Capital One Venture Rewards Card Bonus Now 40,000 Miles
Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.
The Capital One Venture Rewards Card has doubled its sign up bonus from 20,000 miles to 40,000 after $3,000 in spend within the first 3 months and the $59 annual fee is waived the first year.
While 20,000 miles was equal to $200 you can now get $400 in travel when redeeming those miles to cover expenses like airfare, hotel stays, car rentals and more. However, these miles cannot be transferred to any frequent flyer or hotel programs, but you can use them towards buying any flight/hotel you want.
Solid Earning
This card earns 2X miles per $1 on every purchase, so you don't have to strategically use it on special bonus categories. If you're redeeming your points for travel, this card gets you 2% back on everything you spend because every mile is worth 1 cent and you earn 2 per dollar spent on all purchases. Plus, when you redeem Venture Miles to cover your travel expenses, you also earn airline miles on your redemptions, which you normally do not get when you use normal airline miles, so using these miles to buy tickets can help you attain and retain valuable elite status.
Best Offer?
Capital One has had sign-up bonuses of 50,000 back in January and even up to 100,000 points with this card, but it's been nearly two years since we've seen an offer like that. This is the highest it's been for a while, so if you've been waiting to get this card, I don't foresee it going much higher anytime soon. Note: When you apply for a Capital One card, they will generally pull your credit from all three agencies, so the hard inquiry on your credit may be greater than with most other credit card companies that do one pull.
If you're interested in fixed value cards, another great option with a similar sign up bonus is the Barclaycard Arrival Plus World MasterCard which offers 40,000 Arrival miles after $3,000 spent within the first 3 month, equivalent to $420 in travel redemptions. The Arrival Plus card also earns 2 miles per dollar spent but one of the main benefits is that you will receive 5% of your miles back when redeemed for qualifying travel statement credits, thus getting you 2.1% back on all of your spend, which is slightly better than the Venture. The Arrival Plus card is also now available with Chip + Pin capability which strengthens security and improves the likelihood of acceptance when traveling abroad.
Fixed Value Vs. Transferrable?
Whichever card you decide is best for you, the fundamental strength of fixed value cards is that they allow you greater flexibility when using miles on any airline or hotel and you generally earn miles and elite miles on those redemptions. That being said, Capital One and Arrival Plus Miles cannot be transferred to frequent flyer and guest programs and their redemptions are tied to the value of the redemption, so they are generally not the best for super expensive flights and hotel stays. They're great though for covering costs not typically covered by traditional miles, like award ticket fuel surcharges, bed and breakfast stays, trains and taxis. The best strategy is to diversify your miles and points and with all of the frequent flyer program devaluations lately, I'm putting more and more of my spend on fixed value cards.
For more information, check out these posts:
Maximizing Fixed Value Travel Credit Cards
Barclaycard Arrival Bonus Hits 40,000 Miles
Details on the Barclaycard Arrival Travel Redemptions
Capital One Venture and VentureOne Bonuses Up To 20,000 Miles
