Many people applying for credit cards are excited to see the "1.25 miles per dollar" earning power of the Capital One No Hassle Miles Rewards Visa credit card. While on the surface it appears generous, it is in many cases only in line with other cards, and in a lot of cases a poor deal for your points with returns on cash spent of less than 1%. Why? Although you earn points quickly with Capital One, in many cases they require you to use more points for awards than other cards , making it a less valuable card for earning travel rewards. So you have to spend more to get the same reward you can achieve with other cards.

A frequent flyers' review: Other cards can give you rewards faster
As frequent flyers, we have rated many point credit cards and found some that can give you rewards faster than the Capital One card with no annual fee. For example, if you want to earn "no hassle" travel rewards good for any airline at any time with no restrictions, we think the American Express Blue Sky credit card is a better, more flexible alternative than the Capital One No Hassle Miles Rewards Visa.

As you can see below, you need less spending to get to rewards, so your return is higher and you earn rewards faster. Better yet, you can use your points as cash toward both flights and hotels. You earn 1 point for every dollar you spend, and every 7,500 points is worth $100 in travel credit. Simple and powerful.

In most cases, you spend less money with the Amex Blue Sky to receive the same or better reward as the Capital One No Hassle Miles Rewards Visa. The primary Capital One problem is this: for tickets worth $150.01-$350 you need 35,000 points to redeem versus 15,000-30,000 for the BlueSky. And for tickets worth $350.01-$600 you need 60,000 points versus 30,000-45,000 for the BlueSky. The higher 1.25 points per dollar spent earning power of Capital One just doesn't make up the difference in points needed as you can see below. 

You can apply for the no annual fee American Express BlueSky credit card here with American Express. It offers most of the benefits of the Capital One No Hassle Miles Rewards Visa, including rewards with any airline at anytime with no advance purchase required, but as you can see below, you can earn fewer points and spend less to get the same rewards.


Learn more or apply for the no annual fee American Express BlueSky credit card

For more savvy travelers, we also recommend:
Starwood Preferred Guest American Express
Free $200+ hotel night with your first purchase and points transferable to most airline programs

While not as clean and simple as the American Express BlueSky, The Starwood Preferred Guest American Express (click to learn more) is our top overall reward credit card choice. It combines 'no hassle' restriction-free hotel rewards with generous point requirements and the ability to transfer miles into over 30 top airline programs, so you don't orphan your hard earned existing miles and can use miles for things like upgrades. We think hotel awards are among the best uses of points, with a value return of 2% or more in many cases. See our PurchasePower data for details.

Starwood is the brand of hotels that include Sheraton, Westin, W, St. Regis, and Le Meridien properties. You earn 1 point for every dollar you spend on the card and it offers 10,000 points with your first purchase that can be either transfered to your favorite airline or used for free nights at Westin, Sheraton, W, and other hotels . 10,000 points are enough for a night at the Westin St. Francis in San Francisco, or the Walt Disney World Dolphin resort, among others, or 3 nights at lower-point hotels like the Sheraton Orlando. Most of all, we like the flexibility with three great ways to use points:

1) Use points for free nights at great Sheraton, Westin, W, Le Meridien, St. Regis, and Four Points hotels with no blackout dates. If a standard room is available for sale, you can book it with points. No blackouts.

2) Transfer your points to over 30 top airline mileage programs...most at one point per mile, so you don't orphan your hard earned miles. Plus, get a 5,000 point bonus for every 20,000 you transfer. That makes a 25,000 mile domestic roundtrip ticket cost only 20,000 points! It's like earning 1.25 points for every dollar you spend versus the one point per dollar of most cards. In addition, you get to use your miles in their native programs, which when there is availability for standard awards, is often the most productive way to use air miles.

3) Redeem points for gift cards at your favorite retailers.

How it works
You don't have to stay at Starwood hotels to earn points. Just use you card for normal purchases and you'll earn one point per dollar spent. Don’t worry about whether you want to use points for airlines or hotels. Decide when you plan your trip. You earn 1 Starwood point for every dollar spent...and can transfer those points online to your account with nearly every major airline ...most 1 for 1...(Continental and United require 2 Starwood points per mile) with quick turnaround. Moreover, you get a bonus for transfering points to airline miles, effecitvely earning 1.25 miles per dollars spent.



Points are also good at all Sheraton, Westin, W, Sheraton, St. Regis, Le Meridien, and Four Points hotels with no capacity controls. If there's a room to buy, you can book it with points. For many travelers, hotel stays are a better use of points than domestic airline tickets in any program. See our PurchasePower rankings to learn why. Hotel rooms are also a lot easier to book for a family than 4 or more free plane tickets on the same flight.

 


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