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You're probably familiar with programs such as American Express' The Hotel Collection, which offers extra benefits to customers who book through Amex's website. Capital One has been on a tear since the launch of the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card, including the debut of its own competing hotel program, the Capital One Premier Collection. Now, Capital One has created another premium hotel offering, dubbed the Lifestyle Collection. Let's check out the details, now that the booking portal is live.
Capital One's Lifestyle Collection Hotels
Capital One's Lifestyle Collection is live, and you can make bookings here. Here are the hotels we see so far that are part of the Lifestyle Collection:
- Vintry and Mercer in London
- The Ludlow in New York City
- Drift Palm Springs
- Hotel Greystone in Miami Beach
- COMO Point Yamu in Phuket, Thailand
- Desa Hay in Bali
- The Maven in Denver
Which Capital One Cardholders Get Lifestyle Collection Hotel Perks?
Travelers who hold one of a handful of different Capital One credit cards will be able to book Capital One Lifestyle Collection hotels, including:
- Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card
- Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card
- Capital One Venture X Business
- Capital One Spark Miles for Business
Excitingly, those who hold either the Capital One Venture X or the Capital One Venture X Business will be able to use their annual $300 travel credit towards stays booked with the Lifestyle Collection.
Lifestyle Collection hotels are bookable exclusively through the Capital One Travel portal. This means eligible cardholders will earn either 5x or 10x miles per dollar spent on these hotels, depending on which card they hold.
Perks of Capital One Lifestyle Collection
Along with elevated miles, Capital One Lifestyle Collection guests will also receive a handful of benefits during their stay:
- A $50 experience credit
- Complimentary Wi-Fi.
- Room upgrades, when available
- Early check-in and late checkout, when available
Note that it's also possible to redeem your Capital One Miles for Lifestyle Collection hotels. You'll receive a value of one cent per point when doing so. That's quite a bit lower than the 2.66¢ per point average AwardWallet users have recently received when redeeming Capital One miles through travel partners.
Related: Why you should never redeem Capital One miles through Capital One Travel
How Does the Capital One Lifestyle Collection Compare?
Card issuers have been steadily building their travel portals, including Chase's purchase of cxLoyalty and Citi's recently revamped travel portal. Along with these facelifts, card issuers have been launching a variety of somewhat-similar hotel programs that seek to mimic hotel elite status with luxury perks.
So, how does Capital One's Lifestyle Collection compare to competitors like Amex's The Hotel Collection, Chase's Visa Infinite program, and Citi's Hotel Collection?
In all honesty, it actually does pretty well when judging against its peers. Amex's The Hotel Collection has a minimum two-night stay requirement, while the Lifestyle Collection does not.
The Lifestyle Collection also includes complimentary Wi-Fi, early check-in, and late check-out, which Amex's The Hotel Collection misses. However, the experience credit offered by Amex is a minimum of $100 — which is double the credit provided by Capital One's new Lifestyle Collection program.
Meanwhile, the Visa Infinite program as available on certain Chase cards comes out with just a $25 credit but also includes breakfast, a room upgrade (if available upon arrival), late checkout (if available), and complimentary Wi-Fi.
Lastly, Citi's recently-debuted Hotel Collection is the most meager of the lot. It provides free breakfast and free Wi-Fi but nothing else. Along with this, not all rates on Citi's travel portal are eligible for the Hotel Collection. This is in contrast to properties that are part of Capital One's Lifestyle Collection, all of whose rates include the premium benefits.
If there's anything that the Capital One Lifestyle Collection is missing, it's the complimentary breakfast offering available via Chase and Citi. Overall, though, the Lifestyle Collection strikes a nice balance among all these providers. It offers a broad expanse of benefits with no minimum stay requirement or specialty booking rates.
Related: How To Receive Elite Hotel Benefits Without Elite Status
Is the Capital One Lifestyle Collection Worth It?
Capital One's Lifestyle Collection includes a variety of hotels, including more city-based options than their Premier Collection. However, before booking, you'll always want to do the math to make sure that pricing and benefits add up. For example, Premier Collection hotels booked through Capital One's travel portal don't earn elite night credits and aren't eligible for any benefits of elite status. This should be the same with the Lifestyle Collection.
You'll also want to be certain that pricing matches. Many times, booking these types of rates means booking something along the lines of the “best available rate” for a hotel. Sometimes, these rates can be magnitudes more expensive than others, so be sure to check directly with the hotel's site to ensure that you're not overpaying.
Finally, if you hold cards from multiple issuers, it's always worth comparing availability across multiple programs. Although you'll be receiving slightly different benefits depending on where you book, it's possible that some programs have properties that others don't.
The Bottom Line
Capital One is swinging heavy these days as it makes up for lost time with travel. This includes the recently launched Premier Collection and the new debut of the Lifestyle Collection. Like its competitors, the Lifestyle Collection offers mid-tier luxury benefits with participating hotels. This includes an experience credit, room upgrade, and more. And the portal is now live for bookings, which you can make here.
Are you going to make any bookings with the Capital One Lifestyle Collection? What do you think about the benefits it offers?
The comments on this page are not provided, reviewed, or otherwise approved by the bank advertiser. It is not the bank advertiser's responsibility to ensure all posts and/or questions are answered.
Frankly without the breakfast benefit it is of very low value.
Breakfast at these types of hotels is usually luxurious and costs around $50 or more per person.
If you add the loss of $50. in hotel credit then there is already a $150. difference.
i wouldnt consider it of interest