This post is a little different than my usual content, but I have had a few friends post on social media recently asking for recommendations on credit cards for traveling. I told each of them all about how much I love my Capital One card, and why. And then thought, “Why don’t I just write a blog post about it?”
Now, quick disclaimer. I am no financial advisor. I don’t know your finances or spending habits. This is all from my experience. And you are going to have to look at your own finances to decide if this is card is right for you. Do I love it? Yes. But it might not be right for you and that’s okay.
We got our Capital One Venture card about 9 years ago. But I have a confession – we really didn’t pay attention to the miles at all until maybe 6 months ago. We didn’t accumulate very many miles over the years, we really didn’t do any traveling, and we paid no attention to the benefits. And I really regret that! It wasn’t until I saw someone on Instagram talking about how she uses her credit card miles to book free trips for her family that I actually decided to do research and take advantage of the miles program on this card. I had no idea that the Capital One Venture card is one of the best for traveling!
We haven’t earned ourselves any free trips yet, but we have booked a few flights, hotels and rental cars so far this year and actually knowing how the miles works has already helped us save a lot of money.
How To Earn Miles
Earning miles with the Capital One card is easy. You earn 2x miles on every purchase. So if you spend $150 at the grocery store, you earn 300 miles. Easy to figure out, right? I actually really like that it is consistent across the board (except for a select few things that earn you 5x miles). I know there are lots of cards that do different bonus miles on all kinds of merchants. But it seems like it’s always changing. So, I like that consistency here.
I mentioned above that there are a select few things that can earn you 5x miles. That comes when you book rental cars and hotels through Capital One Travel. I have a little more about Capital One travel below, but just know that it is so worth it to use Capital One for your travel booking when you can.
Redeeming Your Miles
Like all reward credit cards, you can redeem your miles in many different ways. Gift cards, redeem when booking trips, using your points on Amazon. Not all are created equal. I’ll link a YouTube video here that does a great job explaining each way you can redeem miles and the “cents per mile” that each way works out to. It also walks you through how to transfer miles from Capital One to other airlines to get the absolute most from your miles.
My favorite way to redeem miles is by “erasing” travel purchases. We put all travel purchases on the Capital One Card. Flights, hotels, rental cars, everything. When you use this method, 1 mile equal 1 cent. So, 1,000 miles is $10.
For example, we recently booked flights to visit family. Each flight was about $250. I would need 25,000 miles to erase that purchase. You can chip away at it in increments. Last week when I logged in, I saw that I had about 900 miles. So, I applied that to one of the flights and brought it down by about $9.
You might be thinking “how is that different than just applying the miles as a credit to my account?” Well, those are two separate options with Capital One. When you apply it as a credit, you only get about .8 cents per mile, rather than 1 cent per mile when you cover a travel purchase. Your miles never expire as long as you keep the account open, so even if you don’t have travel expenses to apply it to now, save them to use in the future.
The other great thing about using your Capital One miles for travel is that you aren’t restricted to booking with one airline or hotel chain. You can book whatever works best for your trip, and you can still use miles to cover it. That is something we really love because we want the flexibility.
How We Earn Miles
Before you start earning miles, just make sure that your habits align with credit card use. What I mean by this is that you need to be in the habit to pay off your card regularly. Your miles really don’t matter if you are just racking up credit card debt.
A lot of people start putting every purchase on the card. Everything from groceries to utilities phone payment. Things you are already paying for each week from your checking account. Anything you can put on the credit card. Then schedule a recurring payment to pay off the card. Just be mindful that if you are carrying a balance, you are being charged interest.
It might not seem like this would rack up miles, but it really does. For example, just from our groceries we spend about $700 a month. That is 1400 miles each month just from groceries. Add in all your other expenses and it can rack up if you are consistent.
You can also earn miles through referrals. You can have up to 5 referrals a year, so you can earn up to 50,000 a year from referrals. And the people you refer get a great bonus, too.
Referral Bonus
The referral bonus with Capital One is GREAT. Right now, if you use my referral link and meet the requirements, you will get a bonus of 100,000 miles. When you do the math, that is $1000. That is huge, especially if you have a trip coming up! And to be transparent, I also get a bonus of 10,000 miles for each referral (up to 5 a year). Just use this link to sign up. This referral bonus changes sometimes to 75,000 miles for those that use the referral link, so I will update this post if I see it change.
Capital One Travel
If you have a Capital One card, I highly recommend using Capital One Travel when booking flights. And add the Flight Disruption Assistance. It’s really affordable and soo worth it if anything goes wrong.
Last month, I flew to Vegas to visit my best friend. The last time I went to see her I flew Frontier, and everything was great. And my flight there was fine. But on our way to the airport for my return flight, I got the message no one wants to see 3 hours before their flight – “Flight Canceled.” It was a headache to resolve, BUT because I had added the Flight Disruption, my entire trip was refunded. Frontier only offered me credit, rebooking for a way worse flight or a refund for just the return flight. Luckily the full trip cost me about $260 (including Flight Disruption), and a last minute Spirit flight home was about $200.
I will never not add that option again! I’m sold on it!
Why We LOVE Capital One
Okay, now that I have covered how it all works, I’ll let you know what I love about it.
First, I love that the 2x miles is consistent across everything. It makes it easy to figure out how many miles you are earning. And I of course love the Flight Disruption Assistance.
Another thing I love is using points to cover travel expenses. It doesn’t matter what airline, hotel or resort you book with. You can use use points to cover it. This is extra awesome for us parents who are thinking about trips to Disney or Disney Cruises. From my research, the Capital One Venture or the VentureX are one of the best options for saving on Disney Cruises specifically.
There are also more benefits than just miles. I love the price drop protection on flights, price match guarantee, Capital One entertainment, and a credit for TSA precheck.
Oh, and we’ve only had to call customer service a couple times since having the card, but each time they have been helpful, respectful and quick. Hopefully you don’t have to call, but if you do, don’t worry. You’ll be in good hands.
Again, remember that I am no financial advisor. I don’t know your finances, and I don’t know your spending habits. I can only tell you our experience. You will have to take a good hard look at your own situation. If you do sign up, and you use my referral link, THANK YOU!
