Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card Review: Is It Worth It?

The Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card is likely a great fit for travelers who want a mid-tier travel rewards card. If you’re looking for a bit more value than you’d get from an entry-level no-annual-fee card, but don’t want to pay a high annual fee for premium benefits you may never get around to using (like airport lounge access), then this card is a happy medium.

If you rarely book trips, a no-annual-fee travel card or a cash back card might be a better option.

• Sign-up bonus

  Earn 75,000 Miles once you spend $4,000 on purchases within the first 3 months of account opening, plus receive a one-time $250 Capital One Travel credit to use in your first cardholder year – that’s equal to $1,000 in travel. This is a comparable offer to other similar mid-tier travel rewards cards, which typically have a high spending requirement.

  If you currently have or have had a Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card, you may not be eligible for this bonus.

• Awards redemption options

  One of the key features of the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card is redemption flexibility. Among your options include transferring miles to travel partners, booking travel through Capital One Travel or covering past travel. You can also redeem for gift cards, PayPal purchases and Amazon.com purchases.

  Similar to American Express Membership Rewards and Chase Ultimate Rewards^®, Capital One Miles vary in value depending on how you redeem them. You can usually stretch your miles the farthest when you redeem with travel partners. Otherwise, miles are worth 1 cent each when booking travel on Capital One travel or for travel statement credits. Miles do not expire as long as your account is open and in good standing.

• Simple rewards rate

  The flat rewards rate on the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card can be a good fit for travelers looking for simplicity, since there are no categories to track or caps on earnings: Earn 2 Miles per dollar on every purchase, every day; 5 Miles per dollar on hotels, vacation rentals and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel.

  If you carry other rewards cards that offer higher bonus rewards in certain spending categories, you can use the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card for all non-bonus spending to maximize your earnings.

• Travel transfer partners

  The Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card is one of six Capital One credit cards that allows you to transfer miles to outside travel loyalty programs.

  Transfers are done at a 1:1 rate with the following partners:

  • Aeromexico Club Premier
  • Aeroplan®
  • Cathay Pacific ‒ Asia Miles
  • Avianca LifeMiles
  • British Airways Avios
  • Emirates Skywards
  • Etihad Guest
  • Finnair Plus
  • Flying Blue
  • Qantas Frequent Flyer
  • Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer
  • TAP Miles&Go
  • Turkish Airlines TAP Miles & Go
  • Virgin Red
  • Choice Privileges®
  • Wyndham Rewards

  Transfers requiring 2 Venture miles for 1 airline miles:

  • Accor Live Limitless (ALL)

  Transfers requiring a 2:1.5 transfer rate:

  • EVA Air Infinity MileageLands

  Although Capital One has no domestic airline partners (unlike Chase and American Express, which do), you can book domestic award flights using some of the loyalty programs above, depending on which airline alliance they’re in.

• TSA PreCheck®/Global Entry credit

  Cardholders receive up to a $120 credit for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck^®, which is an uncommon benefit for a card with a $95 annual fee (see rates & fees). For instance, the Citi Strata Premier^℠ Card and Chase Sapphire Preferred^® Card do not offer this benefit. You can take advantage of this offer — which is worth more than your annual fee — once every four years.

• Annual fee

  The Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card charges an annual fee of $95 (see rates & fees). You can easily recoup the annual fee in the first year by earning the card’s sign-up bonus — which can make the annual fee worth it. Other benefits like the TSA PreCheck^®/Global Entry statement credit and no foreign transaction fees make it even more valuable (see rates & fees).

  If you prefer a Capital One card with a $0 annual fee and don’t mind earning a lower rewards rate on general purchases, you may want to look at the Capital One VentureOne Rewards Credit Card (see rates & fees).

• Limited bonus rewards categories

  The Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card offers 2 Miles per dollar on every purchase, every day; 5 Miles per dollar on hotels, vacation rentals and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel. While those are strong rates, some cards offer higher earnings in popular spending categories like dining, gas and groceries.

  That said, the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card can be a strong contender to serve as your backup card for purchases made in non-bonus categories.

• Harder to transfer to domestic travel partners

  While the card has a number of travel transfer partners, there aren’t any major domestic airlines on the list.

  You can still transfer your miles to domestic airlines, but it will take some more steps and research. You can see which travel partners are part of an airline network that has a U.S.-based carrier. For example, you could transfer your miles to Aeromexico and then, from there, book a Delta flight — or book American Airlines flights using Etihad Guest miles.

Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card vs. Chase Sapphire Preferred^® Card

Like the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card (see rates & fees), the Chase Sapphire Preferred^® Card also has a $95 annual fee. You can earn 100,000 bonus points after you spend $5,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. But because points are worth 25% more when you redeem them for travel through the Chase Travel^SM portal, the bonus can be worth more.

The Chase Sapphire Preferred^® Card has a leg up in a few ways, though:

• Each account anniversary, you’ll earn bonus points equal to 10% of your total purchases made the previous year
• Bonus rewards categories: Enjoy benefits such as 5x on travel purchased through Chase Travel℠, 3x on dining, select streaming services and online groceries, 2x on all other travel purchases, 1x on all other purchases, $50 Annual Chase Travel Hotel Credit, plus more.
• Its list of travel partners include Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards® and United MileagePlus®
• Travel protections including trip cancellation and interruption insurance, baggage delay insurance and trip delay reimbursement

The Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card offers up to a $120 statement credit for TSA PreCheck^® or Global Entry, which the Chase Sapphire Preferred^® Card doesn’t.

Overall, the Chase Sapphire Preferred^® Card offers a bit more value — especially with domestic travel partners you can directly transfer points to. If you already have a bonus category card or co-branded travel card you’re maximizing, the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card could be a better fit as a catch-all card.

Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card vs. Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card

If you travel and spend enough to warrant a premium-level rewards card (and want the high-end perks that go with it), consider the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card. Cardholders get 10,000 bonus miles (equal to $100 towards travel) every anniversary, starting on their first anniversary, and a $300 annual credit for bookings through Capital One Travel. Put together, those annual bonuses alone cover the $395 annual fee (see rates & fees).

The Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card has a higher rewards rate: Earn 2X Miles per dollar on every purchase, every day; 10X Miles per dollar on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel; 5X Miles per dollar on flights and vacation rentals booked through Capital One Travel.

If you’re seeking VIP travel perks, you’ll also get complimentary access to 1,300+ airport lounges worldwide, including Capital One Lounge locations and the Partner Lounge Network. Another unique feature includes cell phone protection if you pay your bill with your Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card.

Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card vs. Capital One VentureOne Rewards Credit Card

If you’re not quite ready for an annual-fee credit card or you just don’t travel that much, you can try the entry-level Capital One VentureOne Rewards Credit Card (see rates & fees). The card earns 1.25 Miles per dollar on every purchase, every day; 5 Miles per dollar on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel. You also have the ability to transfer your miles to the same travel partners as the higher-tier versions of the card.

The Capital One VentureOne Rewards Credit Card lets you earn a bonus of 20,000 miles once you spend $500 on purchases within 3 months from account opening, equal to $200 in travel. Though the sign-up bonus is not as generous as the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card, it has a much lower spending requirement.

If you want a card that makes it easy to earn and redeem rewards — and you don’t mind skipping on a lot of luxury travel perks — the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card may be right for you.

This card still has a generous sign-up bonus, and the simplicity of the rewards program means you don’t have to think much about spending categories. But even if you are a rewards card juggler, the flat rewards rate on all purchases can make it a great option to use as a catch-all card with other tiered rewards cards.