KEY LINK – Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card – earn 75,000 miles once you spend $4,000 in 3 months. $95 annual fee
The Capital One Venture Rewards card is Capital One’s flagship credit card and one of several that earns Capital One’s proprietary Venture miles. The Capital One Venture Rewards card is one that earns transferable miles, which are great for their flexibility. You can redeem Venture miles for cash toward travel at a rate of 1 cent per mile. Or you can transfer them to one of Capital One’s 15+ airline and hotel transfer partners.
(SEE ALSO: The difference between “points” points and “cash” points (and why it’s important))
Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card welcome offer
Credit card welcome offers are often the best way to get a decent number of miles and points. The current welcome offer is as follows:
- New Venture cardholders can earn 75,000 miles once they spend $4,000 on purchases within 3 months from account opening
We have seen higher offers on the Capital One Venture Rewards card before, but they have usually required a significantly higher amount of spending.
Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card overview
The Capital One Venture Rewards card has a straightforward earning structure. Unlike some cards that have different earning rates depending on where you use the card, with the Capital One Venture Rewards card you earn the same amount no matter where you are spending, with one exception.
- 2X miles for every dollar that you spend on everyday purchases
- 5X miles on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel
There is no limit or cap on the amount of miles that you can earn with the Capital One Venture Rewards.
The Capital One Venture Rewards card has an annual fee of $95. You can redeem your Venture miles for any airline, hotel or nearly any other kind of travel, at a rate of 1 cent per Venture mile. You can either use your miles directly through Capital One’s travel portal, or use your miles after the fact. Generally it’s a better idea to book directly with the hotel or airline and then use your Venture miles after the fact, since that eliminates the middleman if something goes wrong and also preserves elite benefits if you’re booking a hotel.
Capital One hotel and airline transfer partners
Capital One has 18 transfer partners — 15 airline and 3 hotel programs. It used to be that Capital One had a pretty poor transfer ratio (2:1 or 2:1.5), meaning that it rarely made sense to transfer Capital One Venture miles. But in the past year or two, they have drastically improved their program, where now most Capital One transfer partners are at a 1:1 ratio.
(SEE ALSO: Is This Capital One’s Best Transfer Partner?)
Here is the list of the 18 Capital One transfer partners. All transfer ratios are 1:1 except where indicated
Airlines:
- Aeromexico Club Premier
- Air Canada Aeroplan
- Air France / KLM Flying Blue
- Avianca LifeMiles
- British Airways Executive Club
- Cathay Pacific Asia Miles
- Emirates Skywards
- Etihad Guest
- EVA Air Infinity MileageLands (2:1.5)
- Finnair Plus
- Qantas Frequent Flyer
- Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer
- TAP Miles&Go
- Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles
- Virgin Red
Hotels:
- Accor Live Limitless (2:1)
- Choice Privileges
- Wyndham Rewards
I have been using my Capital One miles (and my ThankYou points) to transfer to Wyndham Rewards points to use Vacasa vacation rentals, where I am often getting 3+ cents per point in value, like this “1 bedroom” condo in the Smoky Mountains with amazing views.
Other perks of the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card
The Capital One Venture Rewards card has a few other perks that might be useful. It is one of the many cards that offer a credit for either Global Entry or TSA Pre. You’ll get up to $100 as a statement credit toward application fees for either of those two programs, once every four years.
You’ll also get two complimentary visits per year to Capital One Lounges or to 100+ Plaza Premium Lounges through their Partner Lounge Network, though this benefit is ending Jan 1, 2025. I just visited the Capital One Lounge in DFW and it was probably the best non-first-class lounge I’ve ever been to.
There are also no foreign transaction fees with the Capital One Venture Rewards card.
The Bottom Line
KEY LINK – Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card – earn 75,000 miles once you spend $4,000 in 3 months. $95 annual fee
I think that Capital One has drastically improved the value of their miles over the past few years, and positioned the Capital One Venture card as one of the best credit cards out there. Your 75,000 miles can be a flat $750 towards just about any type of travel, but you can also use them to transfer to a bevy of airline and hotel transfer partners. This includes Wyndham Rewards, whose partnership with Vacasa is currently one of the best miles and points deals out there. If you can get 3 cents per point value from your Wyndham Rewards (which isn’t hard to do), it’s not much of a stretch to say that this welcome bonus alone could be worth over $2,000.
Are you planning on signing up for the Capital One Venture Rewards card with the current welcome bonus? Leave your thoughts and questions in the comments below