Help Choose Capital One Venture or Southwest Chase Card
Feb 15, 2013, 10:05 am
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Feb 2013
Posts: 2
Help Choose Capital One Venture or Southwest Chase Card
My wife and I are finally debt free! Now, we are looking to use a rewards card for all of our purchases and retire the bank debit cards. We decided that we would like to start accruing airline miles. We have it narrowed down to two cards:
1) Southwest Rapid Rewards from Chase
2) Capital One Venture Card
Here are some details about us:
-We currently have the Southwest Card (the $100 per year with 6,000 point bonus).
-We try to fly Southwest whenever possible. It's our favorite airline. The only time we take something different is when prices are significantly cheaper.
-We fly about 6 times per year. Sometimes together, sometimes separately. I would estimate that we purchase about 10-12 one-way tickets per year.
-We fully intend on paying off the balance each month on the card so APR isn't an issue.
-We estimate that we will spend about $20,000 per year on the card.
-When we travel we will book a hotel maybe 2-3 times per year. And a rental car about 1-2 times per year. Most of the time we are visiting family.
My goal here is to maximize my rewards. I do like the flexibility C.O. has to offer in case we want to spend points on car/hotel/other airline, but since we rarely fly anything but Southwest does it make sense to switch?
I really appreciate any and all feedback.
Best
1) Southwest Rapid Rewards from Chase
2) Capital One Venture Card
Here are some details about us:
-We currently have the Southwest Card (the $100 per year with 6,000 point bonus).
-We try to fly Southwest whenever possible. It's our favorite airline. The only time we take something different is when prices are significantly cheaper.
-We fly about 6 times per year. Sometimes together, sometimes separately. I would estimate that we purchase about 10-12 one-way tickets per year.
-We fully intend on paying off the balance each month on the card so APR isn't an issue.
-We estimate that we will spend about $20,000 per year on the card.
-When we travel we will book a hotel maybe 2-3 times per year. And a rental car about 1-2 times per year. Most of the time we are visiting family.
My goal here is to maximize my rewards. I do like the flexibility C.O. has to offer in case we want to spend points on car/hotel/other airline, but since we rarely fly anything but Southwest does it make sense to switch?
I really appreciate any and all feedback.
Best
Feb 15, 2013, 10:58 am
#2
Join Date: Apr 2002
Location: Montgomery, IL, USA
Posts: 129
My wife and I are finally debt free! Now, we are looking to use a rewards card for all of our purchases and retire the bank debit cards. We decided that we would like to start accruing airline miles. We have it narrowed down to two cards:
1) Southwest Rapid Rewards from Chase
2) Capital One Venture Card
Here are some details about us:
-We currently have the Southwest Card (the $100 per year with 6,000 point bonus).
-We try to fly Southwest whenever possible. It's our favorite airline. The only time we take something different is when prices are significantly cheaper.
-We fly about 6 times per year. Sometimes together, sometimes separately. I would estimate that we purchase about 10-12 one-way tickets per year.
-We fully intend on paying off the balance each month on the card so APR isn't an issue.
-We estimate that we will spend about $20,000 per year on the card.
-When we travel we will book a hotel maybe 2-3 times per year. And a rental car about 1-2 times per year. Most of the time we are visiting family.
My goal here is to maximize my rewards. I do like the flexibility C.O. has to offer in case we want to spend points on car/hotel/other airline, but since we rarely fly anything but Southwest does it make sense to switch?
I really appreciate any and all feedback.
Best
1) Southwest Rapid Rewards from Chase
2) Capital One Venture Card
Here are some details about us:
-We currently have the Southwest Card (the $100 per year with 6,000 point bonus).
-We try to fly Southwest whenever possible. It's our favorite airline. The only time we take something different is when prices are significantly cheaper.
-We fly about 6 times per year. Sometimes together, sometimes separately. I would estimate that we purchase about 10-12 one-way tickets per year.
-We fully intend on paying off the balance each month on the card so APR isn't an issue.
-We estimate that we will spend about $20,000 per year on the card.
-When we travel we will book a hotel maybe 2-3 times per year. And a rental car about 1-2 times per year. Most of the time we are visiting family.
My goal here is to maximize my rewards. I do like the flexibility C.O. has to offer in case we want to spend points on car/hotel/other airline, but since we rarely fly anything but Southwest does it make sense to switch?
I really appreciate any and all feedback.
Best
Feb 15, 2013, 12:34 pm
#3
Original Poster
Join Date: Feb 2013
Posts: 2
I hadn't considered the Chase Sapphire Card. I like that I can transfer points directly to Southwest or a few other airlines + hotels + rental car companies.
However, my concern is the 1:1 ratio on non-travel / restaurant purchases. While we will use this card for both restaurants and travel expenses, we also plan on using it for gas, groceries, clothing, bills, etc. As I mentioned, we are putting away the debit card and using this to maximize rewards.
With that being said, are there additional benefits to the Sapphire card that I may be missing with Capital One?
Best
However, my concern is the 1:1 ratio on non-travel / restaurant purchases. While we will use this card for both restaurants and travel expenses, we also plan on using it for gas, groceries, clothing, bills, etc. As I mentioned, we are putting away the debit card and using this to maximize rewards.
With that being said, are there additional benefits to the Sapphire card that I may be missing with Capital One?
Best
Feb 15, 2013, 10:26 pm
#5
Join Date: Apr 2002
Location: Montgomery, IL, USA
Posts: 129
I hadn't considered the Chase Sapphire Card. I like that I can transfer points directly to Southwest or a few other airlines + hotels + rental car companies.
However, my concern is the 1:1 ratio on non-travel / restaurant purchases. While we will use this card for both restaurants and travel expenses, we also plan on using it for gas, groceries, clothing, bills, etc. As I mentioned, we are putting away the debit card and using this to maximize rewards.
With that being said, are there additional benefits to the Sapphire card that I may be missing with Capital One?
Best
However, my concern is the 1:1 ratio on non-travel / restaurant purchases. While we will use this card for both restaurants and travel expenses, we also plan on using it for gas, groceries, clothing, bills, etc. As I mentioned, we are putting away the debit card and using this to maximize rewards.
With that being said, are there additional benefits to the Sapphire card that I may be missing with Capital One?
Best
Feb 15, 2013, 11:18 pm
#6
Join Date: Jan 2012
Posts: 220
With this combo and the UR Portal I was able to average 2.9 points per dollar. Since each point is worth 1.67 cents towards southwest travel (or higher based on the fees per flight) you are better off than the Cap One card. Even if you average 2.5 UR points per dollar that's still 4 cents of southwest travel per dollar. Twice as much than the 2 cents per dollar from Capital one.