How Does Capital One Venture Rewards Work?

The Capital One Venture Card’s rewards program is one of the simplest and most flexible available to travel credit card applicants. You’ve probably seen Jennifer Garner explain how it works on the TV commercials. But let’s take a closer look, anyway, starting with the basics.

Capital One Venture Rewards works by giving you two miles for every dollar that you charge to your Venture Card. You can then redeem those miles for gift cards, cash back or travel expenses – with no blackout dates or restrictions. Although it’s nice to have options, there’s a catch hiding here. Venture’s double miles are worth half as much when redeemed for gift cards or cash.

Each Venture mile is worth a penny when redeemed for travel. That gives you what amounts to 2% cash back on all the purchases you made to earn them. But they’re worth half a cent each, otherwise, leaving you with just 1% back.

That makes sense, considering how travel-oriented the Venture Card is. But it’s certainly something to be aware of going in. On that note, there are a few other details that you should probably know about before submitting an application.  They’re listed below.

Here’s how Capital One Venture Rewards works:

• Initial bonus. When you spend $3,000 within the first 3 months of account opening, you’ll earn 50,000 bonus Venture miles. That’s the equivalent of $500 in travel expenses.
• Double miles on everything. The Capital One Venture Rewards Card rewards you with 2 miles per dollar on every purchase. That equals 2% “cash” back when you redeem for travel.
• Lots of flexibility. Many credit cards have blackout dates, seating restrictions and other limitations that block you from booking travel with points or miles. Capital One Venture doesn’t. You can pay for any travel-related purchase charged to your Venture Card with miles. You can also book travel through Capital One‘s Rewards Center, if you’re interested.
• Travel redemption is the way to go. Your miles are worth 1 cent apiece when used to pay for travel but only half a cent each when cashed in for a gift card or cash back.
• Annual fee. Venture costs $0 for 1st yr, $95 after. If you use it regularly, that shouldn’t be an issue. 
• Prompt payment requirement. You absolutely must pay on time with this card. If you don’t, you lose all the rewards that you earned the month you were late. Plus, there’s a high APR to contend with.

In conclusion, Capital One Venture Rewards offers plenty of spoils. But it requires responsibility on your part, too.

Well, you pay for stuff with it, you rack up miles. They've got a great sign-up bonus as well, if you spend $3000 in the first 3 months. This one is pretty much travel oriented, so if you're into that, the rewards are pretty good.