What's the best Capital One travel card?

Capital One Venture is an excellent credit card – provided you’re someone who likes to travel. The card’s travel-related rewards are very generous, especially considering how flexible the redemption process is. Venture’s 50,000-mile sign-up bonus is worth $500 in any type of travel you want, for example. And you can use your miles to book travel ahead of time or to pay for travel purchases after the fact. But redeeming miles for anything but travel gets you half the value. So the double miles you earn on every purchase are worth just half a cent each when redeemed for cash back. Finally, there’s the $95 annual fee. It might be too rich for some people’s blood. But to others, it makes the Capital One Venture Card a bargain.… read full answer

Here’s why Capital One Venture is a good credit card:

• Reasonable fees. The annual fee is $95. You won’t pay a foreign transaction fee or a balance transfer fee on this credit card. The max late fee is $40.
• Big initial bonus. When you spend $3,000 in the first 3 months your account is open, you get a 50,000-mile bonus. That’s worth $500 in travel rewards. Or you can earn up to 100,000 miles for spending $20,000 within the first 12 months
• Generous rewards. You get 2 miles per dollar spent on every purchase, with no limit.
• Redemption flexibility. You can redeem your miles to cover the cost of a trip after you take one, or you can use them to book flights, hotels and rental cars. There are other ways to redeem, like gift cards or cash back, but you get far less value.
• Restriction free. Capital One doesn’t have any blackout dates or seating restrictions – you can book any flight, any time.

Here’s why Capital One Venture is not a good credit card:

• Non-travel rewards lose value. Your miles are worth 1 cent each in travel and half that when used for anything else.
• On-time requirement. You must always pay on time with this card. If you don’t, you’ll lose every mile you earned the month you were late.
• Not good for financing. There’s no 0% intro rate – just a high regular APR.

In conclusion, Capital One Venture is a good credit card for anyone with good credit or better who likes to travel.

Capital One Savor vs. Venture pits a cash back card against a travel rewards card. Capital One Savor offers 4% cash back on dining and entertainment, 2% cash back at grocery stores, and 1% cash back on all other types of purchases. The Venture card gives 2 miles per $1 spent on all purchases. Venture’s miles are worth 1 cent each toward travel. Both cards charge a $95 annual fee.… read full answer

Both cards come with an attractive signup bonus. Savor gives $300 after you spend $3,000 in the first 3 months. Venture offers 50,000 miles when you spend $3,000 in the first 3 months. That’s worth up to $500 when redeemed toward travel. Or you can get 100,000 miles for spending $20,000 within the first 12 months. There are no introductory 0% APR offers available for either card. The regular APRs are also pretty high.

Each card comes with a wealth of benefits such as travel accident insurance, roadside assistance, extended warranty protection and more. Neither card charges a foreign transaction fee. So you can use either card for purchases abroad without having to pay a surcharge.

At the end of the day, Capital One Venture is the obvious choice for frequent travelers. But if you’re a big spender on dining and entertainment and don’t travel much, then go with the Savor card.