CapOne Quicksilver offer

GetawaysRus

Level 2 Member
I have an old CapOne Quicksilver (1.5% cashback) card that sits in the drawer unused because I have more beneficial cards. I just received this offer in the mail:

Get $300 cash back
When you spend $15,000 on purchases with your Capital One card between May 15 to August 15, 2017.
This bonus offer is in addition to earning your existing 1.5% cash back on every purchase.


So that would net to 3.5% cash back on 15K in spending over 3 months.
 

Craig

Level 2 Member
Between offers like this, new referral opportunities, relationship with Spotify etc., it seems as if Cap1 is looking to get more competitive in the rewards market.
 

GetawaysRus

Level 2 Member
Another offer came in the mail yesterday, likely targeted.

First, about the offer I mentioned in the original post of this thread: I did take advantage of it. I did get the usual 1.5% cash back from using the Quicksilver on my next statement. I then held on to the original mailer and waited for the promised $300 to post. I waited until the end of the period mentioned on the mailer, but never did see the $300. So I had to call CapOne. They verified that I had met the offer terms and mailed me a check for $300. Moral: hold on to the offer and make sure they follow through.

The Quicksilver card then went back into the sock drawer. I haven't used it since.

Now, here's the new offer:

Dear Getaways,
Since you haven't used your card in a while, here's a way to try us again and rediscover what we have to offer. You're now enrolled to earn bonus rewards! There's nothing else you need to do, just use your card and start earning your cash back bonus!


Get $200 cash back when you spend $7500 on purchases with your CapOne card ending in xxxx from April 6 to July 6, 2018. This bonus offer is in addition to the 1.5% cash back you get on every purchase.

So, if we do a little math, let's say I pay my next quarterly estimated tax with the Quicksilver. That would be an easy way to quickly hit the spending requirement, and my least favorite Uncle (Sam) pulls a lot of money out of my pocket each quarter. Pay1040.com charges a 1.87% fee to do this.

If I pay $7500, the fee would be $140.25

I would earn 1.5% cash back on the $7500 (and possibly the fee as well), which equals at least $112.50 ($114.60 if I get 1.5% back on the fee as well, which I suspect I would).

So far this has cost me 140.25 (fee) - 112.50 (cash back) = $27.75

If CapOne comes through with the promised $200 bonus, I am ahead 200 - 27.75 = $172.25

My original expense was 7500 (in estimated tax) + 140.25 (in fees) = $7640.25

$172.25 back in my pocket is a 2.25% cash profit on 7640.25 in spending. That's not the greatest return in the world, but it's fairly decent and it's a bit better than my Fidelity 2% cash back card. $200 cash on 7500 spend looks better than the prior offer of $300 cash on 15K of spend. There are of course other alternatives when paying estimated tax, and I will have to weigh that against the other choices.

Another thing I could do is buy VGCs. By ordering via a cashback portal, the fees are not that bad, and they would be less than paying estimated taxes. Can anyone tell me how CapOne will react if they suddenly see a big jump in VGC purchases on an account that's been inactive for nearly a year? I suspect it might not be pretty...

I know that this group is pretty analytical. So I'm also curious what others think of this offer.
 
Top