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
- One-time Bonus: Earn 100,000 bonus miles after spending $20,000 within your first 12 months.
- If a $20,000 spend is too much, you can still earn 50,000 bonus miles if you spend $3,000 on purchases in the first 3 months.
- Earn 2X miles on every purchase
- Receive up to $100 application fee credit for Global Entry or TSA Pre?®
- Miles aren’t specific to any airline or hotel, so they can be used anywhere
- Travel when you want with no blackout dates
- Miles won’t expire for the life of the account
- No foreign transaction fees
- Transfer miles to more than 10 travel programs.
- $95 annual fee
Pros & Cons
What we like
- 2x miles earned on every dollar spent
- Membership reward of up to 100,000 bonus miles, worth $1,000 when redeemed for travel
- 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 100,000 bonus miles to new cardmembers. To qualify, you have spent $20,000 within your first 12 months of your account being activated. If you use the miles to pay for travel charged to the card, they have a value of $1,000.
If a $20,000 spend is too much, you can still earn 50,000 bonus miles if you spend $3,000 on purchases in the first 3 months.
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
You need excellent credit. While there is no minimum credit score, at least that Capital One discloses, it does off the following guidance: “I’ve never declared bankruptcy or defaulted on a loan; I haven’t been more than 60 days late on any credit card, medical bill, or loan in the last year; I’ve had a loan or credit card for 3 years or more with a credit limit above $5,000.”
Yes, if you are a frequent traveler. Use the miles to pay for travel purchases on the card results in a 2% rewards rate, which is excellent. And because it’s not a co-branded card, the rewards can be used for any travel regardless of airline or hotel chain.
Typically, your miles will appear between 1-2 billing periods. Some purchases, however, take a little longer on their pending time.
Yes, $95.
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.
Rating
Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card
Summary
The Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card is a solid travel rewards credit card option. Its annual fee and requirement that you use the miles for travel to get the full benefit, however, keep us from giving it a higher rating.
