7 Reasons Why You Need the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card

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.

And yeah, it’s great… but it’s not for everyone.

Its higher annual fee and elite travel perks are definitely geared towards, well, elite and frequent travelers.

That’s where its underrated sibling shines.

The Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card offers simple earning, flexible redemptions, and a very strong limited-time welcome offer — all for a very small ($95) annual fee.

Here’s why it deserves a spot in your wallet 👇

1. The (really good) welcome offer

Mid-tier travel cards don’t usually bring this much value right out of the gate, but the Venture Card does.

Right now, the limited-time welcome offer is: 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.

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 😉).

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 $1,000 you’re getting out of a 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

The Venture Card keeps earning straightforward:

• 5X miles on hotels, vacation rentals, and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel

• 2X miles on every purchase, everywhere else

That means you’re earning double miles on everyday spending — groceries, Amazon, pet food, glasses, you name it.

Cards with solid everyday earnings are often the most valuable long-term, and this is one of the simplest setups out there. 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. Flexible ways to redeem your miles for travel

The Venture Card gives you options… which is exactly what you want.

When you do have travel in mind, the Venture Card makes it super easy. There are a couple of ways to go about this.

Use miles at a fixed value

Though this isn’t always the best way to get the most value out of your miles, it still serves as a good option.

You can redeem miles at 1 cent each to cover eligible travel purchases made in the past 90 days.

Bought a $100 train ticket? Use 10,000 miles to wipe it off your statement.

You also have the option to book travel directly through Capital One Travel and select miles as your payment right then and there!

Transfer miles to airline and hotel partners

This is where the Venture Card gets… even better.

Capital One miles transfer to a long list of airline and hotel partners, often at 1:1 ratios, letting you unlock far more value than 1 cent per mile.

Some of Capital One’s transfer partners include:

• Air Canada Aeroplan

• Air France-KLM Flying Blue

• Avianca LifeMiles

• British Airways Executive Club

• Emirates Skywards

• Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles

• Virgin Red

• Wyndham Rewards
  (and many more)

With the right redemption, it’s very possible to get 2 to 5+ cents per mile in value.

For example, look at this route from Vancouver to New York (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 the power of transferable miles.

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 🤗

5. Turn cash back from other Capital One cards into miles

If you also have a Capital One cash-back card (like the Capital One Savor Cash Rewards Credit Card or the Capital One Quicksilver Cash Rewards Credit Card), holding the Venture Card unlocks a hidden perk.

You can convert cash-back rewards into Capital One miles.

That means everyday cash back can suddenly become transferable airline miles, which often yields far more valuable than a statement credit.

It’s a great setup if you’re upgrading from cash back into the points-and-miles world.

6. Travel and shopping protections

For a mid-tier card, the Venture Card includes a surprisingly useful set of protections.

We’re talking:

• Rental car insurance

• Travel accident insurance

• Roadside assistance

• Extended warranty protection on eligible 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-tier card, having any type of protection at all is a win!

7. Additional travel benefits

Beyond earning and redemptions, the Venture Card adds a few travel-friendly bonuses:

• Up to a $120 credit for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck®

• $50 Lifestyle Collection hotel credit per stay (and other premium benefits with every hotel and vacation rental booked)

• Hertz Five Star status

• Access to Capital One Experiences (dining, events, entertainment)

• No foreign transaction fees

These aren’t super flashy, but they’re useful, especially for occasional travelers.

Bottom Line

The Venture Card hits a rare sweet spot.

It offers flexible miles, strong everyday earning, and an excellent limited-time welcome offer, all without the intimidating annual fee of a premium travel card.

If you want a simple, powerful entry into transferable points (or a solid long-term keeper card), the Venture Card is easy to recommend.

If you’d like to learn more or apply for this card, you can do so HERE.