Does anyone have a Capital One Airline Credit Card?

[bu's mama]

I'm thinking about getting one even though I hate how there are always 5000 commercials for them on.

I have a regular card, no benefits, that I pay off every month. My sister just moved to Hawaii so I'm planning on visiting her & i thought this might be a good way to go.

I like that it says no blackout dates, any airline type of thing but I was wondering how true that was when it came to redeeming your mileage.

Thanks.

[bu's mama]

Anyone?

[doctormom]

Not exactly the answer to your post...but I would avoid Capital One if you have other alternatives.

I had a Capital One card several years ago, in the days before they deluged the airwaves with advertising. I had the card for many years, used it regularly, and always paid off the balance on-time...you'd think that would make me a good customer, right? Wrong. The company notified me that they were unilaterally changing my cardmember agreement, and imposing a high annual fee. When I called to ask why I was being penalized, they told me it was BECAUSE I wasn't carrying a balance from month to month, and therefore they weren't making any money in financing and fees. Essentially, they said they didn't want me as a customer anymore, because I paid my bills on time. :

Needless to say, I cancelled the card immediately, and opened an account with a company that didn't penalize cardholders for responsible card use. Honestly, I was offended that they would encourage cardholders to carry a balance and rack up penalties and fees...after all, that is how many people get into the spiral of endless credit card debt. They were already making money from merchants every time I used the card, it just came down to greed - they wanted more $$$ - and not long after that, they started the (completely offensive) ad campaigns positioning themselves as the card of choice for people who can't get credit from other companies. I won't do business ever again with a company that actively DISCOURAGES the responsible use of credit.

[cheerma]

DH and I both have had our own CapitalOne cards for the past 4 years. So far, we've had no problems. We use the cards and pay them off. They keep increasing our credit limit every 6 to 12 months. We've never had an annual fee. We are a low income family, so these cards have come in handy a few times when we really needed them.

[Yooper]

I do not have Capital One but we do have a US Bank (equally evil) airline credit card. We have our card set up to automatically withdraw from our bank account every month so we never ever carry a balance. Because of this, we do have a $50 annual fee. However that is a bargain. We put EVERYTHING on that card plus dh's business travel. We have gotten "free" airline tickets every year. At least one and twice we got all three of our tix to somewhere from the miles. Ours does have "blackout dates". You can still fly on those days but you have to use more mile. We have done that before. Like if we HAVE to fly for Tday and it is going to cost a small fortune, I would rather blow some extra miles seeing as it is no "pain" or expense to rack them up again.

I think the airline miles CCs are a great deal, but ONLY if the user is fiscally responsible with them. They are typically very high interest so you will lose a lot more money in finance charges than you will save in tix if you carry a balance.

[Yooper]

Originally Posted by doctormom

Not exactly the answer to your post...but I would avoid Capital One if you have other alternatives.

I had a Capital One card several years ago, in the days before they deluged the airwaves with advertising. I had the card for many years, used it regularly, and always paid off the balance on-time...you'd think that would make me a good customer, right? Wrong. The company notified me that they were unilaterally changing my cardmember agreement, and imposing a high annual fee. When I called to ask why I was being penalized, they told me it was BECAUSE I wasn't carrying a balance from month to month, and therefore they weren't making any money in financing and fees. Essentially, they said they didn't want me as a customer anymore, because I paid my bills on time. :

Needless to say, I cancelled the card immediately, and opened an account with a company that didn't penalize cardholders for responsible card use. Honestly, I was offended that they would encourage cardholders to carry a balance and rack up penalties and fees...after all, that is how many people get into the spiral of endless credit card debt. They were already making money from merchants every time I used the card, it just came down to greed - they wanted more $$$ - and not long after that, they started the (completely offensive) ad campaigns positioning themselves as the card of choice for people who can't get credit from other companies. I won't do business ever again with a company that actively DISCOURAGES the responsible use of credit.

Most cc companies will do that. We were dropped my MBNA after being a "loyal" card holder for 10+ years because we did not make them enough money. That is just the name of the game. Since it is easy enough to get a different card, I don't care. Really, in cases like yours (and mine) they are providing a "service" for very little return. One would think the millions they are milking out of the other 99% of the cc users would be enough to compensate, but apparently not