celticmoose

It's true, I did tons of research when I got mine in 2011, there wasn't anything else like it really on the market, unless you wanted specific rewards, like Airline specific or hotel specific. The credit card companies weren't doing a whole lot back then because of the recession.

V1 allows you to book a flight however you want, so you can find the cheapest deal and then "erase" it off your statement. It was and still is flexible in that way.

Now I want to get more than 2% back on my purchases, which is why I probably am going to go with a combination of Discover it, Chase Freedom, and Citi Cash. Might get the Sapphire Preferred to get the bonus and use it for statement credit at 1:1, which isn't great but hey a free $550 (if I can product change before AF, if not $550 - AF) is free money.

Will product change V1 to QuickSilver to keep other benefits of the Capital One card system.

PS - And most of my V1 rewards cash out is just used to buy gift cards to stores I normally shop at. Not as convenient as 2% cashback all the time, but it works.

pallhedge

Not only is it not as convenient as 2%, it's not even close to 2%, right? I thought you only get 1/2 cent per "mile" for gift cards, so you're only getting 1% on your spend by cashing out that way.

celticmoose

No, it's 1:1 on gift cards. 20k miles is a $200 gift card.

If you want a statement credit, that's where it cuts if half.

pallhedge

Ah, thanks for the correction. Arrival+ is a similar card and its gift card redemption is .5/1. Venture is not well documented and apparently I just assumed it was the same.

mpiotrow

I currently have the Capital One Venture Card, but don't use it as often as I use my United MileagePlus Explorer card (so that I can get the PQD waiver from the card). I have quite a few Capital One miles, so I don't want to just close the account. Is there another Capital One account that I can open that has no annual fee that I could transfer the miles to in order to avoid having to keep paying the annual fee over and over without really using the card? I am getting close to reaching the PQD waiver requirement from the MileagePlus card, so after that, I plan to start using the Capital One card to pay for my travel expenses, which will then allow me to start using the miles from that account, but is there another (better) way to go about doing what I'm trying to do?

Thanks for the help,
Matt

mhdena

Have you called Cap One and asked what if any options they may have for you?

mpiotrow

I haven't...I thought about it, but just haven't gotten around to it yet. And I figured I'd see if anyone here had any other tricks/tips that they'd be able to help me out with!

statesmokes409

Haven't seen a successful DP since April on Venture AF waiver. I tried this morning via chat, no offer. Don't particularly want to keep HUCAing as my account activity is pretty damning.

anagoree

I was lucky to have AF waived today

mpiotrow

Finally got around to doing their online chat about a week ago to contact Capital One...the agent I "spoke" with had no problem with my request at all, and downgraded me from the Venture card to the VentureOne card. So, I was able to keep my miles, and the new card has no annual fee. Perfect! ^

concordian

Agent put me on long hold to check with back office about my request for AF waiver($59). Finally got it after 10 minutes hold and was told this is a one time courtesy and fee will not be waived for 2017. Will see this again in 2017 :-)

roundtree

+1

Given the changes over the last five years, I'll be doing the same with my Venture and Spark cards, to VentureOne and Spark Select respectively. I really enjoyed the bonuses that were offered originally, but hardly every find myself using either card now.

mysterym

Any one get anything good on retention for Spark 2% cash? Thank you

CWAL

For the last 3 years, my call for Venture AF has taken at most 5 minutes each time, each time with the fee happily refunded.

ed765

Wife requested waiver of fee and was rejected.
The use had been primarily for a large charitable donation (where their noHassles giving site gets the full amount to the charity and you can also earn miles, as well as keeping your money for a little longer.)

Probably the best strategy is for only one of us to have a Venture card and if desired donations are higher than the credit limit, to pay it off and then use again, or to make donations earlier in the year.

Does anyone know how easy churning is for these cards, since in that case it might pay to cancel with a view to applying later for the promotional bonus?

A refund was possible only within 30 days of fee being charged. Product exchanges were possible to Quicksilver or VentureOne.