The Capital One Venture Card is a very good travel rewards credit card for people with a good credit who don't want to be tied down to a single travel provider. With an initial bonus worth $1,000 in travel, double miles on all purchases and a reasonable annual fee, it’s clear why the Venture Card is so popular.

One of the keys to the Capital One Venture Card’s success is the fact that you can use Venture miles to pay for any travel-related charges once they post to your account. This policy is great for people who like to shop around for the best deals on travel comparison sites. 

It gives you a lot of booking freedom.

What I Like About the Capital One Venture Card

Initial bonus worth $1,000 in travel

The Capital One Venture card offers 75,000 miles for spending at least $4,000 within 3 months of account opening. Plus, for a limited time, you can enjoy $250 to use on Capital One Travel in your first cardholder year. That is worth $1,000 in travel. 

Such a bonus could go a long way toward making a long-awaited vacation affordable. For example, I could book a round-trip flight from New York to Paris with that bonus right now and still have some miles to spare. And when I did get my Capital One Venture Card bonus, I was able to completely pay for my travel between Washington, D.C., and Mexico for a friend’s bachelor party.
 

2 miles / $1 spent on all purchases

The Capital One Venture Card gives you 2 miles / $1 spent on most purchases. That’s about twice the average for a rewards card, according to WalletHub’s research. Plus, hotels, vacation rentals and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel yield 5 miles / $1 spent. As long as you can book your travel for a price comparable to what you’d pay elsewhere, that’s a great deal.  
 

No foreign-transaction fee

None of Capital One’s credit cards charge foreign-transaction fees, and it is one of only a couple major credit card companies that can make that claim. This will save you an average of 1.57% on all purchases processed outside the U.S., whether you’re traveling or simply buying something from an international merchant, according to WalletHub's research.
 

Travel-booking flexibility

Unlike many other rewards cards, the Venture Credit Card doesn’t force you to book rewards travel through Capital One. Instead, you can book whatever you want, wherever you want – whether it’s a taxi ride or plane tickets via a travel-booking site, for example – and then simply use your miles to pay for the purchase when it appears on your statement.

I really like this feature because you don’t have to feel like you’re missing out. You can still comparison-shop for the best travel deal without losing out on elite rewards.

You can also use miles to directly purchase flights, rental cars and hotel reservations through Capital One Travel portal, but the ability to take the credit card company out of the booking process without sacrificing rewards earning potential is the more powerful component of Venture Rewards. This provides a great deal of freedom, enabling you to focus on price minimization without sacrificing a redemption opportunity – even if you book through a travel-comparison website. 
 

Generous definition for ‘travel’

You can get full value for your miles by redeeming them for any of the following types of travel expenses:
 

• Airfare
• Hotel reservations
• Cruise reservations
• Vacation rentals
• Rental cars

...and more. Capital One has a fairly extensive list of items that are “generally considered travel purchases.” But the fact that merchant category codes ultimately rule the day means you should double-check whether fringe expenses qualify before paying for them with miles.
 

Travel insurance & other benefits

Capital One Venture currently offers lost or damaged luggage reimbursement and rental car insurance*. If you charge your transportation, lodging, and other travel expenses to the card, these types of insurance may protect you from having to pay for lost or damaged bags, damage to a rental car, or theft of a rental car.

The Capital One Venture benefits list also includes access to special perks at hotels and rental properties that belong to the Capital One Lifestyle Collection, TSA PreCheck® /Global Entry credits, extended warranty coverage*, Hertz Five Star® status** and more. All in all, this is a very nice collection of perks. 

*Benefits are available to accounts approved for the World Elite Mastercard product, subject to terms, conditions, and exclusions in the World Elite Mastercard Guide to Benefits. See account terms or application terms for more details. Terms, conditions and exclusions apply. For Capital One products listed on this page, some of the benefits may be provided by Visa® or Mastercard® and may vary by product. See the respective Guide to Benefits for details, as terms and exclusions apply.

**Upon enrollment, accessible through the Capital One website or mobile app, eligible cardholders will remain at that status level through the duration of the offer. Please note, enrolling through the normal Hertz Gold Plus Rewards enrollment process (e.g. at Hertz.com) will not automatically detect a cardholder as being eligible for the program and cardholders will not be automatically upgraded to the applicable status tier. Additional terms apply.

What I Don’t Like About the Capital One Venture Card 

Annual fee

The Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card's $95 annual fee might scare some applicants off, but it’s a bargain when you consider the card’s rewards. The initial bonus alone covers several years of annual fees.
 

Not much credit limit transparency

Capital One assigns Venture Card credit limits based on each applicant’s credit history and ability to pay. You won’t really have a sense of what your credit limit will be until you apply and, hopefully, get approved. You could get a high limit, but you could also get a lower limit than you consider worthwhile.
 

Miles may be worth less when redeemed for cash or merchandise

Venture is a travel rewards credit card, and users sacrifice a lot of their earnings when they stray from that purpose. The number of miles you have in your account won’t change, but how much you get for them will.

The card’s initial bonus may not be worth as much when redeemed for cash back, for example. As long as you enter into this relationship with your eyes open, this shouldn’t be too big of a deal, but it’s a significant potential pitfall nonetheless.

“I made the mistake of redeeming for a normal statement credit one time, rather than a travel credit, and I was really disappointed. It was like an average card’s rewards,” WalletHub user Reid Cooper told me. “I won’t be making that mistake again.”
 

Built to be paid in full

Like most rewards cards, Capital One Venture sports a rather high APR. In fact, you’re likely to receive a higher-than-average rate for your credit standing. So it’s best not to carry a balance from month to month with this particular plastic. If you pay your statement balance by the due date every month, you can avoid interest charges.  
 

High credit score requirement 

It’s fair to say that the Capital One Venture Card is an elite option for anyone with even a bit of travel on their itinerary. You just need to make sure you have the good or excellent credit required to be considered for this card. Unfortunately, that will disqualify a lot of potential applicants. If you want to get a sense of your chances, you can check your latest credit score for free right here on WalletHub.

My Experience With the Capital One Venture Card

I got the Capital One Venture Card in 2014, when I was traveling more than I do now. As is still the case, Venture had a generous initial bonus, double miles on purchases and a reasonable annual fee. Those features drew me to the card, along with its flexible travel rewards. I usually do a bit of comparison shopping before I book a flight or hotel room, and I don’t always fly with the same airline or stay at the same hotel chain. Being able to earn miles at a high rate on every purchase and then redeem them for any recent travel expense is very helpful to me.

In addition to its rewards, which have helped me pay for a flight or two over the years, the Capital One Venture Card’s look and feel have impressed me. It’s a metal card that looks sleek and feels more substantial than the average credit card. 

Before getting Capital One Venture, I already had the Capital One Platinum Credit Card. I have a Capital One bank account, too, and I’ve had no problems to speak of with any of my accounts from Capital One.

Is Capital One Venture Worth It?

The Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card is worth it if you have good credit or better and you travel regularly but don’t want to be limited to one airline or hotel. The Capital One Venture Card can save the average person more than $2,000 over the first two years of use, according to our calculations.

The key is to redeem Venture miles to pay for travel-related transactions once they post to your account. This gives you the best redemption rate and eliminates much of the red tape common with travel credit cards, allowing you to focus on finding the best deal no matter which airline, hotel or travel comparison site offers it.
 

What You Need to Do to Make Capital One Venture Worthwhile

To make Capital One Venture worthwhile, you should spend at least $4,000 within the first 3 months to earn the card’s initial bonus miles. This will cover the card’s $95 annual fee for multiple years, allowing future rewards to go right into your pocket.

Without the initial bonus, you’d have to spend between $1,900 and $4,750 in a year to break even, according to our calculations. You should also pay your credit card bill in full every month so that you don’t end up paying more in interest than you earn in rewards. 

If you’re interested in more options, I also recommend checking out the Capital One VentureOne Rewards Credit Card (see Rates & Fees) (the no annual fee version) and Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card – the version for big-spenders.