If you are new to travel and have heard about obtaining miles and want to get started, then Venture Rewards card from Capital One® is worth exploring. We will be looking into the benefits and drawbacks of this card to give you a better understanding of how this card can help you during your travels.
Benefits of Capital One® Venture Rewards Credit Card
Here is an overview of the benefits you shall be entitled to if you opt for a Venture Card.
Joining Miles
When applying for this card, you must look at the fine print to ensure you have applied while the promotional offer is valid as Capital One® Venture Rewards offers a one-time bonus of 60,000 bonus miles, after you spend $3000 on purchases within the first 3 months of you opening your account. Many people are easily confused by VentureOne Rewards, therefore, it is essential to note the difference as VentureOne gives 20,000 miles as a joining bonus once you spend $500 on purchases within the first 3 months from account opening. You wouldn’t want to miss out on those additional miles offered by the Venture card.
The miles are worth one cent when redeemed for a statement credit, but may be worth higher value when transferred to a Capital One travel partner.
Rewards potential
Venture Rewards card offers various avenues through which you can earn rewards. Venture miles are easy to earn, you get 2x miles per dollar on all the purchases.
Capital One has an enticing list of airline partners, wherein you can transfer your miles to their loyalty program and book your travel.You receive different miles rate when you transfer your Venture miles to a travel partner.
Usually, 2x Capital One® miles when redeemed with an airline partner should get you 1.5 miles, but airlines such as Emirates and Singapore airlines may only yield you 1 mile for your 2x Capital One® miles.
Capital One Airlines Partners
Listed below are the airline partners to whom you can transfer your miles for booking a flight.
AirCanada (Aeroplan) | Air France/ KLM | Aeromexico | Alitalia |
Avianca | Cathay Pacific | Etihad | EVA |
Emirates | Finnair | Hainan | Jet Blue |
Qantas | Qatar Airways | Singapore Airlines |
Global Entry or TSA PreCheck Application fee credit
If you are going to apply for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck , then you could receive a credit for the application fee, if you pay for it using your Capital One® Venture card. The payment has to be made directly using the card, usage of third-party payment medium such as PayPal would make you ineligible to receive the credit. You are eligible to receive one credit, either for Global Entry or TSA. You can get one credit every four years for one of these applications.
Purchase Eraser
Your travel bookings no longer need to be limited to a specific rewards portal. You can book your travel and hotel bookings through any portal and pay using the Venture card. Once the payment is completed, you can login to your account on capitalone.com and use the purchase eraser feature to get reimbursement. The purchase erase will allow you to redeem your miles for the purchase and credit the amount back to your account. You can use this feature to redeem your points for smaller transactions too, such as cab fare or car rentals.
No Foreign Transaction Fees
While we have discussed miles redemption an additional advantage of owning this card is not having to pay a foreign transaction fee for the purchases made abroad. The foreign transaction in general range between 2.7- 3.0% and are applied to each transaction after the conversion to US dollars. No foreign transaction fee is an additional saving you receive with this card.
Add-on Perks
The Venture Rewards card also offers additional benefits such as zero liability protection, extended warranty, 24/7 travel assistance services, travel accident insurance, and auto rental collision damage waiver.
Drawback
Annual Fee
Previously, the first year annual fee was waived off as part of the welcome offer and from the second year you had to pay the annual fee. New applicants would now have to pay the $95 annual fee from the first year.
If you are looking for a no annual fee credit card, then the annual fee may appear high, but for the benefits offered on this card, it does deliver value towards your travels.
While Venture does not offer lounge access like some of the other travel cards, it is a great starter card for someone who is new to travel.