Capital One VentureOne Rewards Card review: A travel card with no annual fee and special financing

The Capital One VentureOne Rewards Card has an easily attainable welcome bonus given its relatively low spending requirement. When approved for this card, you can earn a bonus of 20,000 miles once you spend $500 on purchases within three months from account opening, equal to at least $200 in travel.

The Capital One VentureOne Rewards Card’s benefits and perks are fairly basic, but that’s expected for a no-annual-fee card. Here are some notable perks:

• Concierge*: Enjoy 24/7 assistance booking travel, restaurant reservations, finding that perfect gift and more
• Travel Assistance Services*: Available 24/7 to help connect you with local emergency and assistance resources when you’re away from home
• Extended Warranty*: Doubles the original manufacturer’s warranty, up to a maximum of twenty-four (24) months, for eligible items purchased with your card
• Auto Rental Insurance*: Use your card to rent an eligible vehicle and you may be covered for physical damage to the vehicle
• No foreign transaction fees

Capital One also provides a credit score and report dashboard, CreditWise®. It’s free to use, and anyone can join — you don’t need a Capital One account. With CreditWise, users can learn more about the key factors that impact their credit scores, get email alerts whenever their credit score changes and monitor their credit information.

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Earning Capital One miles

The Capital One VentureOne Rewards Card earns miles on every purchase without many bonus categories to keep track of.

You’ll earn miles at the following rates:

• 1.25 miles per dollar on every purchase
• 5 miles per dollar on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel

While 1.25X isn’t the highest return on everyday purchases, it’s still above the usual 1X return. However, the VentureOne’s 5X return on eligible hotel and rental car bookings is strong.

Redeeming Capital One miles

The miles you earn with your Capital One VentureOne Rewards card can be used in a few different ways, such as:

• Booking travel through Capital One Travel
• Covering recent travel purchases
• Shopping at Amazon or through PayPal
• Getting gift cards
• Redeeming for cash back
• Reserving exclusive tickets, event access and perks through Capital One Entertainment

Miles are worth a flat one cent apiece when redeemed as a statement credit for past travel purchases or to book new travel reservations through Capital One Travel. Statement credit redemptions apply to all sorts of travel purchases, from flights and hotels to cruises and public transit, but must be made within 90 days from the date your travel purchase posts to your account. You may want to avoid the non-travel redemptions, such as redeeming for gift cards or Amazon purchases, since they typically yield lower values.

To potentially get outsized value of your miles, consider booking travel through Capital One’s transfer partners. Capital One offers 15 airline transfer partners with a 1:1 conversion ratio (unless noted):

• Aeromexico Club Premier
• Air Canada Aeroplan
• Air France-KLM Flying Blue
• Avianca LifeMiles
• British Airways Executive Club
• Cathay Pacific Asia Miles
• Emirates Skywards
• Etihad Guest
• EVA Air Infinity MileageLands (2:1.5 ratio)
• Finnair Plus
• Qantas Frequent Flyer
• Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer
• TAP Air Portugal Miles&Go
• Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles
• Virgin Red

Capital One also has three hotel transfer partners with a 1:1 conversion ratio (unless noted):

• ALL Accor Live Limitless (2:1 ratio)
• Choice Privileges®
• Wyndham Rewards

Transfering your Capital One miles to airlines or hotel partners can help you get more value from your rewards. For instance, you can transfer your Capital One miles to Turkish Airlines and book any domestic United flight for just 10,000 miles one way, whereas 10,000 miles would only get you a flight worth $100 through the Capital One Travel portal. If you’re looking to travel internationally, you can book flights to Europe through Avianca LifeMiles from just 35,000 miles one-way in economy or 70,000 miles in business class.

You can transfer your miles by signing into your Capital One account, selecting “View Rewards” and linking your loyalty accounts. It’s important to note that transfers are irreversible, so we recommend only transferring miles once you have a specific redemption in mind.

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The Capital One VentureOne Rewards Card has a $0 annual fee and no foreign transaction fees, helping keep costs down when traveling abroad. The card comes with a 0% intro APR on purchases and balance transfers for 15 months, then 19.24% – 29.24%, based on creditworthiness. There is a transfer fee of 3% of the amount of each transferred balance for the first 15 months, then 4% at a promotional APR that Capital One may offer you at any other time. The cash advance fee is $5 or 5% of the amount of each cash advance, whichever is greater, and the card has a late fee of up to $40.

The Discover it® Miles card is another starter travel card with no annual fee and a potentially valuable welcome bonus. The card earns a flat 1.5X miles on all purchases, which is slightly better than the VentureOne’s 1.25X return, but has no bonus spending categories.

The biggest difference is that there’s no way to get outsized value from your Discover miles. Unlike Capital One, Discover doesn’t have transfer partners, so you’re limited to fixed-rate redemptions like a travel credit or cash back. The VentureOne also offers additional perks like the rental car coverage and extended warranty protection.

If you’re looking for a simple rewards program, the Discover it Miles could be a good fit, but if you’re willing to explore transfer partner options and can maximize the card’s 5X bonus categories, you may get more value with the Capital One VentureOne Rewards Card.

Learn more: Discover it® Miles

Capital One VentureOne Rewards vs. Citi Double Cash® Card

Capital One bank accounts to pair with the VentureOne

If you want to have your credit card and bank accounts within the same ecosystem, Capital One has you covered with checking and high-yield savings account options and hundreds of physical branches nationwide.

The Capital One 360 Checking account offers you easy access to your cash with over 40,000 fee-free Capital One® and Allpoint® ATMs. The account has minimal fees and doesn’t require an initial deposit to open, but will require one within 60 days or your account will be closed.

The Capital One VentureOne Rewards Credit Card is a good option for those newer to travel rewards credit cards thanks to its travel transfer partners, accessible welcome bonus and lack of an annual fee. However, if you want access to more bonus spending categories or premium travel perks, there may be more valuable options out there.

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For Capital One products listed on this page, some of the benefits may be provided by Visa® or Mastercard® and may vary by product. See the respective Guide to Benefits for details, as terms and exclusions apply.

*Benefit available to accounts approved for the World Elite Mastercard product, subject to terms, conditions, and exclusions in the World Elite Mastercard Guide to Benefits. See Account Terms or Application Terms for more details

For rates and fees of the Discover it® Miles , click here.