When you hear the word “venture,” you likely think of one of the best premium travel credit cards in the biz—the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card.
But it’s not for everyone. Its higher annual fee and elite travel perks are definitely geared towards, well, elite and frequent travelers.
However, the Venture X has a little brother who often gets lost in its shadow, but in fact, it’s actually an incredible card that offers solid earning rates and decent perks… all for just $95 a year 👀
So let’s jump into all the details about why you need the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card in your wallet!
1. The (really good) welcome offer
It’s actually wild that the Venture card has consistently had a 75,000-mile welcome offer for… years…
Many cards in this similar mid-tier range often hang out closer to that 60k mark. So to score that many miles right off the bat?
EPIC.
If it wasn’t already clear, that is a TON of miles that could be used for a variety of travel redemptions (more on that later 😉).
Right now, the Venture Card current welcome offer is: Earn 75,000 miles once you spend $4,000 on purchases within the first 3 months of account opening.
2. The low annual fee
Aside from literally $0, a $95 annual fee is about as low as it gets in the credit card world.
And even if you chose to redeem all your miles within the Capital One portal for just 1 cent a piece, that’s a value of $750 you’re getting out of a $95 card.
Honestly, we see a handful of cards whose annual fees are much higher than this but offer far fewer points and miles as part of their welcome offer.
The combination of the low annual fee with the extremely generous welcome offer reinforces just how great this card truly is.
3. Double the miles earned on everything
And because of this low annual fee, you might assume that the earning rates for the Venture Card aren’t great…
But you’d be wrong 😎
By holding this card, you’ll earn:
5X miles per $1 on hotels, vacation rentals, and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel
2X miles per $1 on everyday purchases
So yes, that’s DOUBLE the miles earned on everything at the very minimum!
I find the cards that give you solid rates on everyday purchases are some of the most valuable. Because, listen, we can’t only be making travel purchases on the regular (as much as we’d love to be).
Instead, need a new pair of glasses? How about cat food? And don’t get me started on Amazon… All 2X miles per dollar spent 🙌
4. Easy to redeem for travel
When you do have travel in mind, the Venture Card makes it super easy. There are a couple ways to go about this.
Redeem your miles for travel at a fixed value of 1 cent each
Though this isn’t always the best way to get the most value out of your miles, it still serves as a good option.
When you do want to redeem your miles at a fixed value for travel, you can cover any eligible travel purchase within the last 90 days!
Maybe you bought a train ticket for $100. You could simply use 10,000 of your miles to cover this cost retroactively as long as you used your Venture Card to make that initial purchase.
You also have the option to book travel directly through the Capital One travel portal and select miles as your payment right then and then!
Transfer your miles to airline and hotel partners
This is where it gets good—and where you’ll get the most value for your miles.
In the miles and points world, we always aim to get at least 2 cents per point when transferring to an airline or hotel.
Sometimes, you might get a little less, but sometimes, you might also find a redemption that gets you 3X, 5X, or even 10X miles per point in value!
And lucky for you, Capital One has one of the most extensive lists of transfer partners 👇
Program | Transfer Ratio |
|---|---|
Aeromexico Rewards | 1:1 |
Air Canada Aeroplan | 1:1 |
Air France-KLM Flying Blue | 1:1 |
Accor Live Limitless | 2:1 |
Avianca LifeMiles | 1:1 |
British Airways Executive Club | 1:1 |
Cathay Pacific Asia Miles | 1:1 |
Choice Privileges | 1;1 |
Emirates Skywards | 1:1 |
Etihad Airways Guest | 1:1 |
EVA Airways | 4:3 |
Finnair Plus | 1:1 |
Qantas Frequent Flyer | 1:1 |
Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer | 1:1 |
TAP Air Portugal Miles&Go | 1:1 |
Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles | 1:1 |
Virgin Red | 1:1 |
Wyndham Rewards | 1:1 |
For example, look at this route from Vancouver to New York’s JFK 👇
You could either pay $568 CAD for the flight or use 14,800 miles that you transferred from your Venture card to Air Canada’s Aeroplan program.
We determine the value by subtracting the taxes and fees ($100 CAD) from the total cash price ($568 CAD) and then dividing by the number of miles.
So $568 - $100 / 14,800 = .032 or 3.2 cents per mile
That’s a pretty good valuation considering it’s above the 2 cent-per-mile mark!
Plus, even when converting that to USD, it still brings you in above that 2-cent mark 😉
Some of the best redemptions I’ve ever made (like flying business class on Emirates, Air Canada, and British Airways) have been made by utilizing Capital One’s transfer partners 🤗
If you want a step-by-step walkthrough on how to actually transfer your miles, you can reference our guide here.
5. Convert cash back from other cards into miles
This benefit is sort of an indirect one, but it still applies, and it’s still great to know about!
If you also happen to have a Capital One card that earns cash back (and not Capital One miles), you’ll be able to convert those cash-back rewards into miles by holding a card that earns miles on its own—aka, the Venture Card.
For reference, a couple of Capital One’s cash-back cards include the Capital One Savor Cash Rewards Credit Card and the Capital One Quicksilver Cash Rewards Credit Card.
Many starter cards are cash-back cards, but since you’ve moved up in the travel world and are now looking at a card that earns transferrable miles, this is an excellent feature to know about.
We often find far more value in our points and miles than we do in cash-back rewards, so this could make for an excellent pairing if you’ve got a cash-back-earning Capital One card already in your wallet.
6. Travel and shopping protections
These perks don’t often get highlighted enough, but they’re important to have if you’re ever in a pinch.
The Venture Card surprisingly comes with the following protections:
Rental car insurance
Travel accident insurance
Roadside assistance
Extended warranty on qualifying purchases
To be fully transparent, you’re not getting the best and most exclusive coverage and protections that you’ll see on a premium card.
But for being a mid-tiered card, having any type of protection at all is a win!
7. Additional travel benefits
Who doesn’t like additional perks and benefits, right?
In addition to the stellar welcome offer, solid earning rates, and excellent transfer partners, you’ll also receive:
Up to a $120 credit for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck
A $50 experience credit on every Lifestyle Collection stay
Two free visits per year to Capital One Lounges or Plaza Premium Lounges (until Dec. 31, 2024; this benefit will be removed in 2025)
Hertz Five Star status
Exclusive experiences like access to special dining reservations, concerts, sporting events, and more
No foreign transaction fees
Bottom line
For not being considered a premium travel credit card, I feel like we still talked about a ton of perks and benefits that could easily justify adding this card to your wallet.
The Venture Card doesn’t come with a scary annual fee, yet it includes features that many frequent and occasional travelers could take advantage of.
If you’d like to learn more or apply for this card, you can do so HERE.
