For the last few weeks I’ve been optimistically anticipating a repeat of the Capital One Venture promotion from last year in which Melissa and I were each able to pick up 100,000 points. Rumors had been going around that Capital One was going to do it again. However, the promotion is different this year and by different I mean disappointing. The actual promotion is the Venture Double Miles Challenge and even Alec Baldwin looks disappointed.
Last time around, approved applicants could send in a copy of their frequent flyer statement showing 100,000 miles in the account and BOOM…Capital One would match those points. This time, Capital One is going to require approved applicants to send in a year-end summary from their travel credit card and they will award 2 points for every dollar spent during the year. The switch to a spend-oriented promotion will make this a non-starter for most people. Maxing out the bonus would mean having put $50,000 on a single credit card in 2011. I’m pretty sure the most I put on any single card was $10,000 to meet a spending requirement and then I was on to the next card.
Bear in mind, the link to the promotional page above is not the final promotion, but it sure gives us a good idea how the deal will be run.
Update: Capital One has taken down the basic terms of the promotion, but you can still see them in the screenshot above.
Sadly, I think I’ll be sitting this one out. The promotion will likely start sometime between March 7th and 11th.
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Awesome! I put ~$53k on my Chase UA MP last year, so I’m good to go! I missed this last year, so glad to make it this time. This should finance some serious MRing!!
HansGolden, sometimes I want to be you. Good luck with the pending Venture promotion!
I wish business credit cards qualify.
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Thanks for posting the preview. It is possible they will tweak the terms before starting. As it stands I had $31k on my Amex Premier Rewards Gold card (stopped once I reached $30k for the 15k points bonus) – not sure if that will qualify as a “travel” card but if it did 62k would be worth it ($620 value). Beside that I had $22k on my SPG card. I have a lot of other spend but all spread of numerous cards
I am disappointed as well…oh well, on to other things I guess.
Thanks for posting this. The Flyertalk thread was confusing.
Fortunately, I had $53k on my Amex PR Gold card last year, and if they don’t take that, then my AA Visa was pretty high as well. There was a certain couple of money transfer services that aided in both, but that’s beside the point
I suppose they did this b/c most people that got the promotion for the full 100k last year probably hardly used the card after the minimum spend was hit, which isn’t what they were looking for. Also, switching it up is good for a company too and by offering a promotion that matches spend, and not miles, they can guarantee big spenders will have their card. Because I think it’s common knowledge now in the states that miles are given out like candy, whether you spend money or not.
- David
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I put a little of $50k on my Delta Amex last year, hubby put a little over $25k on his Delta Amex. This might be worth doing, at least for me. I didn’t do this last year. What all will I have to submit? Maybe a screenshot of my yearend spend from Amex? Thanks for posting this.
Congrats on being in a great spot to take advantage of this offer!
Capital One hasn’t said exactly what kind of documentation is required beyond a “year end summary” from your “travel credit card.” You shouldn’t have any trouble getting this summary and I would suggest using a Sharpie to redact any senstive information that you don’t want Capital One to see. I can’t imagine they would object to this based on privacy concerns.
I have a little over 20k spend on my United Mileage Plus before I got in “the game” about mid-year. Would 40k points be worth it in this promo? Is this in addition to the normal venture point signup bonuses or is this in place of a signup bonus?
Last year, approved applicants were given the standard 10,000 sign-up bonus in addition to the 100,000 matched miles. I suspect (but it is not certain) that the 10,000 point bonus will also be included this time. That would make your total bonus 50,000 points, equivalent to $500. This is a pretty decent offer, but keep in mind that Capital One has a history of checking all three credit bureaus (three inquiries, yuck). This may or may not matter to you. Weigh the value of this offer and compare it to other offers you may need to forgo to get it.
Thanks for the sneak peek. Do you think a Chase Sapphire card count as a travel card?
I really can’t say for certain, but I sure hope so!
What can you say regarding existing cardholders. I’ve held onto the card from last year, it’s time to cancel (1 year), has everyone done that? When? Are you expecting it to be churnable? Seems like there’s no reason to believe I wouldn’t be forced to sit out anyway…
I don’t expect existing cardholders will be able to get this deal. Capital One seems to have refined their strategy and is really targeting people who put a large amount of spending on a single card. They will be looking to attract new customers that will be profitable for their company. I think they’ve thought this strategy through and they intend to be highly competitive, not highly generous. Still, I’m happy to be wrong.
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