
Rewards rate
2 Miles - 5 Miles5 Miles per dollar on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel 2 Miles per dollar on every purchase, every day
Annual fee
Intro offer
New Venture cardholders can earn 75,000 miles once they spend $4,000 on purchases within 3 months from account opening
Pay over time APR
Regular APR
A FICO score/credit score is used to represent the creditworthiness of a person and may be one indicator to the credit type you are eligible for. However, credit score alone does not guarantee or imply approval for any financial product.
Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card Overview
Flat-rate travel rewards cards like the Capital One Venture are a popular choice for people who want an easy way to earn rewards on all of their purchases. They’re an especially good fit for occasional travelers who can’t take full advantage of a high rewards rate on travel purchases.
With the Capital One Venture, you can earn an unlimited 2X miles on all purchases. Many other travel rewards cards only earn rewards at this rate on travel spending, so this is a valuable perk for people looking to go further with their everyday spending.
You can redeem miles for any recent, travel-related purchase (such as vacation rentals, flights with any airline, hotels, rental cars, cruises, etc.). You’ll receive a statement credit in the amount of your redemption. This is another standout feature that you won’t find with co-branded travel cards that may restrict you to certain airlines or hotel brands.
Despite its value as a great everyday card, the Venture card lacks the extra travel perks available on some competing cards. That’s to be expected on a card with a low annual fee, but frequent travelers may get more value from a card with better travel perks.
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Rewards
- Earn 5X miles per dollar on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel
- Earn 2X miles per dollar on all other purchases
Expert Appraisal: Good
See our expert analysis -
Welcome offer
- Earn 75,000 miles after spending $4,000 on purchases within three months of account opening, equal to $750 in travel
Expert Appraisal: Typical
See our expert analysis -
Rates and fees
- APR: 20.74 percent to 28.74 percent
- Annual fee: $95
- Balance transfer fee: $0 at this Transfer APR
- Cash advance fee: The greater of $3 or 3 percent of each cash advance
Expert Appraisal: Typical
See our expert analysis -
Other cardholder perks
- Auto Rental Insurance*
- Up to $100 Global Entry or TSA PreCheck credit
- Lost Luggage Reimbursement*
- Capital One Eno assistant
Expert Appraisal: Good
See our expert analysis
Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card pros and cons
Pros
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The card earns unlimited, flat-rate travel miles on all purchases, which is fantastic compared to other travel rewards cards that only earn miles towards specific flight and hotel bookings
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It has no foreign transaction fees, so you don’t have to worry about accruing these charges while using the card overseas
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It offers solid benefits, including up to $100 credit for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck application fee (unlike the Capital One VentureOne Rewards Credit Card)
Cons
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You can’t offset the annual fee with yearly benefits, unlike the Capital One Venture X card’s fee
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Miles are worth 1 cent or less unless using select airline transfer programs, which can limit your overall earning potential
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Its sign-up bonus carries a steep spending requirement
Why you might want the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card
The Capital One Venture Rewards card offers a great balance of flexibility and rewards value as a general travel card. It’s an ideal pick for occasional travelers who aren’t dedicated to one airline and want to use rewards from their everyday spending to fund their next trip.
Rewards rate: Solid, flat-rate cash back for every purchase
The Capital One Venture earns flat-rate rewards, meaning it earns unlimited Capital One miles at the same rate on all purchases. It also earns a boosted rewards rate for hotels and rental cars booked using Capital One Travel.
Most other travel credit cards earn rewards primarily from travel-related spending, like airfare and hotel purchases. But the Venture card’s flat-rate approach and the Capital One Travel portal make it easy to earn and redeem travel miles without sacrificing top-tier rewards value. Issuer travel portals aren’t known for delivering the best travel booking deals, but Capital One makes it easy to get the full value from your hard-earned miles while keeping the redemption process simple. The Capital One Travel portal includes features like price prediction, price freezing, a price match guarantee and cancel-for-any-reason refunds (fees may apply).
Other cards may offer higher rewards rates in specific categories, such as dining or gas, but you may find that you get better overall value from earning rewards on all purchases at a solid flat rate. If you frequently make purchases not in staple rewards categories like groceries, dining, gas or streaming subscriptions, then a flat-rate card like the Capital One Venture can help you get a nice sum of rewards. Where tiered rewards typically award just 1X points or 1 percent cash back on “all other purchases,” the Venture card doubles that rate for the same purchases.
Redemptions: Points are flexible and valuable for bookings or transfers
This is a travel card, so your best redemption options are to book travel through the Capital One rewards portal, redeem miles as a statement credit for recent eligible travel purchases (within the last 90 days) or transfer miles to partner airline and hotel programs.
Capital One provides more redemption options than many competitors, including a comprehensive list of 1:1 transfer partners and the option to use miles to cover outside travel purchases. Transferring miles for a better value is your most lucrative redemption option, netting you up to 2 cents for every mile. However, if you aren’t pleased with the transfer partner list or aren’t finding any suitable offers in the travel portal, you can shop externally and cover the cost with miles you redeem as a statement credit. You can apply your miles to past travel purchases within 90 days, allowing you to shop around for the best deal.
Your miles don’t expire for the life of your account and there are no blackout dates, so you’d be better off saving them for a rainy day than cashing them in for a half-sized check. Additionally, you shouldn’t have any problem finding an opportunity to use Capital One’s transfer partners. The latest pre-COVID travel season showed that 40 percent of the top-ranking airlines serving the most countries are Capital One transfer partners.
Perks: Complimentary and discounted lounge access
For its price tag, the Venture card’s benefit roster carries a handy selection of travel and shopping protections, including special entry rates and two complimentary visits per year to the issuer’s inaugural Capital One Lounge. Not many card issuers have dedicated airport lounges outside Amex’s luxurious Centurion Lounges, but Capital One is planning to include a range of premium amenities, including regionally curated grab-and-go food stations, bartended dining and areas dedicated to exercise and relaxation.
Only the Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) Capital One Lounge is open so far — which pales compared to the over 40 Centurion Lounges worldwide — but more are planned for 2023. Standard Venture cardholders can visit them for free twice per year, with a discounted $45 price for extra visits (the same as guest pricing).
If airport lounges are your oasis, you might want to consider upgrading to the Venture X. Capital One’s premium card not only provides Priority Pass Select and Plaza Premium Lounge memberships for access to over 1,300 more lounges globally, but also comes with complimentary Capital One Lounge access (including two complimentary guest visits per year).
Why you might want a different travel card
The Capital One Venture Rewards credit card offers a nice blend of value and convenience for cardholders, but it has some shortcomings compared to other cards. The best card for you will depend on various factors, so here are a few things to consider when you compare the Venture Rewards card to other travel cards.
Welcome offer: Steep spending requirement
New cardholders can earn a one-time bonus of 75,000 miles after spending $4,000 on purchases within three months of account opening. This bonus is worth up to $750 in travel redemptions when you book travel through the Capital One Travel portal.
Although the current bonus is a step up from the card’s most recent bonus of 60,000 miles (after spending $3,000 within the first three months) it is not the card’s highest ever (100,000 miles after spending $20,000 in your first year) and requires quite a bit of spending to earn a payout that falls short of what you can find on other cards.
The current offer competes with other cards in the $95 annual fee range. For instance, the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card offers 60,000 points after a $4,000 spending requirement in the first three months, worth up to $750 when redeemed for travel through Chase Ultimate Rewards. Additionally, unlike the Venture Rewards Card, you won't need to transfer points to redeem more than 1 cent per point with the Chase Sapphire Preferred.
It’s worth noting the Venture card's welcome offer matches or nearly matches the bonus offered on the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card. It’s rare for a card with a $95 annual fee to offer a bonus as high as a card with a $395 annual fee, but this might say more about the Venture X card than it does the Venture card.
Yearly perks: Lacks annual bonus points
The Venture Rewards card carries consistent value for purchases with its flat-rate rewards, but it fails to deliver on yearly perks and credits that bring additional value. Some cards have annual bonuses for cardholders that can sometimes bring upwards of a hundred dollars worth of value to your card account — just for being a card member or redeeming rewards each year.
For instance, the Chase Sapphire Preferred card comes with a $50 annual hotel stay credit and a 10 percent anniversary point bonus. With this benefit, Chase will reward you on each account anniversary with 10 percent of the points you redeemed in the previous year back. The Sapphire Preferred is just one example, but other travel cards like the Citi Premier® Card and the Delta SkyMiles® Gold American Express Card also have annual benefits that can offset their respective annual fees.
Although these cards don’t have the same rewards rates, welcome offers, transfer partners or issuer portals as Capital One, they could be better choices for you if you are looking for a reliable way to offset all of the fees that accompany traveling. However, you’ll want to review all of those cards’ details before deciding because an annual bonus is just one feature.
Rewards value: The value of your miles is average unless transferred
According to Bankrate’s latest points and miles valuations, Capital One Miles have a baseline value of 1 cent per mile, which is average compared to other issuers’ rewards. Although Capital One Miles can be worth up to 2 cents per mile when transferred to a partner airline or hotel, you would need to find a valuable transfer partner and be making your booking during a time of year when and to a destination where you’ll need fewer miles to cover the cost than you normally would. It seems like many hoops to jump through because it sometimes is.
That said, if you’re looking for a simple, straightforward rewards program with valuable rewards for the easiest redemptions, you might want to consider a credit card with an issuer’s rewards program with a higher baseline point value, like Chase Ultimate Rewards. If you hold either of the Chase premium travel cards, the baseline value of your points can increase up to 1.5 cents per point, giving you top-tier rewards value without any transferring involved.
First-year value vs. ongoing value
Given its small list of perks, it’s clear that this card’s main value comes from its straightforward travel rewards program. If you’re more of a “show me the money” type, the only ongoing Venture card feature with a clear monetary value is the up to $100 application fee credit you’ll receive every four years for TSA PreCheck or Global Entry.
That means you’ll have to rely primarily on rewards spending each year to make up for the $95 annual fee. Here’s a look at what you’d have to spend each year to offset the annual fee:
- 2X miles flat-rate spending: at least $4,752 per year if you get a 1-cent-per-mile redemption value ($2,375 if transferring miles, assuming an average mile value of 2 cents per mile)
- 5X miles on hotel and rental car booked through Capital One Travel: at least $1,900 per year ($950 if transferring miles, assuming an average mile value of 2 cents per mile)
Some competing cards in the Venture’s class provide more benefit value to offset annual fees. Depending on your spending habits, the $95 may not be much of a concern, especially if you plan to transfer miles for an average of 2 cents per mile (Bankrate’s valuation). The 75,000-mile sign-up bonus is pretty hefty, too — enough to cover the annual fee for at least seven years, even if you only get 1 cent per mile in redemption value.
Here’s a look at the first year and ongoing value you should expect based on a 1-cent-per-mile redemption value:
Benefits and Costs | First-year value | Ongoing value (no welcome offers) |
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Yearly rewards* | +$327 | +$327 |
Welcome offers | +$750 value (75,000 bonus miles after spending $4,000 during the first three months) | — |
Perks (of monetary value) |
|
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Annual fee | -$95 | -$95 |
Total value | $1,007 | $257 |
*Based on our formula used to calculate each card’s average rewards rates and average ongoing rewards value, using Bureau of Labor Statistics spending data and an assumed $15,900 yearly spend over three years ($1,325 per month).
We tried it: Here’s what our experts say
Frequent Bankrate contributor Jacqueline DeMarco loves the Capital One Venture card for its streamlined rewards experience and has been collecting miles with it for the past seven years.
“I don’t enjoy figuring out which spending categories will generate the most credit card rewards. With the Capital One Venture, I was attracted to the simplicity of earning unlimited 2X miles on all purchases. For this reason, I use my Capital One Venture for most major purchases over $100, whether it’s to upgrade a phone, buy clothes or do some holiday shopping. If I charge $1,500 in a month, I know that I’ll earn 3,000 Capital One miles. It’s an uncomplicated calculation.”
“In the end, even with a $95 annual fee, my Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card is a bargain. This card gives me options, including flat-rate rewards, flexible flights and numerous protections.”
— Jacqueline DeMarco
Personal finance writer
How the Capital One Venture compares to other travel cards
The Venture card will have a large fanbase thanks to its ease of use and rewards structure. However, travelers who want to maximize their credit card rewards with strategic spending may be better served with another card.

Annual fee
Intro offer
New Venture cardholders can earn 75,000 miles once they spend $4,000 on purchases within 3 months from account opening
Rewards rate
5 Miles per dollar on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel 2 Miles per dollar on every purchase, every day
Recommended Credit Score
A FICO score/credit score is used to represent the creditworthiness of a person and may be one indicator to the credit type you are eligible for. However, credit score alone does not guarantee or imply approval for any financial product.

Annual fee
Intro offer
Earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. That's $750 when you redeem through Chase Ultimate Rewards®.
Rewards rate
5x on travel purchased through Chase Ultimate Rewards® 3x on dining 2x on all other travel purchases, plus more
Recommended Credit Score
A FICO score/credit score is used to represent the creditworthiness of a person and may be one indicator to the credit type you are eligible for. However, credit score alone does not guarantee or imply approval for any financial product.

Annual fee
Intro offer
Earn a bonus of 20,000 miles once you spend $500 on purchases within 3 months from account opening, equal to $200 in travel
Rewards rate
5 Miles per dollar on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel 1.25 Miles per dollar on every purchase, every day
Recommended Credit Score
A FICO score/credit score is used to represent the creditworthiness of a person and may be one indicator to the credit type you are eligible for. However, credit score alone does not guarantee or imply approval for any financial product.
Bankrate Insight
Best cards to pair with the Capital One Venture
Flat-rate rewards cards generally pair best with bonus category cards that align with your biggest expenses.
The Capital One SavorOne Cash Rewards Credit Card
The Capital One SavorOne Cash Rewards Credit Card could be a great choice if you can take advantage of its unlimited 3 percent cash back on dining, entertainment, popular streaming services and at grocery stores (excluding superstores like Walmart and Target). You can get even more value from your bonus categories by converting your cash back to Capital One miles, which the Venture can transfer to travel partners. The SavorOne card’s dining and entertainment categories can be lucrative while you’re traveling too.
Who is the Capital One Venture right for?
Bankrate’s Take: Is the Capital One Venture worth it?
The Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card is convenient if you prefer simple flat-rate rewards or don’t spend enough on travel to justify a bonus category card or the Capital One Venture X’s $395 annual fee.
That said, its rewards and benefits are a rung below the specialized features of a card like the Chase Sapphire Preferred. And if you spend more than $300 on Capital One travel bookings each year, it may be worth upgrading to the Venture X due to its extra benefits and rewards potential, which could beat those of the Venture card and make it easy to recoup the higher annual fee.
*For Capital One products listed on this page, some of the above benefits are provided by Visa® or Mastercard® and may vary by product. See the respective Guide to Benefits for details, as terms and exclusions apply
For Capital One products listed on this page, some of the above benefits are provided by Visa® or Mastercard® and may vary by product. See the respective Guide to Benefits for details, as terms and exclusions apply.