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The Capital One® Venture® Rewards Credit Card has a solid new cardmember offer and some great perks. Learn more about how to get the most out of the Capital One Venture and decide whether or not the card deserves a place in your wallet.
New Cardmember Offer Worth $500 Towards Travel
Perhaps the biggest reason to acquire the Capital One Venture is the bonus. You receive 50,000 miles after spending $3,000 during the first three months that you have the card. When you're ready to redeem your miles, this bonus is the equivalent of $500 in travel rewards.
The bonus is neck and neck with other top travel rewards cards, similar to the 60,000 bonus points you can earn from the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card, although the miles earned are fixed-value as opposed to flexible points like Ultimate Rewards.
Earning Potential
The Capital One Venture card offers 2x miles for every dollar spent, on all purchases, in all categories. There is no limit to the miles you can earn, and they never expire. For every $1,000 you spend on the card, you'll earn 2,000 Venture Miles.
In addition to every day 2x earning, the card also earns 10x miles on hotel stays booked through Hotels.com. If you care about earning elite status with your favorite hotel rewards programs, you'll want to check out this overview of the benefits and drawbacks to booking via Hotels.com. However, if you tend to book stays with lots of different hotel brands and generally decide based on price or convenience, this is a huge benefit for the Capital One Venture card.
Annual Fee Waived for the First Year
The Capital One Venture card has a $0 intro annual fee for the first year, and then $95.
Redeeming Capital One Venture Miles
The most attractive feature of the Capital One Venture card is the flexibility with which you can redeem your miles. Find the best deals that work for you, and use the Purchase Eraser feature to get credit for your travel spending.
The Purchase Eraser works for flights, hotels, car rentals, and more. You can redeem only as many miles as you want, from $1 all the way up to the full amount of miles you have in your account. There are no restrictions when it comes to booking with certain airlines or hotels, so choose whatever you prefer when it comes to your travel.
Capital One Venture Miles have a fixed-value, so they aren't great for pricey international travel. If you want to use your Capital One Venture miles for an international flight to Europe that costs $2,000, you would have to use 200,000 miles! You can get much more value from flexible and airline miles for international flights.
Capital One Venture miles also can't be transferred out to any travel partners, so you lose some flexibility here. American Express Membership Rewards, SPG points, Citi ThankYou Rewards, and Chase Ultimate Rewards points can all be transferred to several top travel partners.
More Travel Perks
In addition to the great flexibility offered by the Capital One Venture card, you get some other travel perks including no foreign transaction fees, travel insurance, roadside assistance, reimbursement for lost luggage, and a 24/7 concierge service that provides you with great support.
Any Downsides?
The Capital One Venture card is great for those looking for specific travel benefits. If you are looking for a card that offers the option of getting cash back rewards, you may want to keep searching, because there are better options.
Also, there are no special deals when it comes to this card and travel rewards. Being straightforward is great, many people like the simplicity of the program. That said, if you find a cheap flight or error fare, purchase it with the Capital One Venture card and use the purchase eraser, and you can get some solid value from Venture Miles.
Conclusion
If you are looking for a straightforward way to receive travel rewards, then the Capital One® Venture® Rewards Credit Card might be just the solution! However, if you want a travel rewards credit card that gives you better options for international travel, and the flexibility to transfer points to other travel programs, then you may want to look at the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card.
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I’ve had the Venture card for several years now and I find that the yearly fee is more than covered by using miles to “erase” the cost of booking a flight. Even if I’m not traveling it allows me to “erase” the cost of booking a ZipCar or other rental car and numerous types of transportation services. It really has been a fantastic credit card.
We’re glad you like it. It functions effectively as a cash back card, keeping things as easy as can be.