The *capital one venture card* is easily one of the best credit cards for beginners thanks to its low annual fee and how easy it is to both earn and redeem miles towards travel. Arguably, it's better than ever.
Earlier this year, Capital One upped the ante with a better welcome bonus: You'll now earn 75,000 Venture Miles after spending just $4,000 in the first three months of card membership. That's up from the previous bonus of 60,000 Venture Miles – and identical to what you'll earn on the Venture Card's premium sibling, the *venture x*. It seems like this bigger bonus is set to stick around for good.
By spending the required $4,000 in the first three months of card membership, you'll wind up with a minimum of 83,000 Venture Miles when you factor in earning at least 2x Venture Miles for every dollar you spend. And those miles are worth a minimum of $830 towards travel. Not bad for a card with a $95 annual fee, right?
But the benefits go beyond a big upfront bonus. You'll earn a flat 2x Venture Miles for every dollar you spend, making this a solid card for your everyday spending to keep racking up miles. And even at the relatively low price point, you'll get a credit to cover the cost of signing up for either Global Entry or TSA PreCheck as well as two free passes to Capital One lounges a year.
Read on for more information about this new offer and all of the Venture card's benefits.
Learn more about the *capital one venture card*
Capital One Venture Card Review: An Overview
- Welcome Bonus: 75,000 Capital One Venture Miles after spending $4,000 in the first three months of card membership.
- Earn 2x miles per dollar on every purchase. There is no cap to the number of miles you can earn each year.
- Earn 5x miles on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel
- New Benefit: Earn 5x miles per dollar spent on Turo bookings through May 16, 2023.
- Up to a $100 credit for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck
- Two free annual passes to visit the new Capital One Lounges
- Fly on any airline or stay in any hotel with no blackout dates
- Capital One Venture Miles never expire
- The card does not charge foreign transaction fees
- $95 Annual Fee
Full Benefits of the Capital One Venture Card
Earning Miles with the Capital One Venture Travel Card
A New 75K Mile Welcome Offer
The Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card is now offering 75,000 Venture miles after spending $4,000 in the first three months of card membership.
That's up from the previous offer of 60,000 Venture miles for spending $3,000 in the first three months. Capital One has indicated that this isn't a limited-time offer. Rather, it is the new base offer on the card.
Earn 2x Capital One Venture Miles on All Card Purchases
One of the best perks of the Venture card is how easy it is to rack up miles.
You will earn 2x Capital One Venture Miles on all spending, with no limit on how much you can earn each. That makes the Venture card a great card for your everyday expenses. Keep in mind, that each mile can be redeemed for a minimum 1 cent toward the cost of travel using the Capital One Purchase Eraser.
That's an unbeatable return, as few credit cards offer more than 1x points on all spending.
Earn 5x Capital One Venture Miles Through Capital One Travel
Capital One Venture cardholders will also earn 5x miles per dollar spent on hotels and rental cars, booked via the Capital One Travel Portal.
Earn 5x Capital One Venture Miles on Turo Bookings
Through May 16, 2023, Capital One Venture cardholders will earn 5x miles per dollar spent on bookings with the car-sharing platform Turo.
A Reasonable Annual Fee
The Capital One Venture Card carries an annual fee of $95 which is not waived for your first year of card membership. But when you compare the welcome offer to its more premium (and costlier) alternative – the *venture x* – offering the same welcome offer bonus, it's a great deal.
The Venture Card also does not charge foreign transaction fees.
Up to a $100 Credit for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck
Way back in 2018, Capital One added a credit for either Global Entry or TSA PreCheck.
If you apply for either Global Entry or TSA PreCheck and pay with the card, the application cost will be reimbursed (currently $100 for Global Entry and $85 for TSA PreCheck). You can use this once every four years, and membership in both programs lasts a full five years.
Since Global Entry includes TSA PreCheck, it should be your choice if you plan to do any sort of international travel. See our guide on how to sign up for the program from start to finish.
Already have Global Entry or TSA PreCheck? You can use this credit to cover the application for a friend or family member! Just pay for their application with your Venture card and you're set!
Two Free Capital One Lounge Visits Each Year
Venture cardholders will get two free annual passes to visit the new Capital One Lounges.
Capital One opened its first airport lounge in Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) last fall, with plans to open two more later this year in Denver (DEN) and Washington D.C. – Dulles (IAD). Another lounge is in the works in Las Vegas (LAS), while Capital One plans to open special dining spaces called Capital One Landings in both New York City-LaGuardia (LGA) as well as Washington, D.C.-Reagan (DCA).
But unlike Capital One Venture X cardholders, guests will not be free. That’ll cost $45 each. One exception: Capital One has confirmed that Venture cardholders can use one of two free annual lounge passes to bring a guest with them.
Once cardholders have used up those free passes, they can still get a discounted entry rate of $45 per visit (the standard entry fee is $65 per visit). Even after you’ve used up free passes, guests still cost $45 apiece.
Redeeming Capital One Venture Miles
Capital One has flipped the travel world on its head in the past year, transforming Capital One Venture Miles into an indispensable program for travelers who want to do more for less.
In fact, no other credit card points give you more flexibility and versatility to redeem miles toward travel. That includes flights, hotels, rental cars, and much more. Whether you’re just getting started earning and redeeming miles and want a simple option or you consider yourself an advanced traveler who knows how to maximize your points and miles, there’s a path for you.
Here are some of the best ways to redeem Capital One Venture Miles.
Use Purchase Eraser
Let’s start with the easiest route. This is what Capital One is really known for.
No airline or credit card company makes it easier to redeem points and miles toward travel. Just charge your flight, hotel, Airbnb, or almost any other travel expense to your Capital One card. A few days later, you can go in and erase that charge from your statement using miles.
Read our step-by-step guide to covering travel purhcases with Capital One miles to see how it’s done!
Using Venture Miles this way, every Capital One Venture Mile is worth 1 cent. That means you can book a $500 flight using 50,000 Capital One miles. That may not be earth-shattering value, but it’s easy as can be – and it goes far when you find a cheap flight.
Book Through the Capital One Portal
Just like the Chase Travel Portal, Capital One has its own travel portal where you can directly search for flights, hotels, car rentals, and more, then book using points. And the Capital One Travel Portal is new and improved, with some great features you won’t get elsewhere.
The new flight-booking engine is powered by the popular travel app Hopper. That means you should generally find the same prices you see directly through the airline or via Google Flights – but not always. Just tap in the details of the flight or hotel you’re hoping to book with Venture Miles and start searching.
You won’t get a bonus when using miles through the Capital One Travel portal as you do with Chase cards like the *chase sapphire preferred* or the *chase sapphire reserve*. Just like booking straight through the airlines or hotels, every Venture Mile is worth 1 cent toward travel through the portal.
While you may not be getting more bang for your buck by using Venture Miles through the travel portal, Capital One has given travelers a few compelling reasons to consider it:
- Capital One will automatically refund you if the price of your flight drops after booking. Those Price Drop Protection refunds are only available on flights where Capital One and Hopper predict that prices won’t fall, and they’re capped on up to $50 – or 5,000 Venture Miles – in refunds total. Still, that’s a nice feature.
- You can freeze a fare through the portal for up to 14 days, then decide and come back to buy it later at that price. Capital One charges a small fee to freeze a fare.
- Much like Google Flights, Capital One allows you to set price alerts for the flights you want to book. That means you’ll get an email if the flights you’re looking at drop or increase in price.
- Capital One offers an add-on “cancel for any reason” travel insurance policy, which is quite reasonably priced.
Unfortunately, the travel portal took a hit earlier this year when Capital One capped price drop refunds at $50. And now, the portal's Price Match Guarantee gets paid out in travel credits.
Level Up Using Capital One Transfer Partners
For years, the beauty of Capital One Miles has been their simplicity. Charge a flight to your Capital One card, then go back and cover the cost using miles.
But if you want to get more value from your Venture miles, you’ll want to look into Capital One transfer partners.
Capital One added the ability to transfer miles straight to airline programs back in late 2018. After steadily adding more and more partners and making significant improvements, it’s now a bonafide option with some killer value. With few exceptions, every 1,000 Capital One miles you transfer gets you 1,000 airline miles or hotel points.
Here’s the full list.
| Program | Type | Ratio | Transfer Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aeromexico | Airline | 1:1 | Instant |
| Air Canada Aeroplan | Airline | 1:1 | Instant |
| Air France/KLM | Airline | 1:1 | Instant |
| Avianca LifeMiles | Airline | 1:1 | Instant |
| British Airways | Airline | 1:1 | Instant |
| Cathay Pacific AsiaMiles | Airline | 1:1 | Up to five business days |
| Emirates | Airline | 1:1 | Instant |
| Etihad | Airline | 1:1 | Up to 1 day |
| EVA Air | Airline | 2:1.5 | Up to five business days |
| Finnair | Airline | 1:1 | Instant |
| Qantas | Airline | 1:1 | Instant |
| Singapore | Airline | 1:1 | Instant |
| TAP Air Portugal | Airline | 1:1 | Same day |
| Turkish Airlines | Airline | 1:1 | Same day |
| Virgin Red | Other | 1:1 | Same day |
| Accor | Hotel | 2:1 | Up to two business days |
| Wyndham | Hotel | 1:1 | Same day |
| Choice Hotels | Hotel | 1:1 | Same day |
Read our guide to Capital One transfer partners and learn how you can transfer your miles! And make sure to read our guide on using Capital One Venture Miles to see some of the best options.
Bottom Line
The *capital one venture card* has long been one of the best travel rewards credit cards for beginners because of how easy it is to use Venture miles.
This new increased offer of 75,000 Venture miles for your future travels is tough to beat – assuming you can easily spend the $4,000 in the first three months.
It also puts the card on a bit more of a level playing field with the Capital One Venture X Card for those not interested in a big $395 annual fee.
Learn more about the *capital one venture card*
Capital One really needs to find new names for these cards. Is this Venture Card different from the Venture One card? I already have the Venture One, (which was a different name years back when I first got it) and Venture X.
The VentureOne card is the no annual fee version. It doesn’t provide much in terms of benefits and only earns 1.5x miles on every dollar spent as opposed to 2x on Venture and Venture X.
Thank you Nick.
Does Capital One still give you the bonus if you already have the Venture X card?
Yes, you can still earn a bonus on the Venture Card if you’ve already earned one on the Venture X – assuming you can get approved for the Capital One Venture Card now!