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 carry both in my wallet! This post contains affiliate links to the cards I recommend.
Thomas and I should be in Mexico right now at the Andaz Mayakoba! This trip cost us next to nothing thanks to travel rewards! We paid for our flight and hotel with Chase Ultimate Rewards points (before we left) and we pay for our food and drinks (charged to the room) with Capital One Venture Reward Miles. This post will explain how these two point coins 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 they probably want both a Chase Sapphire and a Capital One Venture in their wallet after all. While those just starting out are always a little weary of getting a lot of 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 they earn points in different currencies and you spend points in different ways. Sapphire is great for before travel and Venture is great for on the trip and beyond.
Premium or Ultra Premium?
Both Chase and Capital One have two tiers of Sapphire/Venture cards:
The tier you get depends on how comfortable you are with the annual fee and how often you travel / how often you’ll use the card. I’ll be focusing on the premium tier for this post, but know that either is an option! The coins will work together and balance the same.
Here’s a quick overview of Sapphire vs Venture Rewards:
- Coin: Earns Chase Ultimate Rewards that you can either use travel book for 1.25 points per dollar on the Chase portal OR transfer to travel partners such as 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 for: this card earns 3x points at restaurants so this is my main dining card
- 1x points on everything else
- Coin: Earns Capital One Reward Miles that you can delete on trips with a travel credit after you travel OR you can book travel on the Cap One portal OR you can transfer to partners such as 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 for: everything but the food!
- 2x points on everything else
Both cards have other perks 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 at Four Seasons Anguilla
Booking at the Gates: The Chase Wins
Both cards allow you to book gateways and also transfers at their choice of travel partners. In my opinion, Chase wins the gateway game because you get 1.25 points per dollar versus 1 for 1 with Capital One. Because of this, when we need to book travel – flights, sometimes hotels – we always use Chase! It’s super easy to book on the Chase portal – just search for your hotel or flights and when you check out, you’ll just pay with points. Put the remaining balance into your Sapphire and you’ll earn 5x points on that spend.
If you’re going to transfer points, Chase wins for that as well because I’d rather stay at a Hyatt resort than the hotel options for Cap One. Travel Freely reports that the value of Chase points increases to about 1.8 when transferring points to travel partners. So you get more than $1 per point. So Chase points are considered very valuable because they are worth so much. 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.
Delete trips after returning home with Venture
Purchase Eraser allows you to book directly on a hotel/airline website and then erase the purchase from your points statement. This is ultimate flexibility!
Venture is also great for all expenses that aren’t the basic cost of the trip: buses, car rentals, food and drinks on property, and anything you charge to your room (like a massage!). With Points Eraser, you’ll find a list of travel expenses in the Capital One app that you’ve made the last 90 days. You select the ones you want to delete, choose how many points to put in, and BOOM you get a refund on your card in a day or so!
Please note that expenses must be designated by Capital One as travel before they can be written off. Some things you might think are travel but aren’t: airport parking and gas. But anything related to the hotel will be. And I got a lot of buses as a trip (the Disney buses, our Mexico buses, and the BHI ferry!)
The market Eraser it’s also important if you like to stay in Airbnbs! Anything coded as travel counts – from Airbnb to Uber to the Bald Head Ferry. This is a HUGE perk of the Venture X if you like boutique hotels or homestays. Here is an article about using the spot eraser.
The Balance: Chase Before + Venture After Travel
I like the balance between racking up Chase Ultimate Reward points for flights and longer hotel stays and using Capital One points to write off smaller travel expenses that I wouldn’t otherwise be able to use points for. Paying for food on trips has always been a disadvantage in the world of free travel because if you’re like us, you can stock up on food and drinks! Sure your free flight/hotel might mean you can budget more for food, but being able to charge for food in your room and then write off the cost is like staying at an all-inclusive : ) For example, we booked our hotel and flights to Mexico on the Chase Portal and then charged all of our food and beverages to our room and used Capital One points to write off that cost! That means our trip was completely free minus a few incidentals!
Lunch at The Half Shell, Anguilla
How to earn more points
After you’ve received your $750 initial signup bonus, there are a few ways to earn more points so you can continue that streak:
- Refer friends – You will receive 15,000-25,000 points per friend up to 100,000 points per year (this varies by card). That’s up to $250 per friend/family member.
- I spend money – Obviously when you use your cards for everyday things you will earn money. I’m the friend who will drop my card at a restaurant and get back with Venmo. Gotta earn those points! Remember I use Chase for all food/groceries and Cap One for everything else because it earns 2x more than Chase for everything else (medical bills, taxes, memberships, Christmas gifts, etc.)
- Mix in business cards – See below! This is the best way to travel a lot if you have a business owner in your family.
Chase + Capital One business cards
If you have a business and the word business is defined very loosely, you can earn even more points. Thomas and I are both business owners, so we’ve both acquired quite a few Chase Ink business cards and many points that way. You don’t need to have a storefront or need an EIN to be considered a business. If you drive for Uber or make jewelry, you have a business. Business cards usually have higher spending requirements to get the sign-up bonus, but the bonuses are usually higher as well.
Here’s the best part: You can TRANSPORT Your business points to Sapphire or Venture, then use them for your travels! So since you’re earning the points to buy printer ink for your home office, you can move them to the Venture card and then write off a pina colada charged to your room during your stay.
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 you can transfer them to your Sapphire. So if you have a Sapphire and a Venture and want to boost your points, you can apply for more cards and then move those points to your main travel card (since the Sapphire has that 1.25-1 valuation .8 points!)
The Must Have Travel Card App
If you’re starting out in this world of travel cards, you need it Travel Freely Card Tracker. It’s free to use and will give you a summary of each card’s benefits to help you know which cards to use and when. You can put in the cards you have and it will track your application date, annual fees and when it’s time for a new card. The genie card it’s also a nice perk to suggest which card to get next. You can also put personal and professional to scale them better.
What about Amex?
I haven’t dealt with Amex yet, so I can’t speak too much to how it would fit into this plan. If and when I feel like we have low points and could use a boost, I might jump into the Amex world. I have heard it Amex Gold it’s a very good card. If you’ve already taken advantage of the Amex family of points, you can check out the best deals on Amex cards here.
summarizing
- Before a trip: Use all Ultimate Rewards-earning cards to earn Sapphire points and book flights and hotels either at the gateway or for transfers at partners
- After a trip: Use Capital One points to write off food, beverage and transportation costs incurred during your trip!
- Apply for Chase Sapphire Preferred here
- Apply for a Capital One Business Rewards Card here
- Consider getting it Chase Sapphire Reserve the Capital One Venture X very! (I have the Venture X and love the extra perks that come with it, like lounge access).
