Capital One Venture X Cell Phone Protection Details

Received new C1 cards yesterday and immediately updated ATT billing to use this card. 2X on spend on cell service is good enough and I already plowed thru two claims with my AMEX Plat this year. Teenagers. I prepaid next month's ATT bill with the new card to get the clock running, so to speak.
Works for me.
BTW. annual $395 fee already posted:( That was fast.

There are some details that need to be included. First, who is the insurance provider? Second, in comparing cards there are key differences. Some cards exclude month-to-month plans while others do not. I use an MVNO (H2O Wireless) so some cards exclude the non-contract plans of MVNOs. My AAviator Red card offers cell protection but excludes prepaid plans. Finally, there are more cards that offer cell protection that you don't mention (and which have differences between them): AAviator Red, Chase Freedom Flex, Chase IHG cards (both), Ink Business Preferred. REI card used to have it but has been cancelled. Not sure if other Mastercards also lost insurance (all the cards mentioned except Ink Preferred) but would be good for you to have a more complete list and note recent changes.

Shameless pumping todays version: Out of 12 "articles">
4/10 40% referencing (aka: pumping) CO VentureX
2/10 20% mentioning (aka: less direct pumping) other misc cc
2/10 20% normal articles

Lucky, you/new site have turned into THE #1 shameless cc pumper. Easily surpassing TPG, VFTW, DD, et al. I'm sure much of your "old" audience would agree... what happened??

I agree - this is next level and makes me considering to move to other blogs (even though I like the writing, the style, the content outside of these CC spam entries, …).
I do understand that cost of running the site need to be recovered but do hope there would have been other ways to do so!

How is this comment helpful or constructive at all?

This blog is not a charity or public service. The purpose of the site is to generate income and referral bonuses. Don’t visit the blog if you don’t like it.

"Cosmetic damage to the cell phone, or damage that does not impact the cell phone’s capabilities and functionalities"

I'm not putting my cell phone bill on the card because of this sentence. To me that says the insurance doesn't cover glass/screen damage.

The IHG cards from Chase JUST removed the protection from cell phones. BUT it seems like all World Elite Mastercards give it to you for free. So that would be the Citi Premier for one.

I used to always pay my ~$200/month cell phone bill on my Chase Ink (5X) but moved it to Biz Plat for cell phone protection, +$10 monthly recurring credit, which comes out to ~5%, essentially matching Ink 5X. Without that monthly credit, I am not aware of any CC offering both insurance + multiplier or recurring credit.

@ RR Ray -- I believe the Citi Premier is explicitly excluded from the cell phone coverage for World Elite Mastercards.

@ Dogtor -- I'm still working on figuring out with 100% certainty if a cracked screen would count. Interestingly the Amex Platinum cell phone terms have the same verbiage, but a cracked screen is included.

@ mo -- Correct, for a period of five days, the blog content has largely focused on the launch of the most exciting new credit card we've seen in over five years. That's not what the content on the blog will be about in the long run. Cut me some slack for a few days as I try to cover as much as possible about this new card, which many people are excited about. And I totally understand this won't be for everyone, but surely you can appreciate that others do find this content to be useful.

@Bill
I'm confused. The IHG Premier card is a World Elite MC so wouldn't cell phones still be covered????

@Dogtor

What is your point? Are you trying to claim on minor dents or scratches to the screen?
To me, I don't think they will deny unreasonable claims.

Besides, accidents happen all the time, especially on a balcony or near a water source.

Added our cell phone bill to the Venture X card last night. It had been on the American Express Platinum card before. As you say, the coverage is the same but the points are a little better. Plus, got to get to that $10,000 in six months.

I saw this too and was wondering the same thing regarding cracked screen.

I think the point that people are making is that the blog did not have broad appeal this week, it was heavily focused on the card and its benefits. That’s ok, everyone has to make a living. Next week will not be the same, no stress.

FWIW Wells Fargo's credit card coverage is $600($25 deductible) and doesn't have an annual fee

Fair enough

Chase just announced to Ihg cardholders that the cell phone coverage benefit is ending this calender year. I believe it is up to the issuers discretion if they offer it so it is not guaranteed for all world elite mastercards.

I have mine thru a world elite Mastercard and recently had to use the benefit. No deductible. Very straight forward process and quick reimbursement

Cracked screens are included IF it results in a functionality issue eg part of the screen is no longer responsive. If it's cosmetic only and everything else works then it's not covered

The problem is that they are an insurance company and they have vague language about screen damage. Do you think they will cover any screen damages that don't affect the functions of the phone? I've had friends that have spider web screens and still somehow they are using their phones - fully functional. There's no motivation for the insurance to cover a spider web screen with the language as it is.

Thanks, Lucky!
Appreciate the reply and I am of course accepting your point.
What is causing further frustration (at least on my end - I am sure there are others in a similar situation): I have yet to come across any of the major/good credit card offerings that are available for people in Western Europe. This is nothing anyone here is responsible for but frustrating.
For that reason this week every morning when checking the blog I was disappointed to see either nothing new or nothing of relevance.

I really love ben's credit card reviews, everytime I'm looking to apply for a new card, I can come to the site and enjoy reading a fully explained review. Thanks ben

As Uncle Rob used to say, "hammers do fall from the sky!"

Cell phones too...

What about Chase Freedom Flex? That also offers up to $800/claim with $50 deductible, though limited to $1k/year. And it's a no annual fee card

Does the entire cell phone bill have to be paid with the card? Trying to figure out if benefits apply if part of the bill was paid with Amex for the Amex credits but the majority was paid with the venture x.

Does Verizon allow you to charge your cell phone bill?

@Ben - There is one MAJOR difference between the cell phone insurance offered by American Express Platinum and all other cards that I know of: American Express insurance specifically includes cracked screens.

Also, for those considering any World Elite MasterCard: there has been a lot of buzz on the internet in 2022 suggesting that they are dropping / have already dropped cell phone protection, so I would be wary of any MasterCard if cell phone protection is important to you.

What if i buy a new unlocked cell phone directly from apple/samsung using the venture x. Would my phone be insured?

I'm wondering about that too, but my guess is that the coverage would only apply if the phone was purchased from the carrier and the monthly cellular bills include that purchase.

I took advantage of this benefit a few months ago. The smartphone was paid in full and has never been part of any carrier’s installment plan.

Here's the math equation. On my Verizon account - "Auto Pay & Paper-free billing - You’re getting $70 off your monthly bill for being enrolled in both."

*Paperless billing is a thing of the past. No need for a paper bill. Table stakes.
* The Auto Pay feature requires the use of a bank account or ACH. Credit cards cannot be used
https://www.verizon.com/support/auto-pay-faqs/

Therefore, I save $70 per mo. by using AutoPay.

One year of using my Venture X card would add in $840 worth of additional VZW billing.

Enrolling in the Venture X feature, I would have to get at least $840 in order to break even...
You can use the cell phone protection benefit up to twice per 12 month period, and you can get up to $800 per claim
There’s a $50 deductible per claim

Now, if you calculate the monthly bill, multiplied by the points earned over that year, who knows, maybe it's a better value?

I have been living in Mexico over the last year. My cell phone bill has been paid each month to Telcel. It is not automatically charged to my card and requires me to log on each month to pay. Am I still covered with the Capital One Venture X? If it helps, the phone was also charged to the card.

Just an FYI, I was able to get a reimbursed for a cracked back glass cover for iphone.

Any idea of how this would work if I was paying for my phone monthly via AT&T? Like, I've got a few hundred left on the bill... would it be that PLUS the new phone price I'd have to pay, then I'd save up to the $800? Sorry, just looking for some clarity!

How would this work if you have multiple phones on a single bill? Would any of the phones on the bill be covered provided that there isn't more than 2 claims per year? I currently have 4x phones on my ATT bill today.

Thanks,
-H

This benefit applies if you’re a Capital One Venture X cardholder and you charge your monthly cell phone bill to your card for the billing cycle before the month in which the incident occurs; the coverage applies to all lines listed on the bill

Yes they are all covered up to 2 claims in a rolling 12 month window

Doesn’t matter where you buy a phone or how you pay for it. The coverage is for all phones on the monthly bill from the carrier you use. Doesn’t cover some things like prepaid cell plans from what I understand.

Agree - the freedom flex has no AF and great cell phone protection (I've used it)

Are there exclusions for foreign phone providers? We’re setting up phone contracts with DIGI in Spain, for example.

You need to figure out how much insurance through Verizon for each phone would cost. It may be a wash, or it may favor Verizon. We have Google Fi (mostly rides T-Mobile's signal), which doesn't have a surcharge for using a credit card, and allows auto-pay and paperless billing.