Are Capital One miles really available as they say

October 30, 2006 11:12 AM

Does Capital One REALLY have airline miles with no blackout dates? With seats available? I think it's too good to be true, and possibly they just have very few or no seats on those flights. My experience with Northwest is that often you have to use double the miles to get flights in non-blackout times. But it would be nice to get miles on other airlines. anyone have experience on this?

I've been getting Capital One offers lately, and as far as I can see, the only way to know how useful their miles are is to get one of their cards. In my experience, it sounds too good to be true, and therefore probably is ( no fee, any airlines, etc.). BTW, i pay off my balance every month, so the interest rate isn't critical.
Judy

posted by judybxxx to travel & transportation (6 comments total)

The Capital One program doesn't give you airline miles; it gives you Capital One miles. To redeem them you call Capital One. They will then book the ticket and pay for it and give it to you for the miles.

The program is not well regarded on FatWallet or on Flyertalk, because you have no choice of what airline to fly, or frequently what times/connections your flights have. And they can devalue it at any time. (And I think there might be a price limit, but I'm not certain.)
posted by raf at 11:22 AM on October 30, 2006

The way it used to work was that every 90 points you earned counted as one dollar towards the cost of a flight. All you had to do was book a flight like normal on your card, elect to use points, and the correct number of points would be deducted from your balance. The airlines never got told by you that you were using points, thus no blackout dates (although it's quite possible that Capital One got a cut of something somewhere from the airlines as a result).

Recently they changed it to be more airline like - 30,000 points for flights up to $300; 60,000 points for flights costing between $300 and $600; and then an additional X miles per dollar on top of that (I don't remember X at the moment).

I'm assuming it would work the same way as it used to, but I haven't tried it with the new system.

On preview, apparently it's changed and you don't get to book your own flight anymore.
posted by langeNU at 11:26 AM on October 30, 2006

...and the price limit is $350 for 35,000 miles. This basically gives you 1% cash back. AMEX gives you 2% on their regular card.

On the bright side, there is no annual fee. Additionally, Capital One doesn't charge 2-3% when you use it abroad...
posted by unexpected at 11:28 AM on October 30, 2006

I have a Capital One No Hassle miles card, and I have nothing but good things to say about it. There are no blackout dates, because you don't have to book through Capital One. You buy whatever tickets on whatever airline you want, using the card, and then go online and get reimbursed using your miles.

The current formula is 80 miles = 1 dollar towards a ticket. Every dollar you spend on the card gives you one mile. I don't know if they still run this promotion or not, but when I signed up, they give you 10,000 miles for free after each of the first two years. (In order to get the bonus miles, you have to spend at least 3k per year, with no late fees.)

It worked out to where I just got my free 300-dollar round trip ticket after about 13 months.
posted by chrisamiller at 12:07 PM on October 30, 2006

@raf: By chance is there an airline-agnostic frequent flyer card that is well regarded on FatWallet or Flyertalk?
posted by Alex Handcoding at 5:40 PM on October 30, 2006

well, this is very interesting, at first I thought, no way, if you can't book your own flight. now it seems there is/was an alternative. chrisamiller and raf are reporting very different experiences.

I'm glad to know the two websites.

But I think I'm still better off sticking with Northwest's card, even though there's a fee, as it is so useful for last-minute flights in times of family emergencies. And, living in Minneapolis, Northwest is almost the only airline with direct flights, which I much prefer. But if I ever consider it again, I'll certainly check out the booking thing.
Judy
posted by judybxxx at 7:36 PM on October 30, 2006