Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card review: A great beginner card with a valuable bonus

Editor’s note: This is a recurring post, regularly updated with new information and offers.

Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card overview

The Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card effortlessly blends fixed-value redemptions with 15-plus 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. The card has a recommended credit score of 670.

Here’s everything you need to know about the Capital One Venture Rewards.

Capital One Venture Rewards pros and cons

Pros	Cons
2 miles per dollar on every purchase, so you won’t have to memorize bonus categories Versatile rewards that can be redeemed for any hotel or airline purchase for a statement credit or transferred to 15-plus travel partners	Capital One airline partners do not include any large U.S. airlines

Capital One Venture Rewards welcome offer

The Capital One Venture Rewards 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.

Capital One Venture Rewards benefits

Venture Rewards cardholders receive some helpful travel perks, including:

Application fee credit for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck: Up to a $100 credit
Access to hotel bookings with Capital One’s Lifestyle Collection
Travel assistant services*
Auto rental insurance*
Warranty Manager Service*
No foreign transaction fees (see rates and fees)

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 Rewards

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 a value of 2 to 3.7 cents (factoring in TPG’s latest valuations) for every dollar in purchases, with no annual cap.

Plus, you’ll earn an even 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 Rewards

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 redeem 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.

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.

Transferring miles on the Capital One Venture Rewards

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 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

Delta Boeing 767-300 Delta One — ZACH GRIFF/THE POINTS GUY

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.

Which cards compete with the Capital One Venture Rewards?

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.

Is the Capital One Venture Rewards worth it?

If you want a card that earns valuable rewards on non-bonus spending and has a reasonable annual fee, the Capital One Venture Rewards is a great option. However, those looking for premium benefits and bonus rewards in top spending categories will need to look elsewhere.

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.

Apply here: 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.