We are taking the Amtrak train up to Newark (EWR) airport in order to catch our Open Skies flight to Paris.
I purchased the train tickets with my relatively new Capital One Venture card, which has a generous 40,000 point bonus (worth $400 towards travel) for opening a new card after meeting the minimum spend requirement.
The Venture card has a “purchase eraser” feature that allows you to offset travel purchases with points earned from the card.
You earn 2x points on all purchases, and the annual fee of $59 is waived the first year.
Capital One Venture Card is Essentially a 2 Percent Cash Back Travel Rewards Card
I am really rocking this card. It doesn’t get much love in the miles and points world, but I look at it as a 2 percent cash back card that can accumulate points in a “travel savings account.”
I hear via the grapevine that it may be possible to get Capital One to waive the annual fee after the first year. For the meantime, I am putting my everyday spending on this card.
I got to put the Venture card to the test for our upcoming trip. After purchasing the train tickets, the charge posted to my account as a travel charge which could be offset via a credit from the purchase eraser.
Erase the Same Charge on your Capital One Venture Account More than Once
I applied the bonus points to the ticket cost of $122 for two one-way tickets to Newark. I noticed that the charge was still available to be credited. So I tried again, and a second $122 credit was applied to my account.
That means that the same charge can be wiped out more than once.
Use Your Capital One Venture Points to Partially Erase Charges
The return train tickets were $163, which I eliminated via the purchase eraser. Just for kicks, I applied the remaining balance of my points toward that charge again. I didn’t have enough points to cover the full amount, but I received a partial credit on my statement for a portion of the charge.
That means that you can apply points toward partial credits on travel charges, even if you don’t have enough points to completely offset the charges.
These two features mean that the Capital One Venture Card can function as a two percent cash back card, as long as you have a few travel expenses greater than $25 charged to your account.
Have you had a similar experience with the “purchase eraser”?
My Costco AmEx will expire in March when Costco and AmEx end their relationship. I’m loath to give up the 3x points on gas I get with this card, but don’t want to pay their $95 fee, which has been waived while I retained Costco membership. Maybe the new Costco preferred card will have equal or better rebates.
FYI, I believe Pentagon Federal Credit Union has a no-fee card that gives 5x points on gas purchases.