Pros
- 75,000 miles initial bonus
- Unlimited 2 miles per $1 on every purchase
- Redeem for any-travel related expense
- $0 foreign transaction fee
Cons
- Terrible cash back redemption rate
- Monthly earnings are lost when bill payments are late
- Not built for financing
Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card
Enjoy a one-time bonus of 75,000 miles once you spend $4,000 on purchases within 3 months from account opening, equal to $750 in travel
Rewards Details
- Enjoy a one-time bonus of 75,000 miles once you spend $4,000 on purchases within 3 months from account opening, equal to $750 in travel
- Earn unlimited 2X miles on every purchase, every day
- Miles won't expire for the life of the account and there's no limit to how many you can earn
- Receive up to a $100 credit for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck®
- Enjoy two complimentary visits per year to Capital One Lounges or to 100+ Plaza Premium Lounges through our Partner Lounge Network
- Earn 5X miles on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel, where you'll get Capital One's best prices on thousands of trip options
- Use your miles to get reimbursed for any travel purchase—or redeem by booking a trip through Capital One Travel
- Transfer your miles to your choice of 15+ travel loyalty programs
Capital One Venture Card Review Summary
The Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card is a very good travel credit card that’s worth applying for if you have good credit or better and travel regularly but don’t want to be limited to one airline or hotel. Capital One Venture offers a big initial bonus, double miles on purchases, low fees, and a lot of flexibility. In fact, the Capital One Venture Card figures to be worth over $2,000 over the first two years of use, according to WalletHub's calculations for the average person's rewards earnings.
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.
Capital One Venture Card Review Highlights
Initial Bonus of 75,000 Miles
Initial bonuses are in vogue right now, with most of the market’s best rewards cards offering some serious value. Venture is no aberration. Spending at least $4,000 during the first 3 months will earn you 75,000 miles, redeemable for $750 in travel-related expenses. This offer isn’t always available, so if you’ve been thinking about applying for the Venture Card, you may want to do so sooner rather than later – provided that you wouldn’t need to spend any more than normal to qualify.
2X Miles That Are Worth It
Many credit cards offer more than one mile, point or percent cash back. Most, however, restrict their heightened earning rates to certain types of categories or simply move the redemption goalpost. But each Venture Mile is worth one cent, as long as you redeem for a statement credit to pay for a travel-related purchase after it has posted to your account. That means strategic users earn the miles-equivalent of 2% cash back on every dollar spent. On top of that, hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel earn you 5 miles per $1 spent.
Choose Your Own Travel
Capital One makes a big deal out of the fact that users don’t have to deal with blackout dates, seat restrictions, etc. It’s certainly true but also somewhat misleading. Logistical snafus simply aren’t part of the equation because you never have to actually book anything through Capital One. Rather, you can use your card to pay for whatever travel costs you incur – whether plane tickets booked through a travel-booking site or a taxi ride – and then pay for the resulting charges with miles.
You can indeed also use miles to directly purchase flights, rental cars and hotel reservations through Capital One’s Rewards Center, 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, after all, enabling you to focus on price minimization without sacrificing a redemption opportunity – even if you book through a travel-comparison website. Keep in mind, however, that airlines, hotels and other travel providers may have some blackout dates and restrictions of their own.
Relatively Broad Definition Of Travel Rewards
Whether or not you can redeem miles at the highest possible valuation depends on how the transaction you’re trying to pay for is classified on your account. If a given transaction is deemed to be “travel-related,” then your miles will be worth roughly one cent each when put to use. If not, they could be worth as little as half a cent each.
Capital One has a fairly extensive list of items that are “generally considered travel purchases” (see below), accommodating redemption across modes of transportation and hospitality expense segments. 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.
- Airfare
- Hotel reservations
- Cruise reservations
- Train tickets
- Travel agent fees
- Time shares
- Taxi fare
- Bus lines
- Limousine services
Venture Swallowed (Some) Of The Key Fees
None of Capital One’s credit cards charge foreign transaction fees. That alone will save Venture Card users 2% to 4% on any purchase processed outside the U.S. The freedom to use your credit card as your primary international spending vehicle also enables you to forgo hard currency exchange, thereby saving roughly another 7%, on average.
This card is not fee-free, however. The Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card has a $95 annual fee.
Capital One Venture Card Review Lowlights
Annual Fees For Loyal Customers
If your interest in the Venture Card extends beyond a quick rewards score, you can expect to pay for the privilege to earn far more than the average travel credit card. The $95 annual membership fee isn’t unreasonable by any means, but it's certainly worth taking into account.
Miles Halved 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 would be worth $375 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.
Other Things To Consider About the Capital One Venture Card
Not A Good Option For Financing
If you don’t pay your balance in full every month, there are better cards out there. Only the absolute best applicants will be approved for an APR toward the low end of Venture’s 20.24% - 28.24% (V) APR range, and even that is above the market average among credit cards for excellent credit: 15.16%. You won’t get any kind of 0% introductory deal, either.
Capital One Venture Card vs. the Competition
You can never get a complete picture of a given credit card without comparing it to other leading offers available to qualified applicants. With that in mind, we compared Venture to the most popular travel rewards cards catered to people with above-average credit.
Info | Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card | Capital One VentureOne Rewards Credit Card | Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card |
---|---|---|---|
Annual Fee | $95 | $0 | $95 |
Bonus Offer | 75,000 miles | 20,000 miles | 60,000 points |
Rewards Rate | 2 - 5 miles / $1 | 1.25 - 5 miles / $1 | 1 - 5 points / $1 |
Purchase Intro APR | N/A | 0% for 15 months | N/A |
Transfer Intro APR | N/A | 0% for 15 months Transfer Fee: 3% | N/A |
Regular APR | 20.24% - 28.24% (V) | 19.24% - 29.24% (V) | 20.24% - 27.24% (V) |
Editors' Rating | 5 | 4.5 | 5 |
Details, Rates & Fees | Learn More | Learn More | Learn More |
Ask the Experts
To help people learn more about the Capital One® Venture® Rewards Credit Card, WalletHub's editors posed the following questions to a panel of experts. You can meet our panelists and read their responses below.
1. Which would you say has been more responsible for the Capital One Venture Rewards Card’s longtime popularity: successful advertising or competitive rewards?
2. How do you expect credit card companies like Capital One to adjust travel-focused offers such as the Venture Rewards Card in light of COVID-19?
3. Who benefits more from credit cards made of metal: cardholders or card issuers?
Ask the Experts
Professor and Chair, Department of Geoscience, University of North Alabama
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Teaching Assistant, Howard Feiertag Department of Hospitality & Tourism Management, Pamplin College of Business, Virginia Tech
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Chair of Undergraduate Programs, School of Business, Assistant Professor of Hospitality & Tourism Management, Merchandising & Retail Management, Madonna University
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