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Capital One Venture X is here with a 100K Miles signup bonus and an unmatched 10-5-2 rewards structure, unseating the long-reigning Sapphire Reserve as the new #1 Best Credit Card by Dr. Credit Card

11/14/2021

Just a month after hugely improving its Miles program that allows frequent traveler miles/points transfer to 15 partners at 1:1 ratio, Capital One brought us its first ever high-end credit card - Venture X Visa Infinite Card, with the following impressive features:

A 100K Miles signup bonus after you spend $10,000 within the first 6 months, worth $1,500 based on our current valuation of 1.5 cents per Mile,
A $395 annual fee, comparable to other high-end cards', which with $300 annual travel credits (requiring bookings through Capital One Travel, valued at $150) and 10K Miles anniversary bonus (valued at $150) effectively becomes $95, the same as the mid-tier Venture Visa Signature Card's,
An unmatched 10-5-2 earning structure: 10x Miles on hotels & car rentals through Capital One Travel (=15% travel rewards), 5x on airfare through Capital One Travel (=7.5% travel rewards), and 2x everywhere else (=3% travel rewards),
A long list of high-end perks, including airport lounge access, luxury hotel privileges, rental car elite status, Global Entry or TSA PreCheck credit, 24/7 concierge service, exclusive access to culinary, sports, and music events, and
A high level of travel & consumer protection, including primary rental car insurance, cellphone protection, $1M travel accident insurance, travel delay, travel cancellation insurance, lost baggage, return protection, extended warranty, and purchase protection.

No wonder Venture X easily unseated the long-reigning Chase Sapphire Reserve and became the new #1 Best Credit Card by Dr. Credit Card. Here are the before and after snapshots of our Top 10 list:

Capital One improves the frequent flyer miles transfer feature for Venture Card & Spark Miles && Venture Card is now #3 best credit card on our list!

10/12/2021

Capital One has surprised us again with the improvement brought to its Capital One (C1) Miles rewards program. The transfer ratio of the following six airline partners has been improved:

Air Canada Aeroplan (1000:750) -> (1000:1000)
British Airways Executive Club (1000:750) -> (1000:1000)
Emirates Skywards (1000:500) -> (1000:1000)
Flying Blue by Air France & KLM (1000:750) -> (1000:1000)
Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer (1000:500) -> (1000:1000)
Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles (1000:750) -> (1000:1000)

So in total there are 15 partners that have the industry-standard 1:1 transfer ratio and there are only 2 partners with a transfer ratio worse than that (EVA with 1000:750 and Accor with 1000:500). In addition, JetBlue TrueBlue still has the old 1000:750 ratio but will leave C1 Miles program as of 10/24/21. We have updated our featured review comparing five rewards programs offering flexible miles/points transfer feature. Capital One has come a long way in terms of improving its program. Before 2018, we considered C1 Miles as "fake miles" as they can only be redeemed up to a fixed value of 1 cent per point for various options including travel rewards. In 2018, the frequent traveler miles/points transfer feature was introduced with 12 partners, most of which had a sub-standard ratio of 1000:750 so our valuation for C1 Miles was 1.1 cents per point. In April 2021, the transfer feature was enhanced by adding a few new partners as well as making transfer ratio 1000:1000 for more than half of the partners and we started valuing C1 Miles at 1.3 cents per point. Now with this new enhancement, we finally feel that C1 Miles are as valuable as the big three programs offered by credit card issuers: Amex Membership Rewards, Chase Ultimate Rewards, and Citi ThankYou and our current valuation for all four programs is the same at 1.5 cents per point.

Obviously, with this increased valuation, Venture Card and Spark Miles Business Card, both offering 2x Miles (=3% travel rewards) on everything with a $95 annual fee, are becoming better than ever before. Venture Card now takes the top spot from Citi Premier as the Best Credit Card for Rewards and also jumps from #6 to #3 on our Top 10 Best Credit Cards list. On the other hand, Spark Miles is considered the best business card for spending, alongside with Amex Blue Business Plus. Below is the before/after comparison of our Top 10 list.

Amazing Marriott Bonvoy co-branded credit card offers (best ever for three cards & second best for one): points & free nights from Amex & Chase

9/28/2021

Another round of amazing signup offers and this time is for four Marriott Bonvoy co-branded credit cards:

Amex Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant Card ($450 annual fee & $300 annual Marriott credit): 150,000 points + one 85K-point free night (our value $1,425) - easily the best offer ever for this product!
Amex Marriott Bonvoy BUSINESS Card ($125 annual fee): 125,000 points + two 50K-point free nights (our value $1,413) - easily the best offer ever for this product!
Chase Marriott Bonvoy Boundless Visa Card ($99): 125,000 points + one 50K-point free night (our value $1,143). We consider this as the second best offer ever behind last year's five 50K-point free night offer.
Chase Marriott Bonvoy Bold Visa Card (no annual fee): 60,000 points (our value $450) - also the best offer ever on this product.

You might pick one up based on your own situation. Beware of the rules - read the details on the application page or in our reviews.

Chase Sapphire Preferred & Sapphire Reserve receive enhancements without annual fee increase and take 1-2 for Team Chase

8/16/2021

Chase has brought several enhancements to its popular Sapphire Preferred (CSP) and Sapphire Reserve (CSR). The annual fees ($95 on CSP and $550 on CSR) are kept the same. We think CSP's enhancements have been long overdue because the non-fee duo Freedom Flex and Freedom Unlimited have offered some similar bonus categories for a while. With a reasonable annual fee, CSP is now #3 best credit card for rewards. While we think CSR has been competitive even after Chase increased the annual fee from $450 to $550 last year mostly due to the COVID related temporary benefits, we certainly welcome the new benefits which will keep this card one of our top recommendations. With these enhancements, CSR and CSP now take the first and second spots on our Top 10 list. Citi Prestige was taken off the list because it has been discontinued to new applicants. Below are the before and after Top 10.

Chase Sapphire Preferred Enhancements (effective August 16, 2021)

5x total points on all travel purchased through Chase Ultimate Rewards
3x points on dining, including eligible delivery services, takeout and dining out (previously 2x)
3x points on select streaming services
3x points on online grocery purchases (excluding Target, Walmart and wholesale clubs)
$50 Annual Credit on hotel stays purchased through Ultimate Rewards. New cardmembers will start earning towards the credit immediately and existing cardmembers will start earning after their next account anniversary.
10% Anniversary Point Bonus. Each account anniversary, cardmembers will earn bonus points equal to 10% of total purchases made the previous year. That means, $25,000 in spend will earn an additional 2,500 bonus points.
The Sapphire Preferred card will also feature a sleek new card design, which will be available to new and existing cardmembers after August 16.

Chase Sapphire Reserved Enhancements (Effective August 16, 2021)

10x total points on Chase Dining purchases through Ultimate Rewards
10x total points on hotel stays and car rentals purchased through Ultimate Rewards
5x total points on air travel purchased through Ultimate Rewards
In addition to earning points, later this year Reserve cardmembers will have access to “Reserved by Sapphire,” featuring exclusive opportunities to book reservations at some of the most sought-after restaurants across the country including Canlis in Seattle, WA, Redbird in Los Angeles, CA, SingleThread Farms in Healdsburg, CA, Reverence in New York, NY and One Off Hospitality in Chicago.

Best signup bonus ever for: Citi Premier (80K points), Chase IHG Premier WEMC (150K points, 1st year free), and Barclays Wyndham Visa (three cards, 60-90K points each)

7/17/2021

Citi Premier has seen the best signup bonus ever - 80,000 ThankYou points with a $95 annual fee (our value $1,105).
Citi Prestige has been pulled from Citi website and is discontinued to new applications until further notice. There are two possibilities: one is that it will be gone for ever as Citi might exit the fierce high-end card market, and the other is that Citi might be working on a major revamp and will bring it back at some point in the future. We might have to pull it from our Top 10 list pending further confirmation.
Chase IHG Premier WEMC also offers the best ever - 150,000 IHG Rewards points with the 1st annual fee waiver (our value $600).
Barclays Wyndham Visa cards also hit historical high: 60,000 Wyndham Rewards points on earner Visa, 90,000 points on either earner+ Visa or earner Business Visa. Our valuation for these three offers are $470~$625.

Amex again revamps its iconic Platinum Card with an amazing 125K + 15x points bonus; Chase Aer Lingus or Iberia 100K points with $5K spending; Chase United Business 150K miles with $20K spending

7/4/2021

There have been quite a few exciting recent offers:

The iconic Amex Platinum Card got revamped to increase the annual fee from $550 to $695 and add four new categories of annual credits ($200 for prepaid hotel via Fine Hotels & Resorts or the Hotel Collection, $179 for CLEAR membership, $300 for Equinox memberships, $240 for digital entertainment access). On top of that, it now comes with an amazing signup bonus of 125,000 points + 15x points on dining & small businesses for 6 months, arguably the best ever in history. The revamp, however, didn't change its position on our Top 10 List.
Amex Business Platinum Card doesn't receive a full revamp with the annual fee being kept at $595 but receives $179 CLEAR credit for free.
Following Chase British Visa, now Aer Lingus Visa and Iberia Visa also have a 100,000 point offer with an easy $5,000 spending requirement. This is also considered the best offer ever on either card.
Chase United Business Visa now offers 150,000 miles with a $20K spending requirement within 6 months. For those who could meet the spending requirement, this is undoubtedly the historical high.
Chase United Explorer Visa now offers 70,000 miles with an easy $3K spending requirement.
Chase Freedom Flex and Freedom Unlimited have an elevated 20,000 points + 5x on groceries for 12 months offer.

Chase Sapphire Preferred 100K points, British Airways Visa 100K points (with $5K spending), and Citi's new Custom Cash Card review

6/11/2021

Chase Sapphire Preferred is having an amazing 100,000 Ultimate Rewards points offer with a $4K spending requirement. The annual fee is not waived. This is the best deal we have seen since 2011 when there was a 100K offer with the first year annual fee waiver.
It has been reported that there is a slightly better offer in branch only - 100K points with the first year annual fee waiver. Check with your local Chase branch to see if the better offer pulls up.
Chase British Airways Visa also offers a historical best: 100,000 Avios points with a $5K spending requirement. This is much better than the previous 100K offer with a much higher $20K spending requirement or another current offer (50K + a Travel Together Ticket with $20K spending). The last time we have seen a 100K offer with a reasonable requirement was in 2011.
Citi has introduced a new 5% cashback card without an annual fee Custom Cash Card and our review is up. Different from Citi Dividend (discontinued to new applications), Chase Freedom Flex, or Discover it which offers 5% cashback on quarterly rotating categories and requires enrollment each quarter, Custom Cash automatically gives you 5% cashback from the categories you spend the most each billing cycle from the eligible list: restaurants, gas stations, grocery stores, select travel, select transit, select streaming services, drugstores, home improvement stores, fitness clubs, live entertainment. There is a spending cap of $500 in each billing cycle to receive 5%, which is actually similar to competitors' $1,500 quarterly spending cap. Generally we think this new card might be the best 5% cashback card in the market right now due to the flexibility and generous eligible categories.

Capital One enhances the frequent traveler miles/points transfer feature for Venture and Spark Miles

4/25/2021

Capital One (C1) Miles can always be redeemed for travel, gift cards, charity, etc. at a fixed value of 1 cent per Mile. In late 2018 Capital One introduced the frequent traveler miles/points transfer feature with 12 partners and a transfer ratio of 1000 C1 Miles : 750 frequent traveler miles/points for most partners, and while we welcomed the change we thought the transfer ratio is lower than the mainstream competitive programs such as Amex Membership Rewards, Chase Ultimate Rewards, and Citi ThankYou. Last week, Capital One announced the addition of British Airways, TAP Air Portugal, Turkish Airlines, and Choice Privileges to its transfer program and the increase of the transfer ratio to 1000:1000 for 9 partners (AeroMexico, Avianca, Cathay Pacific, Etihad, Finnair, Qantas, TAP, Wyndham, and Choice). Among the 1:1 transfer partners, Avianca, Cathay Pacific and Etihad probably offer better value, while you may still find some value in Air Canada and Turkish which keep the old 1:0.75 transfer ratio. We have updated our featured review Marriott vs. MR vs. UR vs. TY vs. C1 vs. CR covering the major programs that allow points transfer to frequent traveler miles/points to include C1 Miles in the comparison.

This enhancement substantially increases our value for C1 Miles from previously 1.1 cents to now 1.3 cents a piece. Capital One Venture Card (personal) and Spark Miles Business Card, both with an $95 annual fee and returning 2x Miles on everything, have become very powerful for general spending with 2.6% travel rewards based on our valuation. They compare favorably to other high returning cards for general spending with the transfer feature: Citi Double Cash (no annual fee, 2x points = 3% rewards, requiring a premium ThankYou card to activate the transfer feature), Amex EveryDay Preferred ($95 annual fee, 1.5x points = 2.25% rewards, requiring at least 30 transactions per month to achieve 1.5x), Amex Blue Business Plus (no annual fee, 2x points = 3% rewards up to $50K spent annually), Chase Freedom Unlimited (no annual fee, 1.5x points = 2.25% rewards, requiring a premium Ultimate Rewards card to activate the transfer feature), and Chase Ink Unlimited Business Card (no annual fee, 1.5x points = 2.25% rewards, requiring a premium Ultimate Rewards card to activate the transfer feature).

As a result, Capital One is now rated #6 Best Credit Card by Dr. Credit Card and also #4 Best Credit Card for Rewards. Our Top 10 list also saw the climbing of Amex Platinum and Amex Gold due to their increased signup bonuses and for Platinum the addition of cellphone protection coverage earlier this month. This is the before and after comparison of our Top 10 list.

Best bonus ever for Hilton Amex, Hilton Surpass Amex, Hilton Business Amex ($100+100K points, $150+150K points)

1/31/2021

Amex and Hilton have brought the best bonuses ever for the cobranded Hilton Amex, Hilton Surpass Amex, and Hilton Business Amex:

Amex Hilton ($0): $100 statement credit after your first purchase & 100,000 points after you spend $1,000 within the first 3 months of new account opening (our value $500)
Amex Hilton Surpass ($95): $150 statement credit after your first purchase & 150,000 points after you spend $2,000 within the first 3 months of new account opening (our value $655)
Amex Hilton Business Card ($95): $150 statement credit after your first purchase & 150,000 points after you spend $2,000 within the first 3 months of new account opening (our value $655)

Check your email for the huge Barclays promotions for existing cardmembers - up to 60,000 miles/points or $600 cash!

11/14/2020

Throughout this pandemic when many card issuers have been bringing temporary benefits or bonuses to keep their existing cardmembers, Barclays has been quiet, until now.

In the last couple of days, many Barclays cardmembers received a promotional email titled "Double Bonus Opportunity – Earn up to 60,000 miles!" or "...60,000 points!" or "...$600 Uber Cash!" This appears to be a widely targeted offer to all Barclays cards such as Arrivals cards, AAdvantage Aviator cards, JetBlue cards, Hawaiian Airlines cards, Wyndham cards, Uber card: between 11/10/2020 and 1/31/2021, you will earn up to 60,000 miles/points or $600 cash, depending on which card you have (e.g. 10x additional points on everything, up to 10,000 points earned, and additional 50,000 points when you spend a total of $3,000 within this period). This must be the best bonus ever for existing cardmembers since I started writing about credit cards in 2011; usually you need to open a new account and meet the minimum spending requirement to receive a bonus like this; mostly likely the existing cardmembers did receive a similar bonus when they opened the card, and now it is like receiving a second bonus to keep the card.