Amex Platinum and Chase Sapphire made airport lounges the ultimate perk. Capital One’s new travel app targets the next step

Airport lounges, travel portals, and credit card perks have become a competitive front in the fight for affluent travelers.

Now Capital One is adding another piece to that strategy with a dedicated travel app designed to bring booking, rewards, airport access, and trip management into a single platform.

The company announced today that it is rolling out the Capital One Travel App, a standalone application available on iOS and Android that gives cardholders direct access to its travel booking ecosystem.

The launch comes as Capital One also moves to bring the technology, talent, and supplier relationships behind Capital One Travel fully in-house as part of its effort to build a more integrated travel franchise.

Since launching Capital One Travel in 2021, the platform has grown quickly, with booking volumes increasing more than tenfold. Matt Knise, senior vice president of premium products and experiences at Capital One, says the app builds on that growth.

“This is the continuation of this travel journey we’ve been on,” he tells Fast Company. “We went and looked and custom-built from the ground up a new Capital One Travel, and that has been enormously successful.”

A travel hub designed for mobile

The new app functions as a central place for planning and managing trips while earning and redeeming rewards.

Travelers can search and book flights, hotels, rental cars, vacation homes, and activities through the platform. Capital One’s travel ecosystem now includes more than 500,000 vacation rentals, along with a growing luxury hotel collection.

Knise says the goal was to make the platform easier to access and use throughout the travel process.

“You’ll have it all right there, right at your fingertips,” he says. “You’ll be able to book travel, service travel, check on that lounge capacity and put yourself in line if you need to, or simply figure out where the lounge is in the airport.”

The app also integrates Capital One’s rewards system, allowing travelers to redeem points while planning itineraries.

“I do think it is one of the few apps out there that truly gives you this level of service across every single component of what your travel journey can entail,” Knise says.

Features designed around the traveler’s journey

The app includes tools aimed at simplifying travel logistics.

One feature is a Live Lounge Locator, which provides real-time information about Capital One airport lounges and Landings locations. The tool shows capacity and estimated wait times and allows eligible travelers to join a digital waitlist before arriving.

Sarah Kaplan Moore, head of Capital One Travel, says the feature reflects how customers want to navigate their trips.

“What we have found from our customers is that they are really looking for an all-in-one app that allows them to navigate the trip,” she says.

The waitlist feature allows travelers to secure a spot before they arrive at the lounge.

“I’ve done this a couple of times when I’m in the taxi on the way to the airport, and I know that there’s going to be a little bit of a wait,” Moore says. “I’ll get on the digital waitlist, and I get to walk right in when I get there.”

The app also includes personalized traveler profiles, which allow users to store home airports, loyalty program numbers, and preferred hotel brands to speed up bookings.

Another feature provides real-time trip updates, including flight alerts, gate changes, and other disruptions.

Moore says the app is designed to follow travelers throughout their trip.

“My favorite feature, I would say, is just it follows you where you are in your journey,” she says. “It really knows, are you on your way to the airport? Do we need to tell you there’s a lounge or a landing at DCA or at LaGuardia?”

A crowded fight for premium travelers

The app arrives at a time when travel perks tied to premium credit cards are becoming increasingly competitive.

Airport lounges have become a major battleground for credit card companies trying to attract frequent travelers.

American Express (Amex) has been refreshing its Centurion Lounges and experimenting with smaller formats, while Chase has been expanding its Sapphire Lounge network with new concepts such as champagne bars and partnerships with local chefs.

Capital One entered the lounge space more recently but has focused on building airport experiences centered on local partnerships and made-to-order food.

Those spaces began with lounges at Dallas Fort Worth International Airport, Washington Dulles International Airport, Denver International Airport, and Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.

The company has since expanded the concept with Capital One Landings, including a chef-driven restaurant space at New York’s LaGuardia Airport created with José Andrés.

Knise says the company approached airport hospitality with the same thinking that shaped its travel platform.

“When we went to the lounge space, we similarly felt that lounges were becoming totally cookie-cutter . . . They were all kind of buffets. The drinks were the same, lounge to lounge,” he says.

Bringing the travel platform in-house

The launch of the new app also reflects changes in how Capital One operates its travel business.

When Capital One Travel first launched, the company partnered with travel technology company Hopper to help build the platform.

The 150 employees working on the app at Hopper will join Capital One and operate in-house.

Knise says the shift will allow Capital One to continue building new features and manage its relationships directly.

“We’ve reached a size and a level of importance for our business where it felt like it was the right time for us no longer to be arm’s length,” he says. “Now that gives us that level of total control to innovate, to have direct relationships with the suppliers.”

Travelers will still see some of the same functionality they enjoyed through Hopper, along with the addition of new features.

Travel demand remains strong

Capital One says its customers continue to prioritize travel spending.

“Travel still is a very strong place for where folks want to spend their discretionary income,” Moore says. “There might be some tradeoffs that travelers are making about the type of travel that they do, but [there’s still a] very strong desire to be out there experiencing the world.”

She says the company’s goal is to simplify travel planning and provide support when disruptions occur.

“Travel can be very complex for people to understand, to plan,” Moore says. “One of the things that Capital One has always done really well is simplifying that and making sure that the customer knows as well that we have their back.”

The Capital One Travel App is available starting today for iOS and Android devices.