sk8uno

So this has been discussed before and it seems most people seem to think the Sapphire is without question better than the Venture card. My question is: why is that so obvious? Just because you can transfer UR points to UA/Southwest?

Absent the transfer options to UA/Southwest, it seems the Capital One would be the better card -- lower annual fee, guaranteed 2% back. Is the transfer option the only thing that tips the balance to Sapphire for you guys? And if so, would you feel different if your schedules weren't flexible enough to plan travel around award availability? Obviously you can get more than 2% redemption value booking UA awards, but if someone doesn't have much flexibility it seems the guaranteed 2% back with Cap One is a better choice. Am I missing something?

birdseye

One big factor you left out is the welcome bonus. The Sapphire Preferred has a 50,000 point welcome bonus and the Capital One Venture Card has a 10,000 point welcome bonus. Rumor is a better Capital One Venture Card is coming out March 7th.

I really like Ultimate Reward points for their versatility as there are so many ways to redeem them (I really like the United transfer option but I have used the statement credit option and may try Amtrak). If you would redeem them for a statement credit anyway, one advantage the Sapphire Preferred has is that you can redeem UR points for anything on your statement. The Venture card only lets you redeem for travel expenses. You would accumulate points faster on the Venture Card, but the Sapphire card gives you a bigger head start with the 50,000 point welcome bonus. I believe the Venture Card has a lower annual fee.

Only you can decide what card is better for your spending habits. But it wouldn't hurt to wait to see if a better offer comes out next week before you decide.

Ragnarok

The transfer option also allows you to pick the right program for different award flights.

e.g. BA Avois is good for redeeming short flights that are expensive to purchase with cash.


Also, Chase's customer service team for the Sapphire Preferred is very good.
Calls to the number are answered by US-based Customer Service Agent directly, without the need to listen to prompts.

masterthespian

Also capital one sells your phone, addy, email, and social security number to third parties. And will continue to sell this information to third parties even after you no longer have their card. is it worth it? probably not

chelmkamp

Depending on your spending habits, the Sapphire can really outdo the Venture, even without point transfers. Point redemptions for flights on UR Travel appear to be about 1.25 to 1, so if most of your purchases on the Sapphire earn 2 points per dollar on dining/travel, 3 points for travel booked through UR, and tons of great UR Mall bonses,you can book reward travel through UR that earns you between 2.5-3.75% back in real value.

Just like the Venture, you still earn status and reward mileage for most flights booked through UR rewards, which further adds to the value (unlike dedicated airline mileage cards where your reward flights earn no miles).

Dr_wanderlust

Since Capital One almost always pulls all three major credit reports for a single application, it should be avoided like the plague.

ayodeji13

Just to play Devil's Advocate. I would say redeeming your miles with the C1 Venture is arguably easier than with Sapphire.

At least if you want to get max value out of your UR Points

2tall4economy

If you want 2% cash back, get the Cap1 Spark cash. If you want cheap travel get a Sapphire or other co-branded card.

There is absolutely no point in getting a venture card since the same bank offers the same benefit without restrictions on a different card.

mia

Missing from this comparison is Citi Premier which offers a higher return than Venture (2.66%) if (and only if) you buy enough airline tickets to generate sufficient Flight Points to double the value of the points earned by spending.

suspire

I personally transfer my UR points to Hyatt rather than an airline, because I am fine with my FF miles currently and I still find the value for a Hyatt transfer better. For instance, often a stay at the Hyatt 48 Lex costs in the $300s--at least for the stays I'm looking for, especially if I want to stay in a better room than a standard. However, for 15,000 UR points (Hyatt points on transfer), I've been able to book one of the Terrace Studios--which was running for about $400 at the time. 15,000 Cap One points nets me $150--not getting anywhere near what I'd want.

So yeah, the value for me has been much better via UR points. Plus, with Sapphire you're getting the 7% back yearly. The combination makes Sapphire my preferred card (pun intended).

sk8uno

I guess I should have mentioned that I already have both cards, so bonus, hard pulls, and selling of info is not important. I'm just trying to decide which of these two I should keep as an everyday card (alongside my AMEX SPG) and which I should trash. It seems everyone still prefers the Sapphire! It's a shame, because using Cap One points has been so easy.

For those of you who have used UR for statement credits, how simple is it? How far back in time can I apply credits? Can I divide up the expense and only use UR for part of it (e.g. if I spend 900 on AA tickets, can I, after the purchase, divide it up into two tickets of $450 and only use UR as to one of the $450 charges)?

saacman5033

I have never understood this logic. It's not like three credit pulls are be lumped onto one report as if you had applied for three credit cards.

If you're one of those who has most card hits to one bureau, this will have basically zero effect on the other two. On the other hand, if you're in a place where your credit pulls are balanced between bureaus, you probably don't have enough hits on any one bureau to be concerned with the level of inquiries.

Why should it matter what everyone else prefers if you prefer Cap One? If you don't get around 2 cents or better of value out of an UR point then you may be better off with Cap One.

Also consider whether you do enough spending to make the annual fee worth it.

If you're target is using UR points for statement credits then you are certainly better off with the Cap One Venture.

Dr_wanderlust

The logic is there is no reason for Crap1 to pull all three but it does. Why subject yourself to more inquiries than needed especially for a sub-par card from a sub-par company?

Further Crap1 is not exactly generous with limits.

saacman5033

I wouldn't say there's no reason, but agree that it is unusual and irritating.

For a big signup bonus of course!

I must admit, I am coming at it from the limited viewpoint of looking at the card for the signup bonus. But with last year's generous bonus and this year's looking to be as generous for some that qualify, I would not advocate avoiding the card "like the plague".

I must also admit that perhaps I mis-judged your statement/viewpoint. I assumed (perhaps wrongly) that you would not advocate signing up for the Cap1 Venture even if the bonus were 100k points as it was last year and as is rumored to come back.

Maybe this is a case of YMMV? I was given a credit line of 15k which is right around the range of other issuers.

birdseye

If all you want a secondary card that you can use for statement credits, I vote you keep the Capital One Venture.

I have redeemed Ultimate Rewards points for a statement credit (hotel in a city with no chain hotels) and found it very easy. But since the annual fee is lower on the Venture Card, and you earn 2 points per dollar on everything using the Venture Card (instead of just travel and dining with the Sapphire Preferred) I would say the Venture Card is a much better long term card for statement credits, provided you don't mind using them for travel expenses.