When it comes to travel cards, there are a few that stand out in the mix. Here’s an overview of Chase vs Capital One travel cards and why I have both in my wallet. This post includes affiliate links to cards I recommend.
Thomas and I should be in Mexico right now at the Andaz Mayakoba! This trip costs us almost nothing thanks to travel rewards! We paid for our flight and hotel with Chase Ultimate Rewards points (before we left) and are paying for our food and drinks (charged to the room) with Capital One Venture Reward Miles. This post will explain how these two point currencies work together to cover travel before and during your trip!
Chase vs Capital One travel cards
Whenever a friend asks me about using credit card points for free travel, I always tell them that ultimately they probably want to have both a Chase Sapphire and a Capital One Venture in their wallet. While those just starting out are always a little tired of getting multiple new cards, rest assured that you don’t need to rush to get them. You can get one per year and keep them forever as travel cards.
The main reason I recommend both is because you earn points in different currencies and you spend points in different ways. Sapphire is ideal for before trips and the Venture is great for during and after the trip.
Premium or Ultra Premium?
Both Chase and Capital One have two tiers of their Sapphire/Venture cards:
Which tier you get depends on your annual fee comfort level and how often you travel/how often you’ll use the card. I’ll focus on the premium tier for this post, but know that either is an option! The coins will work together and balance the same way.
Here’s a quick overview of Sapphire vs Venture Rewards:
- Badge: Earn Chase Ultimate Rewards that you can use to book trips for 1.25 points per dollar on the Chase portal OR transfer to travel partners like Hyatt, Marriott, British Airways, United and Jet Blue.
- Current bonus offer worth $750: 60,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points after spending $4,000 in the first 3 months
- What to use it on: This card earns 3 points at restaurants, so this is my go-to card for dining out.
- 1x points on everything else
- Badge: Earn Capital One Rewards miles that you can erase on trips with a statement credit after you travel Or you can book travel on the Cap One portal OR you can transfer to partners like Air France/KLM Flying Blue, British Airways Avios, Choice Privileges and Wyndham Rewards.
- Current bonus offer worth $750: 75,000 Capital One Miles after spending $4,000 in the first 3 months
- What to use it on: everything except dinner!
- 2x points on everything else
Both cards have other benefits like trip cancellation insurance, rental car benefits, a $50 hotel credit (Sapphire only), TSA PreCheck credit (Venture only), and a $95 annual fee.
The view from the Four Seasons Anguilla
Book on portals: Chase wins
Both cards allow bookings on portals and also transfers to your selection of travel partners. In my opinion, Chase wins the portal game because it gets 1.25 points per dollar vs. 1 to 1 with Capital One. Because of this, when we need to book travel (flights, sometimes hotels), we always use Chase! It’s very easy to book on the Chase portal: simply search for your hotel or flights and when you check out, you’ll only pay with points. Put the remaining balance into your Sapphire and you’ll earn 5 points for that spend.
If you’re transferring points, Chase wins for this too because I’d rather stay at a Hyatt resort than Cap One hotel options. Travel Freely reports that the value of Chase points increases up to about 1.8 when transferring points to partners journey. So you get more than $1 per point. Therefore, Chase points are considered very valuable because they are worth a lot. That said, it’s a little more complicated to book travel with Chase than with Capital One, where you simply write off any travel expenses you incur. See below.
Erase trips after you get home with The Venture
Purchase Eraser allows you to book directly on a hotel or airline website and then delete the purchase from your points statement. That’s maximum flexibility!
The Venture is also great for all expenses that aren’t base trip costs: transportation, car rentals, food and drink on property, and anything you charge in your room (like a massage!). With Points Eraser, you’ll find a list of travel expenses in your Capital One app that you’ve incurred. the last 90 days. You select the ones you want to delete, select how many points you want to allocate, and BOOM, you’ll get a refund on your card in about a day!
Please note that Capital One must define expenses as travel before they can be deleted. Some things you might think are travel but aren’t: airport parking and gas. But everything related to the hotel will be. And I’ve had several ferries as a trip (our Disney ferries, our Mexico ferries, and the BHI ferry!)
The purchase Draft It’s also key if you love staying in Airbnbs! Anything coded as a trip counts, from Airbnb to Uber rides to the Bald Head Ferry. This is a HUGE plus about the Venture X if you love boutique hotels or staying in homes. Here is an article on the use of the point eraser.
The balance: pursue before and adventure after the trip
I love the balance between racking up Chase Ultimate Reward points for larger flights and hotel stays and using my Capital One points to erase smaller travel expenses that I wouldn’t otherwise be able to use points for. Paying for food on trips has always been a drawback in the free ride world because, if you’re like us, you can rack up some food and drink! Sure, having your flight/hotel free may mean you can allocate more budget to food, but being able to charge the food to your room and then erase the cost is like staying at an all-inclusive 🙂 For example, we booked our hotel and flights to Mexico in the Chase Portal and then charged all of our food and drinks to our room and used Capital One points to erase that cost. This means our trip was totally free minus a few incidentals!
Lunch at The Half Shell, Anguilla
How to earn more points
After you get the initial $750 sign-up bonus, there are a few ways to earn more points so you can keep this track going:
- Recommend friends – You will earn between 15,000 and 25,000 points per friend up to 100,000 points per year (this varies by card). That’s up to $250 per friend/family member.
- Spend money – Obviously when you use your cards for everyday things you will earn money. I’m the friend who leaves my card at a restaurant and people Venmo me back. I have to earn those points! Remember that I use Chase for everything food and grocery related and Cap One for everything else because it makes twice as much as Chase for everything else (medical bills, taxes, subscriptions, Christmas gifts, etc.)
- Mix business cards – See below! This is the best way to travel a lot if you have an entrepreneur in your family.
Chase + Capital One Business Cards
If you have a business and the word business has a very vague definition, you can earn even more points. Thomas and I are business owners, so we have both obtained several Chase Ink Business Cards and tons of points that way. You do not need to have a store or an EIN to be considered a business. If you drive for Uber or make jewelry, you have a business. Business cards typically have higher spending requirements to earn the sign-up bonus, but the bonuses are typically higher as well.
Here’s the best part: you can transfer Your business points to your Sapphire or Venture and then use them for your travels! So, because you’re earning points for purchasing printer ink for your home office, you can transfer them to the Venture card and then erase a piña colada you carry in your room while on vacation.
Chase Business Cards
Capital One Business Cards:
More cards to get
Chase has a handful of other cards (like the freedom card) that earn Ultimate Rewards and can be transferred to your Sapphire. So if you have a Sapphire and a Venture and want to increase your points, you can order more cards and then move those points to your main travel card (since the Sapphire gets that 1.25 to 1.8 point rating!)
The must-have travel card app
If you are starting out in this world of travel cards, you need the Travel Card Tracker Freely. It’s free to use and will give you a summary of the benefits of each card, helping you know which cards to use and when. You can enter the cards you have and it will track your application date, annual fees, and when it’s time to get a new card. He card genie It is also a good advantage to recommend which card to purchase next. You can also include personal and business to better stagger them.
What about Amex?
I have yet to venture into Amex, so I can’t speak much about how it would fit into this plan. If I feel like we’re short on points and could use a boost, I can work my way into the Amex world. I have heard the American Gold It is a very good card. If you already have access to the Amex points family, you can see the best offers for Amex cards here.
In summary
- Before a trip: Use all cards that earn Ultimate Rewards to earn points for Sapphire and book flights and hotels on the portal or by transferring them to partners.
- after a trip: Use your Capital One points to erase food, beverage, and transportation costs incurred during your trip!
- Apply for a Chase Sapphire Preferred here
- Apply for a Capital One Venture Rewards Card here
- Consider getting the Chase Sapphire Reserve either Capital One Venture also! (I have the Venture X and love the added benefits that come with it, like lounge access.)
