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Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card review: A great beginner card with a 75,000-mile bonus

Benét J. Wilson
Benét J. Wilson
Contributor
Benét, known as the Aviation Queen, is a former senior editor at TPG who is best known for being an aviation journalist for 25-plus years. Her love affair with travel and aviation began at age 6, when her Air Force family moved from California to a military base outside of London. The family flew from JFK to London on a pretty new Pan Am 747. She was amazed when, in 1992, she got her first aviation journalism job.
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Ryan Wilcox
Ryan Wilcox
Credit Card Writer
Ryan joined TPG in 2022 and works as a credit cards writer, overseeing refreshes of card reviews and updating card offers. He enjoys racking up cash back and helping readers maximize their points and miles for their next big trip. He's a former student journalist at The Daily Tar Heel and has years of experience with writing, editing, fact checking and copy editing.
and
Eric Rosen
Eric Rosen
Director of Travel Content
TPG's director of travel content Eric Rosen has used points and miles to visit some of the world's most remote corners, including swimming with whale sharks off Western Australia's Ningaloo Coast, exploring the wilds of Botswana's Okavango Delta and tasting the high-altitude wines of Argentina's Mendoza region.
Reviewed By
Paige Balcom
Paige Balcom
Compliance Associate
Compliance associate Paige Balcom joined TPG in 2022 and has spent her time working in the credit card industry reviewing content across sites such as CNET, CreditCards.com and Bankrate. She has used her knowledge to train new writers and other compliance members on the intricacies of compliance across multiple brands and partners.
Oct. 12, 2023
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9 min read
Capital One Lounge DFW
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Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card overview

The Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card effortlessly blends fixed-value redemptions with almost 20 airline and hotel transfer partners. Its modest $95 annual fee (see rates and fees) and solid return on everyday spending make this card a keeper once you're approved for it. Card rating*: ⭐⭐⭐⭐½

*Card rating is based on the opinion of TPG's editors and is not influenced by the card issuer.

The world of award travel is incredibly complex, with airline miles, hotel points and award charts to keep track of, let alone credit card programs that allow you to transfer your rewards to various partners.

But it shouldn't be challenging to earn and use credit card rewards. The Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card is an excellent antidote to the complexity of travel rewards, offering both simple earning and redemption options for beginners and high-value transfer options for the more experienced points and miles collector.

Here's everything you need to know about the Capital One Venture card.

Official application link: Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card with 75,000 bonus miles

Capital One Venture welcome offer

The Capital One Venture card comes with a solid sign-up bonus of 75,000 miles after spending $4,000 on the card within the first three months of account opening. This sign-up bonus isn't the highest we've ever seen from Capital One, but it's a solid offer for the relatively low spending requirement.

Based on TPG valuations, Capital One miles are worth 1.85 cents each when transferred to the issuer's loyalty program partners, which include Air Canada Aeroplan and Air France-KLM Flying Blue. In other words, this 75,000-mile bonus can be worth around $1,388 (valuation not provided by the issuer).

Related: Redeeming Capital One miles for maximum value

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Capital One Venture benefits

The standout benefits of the Capital One Venture are:

These are solid perks for a card with a reasonable annual fee — though if you're looking for enhanced benefits, the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card could be a better fit for your wallet (more on that later).

* Benefits are only available to accounts approved for the Visa Signature card. Terms apply.

Earning miles on the Capital One Venture

Earning miles on the Venture Rewards card is straightforward, making the card useful to those who don't want to spend a lot of mental energy swapping credit cards in and out for different merchants.

You'll earn 2 miles for every dollar you spend with the card on every transaction, which means you're getting 2 to 3.7 cents' (factoring in TPG's latest valuations) worth of travel rewards for every dollar in purchases, with no annual cap.

WYATT SMITH/THE POINTS GUY

However, you'll earn a higher 5 miles per dollar spent on hotels and car rentals booked through Capital One Travel.

It's easy to zero in on high-powered and popular bonus categories for dining or travel, but you might spend a lot of money outside of defined bonus categories. Adding a Venture Rewards card to your wallet can help you mop up all those extra miles and ensure you aren't leaving anything on the table when paying for non-bonus purchases.

Redeeming miles on the Capital One Venture

You'll likely get more value out of transferring your Capital One miles than redeeming them outright, but if you prefer a more straightforward approach, there are several options available at a fixed value:

  • Book travel: Through Capital One Travel, you can directly book travel using your miles at a rate of 1 cent per mile. This allows you to avoid the complexities of loyalty programs.
  • Pay off travel purchases: Within 90 days of making travel purchases on your card statement, you can use your miles for a statement credit to offset those expenses. Again, you'll receive a flat value of 1 cent per mile.
  • Redeem for gift cards: Another option is to exchange your miles for gift cards, with each mile being valued at 1 cent.
  • Redeem for cash back: While possible, it is worth noting that this option offers a lower value of 0.5 cents per mile. We recommend avoiding this option whenever possible, as it provides the least value.

It is important to recognize that these fixed-value redemption options will result in a lower value compared to TPG's valuation of 1.85 cents per point. It is particularly advisable to avoid the cash-back option, as it offers the lowest value for your miles.

Transferring miles on the Capital One Venture

Transferring your Capital One Venture miles to airline and hotel partners is often how you'll get the most value from your earnings. Under the right circumstances, you can get some phenomenal value from these rewards.

Here are some examples of how you can maximize your Capital One miles:

  • Booking Lufthansa business class with no fuel surcharges through Avianca LifeMiles.
  • Booking United Airlines business-class transcontinental flights through Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles.
  • Booking U.S. domestic flights on various airlines through partners, like redeeming Singapore KrisFlyer or Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles miles for United tickets, or Flying Blue miles for Delta tickets.

Even programs that fly under the radar can be a great option — as TPG director of content Nick Ewen recently found.

I was searching for a hotel room in Park City for a ski trip over President's Day Weekend, and prices were really high. But then, I stumbled across a Wyndham Rewards property close to downtown that had the option of booking a two-bedroom suite for just 30,000 points per night. I transferred 90,000 Capital One miles to my Wyndham account to book a three-night stay that would've set me back over $2,100 dollars.

Now, it's worth noting that these redemptions aren't for everyone, so be sure to check out our guide to help you make the decision on whether to transfer Capital One miles. And if you're confused about the process of how to transfer miles to airline and hotel partners, here's a guide on how to do it.

ZACH HONIG/THE POINTS GUY

Which cards compete with the Capital One Venture?

No card perfectly replicates the Capital One Venture, but there are a few that offer similar benefits:

  • If you prefer Chase: Consider the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card. For a $95 annual fee, you'll enjoy 5 points per dollar on travel booked through the Chase travel portal, 3 points per dollar on dining, select streaming services and online groceries (excluding Target, Walmart and wholesale clubs), 2 points per dollar on all travel not booked through the Chase travel portal and 1 point per dollar on all other purchases. For more information, read our full review of the Sapphire Preferred.
  • If you want more perks: Look at the premium Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card. You'll get 10 miles per dollar on hotels and car rentals booked via Capital One Travel, 5 miles per dollar on flights booked via Capital One Travel and 2 miles per dollar on everything else, plus $300 back in credits annually for bookings made through Capital One Travel and loads more perks, including a Priority Pass lounge membership. It does carry a $395 annual fee (see rates and fees), but the perks can easily cover that — and then some. For more information, read our full review of the Venture X.

For additional options, check out our full list of the best travel cards.

Read more: Credit card showdown: Capital One Venture vs. Capital One Venture X

Bottom line

The Capital One Venture packs a lot in for a $95 annual fee (see rates and fees), and it even makes the cut as one of our best travel credit cards. It earns miles at a consistent rate and can facilitate simple, fixed-rate redemptions along with more complicated awards by transferring your miles to hotel and airline partners, making it a valuable card worth a spot in your wallet.

Official application link: Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card with 75,000 bonus miles

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.

Featured image by WYATT SMITH/THE POINTS GUY
Editorial disclaimer: Opinions expressed here are the author’s alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, airline or hotel chain, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of these entities.