While American Express was suspending my accounts for their “Financial Review”, Capitol One sent me a nice letter telling me that they appreciated my business and wanted to know if I would like increased rewards.

Would I?!

When I had a few minutes on my hand I actually called the number on the letter and told them, yes, I would like increased rewards. Currently, I receive 1% cash back on all of my purchases from my Capitol One “No Hassle” rewards card. On top of that, I get another .25% back at the end of the year. Capitol One had been my backup Visa card to my Starwood American Express, which had been my primary card. Since Amex decided to play games with me rather than appreciate my business, I had been using the Capitol One card as my primary card recently.

What I Got Out Of It

For five minutes of my time, I got to listen to one of their account reps tell me how they appreciate my business, the kind of love I have definitely not been receiving from Amex lately. Affection aside, they asked me what more I would want out of their card. I would like more cash back I told them. Then, they actually raised the rewards from 1% to 2% for the next three months, on top of the .25% I get at the end of the year, for a total of 2.25% on ALL purchases. This is an industry leading offer, yet the extra 1% is only valid for three months. I had been considering the new Schwab card with 2% cash back, but this is now even better.

It Can’t Hurt To Ask

This got me thinking, when was the last time I had merely asked for more rewards? I got an additional 1% back from Capitol One just by asking. Frugal Travel Guy got 2,000 Starwood Starpoints just for asking a question. What rewards benefits might you get by calling up your credit card company and asking? Maybe there is a better card for you, or they are willing to up your bonus. They point is that you won’t know unless you ask, and it can’t hurt to do so. So what are you waiting for?

Couples And Accounts

While I was speaking with the friendly Capitol One rep, I brought up another issue. A few months ago, my wife lost her card, and we had the most difficult time getting it replaced. At first they seemed helpful when she talked to them, but then they told her that she didn’t have permission to request a new card. When I called them up, I was upset, as she is a joint account holder in all of our accounts, presumably with Capitol One as well. Unfortunately, that is not how they saw it. In their system, the card was in her name, but the account was in mine. The only way that they could change that would be to close my account and create a new one with a joint application. The workaround that they offered was to fax in a power of attorney form. That is a pain, but it is ultimately necessary to ensure that both of us can make changes to the account when necessary.

The rep I talked to walked me through the process and we got it taken care of, but it is a good thing to keep in mind. You never know when a card will be lost or stolen, and it helps if either card holder can call it in and get it resolved.

All in all, kudos to Capitol One for recognizing their valuable customers rather than infuriating them like America Express!

This entry was posted on Monday, January 5th, 2009 at 23:00 and is filed under Maximize your Credit Card Rewards. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.