Capital One Venture Rewards Card (Visa Signature)
Updated May 18, 2021. For the temporary benefits during the COVID-19 pandemic, please see our featured review.
The Facts
The Math
Earning 5x points on hotels and car rentals might seem a great deal on paper; however, the catch is that you need to book through the Capital One Travel portal: several hotel programs won't allow points earning or recognize your elite status if you book through a third party OTA, and you might not be able to apply certain coupons or promotions on car rentals as when you book directly with rental car companies. For these reasons, we won't consider hotels and car rentals as bonus categories in our analysis.
When you are not using the frequent traveler miles/points transfer feature, this card is essentially a fixed value 2% rewards card with a $95 annual fee. In comparison, there are a few non-annual-fee cards that offer 2% cashback (such as Fidelity Visa and Citi Double Cash). In addition, Alliant Visa Signature offers 2.5% cashback with a lower annual fee ($95, also waived for the first year). In this way, Capital One Venture is not that attractive other than its signup bonus.
However, the frequent traveler miles/points transfer feature introduced in 2018 does separate Venture from its cashback competitors, because you might achieve higher rewards value and/or get yourself into premium cabin which you won't otherwise spend your cash on. The 2021 enhancement has increased the flexibility as well the valuation of C1 Miles much further. Our current valuation of C1 Miles is 1.5 cent per Mile based on the transfer feature, so that Venture returns an amazing 3% on paper. To beat 2% cashback offered by the competitors and the $95 annual fee, you just need to spend $9,500 per year on Venture. Of course, the transfer feature represents a very different redemption option with potentially higher rewards but also increased complexity. Compared to other high returning cards for general spending with frequent traveler miles/points transfer feature - Citi Double Cash (no annual fee, 2x points = 3% rewards, requiring a premium ThankYou card, for example $95 Citi Premier, to activate the transfer feature), Amex EveryDay Preferred ($95 annual fee, 1.5x points = 2.25% rewards, requiring at least 30 transactions per month to achieve 1.5x), and Chase Freedom Unlimited (no annual fee, 1.5x points = 2.25% rewards, requiring a premium Ultimate Rewards card to activate the transfer feature), Capital One Venture is very well positioned and could arguably be the best of the bunch.
Venture vs. VentureOne: Since Venture has a $95 annual fee, you need to spend $12,667 per year to beat VentureOne ($12,667 x 0.75 mile/$ x 1 cent/mile = $95) if you are using cashback option. If you make use of the transfer feature, Venture is an even easier winner.
Venture vs. Venture X: Even though Venture X comes with higher annual fee at $395, it also offers two features that can offset it (annual $300 travel credit through Capital One Travel booking portal and 10,000 anniversary points). With the same $95 effective annual fees, Venture X is clear winner, because it provides not only an effective and powerful 5x bonus category for airfare but also a long list of additional perks (e.g., airport lounge programs, luxury hotel privileges, rental car elite status) and better travel/consumer protection.
The Conclusion
With the demise of Charles Schwab Visa in 2011, Capital One gained great market share with its Venture card. However, when the market was being filled with several cards that offer 2% cashback with no annual fees, Venture slowly lost its appeal. In 2018, Capital One surprised us in bringing the frequent traveler miles/points transfer feature, which suddenly made this card interesting again. In 2021, Capital One further increased the flexibility and valuation of C1 Miles twice and made the Venture Card a powerhouse for general spending, and that is why it is currently ranked as the Best Credit Card for Rewards and also one of the Top 10 Best Credit Cards by Dr. Credit Card.
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The Facts
- Annual Fee: $95
- Signup Bonus: 75,000 Miles ($750 in fixed value travel rewards via Capital One OR 75,000 miles/points of Air Canada, Avianca, Turkish, Singapore, British, Cathay Pacific, Qantas, Flying Blue, Etihad, etc.) after spending $4,000 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: (1) up to 100,000 Miles with 1st year annual fee waiver in 2011 & 2012; (2) 100,000 Miles with $20K spending requirement in 2020 & 2021; (3) 75,000 Miles with 1st year annual fee waiver in 2018; (4) 75,000 miles with no annual fee waiver in 2022.
- Application Landing Page
- Rewards: 5x hotels & car rentals through Capital One Travel portal, and 2x everywhere else.
- Best Use of Capital One (C1) Miles: You may redeem your C1 Miles for travel, gift cards, charity, etc. at exactly 1 cent per mile, or for cash at 0.5 cent value. The fixed value travel rewards can be achieved by either booking future travel through Capital One's travel portal or receiving statement credit for any travel expense within the last 3 months. In addition to fixed value redemption options, you may also transfer your C1 Miles to frequent traveler miles/points mostly at 1:1 ratio. In this way, the value of Miles depends on how you redeem your frequent traveler miles/points of the specific program you choose to transfer to. Note that you can only transfer your Capital One Miles to a frequent traveler program under your name. You may share your Miles with another Capital One cardmember without being charged a fee. Please check out our featured review Marriott vs. MR vs. UR vs. TY vs. C1 vs. CR for the programs that allow points transfer to frequent traveler accounts.
- Other Benefits: (1) Two free visits to Capital One Lounges per year, for the primary cardholder. $45 per visit for additional visits and guests. The current footprints are limited but future growth is expected. (2) Reimbursement for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck application fees (up to $100). (3) No foreign transaction fees. (4) No over-limit fees. (5) Access to exclusive culinary, music, and sport events.
- Other Facts: (1) The Venture card has a metal design and weighs about 15 grams, three times as heavy as regular plastics. (2) 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 an annual fee and foreign transaction fees was discontinued to new applications in 2010. Capital One rolled out its Venture Card attempting 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 the Venture Card. The annual fee was increased from $59 to $95 in 2017. Global Entry / TSA PreCheck credit was added in 2018. In December 2018, Capital One introduced the frequent traveler miles/points transfer feature with 12 partner programs with a ratio of 1000:750 for most. The first annual fee waiver was discontinued as of May 2020. In April 2021, Capital One added 4 new transfer partners and increased the transfer ratio to 1:1 for 9 partners, which obviously increased the flexibility and value of this rewards program. In October 2021, Capital One further improved C1 Miles by making the transfer ratio 1:1 on all but two partners.
The Math
Earning 5x points on hotels and car rentals might seem a great deal on paper; however, the catch is that you need to book through the Capital One Travel portal: several hotel programs won't allow points earning or recognize your elite status if you book through a third party OTA, and you might not be able to apply certain coupons or promotions on car rentals as when you book directly with rental car companies. For these reasons, we won't consider hotels and car rentals as bonus categories in our analysis.
When you are not using the frequent traveler miles/points transfer feature, this card is essentially a fixed value 2% rewards card with a $95 annual fee. In comparison, there are a few non-annual-fee cards that offer 2% cashback (such as Fidelity Visa and Citi Double Cash). In addition, Alliant Visa Signature offers 2.5% cashback with a lower annual fee ($95, also waived for the first year). In this way, Capital One Venture is not that attractive other than its signup bonus.
However, the frequent traveler miles/points transfer feature introduced in 2018 does separate Venture from its cashback competitors, because you might achieve higher rewards value and/or get yourself into premium cabin which you won't otherwise spend your cash on. The 2021 enhancement has increased the flexibility as well the valuation of C1 Miles much further. Our current valuation of C1 Miles is 1.5 cent per Mile based on the transfer feature, so that Venture returns an amazing 3% on paper. To beat 2% cashback offered by the competitors and the $95 annual fee, you just need to spend $9,500 per year on Venture. Of course, the transfer feature represents a very different redemption option with potentially higher rewards but also increased complexity. Compared to other high returning cards for general spending with frequent traveler miles/points transfer feature - Citi Double Cash (no annual fee, 2x points = 3% rewards, requiring a premium ThankYou card, for example $95 Citi Premier, to activate the transfer feature), Amex EveryDay Preferred ($95 annual fee, 1.5x points = 2.25% rewards, requiring at least 30 transactions per month to achieve 1.5x), and Chase Freedom Unlimited (no annual fee, 1.5x points = 2.25% rewards, requiring a premium Ultimate Rewards card to activate the transfer feature), Capital One Venture is very well positioned and could arguably be the best of the bunch.
Venture vs. VentureOne: Since Venture has a $95 annual fee, you need to spend $12,667 per year to beat VentureOne ($12,667 x 0.75 mile/$ x 1 cent/mile = $95) if you are using cashback option. If you make use of the transfer feature, Venture is an even easier winner.
Venture vs. Venture X: Even though Venture X comes with higher annual fee at $395, it also offers two features that can offset it (annual $300 travel credit through Capital One Travel booking portal and 10,000 anniversary points). With the same $95 effective annual fees, Venture X is clear winner, because it provides not only an effective and powerful 5x bonus category for airfare but also a long list of additional perks (e.g., airport lounge programs, luxury hotel privileges, rental car elite status) and better travel/consumer protection.
The Conclusion
With the demise of Charles Schwab Visa in 2011, Capital One gained great market share with its Venture card. However, when the market was being filled with several cards that offer 2% cashback with no annual fees, Venture slowly lost its appeal. In 2018, Capital One surprised us in bringing the frequent traveler miles/points transfer feature, which suddenly made this card interesting again. In 2021, Capital One further increased the flexibility and valuation of C1 Miles twice and made the Venture Card a powerhouse for general spending, and that is why it is currently ranked as the Best Credit Card for Rewards and also one of the Top 10 Best Credit Cards by Dr. Credit Card.
© 2011-2022 DrCreditCard.net All rights reserved.
