Capital One Venture Card (Visa Signature)
Updated December 13, 2018.
The Facts
The Math
This is essentially a 2% rewards card with a $95 annual fee. In comparison, two of our favorite cards Fidelity Visa and Citi Double Cash both offer 2% cashback without an annual fee. In addition, Alliant Visa Signature offers 2.5% cashback with a lower annual fee ($59, also waived for the first year).
Venture vs. VentureOne: Since Venture has a $95 annual fee, you need to spend $12,667 per year to better out VentureOne ($12,667 x 0.75 mile/$ x 1 cent/mile = $95).
The Conclusion
With the demise of Charles Schwab Visa in 2011, Capital One gained great market share with its Venture card. However, in today's market where there are quite a few cards that offer at least 2% cashback, Venture doesn't look as attractive as before, especially after the annual fee increase in 2017.
The Facts
- Annual Fee: 1st year free, $95 thereafter
- Signup Bonus: 75,000 miles ($750 in travel) after spending $5,000 within 3 months of new account opening. Please keep in mind that unlike other credit card issuers, Capital One pulls all three of credit reporting agencies when you open a new account. Historical best bonus of this card: 100,000 miles in 2012; 75,000 miles in 2018.
- Application Landing Page
- Rewards: 10x hotels.com through January 2020, and 2x everywhere else.
- Best Use of Capital One Miles: You may redeem your miles for travel, gift cards, charity, at exactly 1 cent per mile, and for cash at 0.5 cent value. Travel redemption has two options: (1) book future travel through Capital One's booking portal, and (2) receive statement credit for any travel expense within the last 3 months. Starting December 2018, you may transfer your miles to "real" miles of the following frequent flyer programs: Aeromexico, Air Canada Aeroplan, Alitalia, Avianca, Cathay Pacific, Etihad Guest, EVA, Finnair, FlyingBlue (Air France & KLM), Hainan Airlines, Qantas, and Qatar, with a transfer ratio of 1,000 Capital One Miles = 750 frequent flyer miles. You may also transfer your miles to another Capital One cardmember's account without being charged a transfer fee. To find out about the competing programs that allow frequent flyer miles transfer, see our featured review Marriott vs. MR vs. UR vs. TY vs. CR.
- Other Benefits: (1) Reimbursement for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck application fees (up to $100). (2) No foreign transaction fees. (3) No over-limit fees.
- Other Facts: Don't confuse this card with the non-fee VentureOne Visa Signature which offers 1.25 miles on everything.
- The History: The hugely popular FIA Charles Schwab Visa which offers unlimited 2% cash back without a annual fee and foreign transaction fees was discontinued to new applications in 2010 while keeping existing customers. Capital One rolled out its Venture trying to fill the gap. In August 2011, FIA started replacing the existing cards with BofA cash rewards cards (1% on general spending) and we were not surprised to see many FIA card members picking up Capital One Venture. The annual fee is increased from $59 to $95 in 2017. Global Entry / TSA PreCheck credit is added in 2018. In December 2018, Capital One introduced the miles transfer feature to the rewards program with 12 partner programs.
The Math
This is essentially a 2% rewards card with a $95 annual fee. In comparison, two of our favorite cards Fidelity Visa and Citi Double Cash both offer 2% cashback without an annual fee. In addition, Alliant Visa Signature offers 2.5% cashback with a lower annual fee ($59, also waived for the first year).
Venture vs. VentureOne: Since Venture has a $95 annual fee, you need to spend $12,667 per year to better out VentureOne ($12,667 x 0.75 mile/$ x 1 cent/mile = $95).
The Conclusion
With the demise of Charles Schwab Visa in 2011, Capital One gained great market share with its Venture card. However, in today's market where there are quite a few cards that offer at least 2% cashback, Venture doesn't look as attractive as before, especially after the annual fee increase in 2017.
