The Best Capital One Credit Cards of 2011

Capital One credit cards are known for their industry-leading rewards rates and sweet signup bonuses. In our opinion, their best selling point is their No Hassle rewards program, which pretty much lives up to its name. The rewards are easy to redeem, they don’t expire, and unlike Citi ThankYou Points or Bank of America WorldPoints, you don’t need to rack up tens of thousands of them before you see good returns. All the cards mentioned here fall under two of the three rewards categories: the No Hassle Miles or No Hassle Cash program. Though Capital One’s low interest credit cards are nothing to write home about, where the issuer really stands out is its rewards credit cards: they tend to have exceptional rates and, as we mentioned, easy redemption options. Without further ado, here are our top picks for Capital One cards.

Best Card for Travel: the CapOne Venture Rewards

Very few credit cards offer the equivalent of 2% back on all purchases. The Capital One Venture Rewards card offers best rewards deal of pretty much all travel credit cards: 2 No Hassle miles per $1 on every purchase. Moreover, those No Hassle miles are pretty flexible: they’re unlimited, they don’t expire, and you can use them as a statement credit offsetting travel expenses rather than limiting yourself to one plane ticket on one designated carrier.

One major perk for travelers is that the Venture has no foreign transaction fee. This charge can set you back as much as 3% of what you spend overseas, so an international traveler will easily get good value out of the waived F/X fee. And, last we checked, Venture Rewards is the only 2% card with no foreign transaction fee and complimentary concierge service. The $59 annual fee is waived in the first year. Those things are pretty hard to find all together, so Capital One gets major kudos for that.

Best No-Fee Card: the Capital One Cash

The Capital One Cash card, launched in August, is pretty much the best no-fee rewards credit card in the business. Generally, you’re lucky to get 1.25% rewards, and you often have to settle for a base 1% rate. With the Cash, however, you can do better. You’ll earn 1% cash back on all purchases and no annual fee, but if you make your payments on time for a whole year, you’ll get an additional 50% bonus on that cash back, bringing the overall rewards rate up to 1.5%. You can redeem your cash back via check, statement credit or gift card, and best of all, you can also set up automatic redemptions. This is godsend for busy folks who might otherwise forget to redeem their hard-earned rewards (you know who you are). Finally, its year-long 0% introductory APR period is pretty snazzy. With no annual fee and a high rewards rate, the Cash is easy to use and a good long-term companion.

Best Student Card: the Journey Student Rewards

To be fair, CapOne only has one student card, so the Journey Student Rewards card is a winner by default. However, that’s not it say it doesn’t have its own merits. While the APR is a bit high at 19.8%, it does offer no annual fee, 1% cash back on all purchases, and a 25% bonus each month when you pay your bill on time, bringing the total reward rate to 1.25%. Just like the Cash card, your cash rewards doesn’t expire, and are easy to redeem. It’s also worth mentioning you only need average credit to qualify for this card, so it’s good for students trying to build credit, but you really need to pay your bills on time to make this card worth your while. To help keep you up to date, Capital One will send you texts alerts or emails when your statements are due.

Best Credit Card for Bad Credit: the Capital One Secured

The Capital One Secured is one of the best secured cards out there, mostly because of its accessibility. For one thing, CapOne will consider you straight out of bankruptcy, while BofA and others have you wait six months or more. For another, they have a really low security deposit: $49, $99 or $200 for a $200 credit limit, and you can pay in installments if you don’t have the cash upfront. You can also easily “graduate” to an unsecured credit card, and increase your credit limit as well. The annual fee is among the lowest at $29, though it’s not waived the first year.

Best Business Card: the Capital One^® Spark^℠ Cash for Business

The Capital One^® Spark^℠ Miles for Business used to be known as the Capital One® Venture for Business^℠, and is corporate counterpart to the Capital One® Venture^℠ Rewards Credit Card card, which helps make it another one of our top recommendations. You’ll earn the same 2 miles per dollar spent on all purchases, and there’s no annual fee for the first year (it’s $59 after that). It gives 10,000 bonus miles when you spend $1,000 during the first 3 months. You can earn an additional 5,000 miles when you sign up for an employee card within the first 60 days. It’s also got a few extra business perks: You’ll get a free itemized report of your spending at the end of the year (very useful for tax time), free employee cards, and fraud liability protection. Just as the Venture is a leader in the overall rewards category, the Venture Business tops the list of small business credit cards.