Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card Review–100,000 Bonus Miles

Limited Time Offer: Earn 100,000 bonus miles when you spend $20,000 in purchases in the first year. The bonus miles are worth $1,000 if used to pay for travel charges on the card. If you don’t qualify for this bonus, you can still earn the regular signup bonus described below.

The Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card is a travel rewards credit card. It comes with a generous signup bonus and excellent ongoing rewards. But it also comes with a $95 annual fee. In this review, we’ll examine whether it’s worth the cost and how it stakes up to other travel credit cards.

The Capital One VentureOne Rewards Credit Card is a straightforward travel credit card for those who travel frequently. It gives you a generous membership bonus reward (20,000 miles), as well as an earnings rate of 2x miles on every dollar you spend daily. But it does come with an annual fee and requires excellent credit for approval.

Capital One Venture Snapshot

Pros & Cons

What we like

• 2x miles earned on every dollar spent
• Membership reward of 100,000 bonus miles, OR
• Earn 100,000 miles when you spend $20,000 in purchases the first year.
• No foreign transaction fees
• Miles can be used on any airline or hotel

What could be better

• $95 Annual Fee
• Requires excellent credit score

Capital One Venture Rewards

Welcome Bonus

Capital One Venture offers 20,000 bonus miles to new cardmembers. To qualify, you have spent $500 within your first 3 months of your account being activated. If you use the miles to pay for travel charged to the card, they have a value of $500.

Earning Rewards

The Venture Card allows its members to earn 2x miles for every dollar that they spend on everyday purchases. There is no limit to how many miles you can earn. The point value for the miles, however, varies depending on how they are redeemed (see below).

Redeeming Rewards

There are a few ways that you can redeem your miles. You can redeem for cash back, using your miles for statement credits on previously made purchases, transfer miles to another account, or use them for gift cards. The key thing to understand is that the miles are worth 1 cent when used to pay for travel purchases. Use the miles to pay for non-travel purchases or cash back and they are worth 1/2 cent each. As a result, this card is ideal only for those who will use their miles to pay for travel purchases. If that’s not you, a great cash back credit card is a better option.

You can also transfer your miles to Capital One’s travel partners. Here is a list of the airlines and hotels partnered with Capital One:

Refer a Friend

You can earn extra cash when making a referral with Capital One. If you have a Quicksilver®, Venture®, VentureOne®, Savor®, or SavorOne Card, you can earn up to $500 each year referring friends. For each friend that you refer to Capital One, you can earn $100 for each approved referral. You can have up to 5 referrals per year, thus giving you the $500 opportunity.

Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card Benefits

• Proactive Account Alerts-  You will be sent an alert if Capital One finds a mistake or unexpected charge.
• Personalized Payment- This allows you to pick your own monthly due date, and even your payment method for no cost.
• Autopay- Choose to have your payment automatically withdrawn from your account monthly.
• 0% Fraud Liability- You will not be held responsible if your card becomes lost or stolen.
• Card Lock- This feature allows you to lock your card if you lose it, or if it gets stolen. This will prevent the card from being used.
• Security Alerts- If any suspicious activity is seen on your account, Capital One will notify via email, text, etc.
• 24 Hour Travel Assistance- This service helps you by getting you an emergency replacement card, or even a cash advance if your card becomes lost or stolen.
• No Foreign Transaction Fees- No transaction fees when traveling outside of the United States.
• Roadside Assistance- Find assistance with this benefit when you’re needing a tire change, need a jump, or even a tow.
• Extended Warranty- Items you purchase with your credit card will get additional warranty coverage at no cost.
• Premier Access- this service keeps you up to date with unique dining experiences, sporting events, and music festivals that happen near you.

FAQs

How Does the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card Stack Up

Travel credit cards come in two flavors–co-branded and generic. A co-branded card is specific to an airline or hotel chain. In contrast, you can use a generic travel card for any travel on any airline or at any hotel. The Capital One Venture card is a generic travel card. Within that category, it is one of the best.

Keep in mind that rewards cards in general also fall into two categories–flat rate rewards and bonus categories. The Capital One VentureOne Rewards Credit Card is a flat rate rewards card–it pays 2 miles for every dollar spent. In contrast, a card such as the Chase Sapphire Reserve is a bonus category card. It pays, for example, 3 points per dollar spent on travel. But on purchases that fall outside of the bonus categories, it pays just 1 point.

Understanding this difference can help you pick the best card for you. If you want just one travel card, a flat rate card like Venture is often the better choice. You won’t earn as much in rewards on certain categories of spending, but you’ll make it up by earning 2% on everything else. If you want to carry more than one travel card, however, then consider those cards that offer bonus rewards in spending categories that match your spending habits.

All of that said, there is a better option to the Venture card–a 2% cash back card. For example, the Citi Double Cash card effectively pays 2% on all purchases–1% on the purchase and 1% when you pay the credit card bill. There are two big advantages to this card over Venture. First, the 2% is regardless of how you use the rewards. Remember that the Venture card is a 2% card only if you use the rewards to pay for travel. Second, the Citi Double Cash card doesn’t have an annual fee.

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