Capital One are known for their great credit card offerings in general but if you are a frequent traveler – either for business or pleasure or a combination of the two – then they certainly offer several credit cards that would be an excellent fit for your lifestyle as well as a bit of a boost to your annual travel budget. Here is a little bit about the credit cards that Capital One offer that are ideal rewards credit cards for travelers:
Capital One Venture Rewards Cards
If you have excellent credit (and it dies have to be excellent) and want a credit card that has very reasonable terms and fees that will let you earn air miles very quickly in comparison to many other cards then this may be the perfect credit card for you.
In basic financial terms the 11.9 to 19.9 variable APR is very competitive for credit cards in this class and although there is a $59 annual membership fee that is waived for the first year of card membership and the 25 day grace period on purchases can earn you big savings on interest charges.
The reason you can rack up air-miles with the Venture Rewards card so quickly is that for every $1 you spend you earn 2 air miles – double the reward offered by most air miles rewards cards. You also have plenty of chances to earn bonus air-miles at various points throughout the year, including a 10,000 air mile bonus if you spend $1,000 on the card during the first three months that you hold it.
Aside from the great air mile earning potential the card also offers a number of travel discounts and exclusive vacation packages as well as free upgrades at select hotels and resorts.
Air miles earned with the Capital One Venture Rewards card never expire and there are no limits on how many you can earn so if you want to keep on banking them towards that trip of lifetime you can!
Capital One Venture One Rewards Card
This card is pretty much the ‘lite” version of the Venture rewards card but you can still accrue air miles more quickly than you can with most other air miles cards as miles are rewarded at the rate of 1.25 miles per dollar spent on every card purchase you make. Additionally there is no annual membership fee attached to the card and although your credit still has to be very good this credit card is slightly easier to qualify for than its “big brother”.
There is still a very reasonable 11.9 to 19.9 APR attached to the Ventureone Rewards card and a number of great travel discounts on airfare, hotel rooms and car rentals. When you are ready to redeem your air miles they can be used on airline tickets to anywhere in the world, on hotel accommodations and even on travel gift cards if you are feeling generous enough to share your rewards with someone else.
Capital One Orbitz Visa
There are few savvy travelers that don’t give Orbitz a look when they are booking flights and hotel rooms these days. The deals that you can score at the website are often truly incredible, especially if you can be a little flexible in your travel plans. Those who choose to get this new offering from Capital One, the Capital One Orbitz Visa get even better deals though all while earning points towards the cost of a future trip.
As a credit card in general the Orbitz Visa offers a reasonable rate of interest – 13.9% to 19.9% – and for the first twelve billing cycles a 0% APR is applied to all purchases made on the card. There is no annual fee and if your card is ever lost or stolen you are covered by the Visa Platinum 0% liability coverage that all Visa card holders enjoy.
Air miles are awarded at the rate of 1 mile for every dollar spent on all purchases made on the card but that rises to 3 miles to the dollar when you use the card to pay for travel expenses at Orbitz.com. There are no limits on the number of air miles you can earn and the air miles do not expire. When you are ready to cash them in in addition to using them to pay for flights to anywhere in the world and/or hotel accommodations you can also opt to convert them into gift cards or for merchandise of all kinds offered at the Capital One Rewards Center on line. Alternately you can opt for straight cash back or to donate your air miles to the charity of your choice.
A Word about Air Miles Credit Cards
There are those that criticize air miles rewards credit cards – and rewards cards in general – because they say they encourage people to spend more than they can afford to in order to earn their desired rewards. That is one of the reasons why most air miles cards are available only to those with very good or excellent credit – people who have already demonstrated that they are financially responsible.
There are ways to get more out of any air miles reward credit cards without spend in a penny more than you usually would. For instance instead of using your bank debit card to pay for those weekly or biweekly trips to the grocery store use your air miles rewards credit card instead (making sure to put the cash aside to pay off your balance at the end of the month). As the average grocery bill for a family of four, or even just for one person, keeps rising if you can get a little something back, in the case a hundred or so air miles every time you do a “big food shop” it’s a nice bonus and a great way to accumulate air miles far faster than you might have ever thought was possible.