Question
Hi all. Which card is better, one of the AMEX reward cards or this Capital One reward card?
I got a flyer/ad in the mail today for Capital One No Hassle Miles Visa Sig Card with no annual fee. Of course the ad seems nice...Good on lots of airlines, no blackout dates or seat restructions, and no annual fee.
Any opinions on this card?
Jelliott
Answer
Just one question: Do you want real miles or fake miles?
Answer
I'm not sure what fake miles are, but I'm guessing I'd go with real ones.
Jelliott
Answer
I'm not sure what fake miles are, but I'm guessing I'd go with real ones.
What UpgradeMe means is, do you want a card that earns miles on airlines or hotel programs (i.e., real miles) or do you want a card that earns points that can only be used within the credit card's reward program (i.e., fake miles)? One isn't necessarily better than the other due to annual fees, foreign currency conversion fees, etc.
If you spend enough money, it's probably worthwhile to go with an annual fee card. If you don't, I'd go for a free cash back card (not Capital One's flight program which is essentially cash back with lots of restrictions) that gets 1% (Capital One has one) to 1.5% (say MBNA's Fidelity card).
BTW, in the future, rather than asking open-ended questions like yours (for which the answer is almost always, "It depends"), you'll probably get more helpful feedback if you lay out your situation and your own thoughts. For credit cards, the things you should consider are your spending level (which is an indication of how much you can earn from the card), your foreign spending habits, and the annual fee. That should give a rough indication of how much net earnings you can expect from the card annually.
Answer
Thank you for taking the time to reply. I guess my question wasn't clear enough. It was really about the Capital One card and if the ad/flyer was true to its word or just a bunch of crap. I have a few of the AMEX cards and have transferred MRP to airlines and had hardly any trouble redeeming for award seats. The Capital One ad made their card sound easier to use than the AMEX options with no annual fee, so to me it sounded too good to be true.
Jelliott
Answer
Thank you for taking the time to reply. I guess my question wasn't clear enough. It was really about the Capital One card and if the ad/flyer was true to its word or just a bunch of crap. I have a few of the AMEX cards and have transferred MRP to airlines and had hardly any trouble redeeming for award seats. The Capital One ad made their card sound easier to use than the AMEX options with no annual fee, so to me it sounded too good to be true.
IIRC, the Capital One Miles program will essentially buy you a ticket for X dollars or less for redeeming Y points. I don't know the exact ratios, but it's something like 9000 points will get you a flight for $110 or less. I would much rather have a cash back card. This way, you earn your cash and you can spend it on whatever you want. With Capital One, you're more restricted because you have to redeem in fairly large chunks (unless you buy a lot of $110 plane tickets). I think there are probably some threads here discussing this card, so try a search for Capital One or something like that. Good luck.
Answer
I don't know the exact ratios, but it's something like 9000 points will get you a flight for $110 or less. I would much rather have a cash back card. This way, you earn your cash and you can spend it on whatever you want. With Capital One, you're more restricted because you have to redeem in fairly large chunks.
You can redeem CapitalOne miles for cash (at 1% cash back). Their miles expire, so DO make sure to redeem them prior to that.
CapitalOne does not have currency conversion fee. It is best for purchases outside of US.