topic Re: Capital One SavorOne.... should I pair it with Venture X ?? Anyone tried this tempting combo? in Credit Cards

Capital One SavorOne.... should I pair it with Venture X ?? Anyone tried this tempting combo?

Live4Fishing — Thu, 30 Dec 2021 05:44:32 GMT

I'm currently in the Chase Ecosystem.. and I'm seriously thinking of adding the Capital One ecosystem to complement my portfolio of cards. And I can't seem to find a reason NOT to take the plunge. In fact... if it goes well I'd even downgrade my Chase CSR card to the CSP. The Venture X is also a Visa Infinite card with all the great travel protections we all love tha the CSR has. Anyone else gone down this route yet ? Would love some feedback from my Fico Forums community.

Re: Capital One SavorOne.... should I pair it with Venture X ?? Anyone tried this tempting combo?

wasCB14 — Thu, 30 Dec 2021 06:11:58 GMT

@Live4Fishing wrote:
I'm currently in the Chase Ecosystem.. and I'm seriously thinking of adding the Capital One ecosystem to complement my portfolio of cards. And I can't seem to find a reason NOT to take the plunge. In fact... if it goes well I'd even downgrade my Chase CSR card to the CSP. The Venture X is also a Visa Infinite card with all the great travel protections we all love tha the CSR has. Anyone else gone down this route yet ? Would love some feedback from my Fico Forums community.

If I'm reading the benefit terms correctly, the trip cancellation and interruption benefit is pretty stingy for a premium travel card.

https://ecm.capitalone.com/WCM/card/benefits-guide/20211109-venture-x/jb34520_build-it_dm_final_eng-proof_v1.pdf

Good SUB though.

Re: Capital One SavorOne.... should I pair it with Venture X ?? Anyone tried this tempting combo?

OmarGB9 — Thu, 30 Dec 2021 06:13:20 GMT

Well first I'd verify that all the same visa benefits the CSR has are indeed offered by the Venture X. Also, I know the Venture X comes as a Visa Signature, but I'm not sure about Visa Infinite.

Then I'd also analyze whether you wouldn't be spreading yourself spend-wise too thin, thus diluting rewards on both ecosystems. And of course, you'd have to start building up your points with Cap One now, not including the SUB.

Finally, remember that Cap One does a triple pull (1 HP per bureau) for any and all card applications.

Re: Capital One SavorOne.... should I pair it with Venture X ?? Anyone tried this tempting combo?

quikj9 — Thu, 30 Dec 2021 07:13:06 GMT

It's a solid, low maintenance, yet powerful combo. I'm looking to pair my Savor One with a Venture X as soon as it seems like they'll approve me.

@OmarGB9 it's been my understanding that the Venture X is only issued as a Visa Infinite, similar to the CSR.

Re: Capital One SavorOne.... should I pair it with Venture X ?? Anyone tried this tempting combo?

C6 — Thu, 30 Dec 2021 13:56:12 GMT

Personally, I feel the Venture X is the best travel card on the market; however I don't see any value in the Savor One. The only benefit of the Savor One is 3% on dining / groceries. Since the OP already has the 3% AOD card why waste three hard pulls. One also has to consider how much dining out one does, if it's $1000 monthly the difference between a 2% and 3% card is a big $10. If you're looking to save consider eating at home more. In my state most restaurants multiply food costs by 4 - 5 times to get their menu price, then they expect a 20% gratuity and 7% tax, mostly for mediocre food. If you have large dining spend for business entertaining then perhaps a business card would be a better fit.

Re: Capital One SavorOne.... should I pair it with Venture X ?? Anyone tried this tempting combo?

NRB525 — Thu, 30 Dec 2021 15:16:00 GMT

@quikj9 wrote:
It's a solid, low maintenance, yet powerful combo. I'm looking to pair my Savor One with a Venture X as soon as it seems like they'll approve me.

@OmarGB9 it's been my understanding that the Venture X is only issued as a Visa Infinite, similar to the CSR.

Reading through the CapOne details, and the TPG write up, I'd think Venture X is not specific, but depends on the cardholder. Both VISA Signature or VISA Infinite are possible to issue. Case in point, when you get to the TPG listing of Main Benefits / Benefits Overview, several of the benefits are asterisked. The asterisk says "Benefits available on VISA Infinite cards".

Re: Capital One SavorOne.... should I pair it with Venture X ?? Anyone tried this tempting combo?

C6 — Thu, 30 Dec 2021 16:37:39 GMT

@NRB525 wrote:
@quikj9 wrote:
It's a solid, low maintenance, yet powerful combo. I'm looking to pair my Savor One with a Venture X as soon as it seems like they'll approve me.

@OmarGB9 it's been my understanding that the Venture X is only issued as a Visa Infinite, similar to the CSR.
Reading through the CapOne details, and the TPG write up, I'd think Venture X is not specific, but depends on the cardholder. Both VISA Signature or VISA Infinite are possible to issue. Case in point, when you get to the TPG listing of Main Benefits / Benefits Overview, several of the benefits are asterisked. The asterisk says "Benefits available on VISA Infinite cards".

To the best of my knowledge all Venture X cards are Visa Infinite with a minimum limit of $10,000.

Re: Capital One SavorOne.... should I pair it with Venture X ?? Anyone tried this tempting combo?

dangerously_caffeinated — Thu, 30 Dec 2021 20:02:49 GMT

@Live4Fishing wrote:
I'm currently in the Chase Ecosystem.. and I'm seriously thinking of adding the Capital One ecosystem to complement my portfolio of cards. And I can't seem to find a reason NOT to take the plunge. In fact... if it goes well I'd even downgrade my Chase CSR card to the CSP. The Venture X is also a Visa Infinite card with all the great travel protections we all love tha the CSR has. Anyone else gone down this route yet ? Would love some feedback from my Fico Forums community.

Hey there! I currently have a SavorOne and will be adding a Venture X as my travel card when my 6 months are up. If you decide to do this as you know, the reward structure is pretty great for effectively $5 paid to you a year. That being said, iif you do apply - Redacted cause bad

Re: Capital One SavorOne.... should I pair it with Venture X ?? Anyone tried this tempting combo?

dangerously_caffeinated — Thu, 30 Dec 2021 18:27:36 GMT

@C6 wrote:
@NRB525 wrote:
@quikj9 wrote:
It's a solid, low maintenance, yet powerful combo. I'm looking to pair my Savor One with a Venture X as soon as it seems like they'll approve me.

@OmarGB9 it's been my understanding that the Venture X is only issued as a Visa Infinite, similar to the CSR.
Reading through the CapOne details, and the TPG write up, I'd think Venture X is not specific, but depends on the cardholder. Both VISA Signature or VISA Infinite are possible to issue. Case in point, when you get to the TPG listing of Main Benefits / Benefits Overview, several of the benefits are asterisked. The asterisk says "Benefits available on VISA Infinite cards".
To the best of my knowledge all Venture X cards are Visa Infinite with a minimum limit of $10,000.

You are correct. The confusion may come from the traditional Venture, which is a minimum 5k limit. The venture is a Visa Signature. the Venture X is Visa Infinite.

Re: Capital One SavorOne.... should I pair it with Venture X ?? Anyone tried this tempting combo?

Aim_High — Thu, 30 Dec 2021 18:51:09 GMT

I think the Venture X is a compelling card for the mid-market consumer that it's targeted towards. I did consider it, but decided not to take that plunge at this time. IMO, it's not a comparable replacement for the Chase Sapphire Reserve but it's possibly the most worthy contender in that segment other than the US Bank Altitude Reserve, especially since AMEX raised the Platinum AF to $695. I didn't want to take the Capital One triple-pull for a new card, I had other plans for new credit when it came out, and I also had concerns about overly diluting my travel rewards with another travel card.

We all know that all "Visa Signature" or "Visa Infinite" cards are not created equal when it comes to which Visa benefits that a lender decides to offer. As @wasCB14 pointed out above, the trip cancellation coverage lags significantly on the Capital One card. (Trips are covered up to only $2K versus up to $10K on the Chase Sapphire Reserve.) Purchase Return Protection on Venture X is limited to $300 per purchase versus $500 per purchase on CSR, but annual limit on both is still $1K. I haven't poured over the other details but there may be more. I don't know of any area that the Venture X is better than CSR on trip insurances and cancellations, but in many coverages it is comparable. If perks are important to you at all, I would spend some time studying these differences before committing.

Sapphire Reserve's 3x UR on dining and the ability to redeem those points at 1.5% to 2% on travel, either directly through the Chase travel portal or by transfer to partners is a huge difference between a Venture X - Savor combo. That means dining out with Chase earns 3% in cash, or 4.5% in travel portal, or up to 6% if transferred. Savor earns 4% on dining (the 3% mentioned upthread is for the no-AF Savor ONE) but it adds another $95 AF to the equation, bringing total AF up to $490 with both cards versus the $550 with the CSR alone. However, correct me if I'm wrong but I don't believe Capital One allows "pooling" of cash back credits to be transferred between Savor and Venture cards. Meanwhile, the Chase UR points can be easily pooled between Sapphires, Freedoms, and INKS. That makes a Chase bi-fecta, tri-fecta, or quad-fecta still a stronger overall combo.

As a stand-alone card, the Savor may not be as rewarding as it appears, thanks to that $95 AF, unless your spending is pretty heavy on dining and entertainment. This is similar to my critiques of the AMEX Blue Cash Preferred which advertises 6% on groceries but that is subject to both an AF and a spending cap of $6K, which work from both the low and high end of spending to offset net earnings. At least Savor doesn't cap spending. If you spend $1K monthly (or $12K annually) on those categories, you earn $480 minus the $95 AF = $385/12,000 makes for a NET return of only 3.2%, barely above the 3% you would earn on the Savor ONE at 3% with no fee. The breakeven point on Savor is about $10K annually, or about $192 average every week out of the year. That level of spend would give you the same 3% you would earn with Savor ONE or a no-AF 3% card. Even if you spend an average of $1500 per month ($346 per week; $18K annually) on Savor, your net return only goes up to about 3.47%. So I would carefully consider whether a Savor ONE might be a better pairing with the Venture X, based on someone's spending habits on dining and entertainment.

Capital One has made improvements to travel partners but Chase still is far better in that area IMO.

The Savor card does give the benefit of 4% on streaming services and 3% on groceries. I could see how a VentureX - Savor Rewards combo could cover a lot of spend and make for a simple two-card wallet. Downsizing to two cards is something I brought up for discussion in a recent Smorgasbord thread. There's a lot to be said for simplicity in managing cards for many of us, and accounting for how much (often small) incremental rewards we earn by adding additional cards beyond a certain point.

Re: Capital One SavorOne.... should I pair it with Venture X ?? Anyone tried this tempting combo?

OmarGB9 — Thu, 30 Dec 2021 20:17:50 GMT

@dangerously_caffeinated wrote:
@Live4Fishing wrote:
I'm currently in the Chase Ecosystem.. and I'm seriously thinking of adding the Capital One ecosystem to complement my portfolio of cards. And I can't seem to find a reason NOT to take the plunge. In fact... if it goes well I'd even downgrade my Chase CSR card to the CSP. The Venture X is also a Visa Infinite card with all the great travel protections we all love tha the CSR has. Anyone else gone down this route yet ? Would love some feedback from my Fico Forums community.
Hey there! I currently have a SavorOne and will be adding a Venture X as my travel card when my 6 months are up. If you decide to do this as you know, the reward structure is pretty great for effectively $5 paid to you a year. That being said, iif you do apply - Redacted cause bad

Discussion of freezing reports to force lenders to pull others/only pull certain ones is not allowed on MyFICO.

Re: Capital One SavorOne.... should I pair it with Venture X ?? Anyone tried this tempting combo?

UncleB — Thu, 30 Dec 2021 20:20:01 GMT

Yep, we can't chat about selective bureau freezes on myFICO. Thanks for the reminder, @OmarGB9.

--UB

Re: Capital One SavorOne.... should I pair it with Venture X ?? Anyone tried this tempting combo?

quikj9 — Thu, 30 Dec 2021 21:23:12 GMT

@Aim_High Fantastic write up. I think there are really only a couple points worth clarifying.

It is possible to combine rewards between Cap1 cash back and Venture cards. It's a one way conversion from the cash back to the Venture cards, but pooling of points is possible and easily accomplished on the website.

Assuming that one is always using transfer partners, the boost in Chase's travel portal becomes a moot point. The 3X points that the Savor One earns on dining can also be considered a 6% return on spend, given the ability to get at least 2cpp. The same goes for groceries, entertainment and streaming.

That's why I think the pairing is such a powerful combo. The uplift that the Venture X provides the Savor One lies in the ability to leverage Capital One's transfer partners, now that almost all of them transfer at 1:1.

Re: Capital One SavorOne.... should I pair it with Venture X ?? Anyone tried this tempting combo?

NRB525 — Thu, 30 Dec 2021 23:01:19 GMT

@quikj9 wrote:
@Aim_High Fantastic write up. I think there are really only a couple points worth clarifying.

It is possible to combine rewards between Cap1 cash back and Venture cards. It's a one way conversion from the cash back to the Venture cards, but pooling of points is possible and easily accomplished on the website.

Assuming that one is always using transfer partners, the boost in Chase's travel portal becomes a moot point. The 3X points that the Savor One earns on dining can also be considered a 6% return on spend, given the ability to get at least 2cpp. The same goes for groceries, entertainment and streaming.

That's why I think the pairing is such a powerful combo. The uplift that the Venture X provides the Savor One lies in the ability to leverage Capital One's transfer partners, now that almost all of them transfer at 1:1.

I would be interested to see where you are getting a minimum 2cpp on airline points, where the flight is not involving two layovers and a red- eye ibut is ( preferred ) a non-stop in daylight hours between the same origin and final destination.

Re: Capital One SavorOne.... should I pair it with Venture X ?? Anyone tried this tempting combo?

NoMoreE46 — Thu, 30 Dec 2021 23:56:00 GMT

My Ven X is an Infinite fwiw. I have a few weeks to decide whether not to keep it before the $395 annual fee kicks in…

I also have the Savor and this is my first or second card with the most swipes/inserts/taps.

Capital One app is very friendly and easy to use.

Re: Capital One SavorOne.... should I pair it with Venture X ?? Anyone tried this tempting combo?

dangerously_caffeinated — Fri, 31 Dec 2021 00:07:26 GMT

@quikj9 wrote:

Assuming that one is always using transfer partners, the boost in Chase's travel portal becomes a moot point. The 3X points that the Savor One earns on dining can also be considered a 6% return on spend, given the ability to get at least 2cpp. The same goes for groceries, entertainment and streaming.

@quikj9 Can you provide insight into this? Am I missing something? For example, I make $100 dining purchase with the SavorOne. 3% of 100 is $3. I then transfer that $3 to the Venture X, wouldn't that account for 30 miles? Or would it be 60 miles? Does it still give you 2 cents pp after the purchase has been made on another card and you transfer that over to the Venture X?

Re: Capital One SavorOne.... should I pair it with Venture X ?? Anyone tried this tempting combo?

quikj9 — Fri, 31 Dec 2021 02:19:07 GMT

@NRB525

Just looked into flying round-trip and non stop from LAX - FRA at the end of Feb on LH.

In First, that would cost 200,000 Aeroplan pts (which is a Cap1 transfer partner) or $10,282. That would value each point at 5.1cpp.

In Business, that would cost 140,000 Aeroplan pts or $4,276. That values each point at 3.1cpp.

Perhaps, I should have been more clear, but I was hoping to highlight the ability to get similar value by leveraging Cap1's transfer partners as one could get with Chase's transfer partners. Travel Portals don't net the greatest value per point. Transfer partners and one's ability to utilize them advantageously yields the greatest return on spend, in my opinion. I'm not claiming that the floor is 2cpp, just as the floor is not 2cpp with URs.

@dangerously_caffeinated You have a $100 dinner. Paying with your Savor One yields a 3% return of $3, as you mentioned. Those $3 are transferred to the Venture X as 300 "miles"(which are really points). If you used those 300 "miles" in the business class redemption above, you'd be getting 3.1cpp with your miles worth $9. Meaning that the value of those points would be an effective 9% return on your spend.

Re: Capital One SavorOne.... should I pair it with Venture X ?? Anyone tried this tempting combo?

wasCB14 — Fri, 31 Dec 2021 03:35:04 GMT

@quikj9 wrote:
@NRB525

Just looked into flying round-trip and non stop from LAX - FRA at the end of Feb on LH.

In First, that would cost 200,000 Aeroplan pts (which is a Cap1 transfer partner) or $10,282. That would value each point at 5.1cpp.

In Business, that would cost 140,000 Aeroplan pts or $4,276. That values each point at 3.1cpp.

But would you actually buy that $10,282 ticket with cash if you lacked the miles?

I measure point value in terms of first deciding what I want to do, and then comparing the point cost to the lesser of (the actual cash price, the cash price I would be willing to pay).

Re: Capital One SavorOne.... should I pair it with Venture X ?? Anyone tried this tempting combo?

quikj9 — Fri, 31 Dec 2021 04:30:24 GMT

@wasCB14 Not necessarily, but I could pay less and still end up with a value above 2cpp.

I also value these things differently. I see points as a way to take trips I wouldn't otherwise take or have experiences that I might not be willing to pay for with cash. That's why I don't use points for domestic travel. Instead I buy those fares, acquire status and save my points for international premium cabins. Can I drop 10k on a flight to Japan in a premium cabin? Perhaps, but I'd rather transfer MRs to ANA and pay for the trip that way.

If people are paying the normal fare that I would have had to pay, then the published value is what the trip is worth to me.

Re: Capital One SavorOne.... should I pair it with Venture X ?? Anyone tried this tempting combo?

wasCB14 — Fri, 31 Dec 2021 04:57:02 GMT

@quikj9 wrote:
@wasCB14 Not necessarily, but I could pay less and still end up with a value above 2cpp.

I also value these things differently. I see points as a way to take trips I wouldn't otherwise take or have experiences that I might not be willing to pay for with cash. That's why I don't use points for domestic travel. Instead I buy those fares, acquire status and save my points for international premium cabins. Can I drop 10k on a flight to Japan in a premium cabin? Perhaps, but I'd rather transfer MRs to ANA and pay for the trip that way.

If people are paying the normal fare that I would have had to pay, then the published value is what the trip is worth to me.

But people have different utility functions. A healthy college student on a tight budget will generally be willing to pay less for a first class plane ticket than a frail, wealthy octogenarian.

And in the case of first-class plane tickets, what people are actually paying varies. Some travel using employer/client funds, some pay with miles, and some will get upgrades due to elite status. Not all are using their own cash.