Capital One No Hassle Rewards Catalog

Credit Cards

The main Capital One Rewards program is called No Hassle Rewards, or Venture Rewards for the Venture card family. This is to indicate that unlike other programs their credit card rewards program is easy. Is it? Yes, depending on who you compare it to of course.

Update: Capital One has a bonus miles offer of 60,000 bonus miles with new Capital One Venture Card account.

Capital One Rewards Travel

Compared to airline rewards credit cards and the Capital One Rewards for travel, the NoHassle Miles program is easier. The best part about the program is the ability to actually book your travel using your rewards miles (points) by yourself online. If you login to the NoHassle Rewards site, one of the options is book my travel online. This is wonderful if you are booking only rewards tickets. It has some hang ups if not. For example, on my last trip, I cashed in enough miles to get my ticket, but I had to buy my wife’s ticket with cash.

By calling an using a live human being, they were able to buy both tickets for me at the same time ensuring that we get to set together on the plane. With the online system, you need to buy your (or your spouse’s) ticket first, and then go back and buy the other ticket. This makes it harder to get seats together particularly if you happen to be booking one of the increasing number of flights that does not allow you to choose your own seat (see agent at gate for seat assignment).

Airlines know that people who bought their tickets together want to sit together. If you buy your ticket on one transaction and your companion’s ticket on another transaction, even if they are just minutes apart, you can end up in seat 12A while they end up in seat 22E. So, keep that in mind when using the program.

Capital One No Hassle Rewards Catalog 1

Even worse, with airlines starting to give second-class status to travelers who book somewhere other than directly through the airline, you might get no seat assignments at all, or have to pay extra for things like checked bags, or even carry-on bags.

With no further ado, here is the relevant Capital One No Hassle Rewards reward structure table:

Travel Rewards

Instead of points per miles, the Capital One program works via points per dollar. This is great if you are hunting down a cheap fare (probably because you are paying out of pocket for companion tickets). Another card that uses miles instead of dollars might be more advantageous when you are flying short but expensive routes like New York to Washington, D.C.

Cost of TicketNumber of Points
< $150.0015,000
$150.01 to $350.0035,000
$350.01 to $600.0060,000
> $600.01Cost x 100
  

As you can see there is some analysis to be done here. If your ticket is barely in the next tier ($373.00 for example) you can be wasting a lot of points, so make sure and do your homework first.

Capital One Purchase Eraser

There is another option with many Capital One Rewards cards called the Purchase Eraser. Using this tool, you can get a statement credit for your travel instead. The free plane ticket comes at a rate of $1 per 100 miles. That means you can buy a ticket for $277 using your card. Then, you go online and “erase” that airline ticket for 27,770 miles. Using this feature, you can book your ticket directly with the airline while still using your miles.

If you have the Capital One Venture Card earning 2 points per mile, then this works out to the same as 2% cash back for these redemptions.

During the pandemic, Capital One increased the categories of purchases it will consider “travel” and redeem purchase eraser of these charges at the same rate of $1 per 100 miles.

Rewards Catalog Gift Cards

This program is good for several types of gift cards. The going rate is 100 miles per dollar, however some cards have a better deal. Typically, a $50 gift card will cost you 5,000 miles.

Retailers of note available:

  • Amazon
  • Best Buy
  • Home Depot
  • Lowe’s
  • Toys R Us / Babies R Us
  • Pier 1
  • Lands’ End
  • Eddie Bauer
  • Macy’s
  • Barnes & Noble
  • Bath & Body Works
  • Gap
  • Sears
  • Linens & Things
  • JCPenny
  • Pottery Barn
  • L.L. Bean
  • Foot Locker

Using Rewards for Cash / Statement Credit

The Capital One No Hassle Miles program does have the option to get cash either in the form of a check or a statement credit. Either way, the going rate is 200 miles per dollar, so a $100 check or statement credit will cost you 20,000 miles. As you can see, if you have an upcoming purchase that you can use a free gift card for instead, you’ll come out ahead by redeeming for the card instead of getting a cash reward or statement credit.

Summary

RewardMiles Per DollarRating
Travel100 *Good
Gift Cards100 (most)Average
Cash / Statement Credit200Average

* See tiers above for actual cost below $600.

Looking for Other Capital One Credit Cards or Rewards Information?

Other Credit Information:

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Before you comment, note that this is not a Capital One website and I am not affiliated with Capital One. This is an independent personal finance website.



39 thoughts on “Capital One No Hassle Rewards Catalog”

  1. The Summer 2011 Catalog has very few giftcards. The ones that are listed are good(10,000 pts for $100 giftcard). I just can’t find a list online to see if anyothers are available. Has anyone found a list of other cards that might be available?

    Reply
  2. I have run into a significant problem with Capital One’s online booking system. I bought 4 tickets for a Jet Blue flight and the site did not warn me that I need to call back right away to get seat assignments. When I did call back they had spread me and my family with minor children all over the plane. The flight was completely booked and the only way to rectify it was to pay an extra 280 dollars for the extra legroom seats. Capital One refuses to reimburse me for this expense. I find this lack of information ridiculous and almost criminal. If they sell you 4 seats they should be four together, no matter what!

    Reply
    • I’m not sure how Jet Blue works since I live in one of the “fly-over states”. However, I know that usually tickets purchased together are assigned seats together IF there is enough of a block a free seats to do so. Obviously, the more seats you purchase the harder that block can be to find. On a crowded flight it might be better to purchase two sets of two tickets so that at least you can pair up.

      Thanks for the tip about Jet Blue seats. Maybe you saved someone else the trouble.

      Reply
  3. THE CRITIQUE OF CAPITAL ONE’S GIFT CARD PROGRAM IS INACCURATE. IT STATES THAT A $50 GIFT CARD REQUIRES USE OF 10,000 MILES. THE 2010 GIFT CATALOG I JUST RECEIVED STATES THAT $50 GIFT CARDS ARE AVAILABLE FOR $5,000 MILES, NOT 10,000 AS STATED IN THE ABOVE CRITIQUE. THUS, ITS REDEMPTION RATE IS @100 PER DOLLAR, THE SAME AS THE BETTER CARDS TO WHICH IT’S COMPARED. IT IS NOT THE “TERRIBLE” PROGRAM IT’S MADE OUT TO BE.

    Reply
    • Lorenzo,
      The catalog you just received is the 2010 Capital One Rewards catalog for the end of the year holidays. This article is about last year’s catalog. I made a post saying that I got the new one recently, as well and will write a new article about it soon.

      At first glance I see 5,000 miles for a $25 Best Buy Card which is the same old low redemption rate. However, it looks like gift cards are no longer all at a flat rate. A $50 Land’s End gift card, for example, is 7,750 miles. Still lower than 1 percent, but better than 0.5 percent.

      By the way, your Caps Lock key is on.

      Thank you for your comment.

      Reply
    • I have been very happy with my card. I charge almost all my expenses on it and pay the balance off each month; at the years end I cash in my points and get a gift card/cards. No hassles, no problems. I don’t waste my time with airline tickets. I charged the whole vacation, paid it off at the end of the month, got my gift cards, went to the store and got my big screen, shoes, dvds. etc.
      No hassles No problems.

      Reply
  4. Someone w/ connections tell Cap1 to market promotional clothing, etc. based on their recent commercial in which the goat in allowed in the nightclub but, not the barbarians, “I’m With The Goat”.

    Reply
  5. Thank you so much for your response. I am a long time customer and in very good standing. I pay my card off on time every month. I did speak to a supervisor and was told that there was absolutely nothing they could do. To make a customer unhappy over $4.78 seems silly to me. Customer service doesn’t really seem to be a priority with them. I contacted the airline and asked if I could go to a ticket counter and have them refund and the let me re purchase the tickets and pay the amount over $350.00 in cash so that only that amount would show on my credit card and they said they had to mechanism to split a payment like that. That seemed kind of odd to me in that Trader Joe’s does that all the time as well as Target and other establishments I frequent. The airline did tell me to check back 7 days prior to my travel date and if the fare has gone down, they will refund me the difference. If in fact the fare does go down, it will be interesting to see how Capital One handles that in that the refund will show up on a different month than when I purchased the tickets. Thanks again. Sharon

    Reply
    • That is too bad that they wouldn’t work with you on that at all. I agree that it is not in the company’s best long-term interest to put a customer out like that over less than $5, although technically from their point of view, it is a lot more since you have used up those miles. Even so, that is very short-term thinking and it will cost them in the long run. Customers are not going to be as interested in every credit card offer that comes their way anymore, so finding new card holders won’t be so easy and loyal customers will be at a premium. Too bad for Capital One that you won’t be one of theirs.

      Reply
  6. I purchased 2 ticket for a total cost of $352.40 each. I did not fully understand the redemption process and thought I could choose how many miles I wanted to use. I have a little over 70,000 miles and thought that I would be covered. Unfortunately, I need to use 60,000 for each ticket because I am over the threshold for 35,000 miles by $2.39. Has anyone successfully negotiated with Capitalone to work around this and be allowed to used the lower amount of miles and pay cash for the balance?

    Reply
    • Yikes! Good question. One would think that good customer service would dictate that they would work with you on this. Unfortunately, that does not seem to be the credit card company’s strong suit these days. Still, for what you are talking about, I think that they might be willing to work with you especially if you are a card holder in good standing and have a solid payment track record. Unfortunately, I have never actually heard of anyone doing this. Typically, it’s something you hope to catch up front 🙂

      Please come back and let us know how it works out.

      Reply
    • No and they are awful to deal with. First time using it and I’m dropping this card. I have Am X delta rewards ant is easy and great. Tickets that would cost 1,200 use 80,000 points. This card sucks and the representatives do too.

      Reply
  7. HER IS MY QUESTION LETS USE THE 350.00 THRESHOLD FOR EXAMPLE. IF A TICKET IS 149.00 PLUS TAXES AND FEES IS THE REDEMPTION COST FALL UNDER UP TO 150.00 OR DOES IT ROLL OVER TO 150.00 TO 350.00. ALSO SHOULD A ROUND TRIP LETS SAY IS 149.00 ONE WAY AND 179.OO RETURN CALL YOU USE POINTS FOR THE 149.00 WHILE SELF PAYING FOR THE 179.00 FOR A MOR EFFICIENT USE OF POINTS THNX

    Reply
    • Total ticket price including taxes and fees is used (so don’t pre-pay your baggage fees). In your example, that is the 150-350 category. Your second question depends on whether or not you can get both the 149 and 179 price as one-way tickets, because you would have to split them up that way. In other words, you can’t book a round-trip ticket but only use miles for the $149 part.

      Reply
  8. What constitutes a “ticket”?

    Let’s say I fly from NY to Florida round trip with one stop each way. Is this One ticket, two tickets, or (unlikely) 4 tickets?

    Fred

    Reply
    • Since Capital One has switched to rewards based on the price of the fare, it really just depends on what kind of trip you book. If you booked a round trip ticket then that ticket would cost a certain number of miles based on the total fare. You could theoretically redeem two rewards for two one-way tickets if you so chose. Occasionally, this can actually be cheaper, but thanks to automation and computers, it is not nearly as common as it once was, unless you change airports or something of that nature.

      In any context, stops never count as a separate ticket or separate fare. Traditionally, they are known as segments. A segment is each time a plane takes off and lands. Pricing is never done on segments for points or cash payment.

      Reply
  9. I have this card. It’s true…the conversion rate is terrible. I have had the card for almost 3 years now and I haven’t and cannot use my points for anything.

    Reply
    • Stella,
      If that is the case, you might want to look around at other good rewards credit cards and see if there is one that fist you better. Unfortunately, the new credit card law has issuers running scared and they are cutting back on programs until they know how the bottom line is going to look. However, there still might be a better one out there for you.

      In the meantime, consider redeeming your points for a statement credit or cash back. Yeah, the conversion is bad, but its better than just letting a bunch of points sit on a card doing nothing. Once you’ve used up all your points, pay off the card and throw it in your safe or lockbox. Then start using your new card that has better reward points for you.

      Reply
  10. I came online to find out more info on an item in your catalog hello where’s the link and if I can’t find a link how can I get any merchandise and is it what you advertise..prices are a little high but I’ve got lots of credits..get it together

    Reply
    • Edie,
      Please follow one of the links to Capital One’s website. This is a personal finance website that analyzes credit card rewards programs (among other things) including the Capital One Rewards program. We do not have any official relationship with Capital One or the No Hassle Miles Program.

      Thanks,
      Finance Gourmet

      Reply
  11. if i have an airline ticket for $510 and i have 73,000 miles on my account can i use my miles. i spoke to someone today and was told that the second “tier” was up to 500 and for a ticket between 500 and 600 it would take another 25,000 miles over the 50,000 i have. is that true? how do i notify the company i want to use my miles to pay for the ticket?

    Reply
  12. I have not been able to retrieve a Rewards Catalog from your website. Could you please just e-mail the the appropriate link or e-mail me the catalog directly?

    Reply
  13. I attempted to obtain the capitalone.com/RewardsCatalog as instructed on your flyer enclosed with my statement. Your website is too confusing and I think it stinks. How can I log on to the rewards catalog to see what is available??????
    for my points????????

    Reply
    • I HAVE TWO CAPITAL ONE CARDS AND HAVE DIFFICULTY TRYING TO GET INFO HOW TO GET REWARDS

      I HAVE TRIED TO LOG IN BUT WITH MUCH DIFFICULTY

      IS THERE A PHONE NUMBER THAT I CAN CALL TO DISCUSS AND SPEAK WITH A REAL PERSON

      ALAN

      Reply
  14. Mary,
    I’ve never seen a Reservation Rewards charge and the term does not appear in my Agreement. Check your cards’ account agreement and see if you can find the term. If not, call Capital One and ask what the charge is and what it is for. If it doesn’t sound right, ask them to show you where in the account agreement such a charge is authorized.

    Reply

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