100,000 CAPITAL ONE OFFER – NOT A GOOD DEAL FOR MOST
Well, the first mega offer just hit cyberspace! Capital One is offering up to 100,000 with their Venture Double Miles Challenge. In my humble opinion it is not worth the hype. Just a flashy offer to try and catch some of us fish in the sea. It really targets high spenders and not average folks. If you didn’t spend around $50,000 on one single credit card last year, this is not your deal. Other offers like the British Airways 100k offer last year only required a $3,000 min. spend. That was a sweet deal! My family is flying for $20 to Boston this fall thanks to that one. Secondly, from what I’ve read over the years Capital One points are really not very useful. You cannot transfer them to any airline or hotel loyalty program. Bad deal! You can only book travel with them setting the prices or redeem for gift cards. Another bad deal! So that being said, let me break down the details and you be the judge for yourself. Maybe there are a few fish out there that could really benefit from this offer. My guess is most like myself will pass. Oh, by the way, another very important piece of information on this deal is that they pull your credit from all three (3) credit bureau. Third strike!
NUTS & BOLT OF THE DEAL
- Only new Venture card customers. Customers who participated in the 2011 “Match My Miles Challenge” are not eligible for the Double Miles Challenge program.
- $1,000 minimum spend in 90 days.
- Limited time offer. Miles match is not guaranteed. Capital One will give away a maximum of one billion total Venture miles Once one billion miles have been given away they will not continue to match even if you were approved for the card. If they do not reach one billion by May 1, 2012 they will also end miles match. Basically a first come first serve deal!
- Capital One will award 2 miles per dollar for up to $50,000 spent on purchases in 2011 on ONE single major US consumer travel credit card (Visa®, MasterCard®, American Express®, Discover® ). Spend on small business cards, debit cards, fleet cards, private label credit cards, corporate cards, prepaid cards and Capital One credit cards is not eligible.
- Customer must provide Capital One with a 2011 year-end summary as proof of yearly spend on the eligible account.
- 7 days to request match – You have 7 days from the time you receive an email from Capital One to register. If you don’t, you are ineligible. Once registered you have 30 days to submit your documentation.
- Miles are reserved for customers once registration is complete, and are earned once documentation is provided and upon reaching the minimum purchase requirement. Miles are awarded within two (2) billing periods of when they are earned.
There are so many cons to this deal, where do I begin. Not the “pack of gum” offer we all love! For starters, you would have to have one card that you spent 50,000 on in 2011 to match. If you have that it might be worth a try. Then you need to apply, and get accepted. They require excellent credit and check all three credit bureaus. So you will get three hits. Very lame! Then you better not miss that notification email. If it goes to your junk mail and 7 days passes, you’re out of luck. So let’s say you jump through all the hoops; get approved, register, submit your documentation, meet the $1,000 min. spend, wait the two billing cycle for your points, now you have 100,000 Capital One points. What would that give you? 100,000 Capital One miles should give you $1,000 worth of travel. Not bad! Just a bit of work. I think this deal will not be for most of us but if you are one that has a card you spent 50,000 on and you have hits to give on your report, go for it. Free travel is free travel! I really liked last years offer much better. You only needed to match 100k in any frequent flyer account. Much easier for us average folks. I don’t think they are looking for us with this promo though. Well, I’m curious what your opinion is. Do you think they will be able to give away the one billion miles before May 1st?
No, there won't be enough demand.Regarding how the travel credit works on my current card, however, Capital One does not set the travel prices. They allow you to credit your statement ($0.01 per mile) for any travel-coded charges you've incurred in the past 30 (60?) days (which includes things like public transportation charges for me). It's actually quite easy.If you're able to do a full (or nearly full) match, I'd say do this deal, but I'm not in a position to make it worthwhile.
Thanks Dave for the feedback. Good to know the details of how the travel benefits of the program work. Not that familiar with this program myself since I've never had a Capital One Venture card.