Card Review: Capital One Venture Rewards Card
When you are trying to maximize every purchase, you may end up with several different credit cards for each category. In my case, I use my AMEX Gold Card for groceries and restaurants, the Citi Premier Card for gas, the AMEX Platinum Card for airfare, the Chase Freedom Flex Card for its rotating 5% categories. On top of that, I have Marriott and Hilton co-branded credit cards for specific hotel stays. Unless you are organized and willing to put time and effort into tracking your finances, this can become overwhelming. If you want a straightforward, catch-all travel credit card that earns travel rewards, the Capital One Venture Rewards Card may deserve a spot in your wallet.
The Capital One Venture Rewards Card can be a simple solution for earning travel rewards for all purchases.
Multipliers & Sign-Up Bonus: Worth up to $1,400
If other travel credit cards offer different multipliers to make them appealing, the Venture Card has a different strategy in mind. The Venture Rewards Card earns 2X miles per dollar on every purchase. Similar to the Citi Double Cash Card, it presents a straightforward multiplier to consumers who may want only a few credit cards in their portfolios. The sign-up bonus is huge; Capital One is offering 100,000 bonus miles after spending $20,000 in the first 12 months from account opening, which is broken into two parts. A new cardmember will earn 50,000 bonus miles after spending $3,000 in the first three months from account opening and will earn the other 50,000 bonus miles after spending a total of $20,000 in the first year of the card membership. I personally value each Capital One mile at 1.4 cents per point, making the sign-up bonus worth up to $1,400. The $20,000 spend requirement is a big hurdle for most people. If you were to go for the Venture Rewards Card, you’d need to evaluate your spending patterns and analyze its opportunity cost to decide whether it’s worth aiming for the full bonus or not.
Don’t spend your money recklessly just to meet the bonus. Analyze your spending patterns and spend on what you normally would!
Annual Fee & Benefits
The Venture Rewards Card has an annual fee of $95, which would make it a Tier 3 card according to my credit card categorization. Because its annual fee is only $95, the card doesn’t offer significant benefits. One notable perk is the reimbursement of Global Entry or TSA PreCheck application fees. Cardmembers can get up to $100 in statement credit when the Venture Rewards Card is used to pay for the application. I would highly suggest using this benefit for a Global Entry application since it comes with TSA PreCheck. Global Entry can save you hours of waiting time in line over a year if you travel often internationally. You can use this credit every 4 years and apply it towards a friend or family member if your own Global Entry membership is covered by another premium travel credit card.
If you don’t have other premium travel credit cards, reimbursement from the Global Entry application will effectively lower the annual fee to $0.
Redeeming Bonus Miles
Capital One provides diverse routes to redeem bonus miles. Cardmembers can “erase” travel purchases made in the previous 90 days, by redeeming bonus miles at 1 cent per mile. Other worse redemption options are redeeming bonus miles for gift cards or shop online at 0.8 cents per mile or cashback at 0.5 cents per mile. In my opinion, the best way to use your hard-earned bonus miles is by transferring them to one of Capital One’s 19 transfer partners. The transfer partners are made of 16 airlines and three hotel groups:
Aeromexico Club Premier (1:1 ratio)
Air Canada Aeroplan (2:1.5 ratio)
Air France-KLM Flying Blue (2:1.5 ratio)
Alitalia MileMiglia (2:1.5 ratio)
Avianca LifeMiles (1:1 ratio)
ALL Accor Live Limitless (2:1 ratio)
British Airways Executive Club (2:1.5 ratio)
Cathay Pacific Asia Miles (1:1 ratio)
Emirates Skywards (2:1 ratio)
Etihad Guest (1:1 ratio)
EVA Infinity MileageLands (2:1.5 ratio)
Finnair Plus (1:1 ratio)
JetBlue TrueBlue (2:1.5 ratio)
Qantas Frequent Flyer (1:1 ratio)
Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer (2:1 ratio)
TAP Portugal Miles & Go (1:1 ratio)
Turkish Airlines Miles & Smiles (2:1.5 ratio)
Wyndham Rewards (1:1 ratio)
Choice Previleges (1:1 ratio)
Transfer your miles to the Krisflyer program and fly Singapore Airlines!
While the bonus mile transfer time is generally instant for most partners, some may take more time than other members. For instance, it takes five business days to transfer miles to Cathay Pacific and one business day to ALL Accor. EVA Air and Singapore Airlines have a turnaround time of 36 hours, while Etihad and Qantas have a turnaround time of 24 hours. In addition, the transfer ratios are lower for ALL Accor Live Limitless, Emirates Skywards, and Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer at a 2:1 ratio. To further complicate the process, some use a 1:1 ratio, while some transfer partners use a 2:1.5 ratio. These elements are important factors to consider when redeeming bonus miles since you’d need to calculate which transfer program is right for you. Depending on the program of your choice, you may need to time the transfer if you wish to make award travel plans.
Summary
The Capital One Venture Rewards Card uses a straightforward, fixed-rate approach when it comes to earning travel rewards. Being able to earn unlimited 2X bonus miles on every purchase will simplify your wallet if you want a catch-all travel credit card. New cardmembers have an opportunity to earn 100,000 bonus miles if they can reach the $20,000 spend requirement. With its low annual fee of $95, the card doesn’t provide unique benefits or perks, but it does have 19 airline and hotel transfer partners where your bonus miles could be used for award travel. If you want to streamline your wallet with a no-nonsense travel credit card, the Capital One Venture Rewards Card may be a great fit for you.
