This year, my NoHassle rewards catalog came after the new year and is titled, “Explore.” If you upgraded to the Capital One Venture card, there is apparently a supplement or entirely different Venture card rewards catalog according to the note enclosed.

Without any further ado, let’s jump right into the current Capital One Rewards Catalog.

Capital One NoHassle Rewards 2011 Program Guide

First up is how to earn miles using my Capital One No Hassle Rewards card. The basic earning rate is 1.25 miles for every $1 spent using the card. Money spent in bookstores, video rental stores, gifts shops, card stores, florists, art supply stores, craft stores, and souvenir shops earns double miles or 2 points for every $1 spent.

The guide also notes that Capital One miles do not expire after a certain number of years, and that there is no limit on how many miles you can earn in the NoHassle miles program.

Capital One Rewards Miles Earning Chart

Perk Central for Capital One Rewards

Like pretty much every other rewards credit card and other program that offers points for spending money, you can earn even more points by shopping through a special Capital One website called Perk Central. You can earn up to 15 bonus miles per dollar spent by shopping through Perk Central.

The best way to take advantage of the bonus miles offered for shopping through the special Capital One website offer is to always check Perk Central before making big purchases online. Be sure to delete your browser cookies, or better yet, use your browser’s privacy mode if you have already been to the merchant’s website before. You don’t want your bonus rewards voided because your shopping trip didn’t count as a “referral.”

For example, Best Buy, CompUSA, and Staples are all listed as Perk Central retailers. Just drop by Perk Central first before buying your office supplies or electronics and rack up bonus points on each purchase. Those bonus points can make redeeming Capital One rewards miles for gift cards a great deal. Double dip by earning bonus miles at Best Buy, and then getting a $100 Best Buy gift certificate reward for cheap!

Other Perk Central companies listed in the Capitol One Rewards catalog for 2011 include:

• Bloomingdales
• PetSmart
• Sephora
• Starbucks
• Gap
• Macy’s
• Barnes & Noble
• Sierra Trading Post
• Foot Locker
• Dick’s Sporting Goods
• Sears / Kmart
• Walmart
• Home Depot
• Sears
• West Elm
• Dell

Earn Miles Fast On Capital One Rewards Card Plus Perk Central

Two other companies of note on Perk Central are the Apple Store and Southwest Airlines.

If you are looking to buy an iPod, iPad, or MacBook Air, you know that they are not cheap. Getting a good deal on an Apple computer or iPhone can be tough because the company doesn’t really allow big discounts. However, if you buy them and earn bonus miles on those big ticket items, the value of your miles goes up and you can get a deal on Apple electronics by combining your purchase with a statement credit or cash back reward.

Likewise, get bonus miles when you book your Southwest Airlines tickets through the Capital One rewards bonus website. Make sure you are also a member of Southwest Airlines frequent flier program and you’ll get big bonus points, plus you still get credit for your Southwest Airlines miles because the two programs are not related or exclusive.

Earn Capital One Miles Paying Bills

To really see your miles add up fast, use your card to pay bills. Pay the card off every month and you are basically getting free money.

That $300 doctor bill is a tax deduction, and it can earn you 375 miles while you are at it.

Your $100 electric bill is worth 125 miles, and so on.

A $1,000 worth of bills and groceries charged to the card each month (and paid off each month) is worth 1,250 miles. That is 15,000 miles per year without doing anything other than what you would normally do. And, that, is the key to taking advantage of rewards programs and discounts.

Up Next: Capital One Rewards redemptions catalog.

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Capital One Rewards Program 2011 Guide originally published at Finance Gourmet

These days, such offers are non-expiring specials on some credit cards. Other cards, such as some Capital One rewards cards offer a base miles earning rate other than 1 mile per dollar. My Capital One No Hassle Miles credit card, for example, has a base miles earning rate of 1.25 miles for each dollar spent, with two times miles per dollar spent when the card is used in certain types of retail shopping establishments.

Of course, comparing which card offers the highest miles earned per dollar spent is useless without also comparing what rewards those miles or points can be redeemed for.

In order to determine which rewards cards are good values and which ones are below average (or worse) it pays to keep in mind that the “average” cash back credit card offers 1 percent cash back on all standard purchases. That works out to $1 cash back for every $100 spent. If the rewards program offers a value equal to or greater than 1% of dollars spent, the program can be considered average. Bigger rewards equal bigger value.

Redeem Credit Card Miles for Free Flights

Redeeming credit card points for free flights is a long-standing tradition. With both credit card companies and airlines tightening their belts, however, there have been big changes in how to redeem points for free airline tickets.

Many credit card rewards programs require you to book your tickets through them or a designated company. Doing so allows the company to collect fees from the airlines like a travel agent does, allowing them to offset the cost of rewards tickets.

Most credit card customers were savvy enough to use their miles and points only on more expensive flights, which is why most rewards programs have eliminated tiers of rewards based on miles. Instead, many programs charge a certain number of miles for a certain price range of airline ticket.

Others, like the Citibank rewards program cost a certain amount of points to redeem for the exact cost of the ticket. A recent check showed it cost 15,700 points to to get a free airline ticket that cost $149.40 directly on Expedia for the same flights.

Redeem Credit Card Points for Gift Cards

One great way to redeem points without traveling is to get free gift cards for gifts or to merchants that you use on a regular basis. A few years ago, we furnished our baby bedroom with free Babies R Us gift cards we got be redeeming 10,000 miles for every $100 gift certificate, the equivalent of 1 percent cash back.

There are still good deals to be found redeeming credit card miles for free gift cards, but you have to do the math and keep a close eye on the details within each program.

For example, the Capital One rewards catalog shows that a $100 Babies R Us gift card requires redeeming 15,500 miles. That is a lot more than the 10,000 miles it took a few years ago. However, with a base mileage earning rate of 1.25 miles per dollar, that $100 gift card works out to $12,400 of spending. That’s still worse than 1 percent, but not as bad as it looks at first glance.

Choosing the Right Rewards Card

The best rewards programs are usually those that offer rewards at approximately a 1 percent redemption rate that have significant bonus earnings where you shop regularly. For example, if you shop a lot at XYZ Stores and they have a Miles Supreme Plus Visa card where you earn 1 point per dollar spent but earn 2 points (or more) for every dollar spent at XYZ stores, those bonus miles will add up and make your point redemptions more valuable than ever.

Whatever credit card rewards program you go with, always read everything you receive about the program and monitor both the earnings rate and the cost of redeeming rewards, as these can change frequently. What starts out as a good deal, may end up becoming less valuable with one quick little notice that the company hopes you don’t end up reading or understanding.

With a little persistence and research, you can find the right rewards card for you and your family.

Related posts:

1. Amazon Rewards Visa Credit Cards
2. Capital One No Hassle Rewards – Gift Cards

How To Compare Rewards Credit Cards originally published at Finance Gourmet

After I get a chance to look through it, I’ll post some updates to the rewards chart and any other interesting news from the Capital One rewards program updates.

Update (Jan-2011): The 2011 Capital One Rewards catalog review is here.

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Capital One Rewards Catalog 2011 Is Here originally published at Finance Gourmet

Signing up for Mileage Plus Dining is free and easy for Mileage Plus Rewards Members. Just go to the United Airlines Miles Plus website and login with your Mileage Plus Member Number. Find the link to dining rewards and click the button to sign up.

The program works by allowing members to register credit card numbers with the Dining Rewards Program. Then, whenever you dine at one of the participating restaurants, you earn points on United Airlines for free just buy paying for your tab with one of the credit cards you registered.

To really make this offer pay off big, use the best rewards credit cards in your wallet. Since United Dining miles are not related to your credit card account issuer or bank, you still earn your regular credit card points and credit card miles. It is a double-dip earnings situation.

Redeem credit card points for hotel stays and use your United Miles for free airfare, and you have a two-for-one free trip, all by just registering your credit card numbers and eating at restaurants you would probably eat at anyway. Of course, you can always select something from the Mileage Plus Reward Catalog instead.

Current United Dining Rewards Special Offer

Right now, and through the end of March, earn double Mileage Plus miles eating out with the United Mileage Dining Miles offer. It works just like it always does. Eat at any dining establishment listed in the Dining Rewards restaurant list and instead of regular number of miles earned, you earn double miles. It’s a great way to rack up United points fast and free.

You have to register for the special double miles dining deal, even if you are already signed up for United Mileage Plus Dining. It is a separate add-on registration, probably to help determine how many people just float along in the program and accidentally earn miles when their credit card just happens to get used at a restaurant, and how many people actually read the United rewards emails about dining that they send out with special offers.

To register, you have to answer a few really simple, basic questions about how many kids you have, your age range, and so on.

United Dining Rewards Restaurant List Participating Locations

Sure, all of those personal finance books or retire rich books tell you to stay at home to eat and brown bag your lunch to work, but taking advantage of offers like this will allow you to have fun and live a little while still practicing smart personal finance advice strategy.

The list of restaurants that participate in the United Airlines Dining Rewards Mileage Plus program is updated frequently online. In the Denver area, for example, new restaurants often are added within just a week or two of opening. There are both high-end fine dining restaurants and fast food restaurants, and everything from local Mom-and-Pop places to national chains like IHOP.

Just search the dining miles rewards restaurant list online by entering your zip code to get all the food places near a location that offer miles to diners. Match them up with a special credit card offer earning extra points at restaurants, for example, and you can earn enough free stuff to pay for annual fees or even earn cash back in your own pocket, all courtesy of UAL Dining Rewards.

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United Dining Rewards Earn Airline Miles for Dining Out originally published at Finance Gourmet

Credit Card Interest Rate Increases

Under the old law, whenever a bank wanted to increase the interest rate it charged customers, it just sent out a letter saying that they were changing raising the interest rate. Consumers had no rights to do anything about it. The only option was to pay off the full balance immediately to avoid the higher interest rate, or transfer the balance to another credit card. In fact, when credit card companies needed to improve their balance sheets they would routinely do just this. If customers paid off their balances, then the company’s outstanding credit balance decreased. If customers didn’t pay off their balances, then their interest income from those balances increased. It was a no lose situation.

The new credit card law requires banks to give customers another option. Under this option, you can notify the credit card company that you reject the new interest rate which prevents your interest rate from increasing. In exchange, the account can no longer be used for new charges, but you may continue paying off your credit card balance under the old terms of the agreement. That means that you can still make the monthly payment, whether the minimum payment or otherwise, at the normal, sane, interest rate that you agreed to when you opened and used the credit card account. Obviously, this is not advantageous to the bank, so they are raising interest rates now, as fast as they can so that they won’t have to live by the provision once the law changes.

To fight back against credit card interest rate increases, the only thing you can do is pay off or transfer your balance before the new rate takes affect. If this isn’t practical, then continue making payments and pay off the card as quickly as possible. If you don’t carry a balance, the new rate won’t affect you until you do. The best vengeance is to never carry a balance on that card, ever. Credit card companies don’t make as much money off of customers that don’t pay interest, so keep using the card and pay it off in full every month. You’ll be fighting back against the credit card issuer and costing them profits. To really make them pay, be sure to take full advantage of their credit card rewards program to cost them even more money and make the card companies pay you!

If the way the company is treating you makes you so mad you want to close the account, don’t! At least not right away. Closing the account means you lose all of your reward points or miles. Instead, make sure you redeem every single credit card miles point you have earned before closing the account. Also, be sure you understand the effect closing an account can have on your credit score.

Finally, the most important thing is to REMEMBER. Banks are counting on their customers being mindless consumer sheep who don’t take the time to properly manage personal finances. They figure if they screw you over now, you will have forgotten all about it in six months. Don’t let them win! Remember exactly who did what and either close their accounts, or use them in a manner that makes them unprofitable for the company. If enough customers fight back, maybe next time, the banks won’t be so eager to try and cheat their customers.

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How To Fight Credit Card Company Interest Rate Increases originally published at Finance Gourmet

The best part is that it is really easy and you don’t really have to do anything once you set it up.

Basically, you go to Mileage Rewards Dining website and create a Dining Rewards password to go with your United frequent flyer miles number.  Then, you register your credit cards with the dining miles rewards program by entering the credit card number, expiration date, and so on.

Once your credit cards are registered, then you earn miles whenever you eat at a participating United Mileage Plus Dining restaurant if you pay with any of the credit cards you registered.  That’s it!  It couldn’t be any simpler.

You don’t have to remember a coupon, you don’t have to remember to tell the waiter, or give someone your Mileage Rewards number or anything.  It’s all electronic behind the scenes.  You pay like normal, and voila, free points in your account. As a double bonus, this has nothing to do with the regular credit card rewards points you are earning.  So, for example, if you buy dinner with your Capital One Rewards Credit Card, you still earn Capital One No Hassle Miles for the dinner PLUS the United Miles.

For each dollar you spend, you get one free United frequent flyer mile.  But, from now until June 30th, you get double points on the Dining Rewards program so that is 2 free miles per dollar spent eating out at restaurants.  Depending on the kind of person you are, this can add up to big points.  Eat out twice a week at $40 each and that is 160 miles earned per week without flying anywhere!

If you take clients out for meals, try and setup your meetings at restaurants in the program and you can earn points for those meals too.  Pretty soon, you’ll be setting up your free vacation.

There is no cost and no charge to register your credit cards, so I registered every credit card I have.  I never even look at the list of participating restaurants.  I just go out to eat where I want to eat and just by coincidence hit rewards restaurants all the time.

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Related posts:

1. United Dining Rewards Earn Airline Miles for Dining Out
2. Southwest Airlines Rewards Credit Card Review

United Rewards – Mileage Plus Dining from United Airlines originally published at Finance Gourmet

One of the nice features of the Capital One Miles program is that you can both purchase travel with your miles, or you can get a “statement credit” for travel that you have already taken.  The great thing about this feature is that if you don’t have time to sift through the usual rewards catalog website and redeeming rewards process, you can just book your travel like you normally would, pay with your Capital One No Hassle Miles Reward card, and then use your points after the fact to pay for your trip.

Do it before your payment is due, and it is just like you went through the usual booking process to use your miles or points costing you no interest payments.

Capital One Miles Redeem For Travel Rewards Chart

The basic Capital One No Hassle Rewards card earns 1.25 miles per dollar except at bookstores, card stores, novelty stores, souvenir shops, arts & craft stores, florists, and video rental stores (not Netflix) where it earns 2 miles per dollar.  Unless you do some heavy spending at those places chances are your flight awards will be made up mostly of 1.25 miles per dollar purchases.

At that rate, the max ticket value for each category works about to $12,000 of spending or the equivalent of 1.25% cash back, which is better than your basic 1.0% cash back card.  However, be very aware of the sweet spot near the top of the range, and the dead zone at the bottom.  A $170 ticket or a $375 ticket will be a terrible deal.

Capital One Miles Rewards Good for Students

The Capital One travel rewards can be a great deal for college students.  Since students buy hundreds of dollars worth of books each year, they can really benefit from the 2 miles per dollar rate provided the campus bookstore is properly categorized.  To find out, make a small test purchase at the. campus bookstore and then go online to view the transaction.  If it is listed as a bookstore (or even card shop or novelty shop) then you are in business.  If not, check out the off-campus bookstore alternative that many college towns have.  If it is listed in one of the good categories then you can buy your books there.

Even better, most major university bookstores carry far more than just books, sometimes at bargain prices because of student pricing.  This is especially true for student edition software.  Online deal sites go nuts over the prices students can get on things like Microsoft Office or even Windows Vista or Windows XP.  Each of those purchases can get 2 miles per dollar.

A student spending $2,500 a semester in various bookstore purchases would qualify for a free ticket home for Thanksgiving every other year.  And if they let you charge your tuition or fees, then this baby is going to pay off in free plane tickets.

As always, responsible use of all credit, especially credit cards is vital to a solid financial future, so don’t spend just get miles.

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Capital One Rewards Catalog – No Hassle Miles – Travel Rewards originally published at Finance Gourmet

What kind of deals are available?

As with most credit card points and miles programs, the merchandise tends to be a lesser value than things like redeeming miles for travel, gift cards, cash, or a statement credit.  Still, if you are interested in something and don’t really want to “pay” for it, there is no reason to not use your miles on it.

It is true that a Nintendo Wii console with one game, one nunchuck and a remote for 82,750 miles may not work out to the best price you can get anywhere, the fact is that you can have one for 82,750 miles if you want.

Good Value Rewards

The best way to determine if you are getting a good value for your Capital One No Hassle Miles is to find the price of what you want from the catalog and then convert that amount of dollars into miles for a statement credit or cash.  Or, if you can find the item at a store that has a gift card reward, that can be done too.

Generally, you can get a statement credit or cash for 200 miles per dollar.

The math:

• 82,750 miles / 200 miles per dollar = $413.75

So, if you can find a similar Nintendo Wii for less than $413.75, then you would be better off buying it and then applying for a statement credit or cash.  Keep in mind that the redemption amounts may not work out such that you can get back exactly the amount you spend, but you can definitely come close enough.

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Capital One Rewards Catalog Holiday Specials Good Until January 31 originally published at Finance Gourmet