Is the Capital One Venture card worth it?
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If you’re wondering whether a travel rewards credit card is right for you, think about your travel goals and determine which card fits your lifestyle the best and whether it’s worth paying the annual fee.
If your end goal is to save on travel, the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card might just be the perfect pick since you can redeem your rewards directly for travel, or transfer them to over a dozen airline and hotel partners. Its annual fee is $95, which is affordable, but still a consideration.
The Capital One Venture is currently offering 75,000 bonus miles after spending $4,000 on purchases in the first three months of card membership. That’s worth $750 toward travel, but potentially much more if you know how to maximize Capital One miles since they now transfer to 15 airline and three hotel partners, which makes the card a versatile addition to practically anybody’s wallet.
Here’s what else makes the Capital One Venture worth it.
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Sign-up bonus
For starters, the Capital One Venture is currently offering new applicants 75,000 bonus miles after making $4,000 in purchases during the first three months.
Those bonus miles are worth $750 when redeemed toward travel, but potentially much more if you’re able to leverage the Capital One program’s various airline and hotel partners, easily offsetting the $95 annual fee.
Earn Capital One miles
One of the top reasons many people love the Capital One Venture is its straightforward earning structure of 2 Capital One miles per dollar on virtually anything you buy. You also don’t have to worry about miles expiring as long as you keep your account open, and there’s no limit to how many miles you can earn.
A big factor to why the card is so attractive is that there are no categories to memorize and no quarterly bonus categories to activate — it’s an ideal card for busy people who want to simplify their earning strategy and redemption options.
Related: How (and why) you should be earning lots of Capital One miles
Redeem Capital One miles
This is where the card truly distinguishes itself. The two foremost ways to redeem your Capital One miles are at a fixed value or by transferring them to airline and hotel partners.
You can redeem miles at 1 cent apiece with the fixed-value option toward eligible travel expenses charged to the card. For example, say you reserved an Airbnb home for $750 for an upcoming vacation. You could redeem the 75,000 miles earned from the sign-up bonus to offset the Airbnb purchase and cover the entire stay from the miles earned on your Capital One Venture.
This particular redemption option comes in handy when you don’t want to jump through hoops to find award availability, or if you like to stay at non-chain hotels. This is also a popular redemption approach when you find cheap airfare and prefer to save your other valuable transferable points for more aspirational redemptions.
Another way to redeem your hard-earned Capital One miles is to transfer them to partner airlines or hotels. This can be a great choice when you are ready to maximize some award chart sweet spots and really stretch your miles. With recently added transfer partners, a few additional sweet spot redemptions have opened up, potentially increasing the value of Capital One miles even further.
Related: How to use your Capital One miles at a fixed value
Other perks & benefits
The Capital One Venture proves its worth with other ongoing benefits, too. They include:
- Application fee credit for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck: Up to a $100 credit every four years.
- Capital One lounges: Cardholders also get two complimentary passes to the Capital One Lounge at Dallas-Fort Worth Airport (DFW). Other lounges are expected open at Washington Dulles (IAD) and Denver (DEN) in 2022. Each pass is worth $45 based on current entry rates, so there’s $90 in annual value for you right there.
- Travel accident insurance.*
- Secondary auto rental coverage.*
- Extended warranty protection.*
- No foreign transaction fees.
* Benefits are only available to accounts approved for the Visa Signature card. Terms apply.
Although you hopefully won’t have to use some of these benefits, like the travel accident insurance, others, like the Global Entry and lounge perks, can save you money on a regular basis.
Related: Capital One Venture card review
Bottom line
The Capital One Venture is a favorite among travelers for a few reasons.
Its simple earning structure of 2 miles per dollar makes it easy to maximize on pretty much every purchase. The ability to redeem miles both directly for travel at a fixed rate as well as transferring to various airline and hotel partners makes it extra versatile. And then there are the value-added benefits like statement credits for Global Entry and relatively robust travel and purchase protections. In short, it’s a strong all-around choice for travelers, both frequent and otherwise, and well worth the $95 annual fee.
Official application link: Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card available with 75,000 bonus miles
Featured photo by Eric Helgas/The Points Guy.
With additional reporting by Juan Ruiz.
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Editorial Disclaimer: Opinions expressed here are the author’s alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, airlines or hotel chain, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of these entities.