Capital One, Hopper team up on new travel portal — here's what you need to know
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Most of the time, booking directly with an airline or hotel provides more benefits (and protections) than going through a third-party portal. But there are instances where using a portal — such as the Chase Travel Portal — can provide excellent value for using your credit card points.
Capital One just announced a new partnership with travel tech company Hopper to create an all-new booking experience for Capital One cardholders that will hopefully make using the issuer's travel portal a more attractive option.
Hopper is a travel booking app that uses a prediction algorithm to make personalized travel recommendations. The site claims it can perform with 95% accuracy, helping travelers know when the best time to book will be and facilitating that booking process. Right now, you can book flights, hotels and car rentals. But you can also set notifications for price drops on specific trips, freeze prices (for a small fee) and even add on trip protection plans.
The app is free to download, and it recently added a feature where you can start your search on the app and finish your booking on the web if you're more comfortable using your desktop for travel bookings.
Capital One Travel will relaunch in late 2021
So what does this new partnership mean for Capital One cardholders?
The new Capital One Travel portal, powered by Hopper's tech, will launch later this year, although the specific date is yet to be released. According to Capital One, cardholders can expect the following benefits:
- Integrated price prediction and alert technology for booking flights, hotels and rental cars
- Unique services to help customers easily change or cancel reservations
- The ability to earn and redeem Capital One rewards through this Hopper-powered platform
As a budget-focused traveler, I personally use Hopper as part of my research process. It helps me keep an eye out for price drops on trips when I know I'll likely use cash instead of points.
I've yet to use any of the features outside of price drop notifications, but this new integration with Capital One may change that. I've been seriously considering adding the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card to my wallet for a while now, and the ability to set price notifications and book cheap flights with Capital One miles might be what finally pushes me to put in an application.
Related: 5 reasons to get the Capital One Venture card
Bottom line
There is still a lot left to learn about this new partnership and what will come next for Capital One Travel, but this is exciting news in my opinion. American Express and Chase have dominated the travel credit card space in recent years, but it's clear that Capital One is making moves to provide more value to cardholders.
For those who exclusively use transfer partners to book flights and hotels, a new travel portal may not add a ton of value to your card experience. But credit card rewards beginners and budget travelers could potentially get a lot out of Hopper's predictive technology, combined with the ability to use Capital One miles on flight and hotel deals found through the new portal.