Capital One Credit Cards

There is no Capital One foreign transaction fee. Or, in other words, the Capital One foreign transaction fee is 0%. That goes for every single Capital One credit card and debit card, too from travel rewards cards like Venture to cash back cards like Quicksilver. Want proof? The Capital One website says: “Capital One does not charge a fee for using your credit card for foreign currency transactions.”

That means you won’t pay extra just for shopping at foreign merchants, whether you’re traveling abroad or buying things online from merchants based in other countries. Typically, a foreign transaction fee will cost you an extra 1%-3% of the purchase amount. Capital One, Discover, USAA and PenFed are the only major credit card companies that don’t charge foreign fees on any of their cards.

Even though there are no Capital One credit card foreign transaction fees, there’s still one thing you need to watch out for: Dynamic Currency Conversion (DCC). Capital One doesn’t impose this on you, but they can’t protect you from it, either, unfortunately. Dynamic currency conversion is when a merchant charges you in U.S. dollars rather than the local currency and uses an unfair exchange rate to inflate the price. You should always tell merchants to charge you in the local currency. And if you see on your receipt that they didn’t, you should ask them to void the transaction and do it over.

Capital One’s travel center enables you to book flights, hotels and rental cars using rewards, or a combination of rewards and cash. But that only represents part of the Capital One travel redemption framework. In a sense, Capital One’s “travel portal” isn’t really a separate rewards center or a distinct website altogether. They actually make redeeming rewards a lot easier than that.

All you have to do is sign into your Capital One account, click on your rewards-miles balance, and select the recent or upcoming travel purchase that you wish to pay for with your earnings. Keep reading if you want more-detailed, step-by-step instructions.

Here’s how to use the Capital One “travel portal”:

1. Log into the Capital One website.

2. Click on your rewards balance (top left, next to your available credit). This will be a number with “Rewards Cash,” “Rewards Miles,” or “Rewards Points” underneath.

3. Choose “Redeem travel purchases” or “Book a trip” from the list of redemption options, if available with your card. The “redeem” option is for travel purchases you’ve made in the past 90 days, while “book” is for those coming up. Booking future travel with rewards is where the Capital One travel center enters the equation.

4. Follow Capital One’s instructions for how to complete each process.

Overall, Capital One travel redemption is very intuitive. The options are clearly labelled and you can complete your redemptions with only a few clicks. If you’re having any difficulty, though, you can always call Capital One customer service at 1-877-383-4802.

It’s also useful to note that you can redeem travel rewards through the Capital One mobile app if you’ve downloaded that.

It takes about 14 calendar days for a new Capital One credit card to arrive. And it takes 4-6 business days to get a replacement card, unless you pay $16 for delivery in 2-3 business days. There are no options to get new cards faster. But it won’t always take 14 days for a new card to reach you, depending on how far it has to travel. That’s just the timeframe Capital One quotes people. 

As far as the approval timeline goes, you could be instantly approved for a Capital One credit card if you apply online. On the other hand, Capital One may need longer to verify your information and decide whether you’re creditworthy enough for the card. If you don’t get a decision right away, you can usually expect to hear back within 7-10 business days. That means you should get your Capital One credit card 14-24 [business] days after submitting an application, assuming you’re approved.

Here’s how long it takes for a Capital One credit card to arrive:

• New cards take up to 14 calendar days to arrive, following account approval. You can’t pay to speed this up.
• Replacement cards take 4-6 business days to arrive. You can cut that timeframe in half by paying $16.
• It can take 7-10 business days to get approved for a Capital One credit card, if you’re not approved instantly when you apply.
• You can expect to have your Capital One credit card in hand anywhere from 2 weeks to a month after you apply.
• You can use your Capital One credit card before it arrives if you download the Capital One app. The app shows you all your card details.

If you’re in the market for a Capital One credit card, there are a ton of good options. Capital One Venture is ideal for travel, while Quicksilver is great for cash back. If your credit is only fair or bad, you can consider QuicksilverOne and Capital One Secured, respectively. 

You need 100 Capital One miles for every dollar that a flight costs. Each mile is worth one cent when spent on travel. So if your flight costs $200, you’ll need 20,000 miles. That’s a pretty standard rate for reward redemption.

Because not all flights are equal (in terms of distance, seating, time of year, etc.), their dollar cost varies a lot. So credit card companies can’t charge the same number of points or miles for every flight. Instead, they use an exchange rate between their points or miles and the dollar cost of the flight. In this case, it’s 100 Capital One miles for $1 in airfare. And just to be clear, Capital One doesn’t offer any points cards. But miles work the same way.

If you don’t have a Capital One miles card yet and are interested in one, there are two good options, Capital One Venture and Capital One VentureOne. Both cards require good credit, but their terms are a bit different. Venture gives you 2 miles per $1 on all purchases, with a 50,000 point initial bonus and a $95 annual fee. VentureOne gives you 1.5 miles per $1 on all purchases, with a 20,000 point initial bonus and no annual fee. So you have to choose between a higher earning rate and fee or a lower earning rate and no fee.

If you do already have a Capital One miles card, you can redeem your miles by logging in to your Capital One account here. You can use your points to book travel (flights, hotels, cruises, etc.) or pay for travel expenses after the fact with Capital One’s “purchase eraser” tool.  The number of Capital One miles needed to pay for a recent flight will be listed when you select “Redeem Travel Purchases.” You’ll be able to use your miles for any flight from the past 90 days.

You can add a Capital One authorized user either online or over the phone, at 1-877-338-4802. And you can add anyone, regardless of age or relationship, as an authorized user to your Capital One credit card account. You just need their Social Security number, birth date and address.

To add a Capital One authorized user online, log into your account, click “Services,” then “Manage Authorized Users,” and finally “Add New User.” To do so by phone, call the number on the back of your Capital One card, and when prompted, say you would like to add an authorized user. After you enter your card number, a customer service representative will take the new user’s information and get them set up.

That’s how it works in general. But there are some details you should be aware of before adding an authorized user to your Capital One card.

Here are Capital One’s authorized user policies:

• You have to wait until you’re approved for a Capital One card to add a user.
• You can add as many authorized users as you would like to your account.
• Each authorized user will receive his or her own card, linked to your account.
• You can customize the spending limit of each user when you add them online. Or you can call customer service at 1-877-383-4802 and ask a representative to do it for you.
• You will be responsible for paying the charges made by any authorized user.
• You’ll still get only one statement per month, but you’ll be able to see who made each charge.
• Only the primary cardholder can add an authorized user to an account.

Adding a Capital One authorized user is a straightforward process, especially since the person you’re adding doesn’t need to apply. And it’s a great way to help someone who’s new to credit build their history, so long as both you and your authorized user behave responsibly.