One feature competitor premium travel card products have offered, but Capital One lacked, was a luxury hotel collection – opportunities to book top hotels with extra benefits. Now Capital One is launching its own Premium Hotel Collection for Venture X cardmembers.
American Express has Fine Hotels and Resorts. Chase has its Luxury Hotel Collection. Visa as well has its Luxury Hotel Collection, without bank branding. And Mastercard has its Luxury Hotel & Resorts Portfolio. The benefits vary, but in general you’ll find them to be somewhat similar to booking through agency programs like Virtuoso or Four Seasons Preferred Partners – which also in some cases adding additional value or points, giving back more to the customer by foregoing or rebating commission.
Key elements of the Capital One offering,
- Premium and often independent hotels
- Earns 10 points per dollar when paying cash
- Can redeem Capital One points directly against the bookings
- Qualify for hotel elite status benefits and earning, along with hotel loyalty points earning, where a property is part of such a program
- Benefits including a US$100 (or local currency equivalent) experience credit valid on dining, spa, or activities; daily breakfast for two; complimentary Wifi; and including early check-in, late checkout, and room upgrade subject to availability.
Initially there are over 100 hotels in the collection, including from brands such as Small Luxury Hotels; The Leading Hotels of the World; Six Senses; 1 Hotels; Proper Hotels and more. Examples of specific properties include:
The Ned NoMad in New York City
Montage Laguna Beach in California
1 Hotels South Beach in Florida
La Réserve Paris Hotel and Spa in Paris
COMO Castello Del Nero in Italy
Sugar Beach, a Viceroy Resort in St. Lucia
Euphoria Retreat in Greece
Hotel Cafe Royal in London
Majestic Hotel in Barcelona
The Carlin Hotel in New Zealand
The Plettenberg in South Africa
I should note for those of you familiar with Small Luxury Hotels of The World through its Hyatt partnership, accessing those benefits requires booking through Hyatt so this isn’t an opportunity to double dip on those benefits.
I’ll use my Venture X $300 annual credit for bookings through Capital One Travel on an airline ticket. I won’t have difficulty using it (though it’ll be a simple domestic ticket for ease since I’m booking through an online travel agency). However those who either prefer not to do so, or book all their flights with points, may find this an outstanding use for their travel credit – especially since like American Express bookings and unlike Chase bookings they promise hotel loyalty program credit where applicable.
Ultimately this is a value add for cardmembers. It addresses an area where competitors have had an offering, while Capital One has quickly ramped up in the space. Whether the specific benefits are best for you compared to other offerings is something you’ll need to consider in each case.
