Capital One No Hassle Rewards - Why the hate?
Apr 15, 2010, 6:52 pm
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Mar 2006
Posts: 7
Capital One No Hassle Rewards - Why the hate?
I have read a number of reviews bashing Capital One and the "No Hassle Rewards" program, but few of them really spell out any true issues they have had with the Program vs. the bank itself. I was hoping to get more specific feedback on the negatives (and positives) of the No Hassle Program, as I am currently using the card heavily for business expenses that fall into one of the categories for which I earn 5 points per dollar.
To help shape the discussion (and I truly, honestly want folks to throw all of the legitimate negatives they can at me), I should say that I do all my credit card dealings online. I review statements, pay statements, confirm payments - pretty much everything online. I always pay off my balance at least once (and a couple times this year as many as four times) per month. The odds of returning anything I buy or initiating a chargeback are close to zero. One hassle I have noticed is they are really tight on their credit limits (I got $10K vs. $30-40K on other cards), and they take 7 days to process an online payment (unless you call and get them to lift the 7 day hold). But, I put these in the "minor inconvenience" category.
I am actually just curious about where folks' expectations of the No Hassle Rewards program have not matched what Capital One claims. On its surface, the program seems like a decent option when you can't find a saver fare on an itinerary you want, and the No Hassle rewards points supposedly also work for "free" cruises and rental cars. I know that they have the redemption table, and that often you are getting less then 1 penny per point redemption (ie 35,000 points for a $200 fair). But since you know the amount of the charge before you book, you could avoid those situations and hold onto your points for a better redemption utilization.
As an added bonus, since you are paying the airline/hotel/cruise line with a credit card (not an award ticket), you would get the added bonus of frequent flyer mile credit on that travel.
Of course, everything above is based on the program working in the way that I understand it to. In practice, is the actual utilization of the awards points not as easy as they claim it to be (since it seems like you just identify online the charge you want to use points on and the charge either disappears or a corresponding credit to your CC balance to zero out the travel charge).
Also, I know that many have been skeptical about point deflation, but I am curious if/when prior deflation to the program has occurred and what the net effect of this was. Since the No Hassle Rewards program is being pimped out pretty heavily everywhere lately, I think it could/would help alot of folks out there that are considering this card.
Thanks in advance for any insight, good or bad.
To help shape the discussion (and I truly, honestly want folks to throw all of the legitimate negatives they can at me), I should say that I do all my credit card dealings online. I review statements, pay statements, confirm payments - pretty much everything online. I always pay off my balance at least once (and a couple times this year as many as four times) per month. The odds of returning anything I buy or initiating a chargeback are close to zero. One hassle I have noticed is they are really tight on their credit limits (I got $10K vs. $30-40K on other cards), and they take 7 days to process an online payment (unless you call and get them to lift the 7 day hold). But, I put these in the "minor inconvenience" category.
I am actually just curious about where folks' expectations of the No Hassle Rewards program have not matched what Capital One claims. On its surface, the program seems like a decent option when you can't find a saver fare on an itinerary you want, and the No Hassle rewards points supposedly also work for "free" cruises and rental cars. I know that they have the redemption table, and that often you are getting less then 1 penny per point redemption (ie 35,000 points for a $200 fair). But since you know the amount of the charge before you book, you could avoid those situations and hold onto your points for a better redemption utilization.
As an added bonus, since you are paying the airline/hotel/cruise line with a credit card (not an award ticket), you would get the added bonus of frequent flyer mile credit on that travel.
Of course, everything above is based on the program working in the way that I understand it to. In practice, is the actual utilization of the awards points not as easy as they claim it to be (since it seems like you just identify online the charge you want to use points on and the charge either disappears or a corresponding credit to your CC balance to zero out the travel charge).
Also, I know that many have been skeptical about point deflation, but I am curious if/when prior deflation to the program has occurred and what the net effect of this was. Since the No Hassle Rewards program is being pimped out pretty heavily everywhere lately, I think it could/would help alot of folks out there that are considering this card.
Thanks in advance for any insight, good or bad.
Last edited by stonecali; Apr 15, 2010 at 9:12 pm
Apr 15, 2010, 7:08 pm
#2
Moderator
Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: Miami, Mpls & London
Programs: AA & Marriott Perpetual Platinum; DL & HH Gold
Posts: 48,953
Apr 15, 2010, 8:08 pm
#3
Original Poster
Join Date: Mar 2006
Posts: 7
The category is entertainment (I am responsible for buying all of our company's professional sports tickets). The card is the special one that gives 2 points for restaurants and 5 points for any charge coded "tickets" or "entertainment" which most NBA/NFL/MLB ticket charges are.
Apr 15, 2010, 9:01 pm
#4
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2001
Programs: DL GM, AA Gold, Hilton Diamond, Bonvoy Plat
Posts: 12,171
Most of the hate has to do with the company, not the rewards program.
They are pretty tough on you if you don't pay your bill.
When you call in, for whatever reason, most of the time you'll deal with an Indian Call Center.
I've read that disputing a charge is a hassle.
I've had a Cap One product for close to 6 years. They don't charge a foreign exchange fee and I only use the card outside of the country. No complaints here...
They are pretty tough on you if you don't pay your bill.
When you call in, for whatever reason, most of the time you'll deal with an Indian Call Center.
I've read that disputing a charge is a hassle.
I've had a Cap One product for close to 6 years. They don't charge a foreign exchange fee and I only use the card outside of the country. No complaints here...
Apr 15, 2010, 11:42 pm
#5
In memoriam
Join Date: Jan 2006
Posts: 4,020
They have a BIG problem with corporate culture which is pretty much Enron like. CapOne got its start in credit cards with a biz model of ripping off the customers. Things haven't changed much since then.
But, they do have clever ads.
Apr 16, 2010, 5:18 am
#6
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Apr 2001
Location: DCA
Programs: AMC MovieWatcher, Giant BonusCard, Petco PALS Card, Silver Diner Blue Plate Club
Posts: 22,297
They offer a cash rebate program, really, that restricts how you can spend the cash.
If you're getting close to 5% given your spend categories, great.
But for most, they can do better with a real 2% cash rebate cash that gives cash.
And most folks here get better return out of their miles.
But I do agree that Capital One is good for non-US purchases.
If you're getting close to 5% given your spend categories, great.
But for most, they can do better with a real 2% cash rebate cash that gives cash.
And most folks here get better return out of their miles.
But I do agree that Capital One is good for non-US purchases.
Apr 16, 2010, 1:49 pm
#7
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Georgia
Programs: DL DM/2MM
Posts: 1,036
Your minor inconveniences ended up being major ones for me. For instance: combine the 10-day hold for online credits with a low credit limit, and I found myself over the limit quite often despite the fact that I had paid my bill! I don't know how many times I had to arrange a 3-way call with my bank and Cap One so they could clear a payment and I could use my card again.
Now combine this with an aggressive fraud prevention screen, and the fact that I use the card out-of-country quite often to take advantage of the foreign transaction fee. This resulted in my card being declined more often than it was accepted, either due to the fraud screen or being over my limit. In the end I was glad to get rid of it. It actually felt good to cancel it.
Now combine this with an aggressive fraud prevention screen, and the fact that I use the card out-of-country quite often to take advantage of the foreign transaction fee. This resulted in my card being declined more often than it was accepted, either due to the fraud screen or being over my limit. In the end I was glad to get rid of it. It actually felt good to cancel it.
Apr 16, 2010, 2:10 pm
#8
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Sep 2003
Location: HH Diamond, Marriott Gold, IHG Gold, Hyatt something
Posts: 33,537
I rarely do chargebacks, but don't expect Cap1 to back you up at all. I had a problem with a hotel not honoring its prepaid rate (11 months after it was paid for), and charging me more than double the rate extra, weeks after I left.
They are fine for intl charges, but most of the rewards are a bit meager. Especially the personal accounts. One nice thing that if you have a business account and a personal account, you can transfer between accounts to use whichever account has the best redemption rate.
Personally I've stopped using mine.
They are fine for intl charges, but most of the rewards are a bit meager. Especially the personal accounts. One nice thing that if you have a business account and a personal account, you can transfer between accounts to use whichever account has the best redemption rate.
Personally I've stopped using mine.
Apr 17, 2010, 11:24 am
#10
Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: NYC
Programs: AS MVP Gold, BA Silver, AA Gold, Marriott Titanium, Hyatt Globalist
Posts: 1,619
Card and Rewards program worked great until there was a need for CS ...which in the end doesn't exist. Dispute a charge? It's all downhill from there. We now carry the card only as backup during foreign travel....
Apr 18, 2010, 7:42 pm
#12
Join Date: Apr 2010
Location: SoCal
Posts: 19
Hi everyone... long time lurker making a first appearance here!
Based on my research here a few years ago, my wife and I signed up for a Capital One Orbitz Visa for use during international travel. As a matter of fact, it's our primary card while traveling due to the aforementioned: low fees, good forex rates, etc.
But, as already mentioned by several posters here, we only use it for int'l travel and never use it while at home in the U.S. Our balances are paid in full at the end of traveling, and we've never had a problem dealing with Customer Service (mainly due to our low volume, and luck
). I have no idea how many points we've accrued in the rewards program, and I really don't care.
Which leads me to my next question (hopefully it'll add something to the discussion -- apologies if it's considered a hijack):
Which Visa or MasterCard could work better domestically than a Capital One card? In our case, we already use American Express Blue Cash cards for almost all of our expenses and daily spending, so we're good there. We have an old Citibank MasterCard (again, with some amount of points I'm unaware of
), which we only use where we can't use the AmEx.
I've been looking at the Capital One VentureOne card (no annual fee, 1.25 points per dollar), but I'm still very aware of all the previous warnings regarding their customer service and the like. We have a brokerage account with Fidelity, so I suppose I could get their Investment Rewards Visa Signature card...
(Kicking myself for not getting a Schwab Visa when I first became aware of it.)
Based on my research here a few years ago, my wife and I signed up for a Capital One Orbitz Visa for use during international travel. As a matter of fact, it's our primary card while traveling due to the aforementioned: low fees, good forex rates, etc.
But, as already mentioned by several posters here, we only use it for int'l travel and never use it while at home in the U.S. Our balances are paid in full at the end of traveling, and we've never had a problem dealing with Customer Service (mainly due to our low volume, and luck
). I have no idea how many points we've accrued in the rewards program, and I really don't care. Which leads me to my next question (hopefully it'll add something to the discussion -- apologies if it's considered a hijack):
Which Visa or MasterCard could work better domestically than a Capital One card? In our case, we already use American Express Blue Cash cards for almost all of our expenses and daily spending, so we're good there. We have an old Citibank MasterCard (again, with some amount of points I'm unaware of
), which we only use where we can't use the AmEx.I've been looking at the Capital One VentureOne card (no annual fee, 1.25 points per dollar), but I'm still very aware of all the previous warnings regarding their customer service and the like. We have a brokerage account with Fidelity, so I suppose I could get their Investment Rewards Visa Signature card...
(Kicking myself for not getting a Schwab Visa when I first became aware of it.)
Last edited by Joe Blowe; Apr 18, 2010 at 7:52 pm
May 3, 2010, 7:39 pm
#14
Join Date: May 2003
Location: Slightly to the left of center
Posts: 3,475
Good discussion. I just received my Cap1 Venture card 2pts/$1 with 10,000 bonus @ $1,000 spend in 90days. That's the great part. I am quite concerned about the poor service i'm hearing from people. It sounds like if you never need to talk to Cap1, few complaints. But the minute you ask for anything, the aches and pains begin.
http://www.capitalone.com/creditcard...02_T_CP19602EW
http://www.capitalone.com/creditcard...02_T_CP19602EW