The Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card is one of the most popular travel credit cards out there, especially among cardholders who prefer easy-to-use cards with flexible rewards.
The Venture card’s biggest benefit is its flat rewards rate: You’ll earn 2X miles on all eligible purchases, so it can be a solid standalone option if you want to earn travel rewards — even if you don’t actually spend a ton on travel. It also earns 5X miles on hotels, vacation rentals and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel.
The other key benefit of this card is that Capital One miles are remarkably adaptable. You won’t face any blackout dates, miles never expire, and you’ll enjoy a consistent redemption value of 1 cent per point for Capital One Travel bookings. You can also transfer your miles to Capital One airline and hotel partners and potentially getting an even a higher mile redemption value.
That’s not to mention all the other valuable travel perks that come with the card. Here’s a deeper look at the Capital One Venture card’s key benefits, along with steps you can take to maximize the card in the long term.
Capital One Venture travel benefits
As you’d expect, most of the Venture card’s perks are centered on travel. While its credit for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck may catch your eye, the Venture offers several other valuable benefits for travelers.
Global Entry or TSA PreCheck application fee credit
The Venture card comes with an up to $120 Global Entry or TSA PreCheck application fee credit, which you can use once every four years. This credit will be automatically applied to your account when you use your card to pay for either membership, and it can be used to offset the cost of anyone’s application — not just the primary cardholder’s.
This is a nice perk for a mid-tier travel card, especially considering competitors like the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card and the Citi Strata Premier℠ Card do not offer a credit for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck.
“This was my first mid-tier travel card, and TSA PreCheck was one of the benefits that most drew me to it,” says Bankrate editor Nouri Zarrugh. “I was already looking for a simple way to earn travel rewards without paying a huge annual fee, and getting that value on top of the welcome offer made it much easier for me to take the plunge.”
Getting [the value of the TSA PreCheck perk] on top of the welcome offer made it much easier for me to take the plunge.
— Nouri Zarrugh
Senior Editor, Bankrate
Capital One transfer partners
Like American Express Membership Rewards and Chase Ultimate Rewards, Capital One miles are transferrable.
You can transfer miles to a ton of different airline and hotel loyalty programs, and this may even get you a higher redemption value (for example, getting 1.5 cents per point in redemption value when you redeem rewards with a given airline loyalty program, versus just 1 cent per point when you redeem via Capital One Travel).
Indeed, based on Bankrate’s latest airline mile valuations, we estimate Capital One miles are worth around 1.7 cents per mile on average when you redeem with one of the program’s top partners.
Capital One transfer partners and their respective transfer ratios include the following:
| Airlines | Transfer ratio |
|---|---|
| Aeromexico Rewards | 1:1 |
| Air Canada Aeroplan | 1:1 |
| Asia Miles (Cathay Pacific) | 1:1 |
| Avianca LifeMiles | 1:1 |
| British Airways | 1:1 |
| Emirates Skywards | 1:1 |
| Etihad Guest | 1:1 |
| Finnair Plus | 1:1 |
| Flying Blue (Air France and KLM) | 1:1 |
| Infinity MileageLands (EVA Air) | 2:1.5 |
| Qantas Frequent Flyer | 1:1 |
| Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer | 1:1 |
| TAP Miles&Go | 1:1 |
| Turkish Airlines | 1:1 |
| Virgin Red | 1:1 |
| Hotels | Transfer ratio |
| Accor Live Limitless (ALL) | 2:1 |
| Choice Privileges | 1:1 |
| Wyndham Rewards | 1:1 |
This is no small perk, as strategic transfers can sometimes get you double the redemption value or more.
“I love to travel in style. But I can’t afford to travel like the rich and famous, at least not by paying cash, says Bankrate writer Ryan Flanigan in a story about his trip to Australia. “With careful points and miles redemptions and travel partner transfers, I can fly first class and stay in some of the best hotels in the world, saving thousands of dollars.”
With careful points and miles redemptions and travel partner transfers, I can fly first class and stay in some of the best hotels in the world, saving thousands of dollars.
— Ryan Flanigan
Writer, Bankrate
Hotel upgrades with Lifestyle Collection
The Venture card also gives you a chance to upgrade your stays at Lifestyle Collection hotels.
You can get access to exclusive benefits like a $50 experience credit, room upgrades and early check-in or late check-out (all based on availability) at over 100 destinations.
While this is a bit less straightforward than a perk like the Chase Sapphire Preferred card’s up to $50 in annual statement credits toward hotel stays through the Chase Travel portal, it’s still solid value that makes the card all the more worth it.
As Flanigan notes in a piece about the pros and cons of cards with an annual fee: “If you have to spend the money anyway, you might as well help yourself by getting the maximum return on your spending.” He points to the cards in the Venture suite as ones that do a great job of earning their keep.
Travel insurance and protections
The Capital One Venture also comes with important travel insurance protections automatically, which include:
- Auto rental collision damage waiver that reimburses up to most rental vehicles’ actual cash value in case of theft or collision damage*
- 24-hour travel assistance allowing you to get an emergency replacement card and a cash advance if your card is lost or stolen*
- Travel accident insurance for a covered loss when you use your card to pay for your common carrier fare*
Capital One Venture additional benefits
The Capital One Venture Card also comes with a range of other benefits. Other perks of the Capital One Venture include the following:
Capital One Entertainment and Capital One Dining
Capital One Entertainment grants you opportunities to snag presale tickets and access to exclusive sporting, musical and dining experiences.
Plus, you can earn 5X miles on qualifying purchases through the program. Meanwhile, Capital One Dining gives cardholders the chance to book exclusive dining and culinary experiences around the world.
Consumer protections
The Capital One Mobile app offers security features like card lock, $0 fraud liability, account alerts and emergency card replacement. You also have the option of using “virtual cards” when making online purchases.
Eno assistant and virtual credit card numbers
If you’re a stickler for security, Capital One credit cards could be some of the best cards for online shopping thanks to the extra layer of protection their virtual credit card numbers can offer.
Capital One offers Eno, a virtual assistant that can create virtual card numbers (unique to each retailer you check out with) as well as alerts on any suspicious activity.
Virtual credit card numbers aren’t as common as they used to be, primarily since digital wallets now perform a similar function, but this Capital One perk still delivers another level of comfort.
CreditWise credit monitoring
Capital One also offers a comprehensive credit monitoring service at no extra cost.
Through the CreditWise app, you can access your VantageScore at any time and perform simulations to understand the impact potential financial decisions could make. It also alerts you to any TransUnion credit report changes and even scans the dark web for your Social Security number in case your personal data may have already been seen by identity thieves.
Capital One Shopping
Capital One Shopping is a browser extension that scours the web and more than 30,000 retailers for competing prices and coupon codes to help you save money. You can also earn rewards, known as Capital One Shopping Credits, on eligible purchases, which you can redeem for gift cards to popular retailers like Walmart and eBay.
Although it’s similar to other online shopping extensions such as Honey, Capital One Shopping is a free, under-the-radar perk that can effortlessly save you a buck from time to time.
Maximizing the Capital One Venture Card
Due to the flat-rate rewards structure of the Capital One Venture Card, maximizing the card’s perks and features won’t take a ton of extra work.
Here are the main steps you’ll want to take to get the most out of this card:
- Compare travel pricing through Capital One Travel before you book. Since the Venture card offers 5X miles on hotels, vacation rentals and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel (versus just 2X points outside the portal), it makes sense to compare travel pricing in the portal before you book. If pricing is the same or better through Capital One, booking travel through the portal is the obvious choice.
- Pay your balance in full each month. With the relatively high variable APR this card charges, you’ll likely pay a lot more in interest than you earn in rewards if you carry a balance. To get the most out of this card, use it only for purchases you can afford to pay off in full each billing cycle.
- Sign up for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck. Make sure to use the fee credit for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck membership, and remember that this credit applies when you use your card to pay the membership fee for anyone — not just the primary cardholder.
- Use your card for regular spending and bills. Finally, you can boost the rewards you earn each year by using your card for all your regular spending and bills. This means using your card for gas, groceries, school supplies, utility bills, kids activities and everything else you pay for.
The bottom line
If you’re in the market for a straightforward and affordable travel card, the Capital One Venture could be a great fit. Not only will you earn flexible rewards you can redeem in more than one way, but you get access to important Capital One Venture benefits that can help you save money, enjoy nice perks while traveling and get access to special events and dining.
That said, it never hurts to compare this travel credit card with others available on the market today, including travel credit cards from Capital One. For example, you can compare the Capital One Venture to the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card for luxury travelers and the Capital One VentureOne Rewards Credit Card with no annual fee.
*For Capital One products listed on this page, some of the benefits may be provided by Visa or Mastercard and may vary by product. See the respective Guide to Benefits for details, as terms and exclusions apply.
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