Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card Review [2023]: Easy Rewards & Flexible Redemptions

With so many credit cards on the market, finding a travel rewards card that checks off all of your must-haves can be challenging. If you’re a regular traveler but aren’t particularly loyal to one airline or hotel, the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card(Rates and fees) might be what your wallet needs.

In this Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card review, you’ll learn about its key features, what kind of cardholder it’s best for, and alternative cards to consider.

Key takeaways

• We recommend the Capital One Venture Rewards if you want a simple rewards rate and flexible redemption options. Frequent travelers will likely get the most use out of the card’s perks and benefits, including the option to transfer miles to over 15 travel partners.
• The Capital One Venture Rewards doesn’t make sense if you want to avoid an annual fee, as you have to pay $95 each year as a cardmember.

Who should get the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card?

If the thrill of earning free hotel stays and flights appeals to you, the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card can help accelerate your ability to travel on rewards miles.

To qualify for this card, it is typically recommended to have good to excellent credit, which means you’ve made on-time payments and have demonstrated responsible borrowing habits.

This travel rewards credit card might not be a good fit for you if you don’t have a strong credit score or don’t travel frequently enough.

Card basics

Card type	Travel
Card issuer	Capital One
Annual fee	$95
Early spend bonus	Earn a one-time bonus of 75,000 miles once you spend $4,000 on purchases within 3 months from account opening
Reward rate	2 miles per dollar on every purchase, every day and 5 miles per dollar on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel
Recommended credit score	Excellent, Good
Foreign transaction fee	None

Capital One Venture benefits

• Earn unlimited miles: Earning bonus miles is easy with the Venture card’s earning rate. Earn 2 miles per dollar on every purchase, every day and 5 miles per dollar on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel.
• Lounge access: Cardholders will benefit from two complimentary visits per year to Capital One Lounges or Plaza Premium Lounges. (Note that access to Priority Pass lounges isn’t included as a benefit.)
• Flexible travel redemption options: Since Venture miles aren’t tied to a specific airline partner or hotel loyalty program, you’ll have the freedom to choose which carrier you fly with and where you stay for every trip. You also have the option to transfer miles to a growing list of Capital One transfer partners. Overall, these travel rewards are very simple to use.
• Travel insurance¹ : When you use miles or your card to book travel, including airfare, you could be eligible for certain travel benefits and coverage. This could include Auto Rental Insurance for rental cars and Travel and Emergency Assistance Services for eligible trips.
• No foreign transaction fees: Avoid paying foreign transaction fees on any applicable expenses, including purchases you make abroad. This benefit is most beneficial for frequent travelers.

Drawbacks to this card

• No intro APR: The Capital One Venture Rewards isn’t the best credit card for intro APR offers. It doesn’t provide a 0% intro APR on either purchases or balance transfers to help avoid interest rates for a certain amount of time. (Note that other credit card offers with intro APR benefits typically still have balance transfer fees and purchase or balance transfer APRs after the intro APR period ends.)
• Designed for simplicity: Because the rewards program associated with this card is designed for simplicity of use, you can’t take advantage of as many bonus categories as other travel rewards cards out there like the Chase Sapphire Preferred^® Card, which we recommend as one of the best travel credit cards available. You also don’t receive as many premium benefits as you would on a card like the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card(Rates and fees).

Earning & redeeming Capital One miles

Potential earnings in years one and two

Here's a look how your miles can add up with the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card. To calculate these values, we used a point valuation of 1 cent per mile.

Remember, this is an estimation. The actual value will be determined by how much you spend and in which categories you spend.

Year one earnings: $1,325

Year two earnings: $575

These values are based on the FinanceBuzz Credit Card Rewards Valuation Model which takes a look at points earned via spending, the early spend bonus and the annual fee.

Note that this valuation does not include any of the credits that come with this card. If you take advantage of the application fee credit for TSA PreCheck® or Global Entry, your value will be further increased by another $78 to $100. In addition, you may increase the value of this card by transferring your miles to Capital One's travel partners.

Best ways to earn

Categories	Rewards rate
hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel	5 miles per dollar
every purchase, every day	2 miles per dollar

Earning rewards with the Venture is simple. Get 2 miles per dollar on every purchase, every day and 5 miles per dollar on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel. Capital One Venture Rewards miles never expire as long as the account is active, and there are no limits to how many miles you can earn. This flexibility allows you to accrue as many miles as you can.

When planning for an upcoming trip, you don’t need the added inconvenience of playing credit card roulette with other rewards cards. A perk of using the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card is that you can earn miles on any travel-related purchase, regardless of the carrier or hotel brand.

Maximizing your redemption

Redeeming rewards for travel purchases yields the highest redemption value. Eligible travel purchases include airlines, hotels, travel and car rental agencies, transportation, and more. To maximize rewards, you can transfer your miles to an airline or hotel loyalty program as long as that hospitality company is a partner of Capital One Venture Rewards.

Redeeming miles for cash back and gift cards is also possible, but redemption rates are often considerably lower in value than if you were to redeem your rewards for travel.

Overall, Capital One Venture Rewards redemption options include:

• Booking travel through Capital One Travel
• Covering past travel purchases
• Transferring miles to travel partners
• Receiving account credits
• Receiving a check
• Converting miles into gift cards
• Paying for Amazon purchases
• Making eligible purchases with PayPal

Capital One transfer partners

There are over 15 airline and hotel partners available to eligible Capital One cardholders. The minimum transfer for all partners is 1,000 miles, but the ratio at which you can transfer your miles varies depending on the partner.

Airline	Airline Alliance	Min. Transfer	Transfer Ratio
AeroMexico	SkyTeam	1,000	1:1
Air Canada	Star Alliance	1,000	1:1
Air France	SkyTeam	1,000	1:1
Avianca	Star Alliance	1,000	1:1
British Airways	Oneworld	1,000	1:1
Cathay Pacific	Oneworld	1,000	1:1
Emirates	N/A	1,000	1:1
Etihad Airways	N/A	1,000	1:1
EVA Air	Star Alliance	1,000	2:1.5
Finnair	Oneworld	1,000	1:1
Qantas	Oneworld	1,000	1:1
Singapore Airlines	Star Alliance	1,000	1:1
TAP Air Portugal	Star Alliance	1,000	1:1
Turkish Airlines	Star Alliance	1,000	1:1
Virgin Atlantic (through Virgin Red)	N/A	1,000	1:1

Capital One also has three hotel transfer partners: Accor Live Limitless (ALL), Choice Privileges, and Wyndham Rewards. All three require a minimum transfer of 1,000 miles but the transfer ratios of each differ.

Hotel	Min. Transfer	Transfer Ratio
Accor	1,000	2:1
Choice	1,000	1:1
Wyndham	1,000	1:1

In addition, there are occasionally bonus opportunities where airlines will offer extra miles for a limited time so it’s always a good idea to investigate any limited-time offers that might be available before making a transfer so you don’t miss a good opportunity.

Also, be aware of how long it might take to transfer your miles from Capital One to the partner program. For example, you might be able to see an almost instant transfer from Capital One to Air Canada, allowing you to turn your Capital One miles into airline miles and then book a flight almost immediately. However, your points might take up to 36 hours to appear in your Singapore Airlines account.

Check the fine print carefully before you transfer your miles to an airline program to make sure you understand the rules and you know what you’re getting. Each partner will have its own policies, so you may be subject to limitations based on availability, timing, and other factors when booking. Once you transfer your Capital One miles to a partner, you have to follow the rules of those individual programs.

Capital One Venture Rewards FAQs

Other cards to consider

Although the Capital One Venture Rewards offers an impressive lineup of card benefits for frequent flyers and avid travelers, there are other cards that are considered to be among the best rewards cards for travel that could be a better fit for you.

If you spend a decent amount on travel expenses and restaurant purchases each month, you may want to consider the American Express^® Gold Card. While the Amex Gold card has a higher $250 annual fee, it also comes with a $120 dining credit (select benefits require enrollment). Coupled with the 4X Membership Rewards points at U.S. supermarkets (up to $25,000 per year, after that 1X) and at restaurants, plus takeout and delivery in the U.S., 3X on flights booked directly with airlines or on Amextravel.com, and 1X on all other eligible purchases, this card could be a great fit for travelers who are also foodies.

The Chase Sapphire Preferred is also worth considering if you intend to do a fair amount of traveling. Like the Venture card, rewards are easy to earn and it offers a competitive welcome bonus that lets you earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. 

Unlike the Venture card, the Chase Sapphire Preferred offers bonus categories for certain types of spending that may help you rack up your travel rewards more quickly. The long list of Chase transfer partners also makes it one of the most powerful travel cards out there. You can compare the Capital One Venture vs. Chase Sapphire Preferred cards directly and see which better fits your needs.