Capital One Go Miles
 

A friend of mine has told me about a program through Capital One Visa that offers rewards on any airline. They even offer the rewards if you book your ticket on online deals like Expedia and Orbitz by going by the dollar amount rather than the miles you fly. They claim this is a better deal.

In case it isn't obvious, I'm a newbie to the Frequent Flyer game and was wondering if anyone had any comment on this program? I haven't seen any discussion threads about Go Miles.

Thanks in advance for any help or advice you can offer!

Carrie

tooie-welcome to Flyer Talk! I have the Capitol One Visa. There are pros and cons to this card. Pros include a cheap annual fee ($29), redeemed award tickets accumulate miles because it is actually a paid ticket (by Capitol One), and you can fly on any airline with no black-out dates. A con is that the miles needed for awards are sometimes higher than through specific airlines. Overall, I am happy with it. Do a search in the "Visa" forum for more details.

The reason I don't care for these types of programs is that they don't combine with miles earned by flying, etc. It's more like a cash rebate that is limited as to the manner in which you can make use of it. Every individual needs to make his or her own comparison and it may suit some people just fine, but I don't really regard these as "mileage programs" at all.

I use my FF miles for last minute travel when no free seats are available. Even in domestic travel I often get $500 to over $1,000 for 25,000 miles. I use an American Express Platinum card ($395)which also gives me access to DL, Co and NW clubs, but cheaper AMEX cards also get you points.

Problem with most general cards not tied to an airline program is that they cap out at $400 for 20 to 25 thousand miles.

Edited to fix typo

[This message has been edited by mshaikun (edited Feb 01, 2004).]

[This message has been edited by mshaikun (edited Feb 01, 2004).]

What is it about the Amex Platinum card that makes it worth $395/year? I used to have an Amex Gold card (which I since traded in for a Free Amex Cash Rebate card). When I had the Gold card I was solicited for the Platinum card (My wife's card would have been an additonal $395). I just didn't see the value but apparently you do. What did I miss?

A couple things...

(1) If you are planning on using airline miles to get a last-minute $500-1000 ticket, chances are you'll need 50,000 of them, not 25,000. There are exceptions, but don't bank on being able to lay out 25K every time you need a seat on the next flight out of town. (There is another thread about this on MilesBuzz right now, I think...)

(2) With any home-grown points card, you see a lot of half-baked processes and technology, with vaguely-written rules. I don't think it's a conspiracy: I just think these banks think up a program in a conference room, slap together a cr*ppy website, and roll it on out to see if people jump at it. Go look at any of the home-grown-points websites and compare them to a good, robust FF program site. We make fun of the glitches in AAdvantage and Marriott Rewards: those guys look like IT geniuses compared to the home-grown points people. Why should you care? Well, a redemption may require phone calls and red tape instead of a seamless online process. And the half-baked processes/rules usually get changed in the bank's favor if the program proves popular to "stick". If the program doesn't stick, you get a letter telling you that you are being converted to something else - probably less rewarding that what you started with.

(3) The new Cap 1 card looks good in that it appears that you can empty your points balance the first time you buy a >$100 plane ticket at any site (using the card, of course) after you've crossed 9000 points. In other words, I reach 9000 points, and my next AA.com or Delta.com ticket (regardless of whether it is $100 or $1000) gets $100 knocked off. A "normal" spender can redeem points a couple of times a year, and you have a rough approximation of a one-percent rebate card. The big "pro" here is that you don't need to build up 25,000 or more points - you can flush every 9K and get out as soon as they change the program in a way that you don't like.

Another consideration is special deals and promotions. Cards linked to airline programs (at least the major ones) occasionally have special promotions that allow you to get extra miles and other perks. I have no idea about the Capitol One program, but you may want to check to see if they have specials. Because these special promos are at the discretion of the program, and you never know whether you'll qualify for one in the future when you get the card, it's a wishy-washy thing to factor in, but it's important to some people nevertheless.

Although I don't cover the Capital One card yet (and am awaiting everyone's comments on it), I have some cautions for this type of card listed at the top of the Bank and Other Travel Cards page of the Credit Cards section of my web site below.

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Free Frequent Flyer Miles

True, last minute trips are often not available for 25K miles - but the only time I needed to go somewhere the next day, my primary airline, AA ,had plenty of availability. It ended up I needed to change my travel date too and it was great to be able to change my ticket (most award tickets are changable - but airlines often charge a change fee now). In my opinion if one acumulates miles on several airline, one is unlikely to be unable to get a last minute award seat on a route several airline fly. For example, I have miles on AA, UA, and DL I could also use my miles on AS, US, NW, and CO. Chances are I could get a last minute seat (assuming I don't need specific flights).

I'll weight in on this one since I just arranged for two tix the other day. I have a Miles 1 (Cap 1) Bus Card and it has NO annual fee.

Last week I redeemed miles for two tix for my wife. My business pays for mine. One to PHX on NW, the other to HNL on UA. Both times I had Travelocity, Orbitz, and the airline fares and itineraries in front of me coaching the ticket agent along. It went surprisingly smooth. In both cases I was able to purchase mine online and redeem hers for the same flights.

Previously,when I did not have the competing fares in front of me, they tried to push me into a higher fare and have me pay the difference. Be careful of that.

Putting that issue aside I think it a terrific program since her flights will earn miles and qualify for elite.

There are positive and negatives to the Miles One program.

Positive: You're not tied to a specific airline. There are no blackout dates and there are no capacity controls. The ticket is a revenue ticket and will earn miles and be eligible for upgrades, etc, if you have status on the airline you fly.

Negative: 28 day advance purchase and Saturday night stay often required. Dollar amount restrictions on the free ticket but you can choose a higher fare and pay the difference. High "mileage" schedules for Hawaii, and really high schedules for Hawaii-Europe if that applies to you. The "miles" you earn expire after three years. You have to book through their travel agency (Cendant?) which is not necessarily a negative, but you may not be able to choose your preferred routing and airline. (I was, when I used these long ago.)

The schedules used to be better for this card. Particularly they offered a reduced "mileage" zone award, where the US was divided into three zones. Travel within a zone was a bargain. (Example: NYC to Florida or Seattle to San Diego were both within a single zone.) I'm not sure if they offer those awards anymore.

At one point, long ago, under the old schedules, I used one of these "free" tickets for my step-daughters flight from Honolulu to Tampa. I had a revenue ticket on UA and was able to get her "free" ticket on my flights and she was able to upgrade with me. It saved me $800, she got miles, she was able to upgrade on my status. The first flight was HNL-ORD on a DC-10 .. a very long flight.

-David

WOW! This is a lot to digest!

Can someone who has this card tell me if it still doesn't charge the extra two per cent on charges in foreign currency?

(I need a card for foreign travel; I currently use BankOne British Visa for all foreign currency transactions, but I am not crazy about either bank's customer service or the BA frequent flyer program.)

Capital One is one of the better issuers. They charge no additional surcharge on foreign currency transactions.

-David


[This message has been edited by LIH Prem (edited Feb 06, 2004).]

Capital One sounds good, BUT consider an example. I found a SideStep ticket to Europe for less than $800, with good times, stops, etc. Capital One would have charged me the posted fares for the airlines, amounting to $1500 or so, which means I would have had to pay $500 plus 50,000 miles. Doesn't seem right...