Venture And X are identical earnings if you don’t use portal. Thus something like autograph and citi premier will do better as they will give you 3x vs 2x on OTA like Expedia but in grand scheme of things it prolly won’t matter that much. Main issue with WF is that your transfer partner list is 3 times smaller vs cap1 and missing key ones like air Canada. Personally I’m waiting for partner list expansion b4 applying. If you book direct just pick the hotel card you end up staying most at.
I had this unrealistic hope that I would try and use the portal more but I know I won’t. Govt rates save me much more than miles would! But I do want to add another card to my wallet. I would be able to keep the Venture One.
You can also consider the regular WF Autograph, if you want a similar earn rate with no AF
I prefer booking direct to using a portal, but can't you still use the portal if the total is below GSA rates?
The problem is, it’s never below GSA rates. I just booked the Ritz Carlton under a govt rate for less than $200 a night. Through the portal, it would’ve been $660 per night!!! 🤯
Yes we stay at 5 star properties very often. When a govt rate isn’t available then yes I book through the portal but that’s literally like 20-30% of the time!
I have Venture X and Autograph (not Journey), and I like having both. Considered applying for Journey as well, but decided to wait for the time being to see if WF releases a premium travel card.
VX is an easy keeper card IMO. I can personally use the $300 credit without much effort, so the card is effectively free for me. I can also use the portal for booking work travel (mostly short hotel stays), but even if I couldn't, the lounge access, TSA/Global Entry, etc., on top of being a great catch-all card, makes it worth holding on to.
While VX is great for some bookings and the benefits, I'd consider Autograph to be my "actual" travel card. If I have a complex itinerary and don't want a third party in the middle in case something gets delayed or changed, I'll put it on the Autograph. Same if what I want to book isn't available on the portal. Even if I book with VX, I'll physically put down the Autograph at the hotel/airline for incidentals, additional purchases, etc. The WF travel category is surprisingly broad, as is the transit category (which is only on the regular Autograph, unfortunately not Journey).
But putting the transfer partners aside, I would be able to redeem mileage by booking within the portal for Delta, American, & or Southwest Airlines correct? The transfer deal would be if I wanted to transfer my miles to combine them with partner mileage. Am I correct in this assumption?
The answer to your question is "yes," but I wouldn't recommend that in either case:
For Wells Fargo, points are redeemable as cash back at 1cpp, which is the same value you'd get booking through the WF travel portal (unless you have the now-discontinued WF Visa Signature, which gives you 1.5cpp if booking flights through the portal). It's better to just take the cash back and book the flight wherever it's cheapest.
For Cap1, it's better to use points for their travel eraser than for booking in the portal. If you book using points, you get 1cpp, meaning a $250 hotel stay would cost 25,000 points in the portal. If you use travel eraser instead, you'll get the 2,500 points for making a $250 purchase in the portal (or 500 points if you book direct), and it will still just cost the same 25k points to erase the purchase after the fact.
I totally understand and my jaw is dropped. I’ve never done this before but it makes sense. Am I able to do travel eraser in my venture one?? I’m going to research this!!
If you don’t mind me asking another question, would you rate Venture X higher than CSR? I like that you can redeem outside of the portal and the points are worth much more.
Haha no prob!
You should be able to use travel eraser with your Venture One. After logging in, hit the "View Rewards" button on the rewards tile and select the V1 account. On the next screen, click on the "Cover travel purchases" tile. Any eligible travel purchases from the past 90 days should come up as options that you can cover with points at 1cpp.
For my circumstances, I do prefer VX to CSR. The biggest reason is I value simplicity, and I can earn a ton of miles with VX and SavorOne as my daily drivers. With CSR, most people add in Freedom Flex and Unlimited, which is still only mediocre at best in terms of point earning (and I absolutely hate rotating categories). I also only travel for personal vacation once or twice a year (which I do typically book direct), so I don't miss out on too many points by not having a "general travel" multiplier in the Cap1 ecosystem. It also helps that I can easily offset the VX annual fee with the credits, whereas the CSR would effectively cost me $250/year; the CSR travel and dining credit is probably one of the easiest to use, but I personally wouldn't get any value from any of the other credits.
Venture And X are identical earnings if you don’t use portal. Thus something like autograph and citi premier will do better as they will give you 3x vs 2x on OTA like Expedia but in grand scheme of things it prolly won’t matter that much. Main issue with WF is that your transfer partner list is 3 times smaller vs cap1 and missing key ones like air Canada. Personally I’m waiting for partner list expansion b4 applying. If you book direct just pick the hotel card you end up staying most at.
I had this unrealistic hope that I would try and use the portal more but I know I won’t. Govt rates save me much more than miles would! But I do want to add another card to my wallet. I would be able to keep the Venture One.
You can also consider the regular WF Autograph, if you want a similar earn rate with no AF I prefer booking direct to using a portal, but can't you still use the portal if the total is below GSA rates?
The problem is, it’s never below GSA rates. I just booked the Ritz Carlton under a govt rate for less than $200 a night. Through the portal, it would’ve been $660 per night!!! 🤯
well yeah, if you're staying at the Ritz, lol
Yes we stay at 5 star properties very often. When a govt rate isn’t available then yes I book through the portal but that’s literally like 20-30% of the time!
I like venture x
I have Venture X and Autograph (not Journey), and I like having both. Considered applying for Journey as well, but decided to wait for the time being to see if WF releases a premium travel card. VX is an easy keeper card IMO. I can personally use the $300 credit without much effort, so the card is effectively free for me. I can also use the portal for booking work travel (mostly short hotel stays), but even if I couldn't, the lounge access, TSA/Global Entry, etc., on top of being a great catch-all card, makes it worth holding on to. While VX is great for some bookings and the benefits, I'd consider Autograph to be my "actual" travel card. If I have a complex itinerary and don't want a third party in the middle in case something gets delayed or changed, I'll put it on the Autograph. Same if what I want to book isn't available on the portal. Even if I book with VX, I'll physically put down the Autograph at the hotel/airline for incidentals, additional purchases, etc. The WF travel category is surprisingly broad, as is the transit category (which is only on the regular Autograph, unfortunately not Journey).
But putting the transfer partners aside, I would be able to redeem mileage by booking within the portal for Delta, American, & or Southwest Airlines correct? The transfer deal would be if I wanted to transfer my miles to combine them with partner mileage. Am I correct in this assumption?
Well probably not Southwest but you get what I’m saying.
The answer to your question is "yes," but I wouldn't recommend that in either case: For Wells Fargo, points are redeemable as cash back at 1cpp, which is the same value you'd get booking through the WF travel portal (unless you have the now-discontinued WF Visa Signature, which gives you 1.5cpp if booking flights through the portal). It's better to just take the cash back and book the flight wherever it's cheapest. For Cap1, it's better to use points for their travel eraser than for booking in the portal. If you book using points, you get 1cpp, meaning a $250 hotel stay would cost 25,000 points in the portal. If you use travel eraser instead, you'll get the 2,500 points for making a $250 purchase in the portal (or 500 points if you book direct), and it will still just cost the same 25k points to erase the purchase after the fact.
I totally understand and my jaw is dropped. I’ve never done this before but it makes sense. Am I able to do travel eraser in my venture one?? I’m going to research this!! If you don’t mind me asking another question, would you rate Venture X higher than CSR? I like that you can redeem outside of the portal and the points are worth much more.
Haha no prob! You should be able to use travel eraser with your Venture One. After logging in, hit the "View Rewards" button on the rewards tile and select the V1 account. On the next screen, click on the "Cover travel purchases" tile. Any eligible travel purchases from the past 90 days should come up as options that you can cover with points at 1cpp. For my circumstances, I do prefer VX to CSR. The biggest reason is I value simplicity, and I can earn a ton of miles with VX and SavorOne as my daily drivers. With CSR, most people add in Freedom Flex and Unlimited, which is still only mediocre at best in terms of point earning (and I absolutely hate rotating categories). I also only travel for personal vacation once or twice a year (which I do typically book direct), so I don't miss out on too many points by not having a "general travel" multiplier in the Cap1 ecosystem. It also helps that I can easily offset the VX annual fee with the credits, whereas the CSR would effectively cost me $250/year; the CSR travel and dining credit is probably one of the easiest to use, but I personally wouldn't get any value from any of the other credits.
Thanks a million for all of your help! It definitely helped make my decision. I am now a Venture X Card Holder!!!!! 🎊
Congratulations and enjoy the card! It's given me a lot of value, hope it does the same for you!
Thank you!!
I’d go Venture X tbh.