What are Capital One Credit Card application rules? (2024)

Capital One has made tremendous changes to their program, and I thought it would be beneficial to put together a quick guide regarding application rules. Years ago it used to be quite easy to pick up a Capital One credit card, but in the past few years the rules have gotten more stringent and hopefully this will help you navigate the rules. It’s also something worth examining since I think they offer the best ultra premium credit card on the market for most people: The Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card

How many Capital One credit cards can I have?

This is a great question and the anecdotally the answer has always been 2 personal cards total. This doesn’t include cobranded cards like BassPro or Cabela’s, and traditionally hasn’t included small business cards ( but I have recently heard of denials for this reason in June 2024) . It used to be that it was only 2 personal cards but over the past year or so this may have expanded.

There are exceptions to this rule and some have been approved for more than 2, but it’s worth keeping in mind.

How often can I get a Capital One credit card?

The rule has normally been regarded as such: Capital One will limit you to 1 new card every 6 months. This rule applies not only to personal cards, but to business cards alike. To further clarify, if you get a Capital One Venture Rewards, you’d have to wait 6 months to get a Capital One Spark Miles even though one is personal and the other is business.

• Remember that if you already have 2 personal cards it doesn’t matter if its been 6 months, you won’t get approved

There have been some exceptions to this rule

• It seems that people have been approved even if you have gotten another Capital One card in the past 6 months
  • Don’t count on this unequivocally, but there have been data points to back this up

You can only hold one charge card at a time

The Capital One Venture X Business and the Capital One Spark Plus Cash are both charge cards meaning that they need to be paid in full every month. The consensus has been that if you hold one charge card, the bank will probably not approve you for another.

How often can I get a bonus? 48 months

Up until recently, as long as you were approved, you’d get the bonus. Some people even have two of the same card – although Capital One does reserve the right to deny a bonus and has kept fairly vague terms.

Now… you may see the following language on applications leading us to think they have a 48 months across the board:

“Existing or previous cardmembers are not eligible for this product if they have received a new cardmember bonus for this product in the past 48 months.”

This means that if you currently have the card, you probably won’t be able to get another, although this language is so new that we don’t have many data points. It also means, if you have had the card, canceled, but it’s been fewer than 48 months since you got the original bonus…you won’t get it. Good to know.

What are the 15+ Capital One transfer partners?

Here’s a pretty chart regarding Capital One transfer partners. I’m really impressed with how far Capital One has come in just a few years regarding their push to establish themselves in the travel rewards ecosystem. This is an impressive list of 15+ partners and all but two are 1:1

How has Capital One made improvements to their program?

Not only did they introduce transfer partners a couple of years back, but they recently ago they improved nearly all of their partners to 1:1. This is amazing since both the Capital One Venture Rewards and Capital One Spark Miles earn 2x miles on every single purchase.

• The following partners are now 1:1
  • Aeromexico Club Premier
  • Air Canada Aeroplan
  • Avianca LifeMiles
  • Air France Flying Blue
  • British Airways Executive Club
  • Cathay Pacific Asia Miles
  • Choice Privileges
  • Etihad Guest
  • Emirates
  • Finnair Plus
  • Qantas Frequent Flyer
  • Singapore Airlines
  • TAP Air Portugal Miles&Go
  • Turkish Airlines Miles and Smiles
  • Wyndham Rewards
• Accor transfer 2:1
• EVA transfers 2:1.5

Overall

Capital One has made the most exciting changes to their program this year, and they have moved to the top of my list of cards to add to my wallet. The betterment of their transfer partner list and transfer rate have made this program arguably one of the best in the space. If they would loosen their rules on how many cards you can hold and the ability to convert cashback rewards into miles – this would be a truly allstar program. A big part of me believes this is in the works, although I have no evidence to support this inclination other than the moves they’ve made over the past few years tells me “they get it.”

You can redeem British Airways Avios to fly QSuites from the US to Doha for 70k miles. One of the many fantastic redemptions of the Cap1 program.

Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities.

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