The *capital one venture card* is one of our favorite credit cards for beginners thanks to its low annual fee and how easy it is to both earn and redeem miles for travel.
And unlike some starter cards, this one comes with a big sign-up bonus: You can earn 75,000 Capital One miles after spending $4,000 in the first three months of card membership. If you’re in the market for your first travel card, you’ll be hard-pressed to find a better option than this.
With the Venture Rewards card, you’ll earn 2x miles on every purchase. So by spending the required $4,000 in the first three months of card membership, you’ll wind up with a minimum of 83,000 Capital One miles when all is said and done.
Since Capital One miles can easily be used to cover travel purchases at one cent each, all those miles add up to $830 worth of travel. Not bad for a card with a $95 annual fee, right?
But the benefits go beyond a big upfront bonus. You’ll earn a flat 2x miles for every dollar you spend, making this a solid card for racking up miles on your everyday spending. You’ll also get a credit to cover the cost of signing up for either Global Entry or TSA PreCheck.
Read on for everything you need to know about the Venture Rewards card’s benefits and big bonus offer.
Learn more about the *capital one venture card*
A Quick Card Overview
- Welcome Bonus: bonus_miles_full
- Earn unlimited 2x miles on every purchase
- Earn 5x miles on hotels, vacation rentals, and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel
- Up to a $120 credit for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck
- Fly on any airline or stay in any hotel, with no blackout dates
- Capital One miles don’t expire for as long as you have the card
- No foreign transaction fees
- $95 Annual Fee
Full Benefits Breakdown
Sign-Up Bonus
The Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card is currently offering a bonus of 75,000 Capital One miles after spending $4,000 in the first three months of card membership.
Since miles can be easily redeemed for 1 cent each towards travel, the sign-up bonus is worth a minimum of $750.
Read more: Venture or Venture X: Which Card is Best for You?
Earning Miles
You will earn 2x Capital One miles on all spending, with no limit on how much you can earn each year. That makes the Venture card a great card for your everyday expenses. Keep in mind, that each mile can be redeemed for a minimum of 1 cent toward the cost of travel. That’s an unbeatable return, as most credit cards offer just 1x points on everyday spending.
Capital One Venture cardholders will also earn 5x miles per dollar spent on hotels, vacation rentals, and rental cars, booked via the Capital One Travel Portal.
Annual Fee
The Capital One Venture Card carries an annual fee of $95 which is not waived for your first year of card membership.
The Venture Card also does not charge foreign transaction fees.
Statement Credit for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck
The Capital One Venture Card is one of the cheapest credit cards to include a credit of up to $120 to cover the cost of enrolling in Global Entry or TSA PreCheck. Simply pay the application fee with your Venture card and you will be reimbursed in the form of a statement credit.
You can use this benefit once every four years, and membership in both programs lasts a full five years.
Since Global Entry includes TSA PreCheck, it should be your choice if you travel internationally. Check out our guide for more info on how to sign up for the program from start to finish.
Already have Global Entry or TSA PreCheck? You can use this credit to cover the application for a friend or family member! Just pay for their application with your Venture card and you’re set!
Read more: The Cheapest Credit Cards That Get You Free TSA PreCheck & Global Entry
Redeeming Capital One Miles
Capital One flipped the travel world on its head by transforming Capital One miles into an indispensable travel rewards program for travelers who want to do more for less.
No other credit card points give you more flexibility and versatility to redeem miles toward travel. That includes flights, hotels, rental cars, and much more. Whether you’re just getting started with earning and redeeming miles and want a simple option, or consider yourself an advanced traveler who knows how to maximize your points and miles, there’s a path for you with Capital One miles.
Here are a few of the best ways to redeem the miles earned with a Venture card.
Cover Travel Purchases
Let’s start with the easiest route. This is what Capital One is really known for.
No airline or credit card company makes it easier to redeem points and miles toward travel. Just charge your flight, hotel, Airbnb, bucket-list golf trip, or almost any other travel expense to your Capital One card. A few days later, you can log in and remove that charge from your statement using miles.
Read our step-by-step guide to covering travel purhcases with Capital One miles to see how it’s done!
Using Capital One miles this way, every mile is worth 1 cent. That means you can book a $500 flight using 50,000 Capital One miles. That may not be earth-shattering value, but it’s easy as can be – and pairing it with a cheap flight deal can take you quite far, literally.
Book Through the Capital One Portal
Capital One has its own travel portal where you can search directly for flights, hotels, car rentals, and more, then book using points.
Since the Capital One Venture Rewards card earns bonus miles on hotels and rental cars booked through the portal, you really shouldn’t be redeeming miles like this at all. Instead, you’d be better off using your card to pay for flights and other travel booked through the portal and then using your miles to cover the purchase later on.
All that being said, there are a few other advantages to booking through the travel portal:
- Capital One will automatically refund you if the price of your flight drops after booking. Those Price Drop Protection refunds are only available on flights where Capital One and Hopper predict that prices won’t fall, and they’re capped on up to $50 – or 5,000 Capital One miles – in refunds total. Still, that’s a nice feature.
- You can freeze a fare through the portal for up to 14 days, then decide and come back to buy it later at that price. Capital One charges a small fee to freeze a fare.
- Much like Google Flights, Capital One allows you to set price alerts for the flights you want to book. That means you’ll get an email if the flights you’re looking at drop or increase in price.
- Capital One offers an add-on “cancel for any reason” travel insurance policy, which is quite reasonably priced.
Unfortunately, the travel portal took a hit earlier this year when Capital One capped price drop refunds at $50. And now, the portal’s Price Match Guarantee gets paid out in travel credits.
Level Up Using Transfer Partners
If you want the most value from your Capital One miles, you’ll want to look into Capital One transfer partners.
Capital One added the ability to transfer miles straight to airline programs back in late 2018. After steadily adding more and more partners and making significant improvements, it’s now a bonafide option with some killer value. With few exceptions, every 1,000 Capital One miles you transfer gets you 1,000 airline miles or hotel points.
Here’s the full list.
| Program | Type | Ratio | Transfer Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aeromexico | Airline | 1:1 | Instant |
| Air Canada Aeroplan | Airline | 1:1 | Instant |
| Air France/KLM | Airline | 1:1 | Instant |
| Avianca LifeMiles | Airline | 1:1 | Instant |
| British Airways | Airline | 1:1 | Instant |
| Cathay Pacific AsiaMiles | Airline | 1:1 | Up to five business days |
| Emirates | Airline | 1:1 | Instant |
| Etihad | Airline | 1:1 | Up to 1 day |
| EVA Air | Airline | 2:1.5 | Up to five business days |
| Finnair | Airline | 1:1 | Instant |
| Qantas | Airline | 1:1 | Instant |
| Singapore | Airline | 1:1 | Instant |
| TAP Air Portugal | Airline | 1:1 | Same day |
| Turkish Airlines | Airline | 1:1 | Same day |
| Virgin Red | Other | 1:1 | Same day |
| Accor | Hotel | 2:1 | Up to two business days |
| Wyndham | Hotel | 1:1 | Same day |
| Choice Hotels | Hotel | 1:1 | Same day |
Read more: Save Points When Booking Flights: Transfer Them to an Airline Partner
Bottom Line
The *capital one venture card* has long been one of the best travel rewards credit cards for beginners because of how easy it is to earn and redeem miles.
Learn more about the *capital one venture card*
