Ultimate Guide to the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card
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EDITORIAL DISCLOSURE:
Opinions expressed here are the author's alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, hotel, airline, or other entity. This content has not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of the entities included within the post.
The content listed on this page is accurate as of its posting date; however some offers mentioned may have expired.
⚡️ Fast Facts:
$95 annual fee
Earns 2x miles on ALL purchases
Earn 5x on hotels, vacation rentals and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel
Up to $120 credit for Global Entry and/or TSA PreCheck
It’s giving BOGO.
Where other cards fall flat because of their 1x categories, the Venture card is giving you 2x on every. 👏 single. 👏 purchase.👏 We always say, “When in doubt— swipe the Venture.” There’s no purchase that the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card can’t handle.
The Venture card has a hefty welcome bonus and over a dozen transfer partners, making it well worth its annual fee while you’re getting double the miles with every swipe. It’s the perfect option for points and miles beginners (especially if you’re looking for another option outside of the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card).
You’ll never have to worry about earning 1x on a purchase ever again with the Venture card in your wallet.
The Perks
Double the miles on errrrrrythanggggg.
Here’s the thing: most travel rewards credit card have great category bonuses like “get 3x on dining” or “get 4x on groceries” and those bonuses are wonderful, except when you’re making a regular, run-of -mill purchase and you’re only getting 1x the points. Or for us, the worst offender: Amazon purchases!
Having the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card now means that every single dollar you spend, you can ensure getting 2x the miles. ⬅️ Making it a “MUST HAVE” in our wallets.
We used Capital One Venture miles to book our business class flight on Turkish Airlines!
It’s the perfect “no brainer” card for people who don’t want to worry about category bonuses, but still want to be getting more than 1x on purchases.
Travel Benefits & Protections
We all know that a card with no foreign transaction fees is a MUST when you big fans of travel. Enjoy peace of mind when you bring along your Venture Card on your next international adventure!
The Venture Card also comes with travel protections:
Secondary rental car coverage
Trip accident insurance
🌎 Global Entry/TSA PreCheck Credit
This honestly feels like the biggest cheat code.
If you were to outright purchase Global Entry for yourself, you’re shelling out $120.
Sooooo… that means you could open the Venture Card instead, paying the $95 annual fee, then use your card to purchase your Global Entry/TSA PreCheck, saving you $25. Not to mention the value of that boatload of miles you earned from the welcome bonus.
👆 We also know this from personal experience.
Redeeming & Transferring Your Miles
The miles earned on your Venture Card can be sure to book travel through Capital One Travel. If you choose to use your miles to purchase airfare, hotels or car rentals in Capital One Travel, you can redeem your miles at a fixed 1 cent per mile rate.
Capital One also has a unique feature that allows you to “reimburse yourself” for any travel-related purchases (hotels, airfare, rental cars, cruises, etc.) using your Venture miles at a fixed 1-cent per mile rate.
You can also redeem your miles for cash back or gift cards at the same 1-cent per mile ratio. But…
The best way to maximize the value of your miles is by directly transferring them to travel partners.
Transferring your miles directly to one of Capital One’s 15+ airline and hotel partners (listed below) will often give you a much higher value for your miles.
Not all transfer partners are created equal. Some of the “better” transfer partners include: Virgin Atlantic, Turkish Airlines, Air Canada, and British Airways. This is not to say that the other transfer partners are “bad” by any means, but that you can typically get higher value for your miles with those award programs.
Capital One Transfer Partners
✈️ Airline Partners
🏨 Hotel Partners
Our flight home from London was only $152 per person, thanks to booking our British Airways flight by transferring our Capital One Venture Miles!
Chase 5/24
Since this is a personal card, it will count toward your Chase 5/24. #worthit!
We keep track of our 5/24 window by entering our cards into our Travel Freely app. 📲 This app is free to use and we swear by it—especially for beginners— as it keeps track of welcome bonus deadlines, upcoming annual fees, and gives personalized card recommendations. Did we mention it’s FREE?
Uncertain what “5/24” is? Here’s the Chase 5/24 rule explained.
Referral Bonuses
The referral bonus for the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card is currently up to 50,000 referral miles per year. If they're a new Capital One cardholder and apply using your link, you'll earn 20,000 miles for each friend approved.
The key 🔑 here is that the person you’re referring must be a NEW Capital One cardholder. Meaning: they have not ever opened a Capital One card before. This is also why we recommend not adding your spouse, partner, or friend as an authorized user. By not adding that AU, you’ll be able to maximize the amount of Capital One miles you can earn through welcome bonuses.
Our transfer partner of choice? Turkish Airlines!
Exit Strategy: Keep, Downgrade, or Cancel?
Before we open any card, we always take a minute to consider what we’ll do with the card after the first year (you don’t have to have an exact answer just yet, but at least think it through!) 🧐
Read this post to help you make your keep, downgrade, or cancel decision.
For us, this card is a “Keep FOREVER” — no other card gives us the opportunity to earn 2x on every dollar spent. We use it as our “catch all card” whenever we’re in between minimum spends (or when Brad just doesn’t want to deal with thinking about category bonuses 😜).
🤩 Bottom Line
We love the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card.
It truly makes each and every purchase a no-brainer knowing that we’re always getting at least 2x miles. Not to mention the best way we secured Global Entry & TSA PreCheck for even cheaper than if we paid for it outright!
This is an excellent card option for both points and miles beginners and experts alike. ✅
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Editorial Disclosure: Opinions expressed here are the author's alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, hotel, airline, or other entity. This content has not been reviewed, approved, or otherwise endorsed by any of the entities included within the post.