How to turn any purchase into travel

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Enjoy $250 to use on Capital One Travel in your first cardholder year, plus earn 75,000 bonus miles once you spend $4,000 on purchases within the first 3 months from account opening - that’s equal to $1,000 in travel.
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Happy weekend, friends!

This weekend I’m running my first half-marathon, which means a few things: lots of carbs, lots of nervous energy… and probably a very long nap later. 😌

But before I go run 13.1 miles for fun (?), let’s catch up on the biggest travel news from the week.

✈️ Have elite status with another airline? Southwest may match you to A-List or A-List Preferred.

🤝 Rove just added SAS EuroBonus as a new transfer partner (yay!).

🏨 Marriott just improved Free Night Awards, raising the top-off cap from 15k to 25k points (yay, again!).

✈️ Spend $350 on Trip.com and earn 15,000 miles through Capital One Offers.

🎥 Learn why an $800 credit card fee isn’t as crazy as it sounds in this week’s Daily Drop YouTube video.

🏆 Our Favorite Pick: Why we kept talking about this travel card all week

If you noticed us bringing up the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card a few times this week… you’re not going crazy. 🙂 

It came up more than once because it’s one of those cards that’s surprisingly powerful without being complicated, which is honestly kind of rare in the points and miles world.

You earn 2 miles per dollar on literally everything you buy.

Groceries. Gas. Flights. Bills. Pizza slices. All the things!

There are no bonus categories to track, no quarterly calendars, and no weird mental math trying to remember which card to use where.

For many people, that alone makes this card appealing. You can just use it for everyday spending and know you're consistently earning (double) rewards.

But the bestest things happen when you transfer those miles to airline partners.

Yes… bestest is a word… don’t look it up. 😙

Instead of redeeming miles at a flat value, transferring them can give you waaaay better redemptions, even on flights within the U.S.

For example, here’s an upcoming Delta flight priced at about $191 in cash.

Instead of paying cash, that exact same flight could be booked for 5,000 miles plus about $12 in taxes through Flying Blue, the loyalty program of Air France and KLM.

That works out to well over 3 cents per mile in value.

Since the Venture card earns 2 miles per dollar, a redemption like that effectively turns everyday spending into 7% (or more) back in travel.

And again… that includes groceries, gas, and everything else you put on the card.

The other reason this card kept popping up in the newsletter this week is the current welcome offer.

Right now it includes:

$250 travel credit to use in Capital One Travel
75,000 bonus miles after meeting the minimum spend

And the fun part is that the $250 travel credit posts almost immediately after approval.

Yup — just some super sexy travel credit sitting in your account that you can use on flights, hotels, vacation rentals, or rental cars.

👀 Need some ideas on how to use this offer IRL? We’ve got you covered!

Considering the card has an annual fee of under $100, getting $250 in travel upfront is a pretty strong start, even before factoring in the extra miles.

It’s not often we see an offer that combines instant travel credit PLUS a large mileage offer, which is exactly why we wake up every day thinking about it.

👉 If you want to dig into the details, you can check out the Venture offer here.

Hey, Friend: If the Venture card isn’t for you (or you already have it), there are actually a few other strong card offers floating around right now, including a Southwest offer with Companion Pass and a couple of elevated welcome offers.

We rounded up our favorites in this guide to the best card offers for March, if you want to see what else is worth a look right now.

👀 This Week’s Must-Reads

How to Book Domestic Flights With International Airlines

Learn how to book U.S. flights using international airline miles and points, often for fewer miles and lower fees.

Five Trips You Can Book With This Single Credit Card

Wondering what you can actually book with Venture miles? Here are five realistic trips you can take using the new welcome offer.

How to Book 2026 Travel With Capital One miles

Learn how to turn Capital One miles into a 2026 bucket list trip by timing your application, stacking rewards, and using the best airline partners.

🌍 Week in Review

Alright, that’s the week!

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got 13.1 miles to run and a post-race nap with my name on it. 👊

See ya next week,

With contributions by Mike Dodge, April Wilson, and Sam Anthony

Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card

4.9
/5

Bonus Miles

Enjoy $250 to use on Capital One Travel in your first cardholder year, plus earn 75,000 bonus miles once you spend $4,000 on purchases within the first 3 months from account opening - that’s equal to $1,000 in travel.

The Capital One Venture Rewards credit card makes travel rewarding and easy. Earn miles on every purchase, which you can redeem for various travel expenses like flights, hotels, and car rentals. Plus, with no foreign transaction fees, it’s an ideal choice for international travel. If you’re looking to maximize rewards without crazy fees, this card would be a great addition to your wallet. This one continues to be a Daily Drop favorite.
Enjoy $250 to use on Capital One Travel in your first cardholder year, plus earn 75,000 bonus miles once you spend $4,000 on purchases within the first 3 months from account opening - that’s equal to $1,000 in travel.
ANNUAL FEE
$95
REWARDS RATE
2-5x Miles
RECOMMENDED CREDIT
Good to Excellent
🔒 Apply with confidence
Know if you’re approved with no credit score impact

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