I applied for the CapitalOne Venture card a few years back when they ran the 100,000 point offer for new applicants. This was the one with Alec Baldwin constantly advertising the card on TV.
I paid the annual fee last year and this year I realized that it wasn’t worth it. While a $59 annual fee is less then many others that I have this really was a card I never used! I redeemed the last of my points a few months ago and when I saw that the annual fee hit my credit card I called CapitalOne to cancel the card. I wasn’t even going to ask for an offer to keep it, my true intention of the call was to cancel.
I explained to the representative that I wanted to cancel due to the $59 annual fee and I really do not get much benefit of it. Without even asking or being put through to a specific department I was given a retention offer. It was probably the best retention offer I’ve ever received – keep the card and we will waive the fee for you! No guarantee that the fee will be waived next year, but for this year you are all set!
I figured why not! A free year of a card I still probably won’t use! The plus side is that it will not hit my credit report right now and on the off chance I decide to start using this card I am still a card holder.
I still think this is a good card for many, along with the Barclaycard Arrival Mastercard, for those that are looking to earn points in a fixed redemption program.
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Great data point. This is why it’s so important to call the retention department even if you have no intention of actually cancelling the card – most places will waive the annual fee unless the card comes with a benefit that costs them money (e.g an annual point bonus or lounge access).
I don’t understand why this card is so overlooked. I use it even with my SPG (1.3mm points) and Chase (450,000 points). I use it to pay for hotel incidentals and other travel related expenses. You earn 2 points per dollar spent and redeem at 100 points per dollar if the expense is “travel related”, they are pretty forgiving with this and will work with you if you have expenses that don’t show up as travel related. If they are not travel related it cost you 2 points per dollar (purchase eraser) I think they call this. So basically they have a value of 2% if used for travel. We rented ski equipment at our SPG hotel a couple weeks ago to the tune of $1000 which I used 100,000 C1 points to pay for. These 100,000 points however, and keep this in mind, were earned with $50,000 of spend. You rarely hear the spend cost discussed which is something you really need to factor into the equation.
@GetToThePoints – It is a great card for many. However, with some other cards, i.e., Chase Sapphire Preferred/Chase Ink and Starwood Amex I am typically able to get way more then 2 cents per point value. The Barclaycard Arrival World Mastercard is also very similar to the CapitalOne card, but will give you a slightly better return (although also a slightly higher annual fee).
Are there any cards that you just keep and pay for annually?
@GetToThePoints, the problem is that in the first year the Arrival will win out (2.2% when redeeming for travel), it has a slightly higher annual fee but the sign up bonus is so much larger that it’s not an issue till the 4th or 5th year.
William- I concur on the value when redeeming but do not discount the spend it takes to “earn” the points in the first place. C1 gives 2:1 for ALL spend not just certain categories which yields more points.
Barclay Arrival is also 2:1 (actually 2.2222) for ALL spend.
With the 40,000 bonus point offer now in effect, this card is very competitive.