Points, Miles & Credit Cards

Review: Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card

September 6, 2023

7 min read

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Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card Quick Facts

Annual fee: annual_fees

Foreign transaction fee: foreign_transaction_fee

Earning rate:

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.

Welcome offer: bonus_miles_full

Pros and cons

Pros:

Statement credit for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck application
Earns a consistent 2X miles per dollar on all eligible purchases
Miles transfer to airline partners, or can be redeemed as statement credit for travel purchases

Cons:

Fewer travel perks than its more premium sibling, the Capital One Venture X Rewards Card
The only domestic airline in its transfer partner network transfers at a ratio of 5:3

Our take

An attractive welcome offer, relatively low annual fee, and the ability to transfer miles to a variety of airline partners make this card a great card for beginners.

Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card Review

The card_name is perfect for points and miles beginners.

Two big factors determine how user-friendly a travel card is: how easy it is to earn points and miles, and how affordable it is to keep the card long-term.

First, the rewards should be simple to understand; second, the card shouldn’t cost an arm and a leg to hold onto for years to come.

Who is the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card for?

The card_name earns two miles per dollar on all eligible purchases, making it a perfect credit card for beginners looking to get started with points and miles.

Plus, its annual fee is very reasonable at annual_fees.

This is also a useful card for anyone looking to beef up their points-and-miles earning strategy. The earning rate of two miles per dollar on all eligible purchases could maximize your earning potential alongside more specialized travel and dining cards in your wallet.

How to use the welcome offer on the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card

The current welcome offer with the card_name is: bonus_miles_full.

The current welcome offer can get you a wide variety of travel experiences. Here are some ideas of what you could do with those points:

Three roundtrip, economy tickets from the West Coast to Hawaii (transfer miles to Air Canada Aeroplan)
Two roundtrip, economy tickets from the East Coast to Paris (transfer to Flying Blue)

Earning with the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card

One of the best things about the card_name is its simple earning structure:

Earn unlimited 2X miles on every purchase, every day
Earn 5X miles on hotels and rental cars purchased through Capital One Travel

If you only want to carry one card in your wallet, this card is an all-purpose workhorse—you get 2x miles on everything!

This feature also makes this card a good complement to the cards you may already have that maximize your points-earning in certain categories but not in others.

Capital One Miles?

To clarify some terminology here, Capital One calls their points currency “miles,” e.g. “You earn two miles per dollar spent.”

Redeeming with the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card

The best way to maximize your Capital One Miles is by transferring them to Capital One's network of airline partners.

You could also use your miles as a statement credit for travel purchases on your card.

Capital One transfer partners

You can transfer your Capital One miles to these airline partners at a 1:1 ratio:

Aeromexico Club Premier
Air Canada Aeroplan
Air France / KLM Flying Blue
Avianca LifeMiles
British Airways Executive Club
Cathay Pacific Asia Miles
Emirates Skywards
Etihad Guest
Finnair Plus
Qantas Frequent Flyer
Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer
TAP Air Portugal Miles&Go
Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles
Virgin Red

In addition, Capital One miles transfer to EVA Air Infinity MileageLands at a 2:1.5 ratio. This means that 1000 Capital One miles become 750 EVA Air miles.

Capital One Miles transfer to JetBlue at a 5:3 ratio. This means 1,000 Capital One miles become only 600 JetBlue True Blue points.

A one-to-one (1:1) ratio means that one Capital One mile is equivalent to one mile or point with most of these loyalty programs, once transferred.

Transfer times from Capital One to its travel partners vary. Capital One mile transfers to Cathay Pacific can take up to 24 hours. Meanwhile, mile transfers to EVA Air can take up to 36 hours. Mile transfers to all other airline partners are relatively instantaneous.

Capital One hotel transfer partners

And these are Capital One’s current hotel partners.

ALL Accor Live Limitless
Choice Privileges
Wyndham Rewards

Capital One miles transfer at a 1:1 ratio to Choice Privileges and Wyndham Rewards; points transfer to Accor at a 2:1 ratio. Miles transfers to all these hotel loyalty programs vary in speed. It can take up to two days for Accor, one day for Choice Privileges, and a few minutes for Wyndham.

On the whole, transferring miles to hotels rarely maximizes the value of your miles. You’re better off sticking to mile transfers to airlines to get the most cents per point when you compare the cash price to the miles cost.

Transferring Capital One miles vs. Capital One Travel Portal

I highly recommend transferring your Capital One miles to an airline partner rather than using the miles to pay for travel through the Capital One Travel portal. You will rarely maximize their value of by using them in travel portals.

Do the math: Your 75,000 miles are worth only 1 cent through the travel portal. That means 75,000 miles is worth $750 through the travel portal, whereas those four roundtrip tickets to Orlando could cost as much as $1,400.

Additional benefits of the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card

Receive up to a $120 credit for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck(R)
Miles won't expire for the life of the account and there's no limit to how many you can earn
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

Alternatives to the Capital One Venture Rewards Card

Alternatives to the Capital One Venture Rewards Card
card_name	card_name

card_name	card_name
Annual fee
annual_fees	annual_fees
Foreign transaction fees
foreign_transaction_fee	foreign_transaction_fee
Earning rate
2 Miles per dollar on every purchase, every day. 10 Miles per dollar on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel. 5 Miles per dollar on flights and vacation rentals booked through Capital One Travel.	Earn 5X points per dollar spent on travel purchased through Chase Travel(SM). Earn 3X points per dollar spent on online grocery purchases (excluding Walmart, Target, and wholesale clubs), dining at restaurants (including eligible delivery services, takeout, and dining out). Earn 3X select streaming services. Earn 2X points per dollar spent on all other eligible travel purchases (like airline tickets and hotel bills). Earn 1X point per dollar spent on all other eligible purchases.
Welcome offer
bonus_miles_full	bonus_miles_full
Our take
The premium version of the Venture card earns the same bonus rate, but gets you complimentary access to Capital One lounges as well as Priority Pass Select (enrollment required).	This card earns points at a higher rate on travel, transit, and dining, so if you spend more in these areas, this could be a better fit.
Card benefits
Receive a $300 annual credit for bookings through Capital One Travel, where you'll get Capital One's best prices on thousands of trip options Get 10,000 bonus miles (equal to $100 towards travel) every year, starting on your first anniversary Earn unlimited 10X miles on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel and 5X miles on flights and vacation rentals booked through Capital One Travel Earn unlimited 2X miles on all other purchases Unlimited complimentary access for you and two guests to 1,300+ lounges, including Capital One Lounges and the Partner Lounge Network Use your Venture X miles to easily cover travel expenses, including flights, hotels, rental cars and more-you can even transfer your miles to your choice of 15+ travel loyalty programs Enjoy a $100 experience credit and other premium benefits with every hotel and vacation rental booked from the Premier Collection Receive up to a $120 credit for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck®	Enjoy benefits such as 5x on travel purchased through Chase Travel(SM), 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. Earn up to $50 in statement credits each account anniversary year for hotel stays through Chase Travel(SM) 10% anniversary points boost - each account anniversary you'll earn bonus points equal to 10% of your total purchases made the previous year. Count on Trip Cancellation/Interruption Insurance, Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver, Lost Luggage Insurance and more. Complimentary DashPass which unlocks $0 delivery fees & lower service fees for a min. of one year when you activate by 12/31/27. Plus, a $10 promo each month on non-restaurant orders. Member FDIC