Definitive Guide: Capital One Premier and Lifestyle Collection Hotels & Resorts

Cardholders who have either the Capital One Venture X Rewards card or its business counterpart in their wallet will have access to two hotel booking programs: the Capital One Premier Collection and the Capital One Lifestyle Collection. 

The Premier Collection is Capital One’s direct answer to the American Express Fine Hotels & Resorts program. These are a curated collection of luxury hotels and vacation rentals around the world. Similar to Fine Hotels & Resorts, Capital One Venture X Rewards cardholders can book a hotel that is part of the Premier Collection to get access to amazing perks and benefits.

While the Premier Collection is definitely the focus, the Lifestyle Collection can be thought of as the “younger sibling” of the Premier Collection. These are a group of premium hotels available to a wider audience of Capital One cardholders. 

Let’s take a look at both the Capital One Premier and Lifestyle Collections and see if booking hotel stays through these programs is worth our hard-earned dollars!

The Capital One Premier Collection

The Capital One Premier Collection is a curated group of luxury hotels that can be booked using the Capital One Venture X Rewards credit cards. While you can book these hotels elsewhere, you will receive additional amazing benefits if you make a Capital One Premier Collection booking through the Capital One Travel Portal.

There is no exhaustive list of all the hotels available through the Capital One Premier Collection, but you will find hotels from the following portfolios:

• Small Luxury Hotels of the World
• Six Senses
• Viceroy Hotel and Resorts
• 1 Hotels 
• Curator Hotel and Resort Collection
• Montage 
• Preferred Hotels and Resorts
• One&Only
• Relais & Châteaux
• Como Hotels and Resorts
• Design Hotels

The Capital One Premier Collection hotel lineup is always growing and there are an increasing number of hotels part of these groups and other independent hotels being added. 

In addition to luxury hotels, there are a number of vacation rentals that are a part of the Premier Collection’s portfolio. Capital One has partnered with luxury property management companies such as Avantstay, Boutiq, Inspirato, and key.co to make these available. If you’re traveling with a big group and want a luxury experience, the Premier Collection vacation rentals may be for you!

Similar to American Express Fine Hotels and Resorts, the Capital One Premier Collection is a third-party booking system and pricing typically is similar to other third-party sites. However, you may find lower pricing on some sites or booking directly with the hotel, depending on your destination and timing. 

Be sure to double-check that the perks and benefits of booking with the Capital One Premier Collection outweigh any potential discrepancies in cost to ensure you are receiving greater value and coming out ahead when booking through this platform.

Benefits of Booking With Capital One Premier Collection

The main reason you would want to make a Capital One Premier Collection booking is to enjoy the added perks and benefits that come along with the program. At a minimum, you will receive the following Premier Collection benefits when booking:

• $100 USD experience credit that can be used towards food, spa, or other amenities available at the property. This will be automatically applied to your bill at the end of your stay
• Daily breakfast for two people. The way this will be applied depends on the property (e.g., daily statement credit to be used at the restaurant, access to a breakfast buffet, etc)
• Early check-in and late check-out times
• Room upgrade, when available
• Complimentary WiFi
• Earn 10x Capital One Miles per dollar spent on the booking (standard for all hotel bookings through the Capital One Travel Portal)

Note that if you are booking a vacation rental through the Premier Collection, you will receive fewer benefits compared to normal Premier Collection bookings. For example, vacation rentals are not eligible to receive the daily breakfast for two benefit and the stay will only yield 5x Capital One Miles per dollar spent.

Who is Eligible to Book with Capital One Premier Collection?

The Capital One Premier Collection is only available to those who hold either the personal or the business version of the Capital One Venture X Rewards card. For Canadians to gain access to the program, you are going to have to be quite deep into your journey with US credit cards!

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Capital One Venture X Rewards

The Capital One Venture X Rewards card earns Capital One Miles and offers unlimited airport lounge access for the cardholder and their authorized users. The card also offers an annual $300 USD travel credit to be used on the Capital One Travel Portal.

Click to learn how to obtain and optimize the Capital One Venture X Rewards card as a Canadian!

BONUS
75,000 Capital One Miles

MINSPEND
$4,000

NET VALUE
$993+

ANNUAL FEE
$395

FOREX FEES
No

EXPIRY
–

Both the Personal and Business Venture X Rewards cards are great keeper credit cards that pay for themselves year after year and we think they are a great card to have in your arsenal. With a $395 USD annual fee, you receive a $300 USD travel credit, 10,000 Capital One Miles every cardholder anniversary, and unlimited Priority Pass lounge access for you and four authorized users. That alone pays for the annual fee!

If you combine those perks with a $100 USD experience credit every time you book a Capital One Premier Collection hotel, the Venture X Rewards cards come out at least $100 USD net positive every year! 

Check out our review and how-to guide on Getting the Capital One Venture X as a Canadian!

The Capital One Lifestyle Collection

The Capital One Lifestyle Collection program is the little sibling to the Premier Collection. These are a group boutique hotels for which you will receive the following benefits:

• $50 USD experience credit for food, spa treatments, or other hotel amenities
• Early check-in and late check-out times
• Room upgrades, when available
• Complimentary WiFi

The Lifestyle Collection is also available to a wider range of Capital One cardholders, as anyone with the following cards are able to access the program:

• Capital One Venture X Rewards Card
• Capital One Venture X Rewards Business Card
• Capital One Venture Rewards Card
• Capital One Spark Miles Card

The difference between using each of these cards to book a hotel in the Lifestyle Collection is the number of points earned per dollar. For the Venture X Personal and Business cards, you will earn 10x Capital One Miles per dollar spent on Lifestyle Collection bookings, while for the Venture Rewards Personal and Spark Miles Business cards, you will only earn 5x miles per dollar. 

If you have access to either of the Venture X Rewards cards, we highly recommend booking Lifestyle Collection hotels using those cards to double the points earned!

How to Make a Capital One Premier or Lifestyle Collection Hotel Booking

Unfortunately, there is not a comprehensive list of participating Premier and Lifestyle Collection Hotels given by Capital One. However, the Capital One Travel Portal allows you to only search hotels that are a part of the collection and makes it very obvious when you are booking a hotel.

To start making a booking, log in to Capital One Travel with your Capital One Venture X credentials. 

Once you’re at the landing page, there are four tabs at the top of the screen – click on the furthest right tab labeled “Premium Stays.”

Now, you’ll want to search for your destination, timing, and number of guests. If you want to book a vacation rental, make sure you toggle the “Vacation rentals” button. To demonstrate, let’s search for hotels in one of my favorite cities, Barcelona, Spain! 

The hotels that are part of the Premium or Luxury Collection are color-coded to make sure it is as clear as possible – Capital One’s Premier Collection is navy blue and the Lifestyle Collection is a pale baby blue.

The color-coded list of properties will remind you of the perks and benefits associated with each collection. 

Premier Collection Hotels will be clearly labeled in navy blue with the breakfast and experience credit outlined.

On the other hand, Lifestyle Collection hotels will be labeled in baby blue and list the $50 USD experience credit.

Once you pick the hotel that suits you, you’ll be directed to a dedicated landing page with photos and information about the property. It will ask you to confirm your dates and once again, outline the perks and benefits you will receive.

Notice how you are given a price in dollars and Capital One Miles. If you want, you can redeem your Capital One Miles for Premier and Lifestyle Collection properties at a rate of 1 cent per point.

Maximizing the Property Experience Credit

When booking with either the Capital One Premier or Lifestyle Collection, you will receive one property experience credit per booking. This credit applies whether it is a one-night stay or a multiple-night stay. 

Now, you might be thinking, “Wow maybe I’ll just make 4 one night stays and get $400 USD worth of property credits!” Not so fast! You thought you were slick, but even if you make multiple consecutive separate stays at the same hotel under the same name, it will typically combine into one stay and thus, you are only able to get one $100 USD credit. 

However, there is a bit of workaround! If you have a player two (or three or four), and each of you has a Capital One Venture X Rewards card, you could each book a one-night stay under each cardholder’s name while still having the nights be back to back from one another to get more than one property experience credit.

For example, my partner and I both have the Capital One Venture X Rewards card: I would book a one-night stay and she would book a one-night stay the next night. Then each night would allow us to receive a $100 USD credit as these are considered separate bookings!

You don’t need to use the full $100 USD credit all at once either! As it is credited to you on the bill at the end of your stay, all applicable food, beverage, or amenities will trigger the credit, up to $100 USD. For example, you could do a $75 spa treatment and use the remaining $25 towards dinner! 

Using Capital One Premier or Lifestyle Collection with Hotel Loyalty Status

Booking a hotel that is a Premier Collection property or Lifestyle Collection property does not guarantee that you will receive any of your hotel loyalty status perks and benefits. This is because hotels are not required to honor loyalty status when booking through third-party sites, such as Capital One Travel. You will get an option to input your loyalty number, if applicable. 

For example, if I were to book the InterContinental Barcelona, which is part of IHG, I may or may not receive my IHG Platinum Elite benefits. The decision whether or not to honor your elite benefits or credit your loyalty account with elite nights is at the discretion of the hotel you are staying at. Ultimately, it is worth the shot to add your loyalty number if you have any level of status, such as Marriott Titanium Elite or Hilton Diamond, as the worst case scenario is your benefits are not honored.

If you can’t go without your elite benefits or can’t bear missing out on an elite night credit, we strongly recommend you contact the hotel via email or chat through the app to get some clarifications. Keep in mind that most of the benefits you receive as part of booking a Premier or Lifestyle Collection hotel overlap with elite status benefits (i.e., free breakfast, late checkout, etc.).

Conclusion

The Capital One Premier and Lifestyle Collection are a group of luxury properties that you can access with the Capital One Venture X Rewards credit cards and receive a number of benefits. If you are booking hotels with cash, it is always a good idea to see if you can make a Premier Collection reservation or a Lifestyle Collection reservation to get some added perks during your stay!

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