Consumer complaint received 2026-03-11 00:00:00
Product: Credit card — General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Other features, terms, or problems — Problem with rewards from credit card
Company: CAPITAL ONE FINANCIAL CORPORATION
State: NY

Complaint narrative:
Capital one bank XXXX CREDIT CARD I am submitting this formal complaint regarding Capital One Bank and its handling of a serious failure in its XXXX Card rewards program that caused me direct financial loss and significant inconvenience during international travel. I am a Capital One XXXX cardholder and consistently use this card to accumulate miles for travel, specifically to book longhaul flights in business class. In XXXX and XX/XX/XXXX, I attempted multiple times to transfer my accumulated XXXX miles to an airline partner ( XXXX XXXX or its alliance partner ) in order to book a business class ticket for an approximately 25hour trip. All my attempts to transfer miles failed due to a technical issue on Capital Ones side, which their representatives were unable to diagnose at the time. Because I was overseas, I had to make multiple international phone calls to Capital One customer service, spending my own money and considerable time trying to resolve the issue. Each time I was told they would investigate and get back to me, but no solution was provided before my travel date. Only in XX/XX/XXXX did Capital One finally acknowledge that the problem was with their own system and that they had just fixed it. By that time, my trip had already taken place and I had been forced to purchase an economy class ticket, endure a 25hour flight in discomfort, and lose the opportunity to redeem my miles for the business class ticket I had earned and planned. In their letter to me dated XX/XX/XXXX ( from the Capital One Customer Advocacy Office ), Capital One states that they thoroughly investigate every concern and request that is presented and that after reviewing my case they are respectfully declining my request for any additional credit or miles beyond the XXXX miles ( approximately {$100.00} ) they chose to add as a courtesy. This response is inadequate and does not reflect the real impact of their system failure : They admit they added XXXX miles as a courtesy credit for the inconvenience, but they do not acknowledge that their rewards transfer system was not functioning for months while I was trying to use it. They do not address the fact that I incurred costs for multiple international calls, spent hours of my time trying to resolve an issue that was caused by their system, and ultimately had to downgrade from a planned business class ticket to an economy ticket for a very long flight. Their letter emphasizes that I currently have a large rewards balance and can redeem it in the future, but that does not compensate me for the specific trip that was affected by their failure or for the lost opportunity to use my miles when I needed them most. The tone and content of their letter make it appear as though they performed a thorough investigation and that my request for fair compensation is unreasonable, when in fact the root cause of this situation was Capital Ones own technical failure and the long delay in identifying and correcting it. Their courtesy of XXXX miles does not come close to reflecting : The difference in value between an economy ticket and the business class ticket I would have booked using my miles. The additional outofpocket costs for international calls made to their customer service while overseas. The stress, discomfort, and loss of the specific travel benefit I had been accumulating miles for. I am requesting that the Better Business Bureau review this matter and encourage Capital One to : 1. Acknowledge in writing that the failure of their rewards transfer system in XXXX XXXX prevented me from using my points as intended for this specific trip. 2. Provide meaningful compensation that reflects the real value lost ( for example, additional miles or a statement credit comparable to the cost difference between the economy ticket I was forced to buy and the business class ticket I would have obtained using my miles, plus reasonable compensation for the international calls I had to make ). 3. Review and improve their internal processes so that when a systemic failure affects customers ability to redeem rewards, impacted customers receive timely notice and appropriate remediation, instead of being left to discover and prove the problem on their own. I am attaching a copy of Capital Ones XX/XX/XXXX letter and can provide any supporting documents if needed. Thank you for your attention to this complaint and for your assistance in seeking a fair and reasonable resolution. Sincerely, XXXX XXXX

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation