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The Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card might be the most underrated card on the market. Overshadowed by its perk-laden premium sibling (the Capital One Venture X), the Venture often slips to the bottom of the pecking order.
But that obscurity isn’t representative of its true value.
Brandishing the same stellar earning rates and a better introductory offer than its similarly-named sister card, the Venture offers long-term wallet potential and an immense miles infusion in the short term.
And, for a limited time, Capital One is offering new Venture card applicants 75,000 miles after spending $4,000 within three months of account opening, plus receive a one-time $250 Capital One Travel credit in your first cardholder year. At a minimum, this bonus is worth at least $1,000 towards travel, but we’ll show you how to get much more value than that, with redemptions worth over $2,000!
Let’s dive into a quick overview of the Capital One Venture’s bonus and the card’s perks, and then detail some of the best ways to use its 75,000-mile bonus and $250 travel credit.
Overview of the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card
The Venture is Capital One’s mid-tier rewards credit card, sitting between the more expensive Venture X and the no-annual-fee option, the VentureOne.
The card’s annual fee is just $95, making it an approachable product for newcomers and experienced points and miles users alike. Despite the low fee, the Venture packs heavy mileage into a straightforward and generous system.
Here’s a brief overview of the card’s perks and benefits:
- Earn 2x miles on all purchases
- Earn 5x miles on hotels, vacation rentals, and rental cars booked through the Capital One Travel Portal
- Receive up to a $100 credit for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck®
- Enjoy a $50 experience credit and other premium benefits with every hotel and vacation rental booked from the Lifestyle Collection
- Rental car insurance
- No foreign transaction fees
As with other Capital One products, the Venture uses a flat-rate earning system. There’s no cap on your earnings, no spending categories to memorize, and no effort required. Just swipe (tap, click, yadda yadda) and earn.
What are 75,000 Capital One Venture Miles worth?
Capital One Miles are valued at 1 cent each when used on the company’s travel portal. While this isn’t bad, opting for the simplest route leaves a ton of value on the table.
The best way to use Capital One miles is to strategically move your miles to a high-value airline or hotel transfer partner. This is the basis for almost every tip offered in this article, allowing you to squeeze 2, 4, or even 10 cents out of each and every mile.
That means 75,000 miles can be worth anywhere from $750 to over $7,500 in travel, depending on how you use your rewards.
Just remember, that value can be subjective. You might score a $10,000 flight for almost nothing, but if you’d never pay that for a flight, it’s not true savings. You might find more objective value by redeeming the same volume of miles on five economy flights you needed to take.
Or go crazy. I’m not judging.
–> Read more: How to earn the Capital One Venture’s Welcome Bonus
Capital One transfer partners
Aeromexico (1:1) | Choice (1:1) | Qantas (1:1) |
Air Canada Aeroplan (1:1) | Emirates (1:1) | Singapore Airlines (1:1) |
Accor (2:1) | Etihad (1:1) | TAP Air Portugal (1:1) |
Avianca (1:1) | EVA Air (2:1.5) | Turkish Airlines (1:1) |
British Airways (1:1) | Finnair (1:1) | Virgin Points (1:1) |
Cathay Pacific (1:1) | Flying Blue (Air France and KLM) (1:1) | Wyndham (1:1) |
The Capital One Venture is an excellent go-to card for any traveler, thanks to its easy to navigate 2 miles per dollar on every purchase. With no bonus categories to consider, a reasonable $95 annual fee, and a strong intro offer worth at least $1,000 in travel rewards, Alec Baldwin might be onto something.
PROS
- The Capital One Venture’s current intro bonus is worth $1,000 when spent on Capital One’s (recently revamped) travel portal or you can use your miles to cover your recent purchases. The bonus rises to well over $1,000 when transferred to an airline or hotel partner.
- A steady 2 miles per dollar on all purchases makes earning simple and lucrative. You’ll also grab 5 miles per dollar when booking through Capital One’s travel portal.
- Its $95 annual fee is almost negligible, especially if the intro bonus is achieved.
- Flexible miles allow for a wide array of redemption options.
- You can enjoy two free visits to a Capital One Lounge each year.
- Global Entry or TSA PreCheck Value
CONS
- Capital One lacks US-based airline and hotel transfer partners.
- Not many major perks beyond its miles value.
Annual Fee: $95 | Terms Apply | Rates & Fees
Best ways to use the Capital One Venture’s welcome bonus
$1,000 towards any type of travel
If you don’t want to deal with transferring your miles to partners, you can keep things simple and book travel through the Capital One Travel portal. With the current welcome bonus of 75,000 miles and the $250 travel credit, you’ll be able to book a minimum of $1,000 in travel.
What’s great about this option is that you can book any type of travel through Capital One’s portal — meaning hotels, rental cars, vacation rentals, flights and more — and you won’t have to deal with black out dates or finding award availability.
The $250 travel credit is a nice add-on that’s not typically included with the Venture’s welcome bonus. To help it go as far as it can, use it in situations where your points and miles won’t achieve maximum value. This could mean a last-minute flight with unfavorable mile rates, a necessary hotel stay that requires an arm and a leg to redeem, or even an unexpected car rental. The goal should be to use it for something you would have spent money on regardless.
Book a round-trip business class flight to Spain on Iberia
I know what you’re thinking…Iberia isn’t a transfer partner. He’s dropped the ball.
Not so.
You see, Iberia uses the Avios system along with British Airways, Qatar Airways, Aer Lingus, and Finnair, and those programs allow users to move points between one another at no cost. In this case, you’d transfer your Capital One miles to Finnair or British Airways, and then move them on to Iberia. Easy.
Once the points are with Iberia, get searching for one of the most sought-after redemptions out there—lie-flat business class flights from the US East Coast to Madrid for just 34,000 Avios one-way. It might take a little while to find availability, but the flights are there. Make sure you stick to Iberia’s off-peak dates for the rock-bottom rate.
Stay flexible and don’t give up just because the first few dates come up with nothing. It’s best to search as far ahead as you can. There are few ways to fly to Europe in a business class seat as cheap as this.
Your Capital One Venture 75,000-mile welcome bonus is enough to grab a round-trip flight to Spain from the East Coast and as far west as Chicago. Rates rise incrementally the further West you depart.
Spend 10 nights in a Wyndham property for free
Wyndham may not be a hotel brand that’s top of mind, but its simple pricing system and worldwide footprint means you can rely on the brand to deliver high-value stays wherever you are.
The Wyndham Rewards system differs from every other program by pricing nightly rates in simple increments of 7,500, 15,000, and 30,000 points. There are no peak and off-peak dates, no fluctuations, and no surprises.
Hotels in the higher 30,000-point per-night bracket include iconic hotels like the New Yorker, so don’t rule out an epic stay. That’s a two-night stay in the Big Apple covered with the Venture’s 75,000-mile welcome bonus—even during the busy Christmas season.
But opting for a cheaper 7,500-point hotel opens up the possibility of 10 free nights. These won’t be showstoppers, but they can go a long way in making a long trip much more affordable. Think 3 or 4 nights in two or three rooms at Disney for the whole family. Saving on the hotel costs leaves you with a ton more cash to spend at the parks themselves.
Bag Singapore Airlines business class to Europe with Aeroplan
Dying to experience business class with a lie-flat seat and premium dining for the first time? The Capital One Venture 75,000-mile bonus is more than enough to make that dream come true.
Business class flights from the US’ East Coast to Western Europe are a particularly valuable sweet spot in Air Canada Aeroplan’s award chart. Business-class flights between the North American and Atlantic zones that fall under 4,000 miles in distance cost just 60,000 points one-way. A flight from New York to Frankfurt clocks in at 3,854 miles, which should give you an idea of the destinations within that cut-off.
The best option for that trip would be Singapore Airlines, but you’ll also find United, Swiss Airlines, and Lufthansa available too.
If you’re flying from the Midwest or West Coast you’ll pay just a bit more, with flights under 6,000 miles in distance costing 70,000 points. That means you could bag a business class flight on United Airlines from San Francisco to Amsterdam with the Capital One Venture’s 75,000-mile welcome bonus.
Check-in on other combinations around the world, too. I recently flew from Istanbul to Bangkok in business class for the same 60,000-point rate.
Fly from anywhere in the US to Hawaii in business class for 15,000 miles
There is a ton of value to be found in Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles program.
Its award chart for domestic US flying is brilliant and home to what remains one of the best redemptions in the game—economy and business class flights from anywhere in the US to Hawaii for 10,000 and 15,000 thousand miles, respectively.
That’s a great redemption when flying from Los Angeles or Seattle. From New York, it’s insane. That’s an eleven-hour business class flight for the rate other airlines charge for a short economy route. United is Turkish Airlines’ main partner in the US, so it’s a great opportunity to try and experience its excellent Polaris business-class seat.
The Capital One Venture’s 75,000-mile bonus can grab you two round-trip business class flights or three round-trip economy flights, plus you’ll still have miles to spare!
Dive into KLM/Air France’s Flying Blue Promos
KLM and Air France’s joint program, Flying Blue, remains a reliable place where you can find solid award rates on flights around the globe.
The program also runs monthly flight deals from specific locations. There are usually at least two or three North American destinations on the list, offering rates to Europe for as little as 15,000 points each way in economy or 37,500 miles in business class. You’ll still need to pay some taxes and fees, but in most situations, you’re still getting a ton of value for your points.
If you’re able to take advantage of the promotional rates, that Capital One Venture 75k bonus is enough to grab you two roundtrips to Europe!
Bring a friend. Or make them pay and go again yourself later.
Pro-tip: Flying Blue allows transfers from all of the major credit card issuers, so if you have leftover points in other accounts it’s a great option for topping up your balance. It also runs a lot of transfer bonuses, so keep an eye out for those.
State-hop on Delta using Virgin Atlantic Flying Club
Virgin Atlantic’s Flying Club program is a little divisive. Its super-low rates are often countered by painfully high taxes and fees, making it a chore to decipher true value. But one place it retains a ton of use is its domestic redemptions on Delta.
Flights under 500 miles in the US on Delta cost just 7,500 points.
A word of warning, though. Delta may beat this rate on a day-by-day basis, in which case it’s better to use SkyMiles if you have them. But as SkyMiles is a dynamic program (and a temperamental one, at that) some days may see those rates skyrocket.
Either way, with your Capital One Venture 75,000-mile bonus in tow, you have 10 short flights at your disposal.
Fly to Japan with ANA
Booking flights to Japan using Capital One miles by transferring them to Virgin Atlantic is a savvy strategy for maximizing your rewards. Virgin Atlantic partners with All Nippon Airways (ANA), which has many routes between the US and Japan.
Here’s what you can get with the Capital One Venture’s 75,000-mile welcome bonus:
- 60,000 miles round-trip from the US West Coast to Japan in economy
- 65,000 miles round-trip from the US East Coast to Japan in economy
- 52,500 miles one-way from the US West Coast to Japan in business class
- 60,000 miles one-way from the US East Coast to Japan in business class
If you can find award availability in business class, you’ll be treated to one of the most luxurious business class cabins in the sky, ANA’s The Room. The Room is an enclosed suite featuring a closable door for privacy and a lie-flat seat with a ton of space to stretch out and relax — plus you’ll enjoy fantastic Japanese service and catering during your journey.
The point
The Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card is running a limited-time elevated intro bonus of 75,000 miles earned after spending $4,000 within three months of opening the card plus a $250 credit for use on Capital One Travel. Those miles plus the $250 credit are worth $1,000 when used on Capital One’s travel booking portal, but can be stretched much further when transferred to high-value airline and hotel partners.
–> Learn how to apply for the Capital One Venture Rewards card here.
The Capital One Venture is an excellent go-to card for any traveler, thanks to its easy to navigate 2 miles per dollar on every purchase. With no bonus categories to consider, a reasonable $95 annual fee, and a strong intro offer worth at least $1,000 in travel rewards, Alec Baldwin might be onto something.
PROS
- The Capital One Venture’s current intro bonus is worth $1,000 when spent on Capital One’s (recently revamped) travel portal or you can use your miles to cover your recent purchases. The bonus rises to well over $1,000 when transferred to an airline or hotel partner.
- A steady 2 miles per dollar on all purchases makes earning simple and lucrative. You’ll also grab 5 miles per dollar when booking through Capital One’s travel portal.
- Its $95 annual fee is almost negligible, especially if the intro bonus is achieved.
- Flexible miles allow for a wide array of redemption options.
- You can enjoy two free visits to a Capital One Lounge each year.
- Global Entry or TSA PreCheck Value
CONS
- Capital One lacks US-based airline and hotel transfer partners.
- Not many major perks beyond its miles value.
Annual Fee: $95 | Terms Apply | Rates & Fees
by your friends at The Daily Navigator
