Positive Change to the Capital One Aspire Travel World Elite MasterCard

I’m sure that I was not the only person unhappy about the tier reward system implemented by the Capital One Aspire Travel World Elite MasterCard. After years of complaining (including from myself directly to Capital One), our cries have finally been heard!

The Capital One Aspire Travel World Elite MasterCard has changed its reward redemption schedule so that we can redeem a straight 2% for travel expenses. In the past, we had this annoying tier system as follows:

  • Up to $150 = 15,000
  • $150.01 to $350 = 35,000
  • $350.01 to $600 = 60,000
  • $600.01 and greater = Travel cost x100

For some reason, the above information is still published on the public website. Hopefully it will be updated soon to reflect the current situation. If you log into your account and click in the rewards section, the wording now says: “Just multiply your transaction amount by 100 to see the number of reward miles needed to redeem. ex. $180 ticket x 100 = 18,000 reward miles needed”. Not only can we redeem our straight 2% on a travel purchase, it seems that we can also redeem partial credits now.

For example, if your flight costed $585 and you only have 24,000 points, you should be able to redeem $240 off the $585.

For those of us who were grandfathered from the old Capital One Aspire World Travel MasterCard, meaning that you will still receive the 10,000 anniversary bonus (essentially shaving off $100 per year on our annual fees), this has essentially become the top travel credit card in Canada in my books. I am very excited to start redeeming my points and if I continue to receive the anniversary bonus I pretty much plan to keep this credit card forever. This is exactly the type of incentives that I like to see in a credit card that will encourage people to retain their credit card rather than to churn.

I previously stated that the new World Elite version is worse than the old World version, but with this new reward system change, it has become better than the older version for those who were grandfathered. However, for those of you who were not, and are new applicants, the calculation is very different. The highlights of the credit card are as follows:

  • $120 annual fee
  • Earn 10,000 sign up bonus points after your first purchase
  • Earn 2 points for every $1 spent on all purchases

The sign up bonus actually doesn’t even cover the annual fee. This credit card is only worth it if you have high spending. For example, if you put $1,000 per month in spending, you would be receiving 24,000 points per year (12 x $1,000), which comes out to $240 – $120 annual fee = $120 net.

Conversely, a credit card that issues 1% cash back with no annual fee would have netted you the exact same return $12,000 x 1% = $120 net.

If you had $2,000 in spending, that would result in 48,000 points per year (12 x $2,000), which comes out to $480 – $120 annual fee = $360 net.

The 1% cash back with no annual fee would have netted you $24,000 x 1% = $240 net.

Remember to always do the calculations before deciding which credit card to apply for to find out if it is worth it with respect to your monthly spending habits.

11 Comments

  1. That’s a great news! Thanks for sharing. This is my GoTo card for most expenses.

    Some folks may already know it but Capital One Canada has a cap of 5000 CAD/month credit limit. This sucks big time for users like me who want to get most out of our card by using it on Plastiq (only 1.5% fee for the promo period) to pay to merchants that don’t accept credit cards. (Rent, tuition etc.). I called a couple of times and got the same info from different customer service managers. Looks like for now they can afford to give out only so many rewards.

  2. This card is now similar to BMO rewards world elite Mastercard: 2% back in rewards money, only that the BMO comes with $300 in reward money after the first transaction. It was first-year free for a while.

      1. The BMO travel website prices are often not necessarily the best. Having used both and redeemed with both I prefer C1. But BMO’s card is free for those with a premium plan account 🙂

  3. Hello Matthew,

    This is great news! I’ve been saving my points hoping to use them soon for a family vacation. However, now we decided to go with a condo booked with VRBO instead of a hotel. Would you happen to know if charges through VRBO are categorized as “travel” or does it depend on how the merchant puts the transaction through?

    Thanks!!! I love your site.

    Tammy

    1. Thanks for the kind words Tammy! I believe it might count, you will find out very quickly when you go to the rewards section. If it counts, it will show up as an option for you to redeem your points. It depends on what is Capital One’s classification of a travel expense.

  4. Hey Matthew,

    I just rediscovered my Capital One card and I am pretty sure it’s the best rewards card out there for Canadians at the moment, especially with the elimination of the tiered rewards.

    Question for you is, what has been your experience with Capital One waiving the annual fee upon your 1 year anniversary? I have had some success with the banks in threatening to cancel my card and either get the offer to waive the annual fee (rare) or receive extra reward points to compensate me for the fee (often). Have you tried this tactic with Capital One and if so, what has been the result?

    PS. I’m attending the Point University in January and I’m super pumped for it!

    1. Hi Jayce, I don’t have any luck waiving the fee with Capital One but I have received a partial statement credit before. They are a pretty stiff company. They don’t even have first year fee waived promotions.

      Be sure to say hi!

  5. I just signed up for this card and have started using it. This is even different than what you stated in Oct. My annual fee is $150. But you receive 40,000 points if you spend $1000.00 in the first 3 months. That is $400.00 worth. Also you have to look at that $150. I get all kinds of travel insurance no matter if I book my trip on the card or not. Plus all the other benefits that comes with the card so for me that is just a 150$ a year premium. If you travel a lot then that is a great deal to me. In the first week I have earned 42,600 points.. not bad at all.
    Thanks for the post.

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