Capital One offers two miles-earning credit cards that have some pretty neat benefits.
Depending on which card you get, the benefits will vary slightly. That said, most benefits come with both cards.
I’m gonna start by looking at each card separately – side by side.
The Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card
The Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card is Capital One’s premium travel rewards credit card. It is considered a premium card because it comes with better benefits than others.
In particular, you’ll earn unlimited 2 miles per dollar spent on every purchase.
It also comes with 75,000 miles once you spend $4,000 on purchases within 3 months from account opening.
The benefits this card offers come at a cost in terms of the annual fee: $95. See Rates & Fees.
The Capital One VentureOne Rewards Credit Card
Capital One also offers the Capital One VentureOne Rewards Credit Card for those of us that may end up a tad less excited about paying an annual fee. See Rates & Fees.
It has a lower miles earning rate of unlimited 1.25 miles per dollar spent on every purchase.
It also offers a sign-up bonus that is much lower: 20,000 bonus miles once you spend $500 on purchases within the first 3 months from account opening.
This no-annual-fee version of the card also has some cool benefits you’ll want to know about.
Top benefits you should know about
If you want to get either the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card or the Capital One VentureOne Rewards Credit Card, here are the top benefits you should know about.
Be aware, the benefits you receive for your card depend on what type of card you’re approved for. Capital One issues different levels of Visa and Mastercard account types depending on your credit profile. Each comes with different benefits.
You can view a full listing of all potential Visa and Mastercard benefits by card type here.
1. Up to a $100 credit for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck® application fee
Available with ONLY the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card.
You can receive up to a $100 statement credit to offset the cost of signing up for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck®.
To qualify for the credit, you must use your Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card to pay the $100 Global Entry application fee or $78-$85 TSA PreCheck® application fee.
You only get a statement credit equal to the application fee and only one credit every four years. It can take up to two billing cycles for the credit to appear.
2. Redeem miles for travel statement credits
Another great benefit: you can redeem your miles for a travel statement credit at a value of a penny per mile.
To do this, you use Capital One’s purchase eraser. Once in purchase eraser, look for travel-related expenses and erase the purchase.
Travel purchases that qualify for travel statement credits include those coded as airlines, hotels, trains, car rental agencies, limousine services, cruise lines, bus lines, taxi cabs, timeshares, and travel agents.
These categories should qualify in most cases, but be sure to double-check before you redeem your miles.
The purchase eraser allows you to get a travel statement credit for purchases within the last 90 days.
3. Transfer miles to travel partners
This is a new benefit: adding the option to transfer your miles to travel partners. This can be a great use of miles if you can find a better deal booking through a travel partner program or you need to top off a partner program’s miles balance to book the reward you want.
Current travel partners require a minimum transfer amount of 1,000 miles, and transfer ratios are as follows (subject to change):
| Transfer partner | Capital One miles : Transfer partner miles |
|---|---|
| Accor Live Limitless | 2 : 1 |
| Aeromexico Club Premier | 1 : 1 |
| Air Canada Aeroplan | 2 : 1.5 |
| Air France-KLM Flying Blue | 2: 1.5 |
| Avianca LifeMiles | 1 : 1 |
| Cathay Pacific Asia Miles | 1 : 1 |
| Emirates Skywards | 2 : 1 |
| Choice Privileges | 1 : 1 (Available later in 2021) |
| Etihad Airways Guest | 1 : 1 |
| EVA Air Infinity MileageLands | 2 : 1.5 |
| Finnair Plus | 1 : 1 |
| Qantas Frequent Flyer | 1 : 1 |
| TAP Air Portugal Miles&Go | 1 : 1 |
| Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles | 2 : 1.5 |
| Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer | 2 : 1 |
| Wyndham Rewards | 1 : 1 |
| British Airways Avios | 2 : 1.5 |
4. Rewards are unlimited and don’t expire
Some rewards programs limit the number of points or miles you can earn each month, quarter, or year.
The same goes for point expirations. Some programs may wipe out your balance if you don’t use or earn points within a certain time frame. The good news on this front is that Capital One miles earned on the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card and Capital One VentureOne Rewards Credit Card are unlimited and never expire for the life of the account.
That is HUGE in my book. Because you can earn your miles and forget about them, without worrying they are going to disappear on some random date.
5. Introductory APR
Available with ONLY the Capital One VentureOne Rewards Credit Card.
The Capital One VentureOne Rewards Credit Card offers a 0% intro on purchases for 15 months & 0% intro on balance transfers for 15 months. Then 19.99% - 29.99% (Variable) after that. See Rates & Fees.
This is a great benefit that can help you finance a major purchase.
6. No foreign transaction fees
This is a great benefit for those of us who are traveling to other countries often. Neither card charges foreign transaction fees.
Other cards that have foreign transaction fees normally charge at least 3%. So you can save this money or spend it on your trip instead cause these types of fees definitely add up.
7. Auto rental collision damage waiver
Rental car companies love to nickel and dime you when you rent your car. One of these extra add-on fees is insurance. But the good news is that both cards offer an auto rental collision damage waiver benefit. This benefit can cover damage due to collision or theft to an eligible rental vehicle when you pay with your card.
A word of advice though: make sure to read your explanation of benefits document to see exactly how your specific card’s coverage works. It’s not always 100% straightforward so it’s good to be extra sure what the coverage exactly includes.
8. Extended warranty
Have you ever had an item break right after the manufacturer’s warranty expires?
If you make a qualifying purchase with either card, you can get additional warranty protection at no charge on eligible items. Make sure to read your card’s guide to benefits to see how long the warranty is extended and what exclusions might apply.
9. Access to culinary, sports, and music events
Both cards give you access to culinary, sports, and music events. Just a few examples that were enticing to me and might be to you too: presale ticket access to benefit dinners, the iHeartRadio Music Festival, discounted regular season tickets, and suite rentals at Capital One Arena in Washington DC.
Sweet!
10. Virtual card numbers
Capital One takes your account security seriously. Both cards offer virtual account numbers from their virtual assistant, Eno.
These virtual card numbers can be used to make online purchases with unique card numbers rather than your actual credit card number. This way, your real card number is safe if there is a data breach, but the charges still show up on your main Capital One credit card account.
11. Card lock
Have you ever misplaced your card but didn’t think you actually lost it? Capital One’s card lock feature can help. You can turn your credit card’s purchasing ability off and back on again using the Capital One website or the Capital One app.
This is particularly helpful when you lose your card somewhere only you have access to. If you find the card, you don’t have to get a new card with a new card number reissued.
However, you can still cancel the card and get a new card number if you find you really lost the card or someone else had access.
12. Security alerts
Both cards offer security alerts in many ways if Capital One notices suspicious transactions and spending activity on your account. You can sign up for text, email, and phone alerts.
This is particularly significant these days with credit card theft and the major breaches happening these days. You can never be too on top of what is happening security-wise with your card.
Summary
As you can see, both the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card and Capital One VentureOne Rewards Credit Card offer an attractive suite of benefits.
The list is more similar than different, so you get to decide whether the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card or the Capital One VentureOne Rewards Credit Card is a better fit for your wallet and priorities.
They are both excellent cards, though, IMHO.
