Capital One? Purchase Eraser?

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George K

George K

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Sep 7, 2014
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The Chicago Burbs
 
George K said:
The CapitalOne Venture Card has a 40K bonus for signing up, and 2X points for every purchase. Sounds pretty good! Has anyone used that card for Amtrak Travel?

http://www.capitalone.com/credit-cards/venture/?Log=1&EventType=Link&ComponentType=T&LOB=MTS%253A%253ALCTMMQC4S&PageName=travel+and+miles&PortletLocation=4%253B16-col%253B2-1-1&ComponentName=suiteTable&ContentElement=6%253BCard+Details&TargetLob=MTS%253A%253ALCTMMQC4S&TargetPageName=Venture+Card+Details&referer=https%253A%252F%252Fwww.capitalone.com%252Fcredit-cards%252Ftravel-and-miles
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I had that Card George but dropped it when downsizing upon retirement as all my travel is personal, not business!

I still have a Chase Freedom Card, a Credit Union Visa ( low simple interest) and the AGR Chase MC which Chase just renewed for 3 more years and which I use most for the points!

It sounds like a good deal, what about the annual fee and the required spending to get the Bonus Points?
 
Annual fee is $59 - about 2 pizzas (if you include a tip :p )

You need to spend $3K in the first 3 months.

Their program is a bit different. You purchase the travel using the card, and then use the points you have to reimburse yourself:

How do I redeem my rewards for travel?

You have two ways to redeem your miles for travel:

The number of miles needed for travel redemption varies and is based upon the cost of the travel purchase. Here is how it works:

Simply multiply the cost of your travel purchase by 100. For example, if your travel purchase costs $200, you would multiply that by 100 to determine you need 20,000 miles to redeem.
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Seems to give a lot of flexibility. You can use a partial redemption if you don't have enough points. Also the fact that you get 2 points on EVERYTHING is sweet.
 
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Sounds good George, maybe AGR will cut a deal with Cap One, I would probably switch for a deal like that but cancel after a year rather than pay the annual fee! ( does Cap One waive it the first year like some providers?)

Lots of our members like the various Chase Cards and Amex if you travel a lot!
 
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I like the Chase Sapphire Preferred. Allows 1:1 transfer points into AGR. I have yet to find a better points usage than AGR. You get the most for your points. It also earns 2%.
 
It's just a card that gives you 2% "cash back". Not a very generous program. Compare that to the Chase AGR. You get 1% back in Amtrak points but those points are worth more than the 2 cents the Capital One points are worth and there is no annual fee.

For example, on AGR Card, you spend $15K over time and get 15K points. That buys you a one way trip via roomette from Boston to Miami. You get business class on BOS-NYP and roomette the rest of the way. On the Capital One card, you get 15K points worth $3000 towards that same trip. I randomly picked Sep 15 and got a Regional BC and a roomette for $474 (that didn't include added cost for additional person which would cost you the same in points). Yes, you get the bonus but you also "pay" for that buy paying $59/year. That "costs" nearly 30K of those points at 2 cents/point.

Now long term, you don't get additional bonuses but do pay $59/year
 
Interesting analysis. I hadn't looked at it that way. Other than the signing bonus of 40K points, there's probably not much to recommend it when you look at it from your perspective.
 
Using the example you gave, 20,000 "miles" for $200? A 2 zone roomette costs 20,000 points - when is the last time you saw a roomette from TOL to SAN or MIA to ELP cost only $200? :huh:
 
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The offer I got is different. 20,000 miles sign up bonus (when you spend $1000), 1.25c miles/$1, no annual fee, 0% APR for a year

Redemption is 100 points =$1 So $100 booking requires 10,000 points.
 
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