Question
I'm looking for a points-earning Visa credit card to compliment my Starwood AmEx. I'd prefer some flexibility in the way they can be spent, i.e., I don't want to lock into a Hilton Visa or Marriott Visa.
Both the MBNA WorldPoints Visa and CapitalOne Go Miles Visa seem to be getting good reviews. How do these two compare? Are redemption values approximately the same? Are the number of partners/options comparable? Simplicity of redemption?
Answer
The Cap One card seems to have a bit more flexibility in that you can redeem your points at a rate of 90 per dollar towards any airfare you buy at any website.
In other words, if I want to fly a NetSaver on AA tomorrow, I can go to AA.com, buy a $100 ticket, go to Capitalone.com (or whatever), redeem 9000 points, and see a $100 charge and a $100 credit on my bill next month. At least, that's how I interpret the fine print. When they advertise "Free flight for 9000 points!" this is what they are talking about, IMHO. A flat-rate, 1.11% yield on your points. No special travel agent, no phone calls to make, no bull. In theory.
Of course, knowing how home-grown programs have half-baked websites, processes, systems, support, and fine print, I will believe it when someone posts here "Yeah, I have the card and I just seamlessly and efficiently got my award."
MBNA Worldpoints is a more traditional fantasy points program: you make a phone call to their travel agent for booking. More restrictions like Saturday night stay and 21-day advance purchase, but theoretically higher yield if you are flying the "perfect" route (one where the 21-day-adv fare is always near their fare cap and rarely shows up on a deep-discount sale).
There seem to be mixed reviews of the MBNA products among FT'ers. I currently have a Worldpoints card that came with 12 months of free money, so it's sitting there maxxed out and unusable for purchases. Not sure whether I will ever use the card for rewards - right now I'd say it's doubtful.