Canadians are taking to Twitter To End #PointsPain

Capital One offers Canadians the freedom to book any airline, any time with Aspire Travel World MasterCard

TORONTO, Sept. 3, 2013 /CNW/ - From inconvenient 'black-out dates' to difficult seat restrictions and all the hassles in between, Capital One Canada is calling on Canadians to put an end to credit card reward points pain.  Canadians are encouraged to share their point redemption challenges on Twitter using the hashtag #PointsPain, while simultaneously having the opportunity to learn about solutions that can help put an end to the frustration.

"Canadians love travel rewards, but not the restrictions and additional fees and taxes that come with many travel rewards programs," said Rob Livingston, president, Capital One Canada. "Capital One is focused on offering products that meet customers' needs and we believe in offering hassle-free, no restriction options to our Canadian customers like the Aspire Travel World MasterCard."

The Aspire Travel World MasterCard offers Canadians a solution to end #PointsPain. It's simple: Get Aspire. Get a seat. Get away. Unlike other reward miles credit cards, consumers have greater control over how they earn and use their rewards.  With no advance booking requirements, no seat restrictions or blackout dates and with miles that are redeemable on any airline, Aspire allows customers to shop around for their own tickets to find the best value for their reward miles. They can then use their reward miles to cover the full cost of their travel, including the taxes.

"Aspire is for consumers who are tired of playing games with their travel rewards cards," says Livingston. "It's for Canadians who want a simple plan that will earn them points on whatever they purchase, wherever they purchase it."

Canadians earn double miles on all purchases using the Aspire Travel World MasterCard, unlike some other reward miles credit cards that only offer single miles. Moreover, with 35,000 bonus reward miles on their first purchase and 10,000 anniversary bonus reward miles every year, Canadians will always earn more.

Travel tips to overcome PointsPain:

• Before you book, find out if your current rewards program has any hidden fees. For example, some programs don't allow you to use points to pay taxes
• Be flexible when booking - many reward points programs have seats restrictions, making popular destinations hard to book
• Make sure your reward points don't expire - if they do, be sure to use them before time is up
• Many programs are unable to process returns or exchanges of rewards points, so be sure to make your selections carefully before redeeming
• Do your research and read the fine print of redeeming rewards prior to booking - restrictions and other conditions may be included

Follow @EndPointsPain on Twitter and visit www.endpointspain.ca to hear what other people are saying and to learn how the Aspire Travel World MasterCard from Capital One can end #PointsPain.

About Capital One
With offices in Toronto and Montreal, Capital One has offered Canadian consumers a range of competitive MasterCard credit cards since 1996, and now includes the Aspire suite of rewards cards which are regularly cited by leading rewards experts for the great value they offer consumers.  Capital One Canada is a division of Capital One Bank, a subsidiary of Capital One Financial Corporation of McLean, Virginia (NYSE: COF).

SOURCE: Capital One

Andrew Clarke 416-549-2930
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