the first year. 2
This card has worked really well for our business and it continues to be my go-to card for inventory purchases because of the uncapped 2x spend and very generous limits. It doesn’t have a traditional fixed limit. It works like an Amex charge card where you limit is variable. They let me go as high as 300k charged on the card after only 4-5 months of using the card. For my situation this card has worked great. Based on our specific situation, we are basically “buying” Capital One points at .315 cents/point.
My BofA card gets 2.625c x 500k spend = 13125 cash back
Cap 1 Business Venture X will give me 1.3 M miles for same 500k spend
= 1.01c cost
For first 30k spend my BofA card gets $787.50
Cap One gets 210000 miles = 0.375c cost
For next 470k spend BofA cash back = $12337.50
Cap One gets 940k+150k = 1,090,000 miles @ 1.132c cost
biz version has no hertz. not sure what else. its not the same. not sure why they call it X.
Hi Mike,
Do you still have the link for the Spark Elite Travel card? If so I’d love it please.
how does cap 1 look at simon mall gc spend? figured it’s the easiest way to quickly spend $50k if they’re ok with it.
Got a call from a rm few days ago received a email with application was approved have a link for anyone who needs it
Can you e-mail the link? I’d like to take a look at it.
Sure where do you want me to send it?
Any chance you still have the link? Thanks
Hi Mike – can you also send me the link?
Does anyone have the link? I would really like to get this card. I appreciate it
I’d like to try the link if you will share it please.
Same where would you like link sent?
Hey are you able to share the link with me as well?
Thanks for the help with the link! Received the link and auto approved.
Real business with about $1.8M annual revenue and $1.2M+ in real business spend.
Nice , congrats and should be a breeze for you got card about a month ago, already more then half way through spend bonus
Hi Mike can I get some help with the link as well please?
Mike, appreciate if you can share the link with me as well, thanks
Would really appreciate the link as well. Thank you all
Hey Mike, this is old but could you possibly share the link? Thanks.
***EDIT THE LINK I HAVE IS SAYING OFFER NO LONGER AVAILABLE, the link i had was for spark travel elite seems they’ve re branded it sorry everyone
Does anyone have a relationship manager that they could share?
Thank you for all the comments, I tried the LinkedIn thing and it worked great!
Never had a CO card and I was approved instantly (after a lengthy and intelligent conversation about my business with the Relationship Manager).
How do I find this on linked in ? Or do you have a link ?
Was a breeze, called the number on back of my Spark, got the name for my relationship manager. Called him and application email received in abiot 7 minutes after I hung up with him.
Awesome! Thanks for the update!
What’s the thought of putting personal expenses on Cap1 biz cards? Have some large home repair and travel expenses that I wouldn’t mind putting on this. And does the primary car rental have to be on business trips only?
Anybody have a number to call. 50k in six months is no problem at all, may well do it in a couple of days depending on the week. However, I can’t seem to get past a rep telling me its invitation only, and nobody has ever even heard of relationship managers…
The number that my RM gave to me was 800-867-0904. I posted that originally, but then took it off as it seems like the CSR’s have no idea how to deal with requests. I tried once during the day and was able to get through, but that could very well be because I already have one.
When the Spark Cash Plus was out and in the same situation (RM-only, untrained CSRs), a lot of people had success messaging Small Business Card RM’s on Linkedin. You can easily find several. Might be worth a shot.
Thanks. THe number I have gotten so far is 18009039177 but 3 people and a transfer to another line, which had someone located in America, and so far haven’t found anyone that even knows was a Relationship manager is. Have never tried locating anyone via Linkedin but will google it and see what I can figure out.
Just go on linkedin and search for Capital One Small Business Card Relationship manager. A bunch will come up, some specifically for Spark
The message icon will be right there and they seemed to respond well to messaging last time.
well i sent a couple of messages out. I am curious though-as I have a sole proprietorship so have never had a reason to use linkedin, how can one be sure that this is the persons actual role? Seems a bit risky to be reaching out to people myself and then giving them such personal information as would be needed for an application
You wouldn’t apply over LinkedIn. The RM would give you an invite code or an application link, most likely.
Nice job CapOne marketing, you’ve created a disincentive to apply for the X, so don’t sit on making this card publicly available for too long.
So is this card attainable or not?
Was the author of the article incorrect?
I am a business owner and would like the card… But when I called got the same nonsense answer
Maybe before the article is published there should be some verification
The card is absolutely attainable, but only via a Small Business Card relationship manager. This is verified by people who have the card, Capitol One and a plethora of other blogs and news outlets that have also reported on it.
It seems that many customer service reps aren’t aware of the card, don’t know how to get it, etc. That’s not terribly surprising as we get a vast amount of inaccurate information from CSR’s from many companies about products new and old, policies, etc.
If you already have a Capitol One Business card, call the number on the back and tell them you’d like to be assigned a relationship manager to talk through products for your business (if you don’t have an RM already). If they don’t know what you’re talking about, hang up and call again. If you don’t have a card, call Small Business Banking and tell them you have a business and want to talk about credit card products with a relationship manager. Do not expect a CSR to be able to help you apply for the card. They won’t be able to.
Avoid calling on the weekend or at night, from what I understand, most, if not all, RM’s keep normal bank hours.
It sounds like it’s attainable if you want to spend the time tracking down a RM who still has invites available. Personally, I don’t want to spend hours on it so I will wait until it’s publicly available or we hear some success stories from people who were able to get the card in a reasonable amount of time. But the application for the Venture X that I was planning for August 1 will no longer be made, as there is no sense blowing a 5/24 slot knowing this business version of the X exists and presumably will be publicly available soon.
Hurray !! I got my Card. I have been assigned a wonderful Relationship manager, and she sent me the link. And I got approved.
It took over 3 days to find a CS who connected me with the right person. Apparently if you have a Business card already there is a field in your profile, that they can only see, that has the name of your Relationship Manager. Now for the hard part 50K in 6 months !!
Thanks for the great article !
Nice! Good work, Al!
Could you help me out and connect me with her, please? 🙁
Al if you could fwd my info to her that would be much appreciated!
I went to Capital One branch today and they never heard of this card
I was told you will need an invitation code to apply.
By whom?
Has any one had success calling and applying with Capitol One Elite card?
I called and they said they don’t have Relationship Managers, and that the Elite Card is only available if you get a “Private” invitation. And there are no more invitations left
This isn’t a welcome offer; it’s a big spend in a limited time offer. I think the points and miles blogging community should establish some standard for a multiplier that qualifies as a “welcome” offer. If it is 10x, then a 50k points for $5k spend qualifies. The 5x then 4x multipliers here may appeal to some but they’re not real welcome bonuses
That’s an interesting idea. I think the general qualification is that it’s a limited time spending offer that’s only available to new cardholders (thus a “welcome offer”), regardless of the multiplier involved. There are several welcome offers that are just free night certificates, that are less than 5x or even that just involve making one purchase on the card. They may not be appealing for some, but since they are only targeted at new cardholders it makes them welcome offers.
What do you think should the qualification should be?
is it a $50k spend or a $60k spend? I presume it’s spend $10k and then spend an additional $40k, but the article has me wondering which it is.
From the article:
50K total, the 10k after 3 is included in the 50k total after 6
any issues with cap 1 of ppl buying large gc amounts from simon mall? would be the only way for me to spend $50k/6 months
I’ve heard of shutdowns, but most of those that I’ve personally read about have been folks who have been doing 80-90%+ utilization with almost 100% GC spending over an extended period of time with some cycling of limit (+10K/mo). I’ve done some SM and GCM spending on my C1 card, but nothing over 5-7K transactions and it seems like most folks haven’t had much issue with spending those amounts. And I do put regular spend on the card as well.
BUT then there’s Greg, who was shutdown without using the card for any funny business and appears to be blacklisted. So, it’s not risk-free by any means.
very similar SUB offer to the Spark Miles for Business card.
I got a Spark Business card less than 6 months ago and still working on the 50k spend for 300k points. Do you think they will approve me for another business card? I also have the old Venture card (not X).
I have read elsewhere that only the Spark Cash Plus card will prevent you from getting this new card. If that’s the Spark card you have, no luck. If it’s not then you fall back onto Capitol One’s approval logic which is opaque and understood by no one.
What Larry said. Only Spark cardholder that would be officially ineligible is a Spark Cash Plus (or so we’re being told right now)
I simply don’t have that much to spend!
“ the card will not appear on your personal credit report,”
do they still do the triple-pull for this card though?
As far as I know, Capital One still pulls all three credit bureaus. There’s some DP’s of that not happening more and more frequently, but I don’t think that anyone has figured out any sort of rhyme or reason as to when it does or doesn’t.
In terms of what’s quoted, while you will see hard pulls, the account itself won’t show up (and each bureau only receives one hard inquiry), nor will utilization be reported.
You can (and should) freeze your most pulled bureau. They still approve even if they can only pull two.
Is Greg applying?
Sorry to open old wounds but I just had to ask.
Lol, too soon Joe! Too soon!
Well, so comparing that to AMEX where just 2 Business Platinum cards could get you 300,000 for spending $30K in 3 months, it’s maybe not so great. I have a few of those and perhaps can get one more still.
The Cap One card is a VISA, I assume, so that makes it a bit easier for spending. I think I will still give it a miss. If it were for Chase points that would be different.
If I spend $50k on multiple SUBs/cards, I’d land the equivalent of 750k+ CapOne pts and more time to complete the spend. Yeah, that sounds better.
Sounds like you’ve got a fun next few months in store!
Question is whether one can get approved for that many cards from Cap1 and over what time frame. The key is if you have a high spending capacity in a shorter window, this will give a sizable bonus with just 1 card.
Cap 1 is tough they never gave me a card but Chase always Go figure..
You and Greg…there’s something suspicious I guess. 🙂
Yes of Course , x Landlord, Foreman and lots of stuff laying around and people can get hurt quickly. More like the TPG always LOOKING..
Take Care Vine Owner..