Do you spend your days dreaming about your next big getaway? Me too.
Which is why I love credit cards that reward my travel spending. One such credit card is the Capital One VentureOne Rewards Credit Card. It makes it easy to earn points when you book hotels and rental cars or make everyday purchases.
There's no annual fee, so you get more room in your budget for even more travel spending. However, in exchange, this credit card lacks some of the more impressive travel perks that come with credit cards that charge annual fees (think statement credit for TSA PreCheck®, airport lounge access, and airline upgrades).
Quick Facts: Capital One VentureOne Rewards Credit Card
- Rewards rate: 5x miles on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel; 1.25x miles on everything else
- Welcome offer: Earn 20,000 miles after spending $500 in the first three months
- Annual fee: $0
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About the Capital One VentureOne Rewards Credit Card
Overall, the Capital One VentureOne Rewards Credit Card is a travel credit card that offers an effortless way to earn rewards. If you want to skip the fuss of trying to remember which credit card to use for every type of purchase, you may appreciate that this card makes earning rewards easy.
When it comes to redeeming miles, you can do so when booking travel through Capital One Travel. You also have the option to use earned miles to receive reimbursement for past travel purchases made elsewhere. If you don’t have any big upcoming travel plans, you can always redeem miles as a statement credit.
One of the major perks of the VentureOne Rewards is that you won’t ever hit an earning cap on rewards. You also don’t have to worry about your points expiring if you don’t redeem them right away — they won’t expire as long as you keep your account active.
Pros
- Various rewards redemption options
- No annual fee
Cons
- Limited reward-earning potential
- Unexciting travel benefits
LEARN MORE: Capital One VentureOne Rewards Credit Card
Benefits and Perks
Swiping the VentureOne Rewards will earn you rewards, but if you don’t plan on spending much in the near future, you can still benefit from having this credit card in your wallet.
Some of the standout benefits associated with the Capital One VentureOne Rewards Credit Card include:
- No foreign transaction fees
- Travel accident insurance
- Emergency card replacement
- Free extended warranty protection
- Car rental collision damage waiver
- Access to Capital One Shopping discounts
- Option to make Amazon purchases with rewards
- PayPal reward redemption
- Capital One Travel savings
Who Should Get the Capital One VentureOne Rewards Credit Card?
The best travel credit cards come with much more enticing perks than the VentureOne Rewards card, but they also come with steep annual fees.
If you love to travel but aren’t ready to pay an annual fee for a credit card, then the Capital One VentureOne Rewards Credit Card is a solid travel card option to consider.
You can simply take advantage of rewards points, cardholder benefits, and the welcome bonus — and if you pay off your balance in full each month, you won’t have to worry about interest payments.
COMPARE: Best Travel Credit Cards
Who Shouldn’t Get the Capital One VentureOne Rewards Credit Card?
When it comes to who shouldn’t get the VentureOne Rewards card, I'm looking at any homebodies who prefer Netflix and takeout to hitting the open road.
A cashback credit card that rewards purchases like food delivery and streaming services (or offers discounts and free memberships for these services) may be much more lucrative than a travel rewards credit card.
Unless you plan to travel often and feel comfortable booking your travel through Capital One Travel, you are better off looking for another credit card that offers rewards more in line with your daily spending habits.
Alternatives to the Capital One VentureOne Rewards Credit Card
For rotating cashback categories: Chase Freedom Flex®
- Rewards rate: 5% cashback on rotating categories each quarter (up to $1,500 in purchases, then 1%; activation required) and travel purchases through Chase Travel℠; 3% on dining and drugstore purchases; 1% on all other spending
- Welcome offer: Earn $200 cashback after spending $500 in the first 3 months
- Annual fee: $0
. . .
The Chase Freedom Flex® functions quite differently from the Capital One VentureOne Rewards Credit Card.
With the Chase Freedom Flex℠, you earn a higher cashback rate in categories that rotate each quarter — but you have to remember to activate the bonus categories.
Neither of these credit cards comes with an annual fee, but you do have to pay a foreign transaction fee of 3% when using the Freedom Flex℠ abroad.
If you are willing to stay on top of the rotating rewards (it can help to plan big purchases for when the right reward category strikes), you stand to earn more with the Freedom Flex℠. However, the VentureOne Rewards is a much simpler option, especially for travel lovers.
LEARN MORE: Chase Freedom Flex®
For more travel perks: Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card
- Rewards rate: 10x miles on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel; 5x miles on flights and vacation rentals booked through Capital One Travel; 2x miles on all other purchases
- Welcome offer: Earn 75,000 miles after spending $4,000 in the first three months
- Annual fee: $395
. . .
If you want to step things up a notch, you may find the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card is what you're looking for. You will have to pay an annual fee for this credit card but it’s easy enough to cancel that fee out with some of the card’s lucrative benefits.
To start, every year you gain access to a $300 annual travel credit. If you are confident you will use that travel credit each year without fail, you can cancel out most of the credit card’s annual fee that way. You can also receive up to a $100 credit for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck®, but that isn’t a perk you can use annually.
LEARN MORE: Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card
The Bottom Line
The Capital One VentureOne Rewards Credit Card is a solid option if you're looking for a travel credit card with no annual fee. You can earn and redeem miles easily without jumping through any hoops — and if you're not traveling any time soon, you can still use the miles as statement credit.
If you're a frequent traveler, there are higher-earning cards out there with bigger perks, but just keep in mind they tend to come with a hefty annual fee.
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Disclosure: Opinions expressed here are the author's alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, hotel, airline, or other entity. This content has not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of the entities included within the post.
