r/Venturex

Looking for a sanity check from the award travel crowd. I did this way in advance and it’s the first time I’ve used my venturex points on an international Carrier.

Family of 4 traveling NYC to Barcelona in August 2027 for a cruise.

Booked through British Airways Avios on Iberia:

Outbound Aug. 11 JFK 8:40 PM → MAD → BCN 12:45 PM

Return Aug. 22 BCN 1:35 PM → MAD → JFK 6:55 PM

Total for all 4: 194,000 Avios round trip $1,114.12 taxes/fees

That’s 48,500 Avios round trip per person, or 24,250 each way.

The schedule is a big part of why I like it. The 8:40 PM outbound lets me work most of the day instead of burning another vacation day, and the 12:45 PM BCN arrival lines up nicely with hotel check-in. The return also works well after our cruise without rushing to the airport.

What’s interesting is that the exact award itineraries have since disappeared from Point.me, while the flights themselves are still scheduled and my reservations remain intact in BA and Iberia.

I briefly considered Aer Lingus from EWR, but it would cost more Avios, more cash after cancellation fees, and would leave much earlier in the day.

Iberia also quoted roughly $70 per 23 kg checked bag for the full outbound itinerary once baggage purchase opens.

I also managed to grab 2 rooms at the Grand Hyatt Barcelona for Aug. 12 to 14 for 60,000 Hyatt points total, so effectively 15,000 points per room per night. That gives us two connecting rooms for the family for the two nights before the cruise.

For peak summer, fixed dates, and 4 seats together, how would you rate 194K Avios + $1,114 total? Strong redemption, average, or nothing special?

Has anyone here flown to Hawaii from mainland USA in business class or premium economy using points?

Based on what I’m seeing on Seats.aero, there doesn’t seem to be a ton of (affordable) availability in premium economy or business class. However, I’m seeing quite a bit of economy availability through Air Canada Aeroplan and Qatar Airways.

Are there any other transfer partners I should be looking at that tend to have good award availability for flights to Hawaii?

Also, if I book an economy award flight through Air Canada or Qatar Airways, does anyone have experience with upgrading to premium economy or business class afterward? If so, how much did the upgrade cost, and was it worth it?

For context, the vast majority of our points are earned through Capital One, so I’d ideally like to stick with transfer partners that work with Capital One Miles.

Would appreciate any advice or firsthand experiences!

On our way home our first flight was delayed four hours, which caused us to miss our connection in Miami. American Airlines could get us to Miami that day, but couldn't get us on the second flight until Wednesday, so we ended up spending two extra nights in Miami.

The airfare was purchased through the Venture X travel portal, so i was eligible for their trip delay coverage. I was a little worried that they might deny it since American Airlines was supposed to provide us with a hotel voucher - but I didn't ask for one because in the past they put us up in a pretty ghetto hotel.

For the claim, I submitted: a statement from American Airlines confirming the delayed flight, original itinerary, Uber receipts to and from the hotel, hotel folio, and receipts for meals and incidentals (toothpaste, contact lens solution, etc)

I didn't submit receipts that were just for booze at the bars, but everything else related to the delay was included - $696 total

A week after submitting the claim, I received an email that the total amount was approved! Three days after submitting my bank information the refund appeared in my checking account

Glad the Venture X trip delay coverage came through

For example when looking at a lounge I saw this under Conditions on the priority pass site:

• Max Unlimited guests per cardholder

Of course VX says that only the cardholder gets access and guests cost $35 per guest.

Does this mean this particular lounge allows guests without charge or unlimited guests that will be charged per cardholder? I'm kind of confused.

I had success a few years ago using my travel credit to book a Jetblue flight on the C1 portal, waiting 24 hours, then cancelling it to receive JB travel credits. Can I do the same with UA?

I see 3 fare types:

1. Economy: Non-refundable

2. Economy: Cancel for credit

3. Economy Fully Refundable: Fully refundable ticket

I'm assuming I should select option #2.

I'm also using my spouses' C1 account and will enter my name and UA # for the booking.

It seems like Hertz was taking up all the oxygen in the car rental complaint threads at least coming to my Reddit feed, so I was unaware until after the fact about how awful Sixt is.

We rented a car for three days from Logan that was fully covered by my Venture X $300 annual travel credit. I had booked a Toyota Corolla, which promised seating for five and room for three bags. Prior to our trip, I had Sixt match my Hertz President's Circle status to their Diamond status. When we arrived to pick up our car, we had been "upgraded" to a BMW series 2, which only had two doors and would not even fit two pieces of luggage in the trunk. We returned to the car rental terminal to wait on a long and slow-moving line to be helped to get a car closer to what we had reserved and were then given an Elantra, which had 10,000 miles on it.

A few hours into our trip, a warning message notified me that an oil change was overdue, which was followed about an hour later with a low oil warning message. I called Sixt and was told that I could go to Pep Boys for an oil change, and they would provide me with a purchase order. Pep Boys had not appointments until the following afternoon, and I didn't want to spend my vacation getting my oil changed in any case, so Sixt then suggested that I buy oil, for which they would reimburse me. I accepted that option.

The next day, even after pouring a full bottle of oil, the same low oil warning message appeared, suggesting a leak. I called Sixt again, and they arranged to have a replacement car towed to meet us at a relative's house where we were visiting. This time, they brought a BMW 3 series, and there were no further challenges for the remainder of the rental, though passing under the infamous AI scanner did portend bad news ahead.

The day after returning the car, I received two e-mails from Sixt, both informing me that there was damage to both the Elantra and the BMW and asked for my justification. In both cases, I replied that any damage to the cars would have had to be caused by the tow truck. That explanation apparently suited them for the Elantra, but I later received another e-mail informing me of $600 in damage from a scrape to the rim of a tire. I paid the outrageous charge and filed a claim with Venture X's third-party administrator (TPA). The adjuster twice asked me for more documentation, which I provided, and about two weeks later, notified me that they were approving the claim and paid it in full the following day.

I will certainly never be renting again from Sixt, and this example serves as another data point that Venture X will pay for car damages even for rentals within the $300 annual travel credit.

EDIT: I forgot to mention that they never reimbursed me for the oil.

I’ve had my Venture X for about 1.5 years but had yet to do any sort of points transfer. I was looking at nonstop flights to Hawaii which were around $900 USD round trip flying Alaska.

I checked points yeah and found similar award flights on the same days, also nonstop but on delta, booking through Virgin.

I transferred the points, which took around 5 minutes to transfer and then I was able to book the flights. In total, 44,000 points + $12. A massive savings from what I originally was going to spend.

This was my first time transferring and booking with points so I just wanted to share that it can be super easy and worth it to check awards flights!

I called Capital One requesting a retention offer for my Venture card or “otherwise I would like to close my card and refund my 9/19 $95 fee” (I’m sure there may be something similar to the VentureX card). They ended up CREDITING my full yearly fee.

Call summary:

After asking, they proceeded to say there is no retention offer unfortunately, but is there anything they want me to request for the yearly fee? Hinting to me that there is another option… So I said sure what are the options. They proceeded to say, you will need to tell me your request either to reduce or remove the fee and I’m happy to assist you. I said are you able to waive the fee? And they said let me look into that, and proceeded to WAIVE my ENTIRE $95 yearly fee as a “one time courtesy” and can continue using my card as normal.

Exactly one month ago, I had an offer on my new Venture X card to place my first Doordash order and get 2k miles. I clicked the offer, which opened the app, I placed an order and got my item. I haven't heard anything from Capital One regarding the offer in this month period. I know Capital One offers are known to only halfway work. I have screenshots of the offer, as well as my proof of placing the order. Has anyone had any luck reaching out to Capitol One and getting the miles they are owed?

I booked a flight ticket which was around 1300 dollars and this was during my 3 month window to spend 4k and get the SUB. Now, the airlines has abruptly cancelled the flight and they would refund the prices. Will my bonus be clawed back, will customer service understand my situation ?

Anybody had any issues with getting the points for the Sixt Car rental in offers. I have never gotten them called many times and final answer has always been nothing we can do issue with Sixt. I have 30k points coming my way due to offer and really want to get them any ideas on how I can facilitate this as opposed to waiting ill it goes inactive and getting the cash payout.