Capital One Venture Card review: Earn 2X miles on every purchase, every day

If you love to travel, this card is an attractive option. As a cardholder, you can easily earn miles on all purchases made with the card, making it an easy way to rack up rewards. Plus, the miles are a cinch to redeem.
author Brooklyn Lowery

Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card

Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card
Our Rating:   
Excellent, Good

CardRatings Editor's Analysis: Pros & Cons

  • Earn a one-time bonus of 75,000 miles once you spend $4,000 on purchases within three months from account opening – that's redeemable for up to $750 in travel.
  • Cardholders are eligible for a reimbursement of their Global Entry or TSA PreCheck application fee, a perk worth up to $100.
  • Miles are earned on all purchases, not just travel purchases, so there's some serious point-earning potential with this card.
  • If you plan to spend less than $10,000 annually you may be better off with a card without an annual fee such as the CardName (See Rates and Fees). Additionally, keep in mind there's not an intro 0% APR offer here, so any balance you carry will be subject to a RegAPR APR.
Terms and Limitations Apply.

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CAPITAL ONE VENTURE CARD BENEFITS

Do you travel frequently? The CardName is an attractive option for the serial wanderluster; that's why it's being recognized among our best credit cards for travel.

The CardName offers you:

  • Enjoy a one-time bonus of 75,000 miles once you spend $4,000 on purchases within three months from account opening, equal to $750 in travel
  • Unlimited two miles per $1 spent on every purchase, every day
  • Earn 5X miles on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel
  • Rewards don’t expire for the life of the account
  • Enjoy the flexibility to redeem rewards to offset any eligible travel purchase
  • And now you can transfer your miles to 15+ leading travel loyalty programs

Just because the rewards are called "miles," don't restrict your thinking to only airlines. Rewards can be redeemed for a variety of travel expenses, such as hotel accommodations, auto rentals and theme park tickets, or turned into cash and merchandise credit if you don’t intend to travel (more on that below). 

The 75,000 miles bonus offer starts things off on a nice foot, but the real star power of the Capital One Venture Card is that it enables you to earn 2X the miles on every dollar spent, on every purchase, with no cap and no expiration on miles earned for the life of the account, and the redemption options are very flexible, too. This makes it one of the most compelling rewards cards on the market.

Another wildly popular personal travel rewards card– the CardName – also offers plenty of perks for cardholders, but neither of these cards has to be the only travel credit card in your wallet. It could be an excellent strategy to carry both the Chase card, so you can earn Ultimate Rewards points that can redeemed for travel in the Ultimate Rewards portal for 25% more value and the Venture card, so you have travel rewards that can be redeemed as statement credit to cover virtually any travel purchase, even those that aren't available through the Ultimate Rewards portal. We compare these two cards further later in this article.

Since you’re earning two miles for every dollar you spend on the card, you’re essentially claiming a 2% rebate. That’s better than many cash-back credit cards on the market. And because you control your own travel bookings, you’re not subject to the whims of airline restrictions and blackout dates.

In fact, redeeming rewards with the Venture card is as simple as earning them. You can use the Capital One travel portal to make a booking or transfer your rewards to a travel partner, or, you can simply choose the "cover your travel purchases" option to get reimbursed for a recent travel purchase. This allows you more flexibility in how you travel with rewards. Plane tickets (even on lesser-known or budget airlines), cruise lines, taxi cabs, travel agents, rail lines and limousine services are just a handful of categories covered. This means you can use rewards to cover more specific things such as an Airbnb stay, or a National Park campsite booking.

venture redeem a purchaseventure redeem

And just because the Venture card is advertised as a travel card doesn't mean you can't redeem rewards for other things, too. Say this is your go-to card, and thanks to the welcome bonus, you end up racking up 150,000 miles your first year as a cardholder. That's worth $1,500 in travel! Problem is though, you aren't really planning on traveling anytime soon. Say, perhaps, you have home renovation projects you need to tend to instead. Venture miles can be great for this too thanks to the option to redeem for gift cards.

From Amazon, to Barnes & Noble to Sephora, the gift card choices are plentiful. What's really applicable to this example though is gift cards to places like Home Depot, Lowes, Walmart, Target, Sam's Club, West Elm, Pottery Barn and other home good stores (*gift card options subject to change). Take the Home Depot gift card, for example. At the time of this writing, 100 miles equals $.80, meaning, 150,000 bonus miles are good for $1,200 in Home Depot gift cards. That can go a long way towards updating your hall bathroom.

In short, truly one of the greatest things about the Capital One Venture card is the flexibility that it offers— both in earning rewards, and redeeming them.

Top Features

 Rewards
2 Miles per dollar on every purchase, every day. 5 Miles per dollar on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel.
 Bonus Rewards
Enjoy a one-time bonus of 75,000 Miles once you spend $4,000 on purchases within 3 months from account opening
 Annual Fee

CAPITAL ONE VENTURE CARD TRAVEL BENEFITS

Regardless of whether your travel is domestic or international, this card has you covered. Some of the top CardName travel benefits include:

  • A $100 credit towards Global Entry or TSA PreCheck costs
  • 24-hour travel assistance services
  • Auto rental collision damage waiver
  • No foreign transaction fees
  • Roadside assistance
  • And more

And let's not forget about no blackout dates or restrictions for redemption, the ability to fly any airline, stay at any hotel, anytime, as well as the ability to transfer miles to over 15 leading travel loyalty programs. See Rates and Fees

CAPITAL ONE VENTURE TRAVEL PARTNERS

  • Accor Live Limitless
  • Aeromexico Club Premier
  • Air Canada Aeroplan
  • Air France- KLM Flying Blue
  • Asia Miles
  • Avianca LifeMiles
  • British Airways Avios
  • Choice Hotels
  • Emirates Skywards
  • Ethiad Guest
  • EVA Infinity MileageLand
  • Finnair Plus
  • Qantas Frequent Flyer
  • Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer
  • TAP Air Portugal
  • Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles
  • Wyndham Rewards
  • Virgin Red

CAPITAL ONE VENTURE CARD FOREIGN TRANSACTION FEE

Foreign transaction fees are an easy way to waste money while traveling internationally. There are two ways that travelers can get hit with these fees: a foreign transaction fee, that usually averages around 3%; and a dynamic currency conversion fee, which can range up to 7%. The foreign transaction fee is tacked onto a bill whenever a transaction is made out of the United States. Some credit card's will charge this fee, but others, like the CardName, will not. The DCC fee is one that hits when foreign merchants offer you a conversion price so you know more about how much an item would cost if you were to buy it in the United States. This is not a free service, but for Capital One card holders, the fee is waived. With both of these fees waived for CardName cardholders, up to 10% can be saved.

In short, each time you make a purchase with your Venture card abroad, you'll save yourself a nice chunk of change. Think of it this way: if you travel to France using a card that charges a 3% foreign transaction fee, and you spend $5,000 on your trip, you'll tack on an additional $150 just in fees. However, if you were to travel with the CardName, that's $150 you could save and put towards something like a nice souvenir or one last delicious Michelin-star meal.

POTENTIAL DOWNSIDES OF THE CAPITAL ONE VENTURE CARD

The annual fee ($95) can be a turnoff — cardholders need to be consistent travelers and card users to redeem enough miles to offset the annual fee.

Because this card is not a cash-back reward program, the perks lie within its travel benefits and not its cash-back features. If a cardholder redeems his or her miles for something other than travel perks, options and rates are subject to change without notice — meaning you may not get the same dollar-for-dollar value as with redeeming miles for travel. As you saw in the example above though, redeeming for things other than travel can pay off, but the rates just aren't guaranteed.

Lastly, as is the case with most rewards cards, the APR is higher than for non-rewards cards. In this case, carrying a balance means you want to pay attention to the ongoing APR of RegAPR. See Rates and Fees

CAPITAL ONE VENTURE CARDHOLDER SCORES

CardRatings conducts a survey annually to learn what actual cardholders think of their cards. Here are the results:

Current Scores Past Scores
Overall Score 83.3 76
Features Satisfaction 8.2 7.7
Customer Service 8 7.2
Website/App Usability 8.4 8.2
Likelihood of Continuing to Use 8.9 7.9
Recommend to a Friend/Colleague 8.5 7.2

*Scores above reflect the results of surveys with actual cardholders. Full methodology below.

HOW THE CAPITAL ONE VENTURE CARD COMPARES TO OTHER TRAVEL CARDS

Capital One Venture Card vs. CardName

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Instead of earning a flat rate on all purchases, the CardName earns bonus rewards in select categories, but what's really great about this card is that it automatically rounds up to the nearest 10 points on every purchase, with no cap.

This card rewards two points for every dollar spent at supermarkets and gas stations (up to $6,000 in purchases each year) and one point for every dollar spent on all other eligible purchases, and it rounds up every purchase to the next highest 10. For example, say you buy a $3 cup of coffee, you'll get 10 points instead of three; spend $41 at the supermarket and get 90 points instead of 82. This rewards system is a great way to quickly accumulate a nice pool of points.

Another unique feature of this card is that it offers a 10% "rebate" on the first 100,000 ThankYou® points you redeem each year. In other words, if you redeem 30,000 points, Citi will put 3,000 points back into your ThankYou account. Points can be redeemed in a number of ways, including for travel, gift cards and merchandise.

The welcome offer for new cardholders isn't as generous as the Venture card offer, but there is a bonus of 20,000 points after you spend $1,500 within the first three months of card membership, redeemable for $200 in gift cards at thankyou.com. Also, new cardholders can earn five points per $1 spent on hotels, car rentals and attractions booked via the Citi Travel℠ portal through June 30, 2024. There's also 0% intro APR on balance transfers for 15 months from the date of first transfer (must be made in the first four months) and on purchases from the date of account opening (then RegAPR) and no annual fees. There is a balance transfer fee to consider: BalanceTransferFees

Capital One Venture Card vs. CardName

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Both cards offer travel-friendly features, such as no foreign transaction fees and chip-enabled technology, and they charge the same annual fee. Furthermore, the value of their bonuses is similar. To qualify for the CardName signup bonus of 60,000 points you'll need to spend $4,000 on purchases within the first three months from account opening. The Chase card offers you 25% more value when you redeem your points for travel through the Ultimate Rewards® portal, meaning that the 60,000-point signup bonus is worth up to $750 through the Ultimate Rewards portal. Furthermore, since you can transfer your Ultimate Rewards points to a number of airline and hotel loyalty partners, those points could be worth even more.

When it comes to earning rewards, however, the structures are a bit different and if you are someone who just wants a straightforward rewards structure, the Venture card is likely better for you. With the CardName, you earn 5X total points on all travel purchased through the Chase Ultimate Rewards portal; 3X points on dining, including eligible delivery services and takeout; 3X points on online grocery purchases (excluding Target, Walmart and wholesale clubs); 3X points on select streaming services; 2X points on travel purchases; and 1X point on all other purchases. That's compared to the two miles per $1 spent on all your purchases with the Capital One card.

These cards are both travel rewards credit darlings, so if travel rewards are your goal, you might want to consider carrying both. To learn more about how they line up side-by-side, check out our in-depth Capital One Venture vs. Chase Sapphire Preferred® comparison.

Capital One Venture Card vs. CardName

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When you look at the all-around benefits of each card, the CardName comes out on top— but that doesn’t mean it’s best for everyone. The biggest stand out is that the CardName charges an annual fee, whereas the CardName does not. If you’re not going to spend $10,000 or more in a year, the CardName is probably not worth the annual fee.

The CardName offers unlimited 2x miles per $1 on every purchase, every day, whereas the CardName card offers 1.25x miles per $1 on every purchase, every day.

The CardName does not offer a credit for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck and it only offers 20,000 bonus miles once you spend $500 on purchases in the first three months of your account opening, compared to 75,000 bonus miles when you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first three months from account opening with the annual fee version.

One thing that the CardName offers is an introductory 0% APR on purchases and balance transfers for 15 months (then, RegAPR; balance transfer fee applies), which is a nice benefit that the CardName does not offer.

IS THE CAPITAL ONE VENTURE CARD A GOOD CARD?

The CardName is a good card for general travel rewards, especially if you don't want to worry about spending caps and categories, as it earns 2X miles on every purchase made, with no caps on the amount you can earn. Remember, though, that you want to do better than just break even on the annual fee. Since the annual fee is $95 and your miles can be redeemed for at least $.01 each on travel, the CardName is a good card for people who plan to spend at LEAST $5,000 each year on their card in general purchases ($5,000 x 2 miles per $1 spent = 10,000 miles). See Rates and Fees


Survey Methodology: CardRatings commissioned Op4G in September 2023 to conduct surveys among 1,869 cardholders nationwide. CardRatings website analytics from Jan. 1, 2023-Aug. 31, 2023 were used to determine a selection of the most popular cards and additional cards were included to add survey breadth. Responses to each of nine questions were given on a scale of 1-10 and respondents' scores were then averaged under broad topics. To determine the overall score, responses from questions 1-8 were summed and the answer to "How likely are you to recommend this card to a friend, coworker or family member?" was double weighted. “Current Scores” reflect scores from the most recent survey (2023); "Past Scores" reflect scores from the 2022 survey.

For Capital One products listed on this page, some of the above benefits are provided by Visa® or Mastercard® and may vary by product. See the respective Guide to Benefits for details, as terms and exclusions apply.

Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card Compared to Other Travel rewards Cards

Apply online for Chase Sapphire Reserve®
Chase Sapphire Reserve®
Apply online for Mastercard® Titanium Card™
Mastercard® Titanium Card™
Apply online for Citi Premier<sup>®</sup> Card
Citi Premier® Card
Apply online for The Platinum Card® from American Express
The Platinum Card® from American Express
Rewards
2 Miles per dollar on every purchase, every day. 5 Miles per dollar on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel. 
Rewards
Earn 5x total points on flights and 10x total points on hotels and car rentals when you purchase travel through Chase Travel? immediately after the first $300 is spent on travel purchases annually. Earn 3x points on other travel and dining & 1 point per $1 spent on all other purchases. 
Rewards
Flat-rate redemption value of 1% for cash back or 2% value for airfare redemption with no airline or seat restrictions and no blackout dates. Earn one point for every dollar spent. Straightforward redemption without needing a high-maintenance reward strategy. No foreign transaction fees, no earning caps, no rotating categories, and no need to chase down transfer partners to escape very low point values. 
Rewards
Earn 3 Points per $1 spent at Restaurants and Supermarkets. Earn 3 Points per $1 spent at Gas Stations, Air Travel and Other Hotels. Earn 1 Point per $1 spent on all other purchases. 
Rewards
Earn 5X Membership Rewards® Points for flights booked directly with airlines or with American Express Travel up to $500,000 on these purchases per calendar year and earn 5X Membership Rewards® Points on prepaid hotels booked with American Express Travel. 
Bonus Rewards
Enjoy a one-time bonus of 75,000 Miles once you spend $4,000 on purchases within 3 months from account opening 
Bonus Rewards
Earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. That's $900 toward travel when you redeem through Chase Travel℠.  
Bonus Rewards
N/A  
Bonus Rewards
Earn 60,000 bonus ThankYou® Points after you spend $4,000 in purchases within the first 3 months of account opening. Plus, for a limited time, earn a total of 10 ThankYou® Points per $1 spent on hotel, car rentals, and attractions (excluding air travel) booked on the Citi Travel portal through June 30, 2024.  
Bonus Rewards
Earn 80,000 Membership Rewards® Points after you spend $8,000 on purchases on your new Card in your first 6 months of Card Membership.  
Annual Fee
$95 
Annual Fee
$550 
Annual Fee
$195 
Annual Fee
$95 
Annual Fee
$695 

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