Capital One’s Venture Card — that “no hassles” credit card advertised on TV — will save you big on the road, right? Many people — even me — recommend this card but it is actually the WORST travel rewards credit card you can use. I get a lot of emails asking about this card, and I recently chastised two friends for using it as their primary credit card for gaining points and miles.
Wait, you just said you recommend it. How can it be that be bad, then?
Capital One gets a few things right: the simple rewards structure of their no-fee Venture Card is perfect for people who don’t spend much money or who don’t want to worry about points. They are selling simplicity and they do it well. I think if you’re a low-spending, low-traveling person, this card could be worth your time (see comments below where I tell people not to move to a different card).
But it’s not even close to being even a mediocre travel hacking rewards card. I think it’s probably the worst card for a travel hacker.
And it’s time I explain why so people won’t make the same mistakes my friends made!
While it is true you earn two points per dollar spent, not all points are equal. It’s not how many points you earn, but how you can redeem those points.
Let me explain why Capital One’s Venture Card is not good for those wanting to get the most bang for their travel hacking buck and actually get free flights and hotel rooms:
The card comes with a 40,000-point sign-up bonus after spending $3,000 USD in three months. That’s 46,000 points, worth $460 USD. I think the card is worth the sign-up bonus – I’ll take $460 USD any day, but what happens after that?
Let’s say you’re in your second year and plan to spend $100,000 USD on your card for 200,000 points, worth $2,000 USD. (NOTE: I use $100,000 since it’s a nice simple round number. I know most people won’t spend that much per year.)
For that much you can get a lot more.
For example, 100,000 American Airlines points when earning 1 mile per dollar spent (assuming no category bonuses like booking with the airline) could get you a round-trip seat in coach class to Europe twice, a first-class ticket to Europe, or a business-class ticket to Asia, which on JAL costs $6,900 USD:
In this scenario, your 100,000 AA miles are worth close to seven times the value of your Capital One points! To redeem that same flight with Capital One, you would need to have 690,000 points or spend $345,000 USD!
And here is another example. Let’s say you want to fly Emirates first-class from Los Angeles to Dubai:
That ticket costs $25,000 USD! Or, you could redeem 90,000 Alaska Air miles for the flight. But if you wanted to redeem Capital One points, you would need 2.5 million points!
“OK, but if I get an American Airlines, Starwood, or United card, I’m only getting one point per dollar. Capital One gives me two!”
That’s true, but if you spend $50,000 USD on your AA card, those 50,000 points can be redeemed for a one-way business-class flight to Japan worth thousands of dollars! If you spend the same on Capital One, it’s worth $1,000 USD. Capital One points have little value.
Additionally, there are cards that give great category bonuses, such as multiple points for travel, shopping, food, gas, and groceries, so it’s not always one for one. Capital One is always the same: two miles per dollar spent.
Moreover, many other credit cards come with perks that are also worth something, from free checked bags, priority boarding, lounge access, Internet at hotels, and much more. Capital One gives you nothing. Plus, there are dozens of other cards that offer no foreign transaction fees.
The redemption value of Capital One makes it a horrible card for a travel hacker to get.
Capital One is essentially a 2% cash-back card ($50,000 USD = 100,000 points = $1,000 USD = 2% of $50k USD) but there are much better cards. The Citi Double Cash Card gives you 2% cash back with no annual fee and rewards can be used for any purchase, not just travel. The American Express Blue Preferred gives you 6% cash back at supermarkets, 3% at gas stations and department stores, and 1% everywhere else, so when used heavily on groceries and shopping, you can earn more than 2% on average.
If you don’t want to be tied down to one airline, flexible point credit cards like the Chase Sapphire Preferred, Citi Premier, or American Express Gold card can offer much more value than Capital One.
The Capital One card is good for low-spending consumers, those who buy the absolute cheapest tickets, or as a way to wipe off non-airline or hotel charges from your monthly bill (though I like the Barclaycard Arrival Plus much better!). But if you even remotely care about earning points and miles for free travel for first class flights or having perks when you travel, this is NOT a card you should ever get.
Note: This posts refers to the Venture Card, which comes with a $59 USD annual fee. The VentureOne has no annual fee but only earns 1.25 miles per dollar spent, making it even worse! Definitely don’t get that one!
Mark
This is why I don’t like points, period. I don’t want to have to calculate the square root of a great circle route to figure out whether or not I can use points on the second Tuesday after the first full moon in November. Give me cash back. I’ll either set aside the cash to buy a ticket or I’ll use it for something else. Cash is accepted everywhere and doesn’t expire.
Rob
Absolutely agree. People complicate and waste too much energy on unimportant minutia.
Henry Olsen
Hey Matt,
I’m an American living abroad, and I don’t spend much money. In fact, I spend so little that it doesn’t make sense for me to pay a yearly credit card fee. (Yes, I did the math.)
At the moment my go-to card is the CapitalOne VentureOne. I see why it’s a bad option for most people, but I believe that in my circumstances it’s the best card.
That said, I’m open to suggestions! Is there another card with no yearly fees, and no international transaction fees, that would be a better choice for a low-spending expat like me?
NomadicMatt
As I said, there are some cases in which the Venture Card is good and in your case, I think it’s probably your best option. I would stick with it!
Henry Olsen
Cool. Many thanks!
David
It may be worth it for you to check out either Capital 1 Quicksilver or Bank of America Travel Rewards.
Both offer 1.5% (vs Venture One 1.25%). No annual fee, no foreign transaction fee. Quicksilver is straight cash back, Travel Rewards is travel credit like Venture.
Current sign up bonus – Travel Rewards 20,000 points ($200) and Quicksilver, sometimes, $100 cash.
Todd
This card is great for covering travel expenses that aren’t covered by hotel and airline cards. I rented a condo at Big Sky for a ski trip and used these points to cover it. Remember, using it for travel expense coverage yields 2 cents per point due to the 2 points per dollar spend earned. Just paid for a island tour and a catamaran ride up the coast on a recent trip to Barbados, these showed up under the travel category. If you have a travel expense, such as the condo rental, that you feel should be treated as a “Travel” expense but isn’t, just call them and they will work with you on it if it is legit. I also use it for car rentals pretty regularly.
I find this card very useful.
Beth
I agree. We travel a lot by train, tram, stay in hostels, etc. I was able to use my Capital One card to do 3 weeks in Europe and it paid for all inter-Europe travel and accommodations for 2 people. You have to understand that using points for hotels is expensive in and of itself most times because you’re paying hotel prices. We have 1 person who almost exclusively uses a Delta AmEx and I use to the Capital One and it works out well for us. If you like business/first class, I can see how other programs would be better.
Angela
I agree! We spend a lot on Chase Sapphire Preferred and Amex Premier Gold however, I use the Venture Card some because I can take care of some items that I couldn’t otherwise. A little cheap hotel on an island that I can’t otherwise cover with points, paid with Venture. We are planning to rent a vacation home near Jackson Hole, maybe it will work for that, since it did for your condo!
Marie
I use the Capital One Aspire here in Canada and the points are usually in the vicinity of a 2% return – which is similar to most credit cards in that category. I like it, it’s easy to redeem points, and you don’t have to go through the company’s travel agency to book your tickets so you always get the best deals and flights depending on your needs.
But woah, Venture sounds like a nightmare! Is the Aspire available in the US?
Neil
Thanks for a well written and comprehensive review of the Venture card. You make your point clearly with good examples and you do the math for us. Time to look for a new traveler credit card!
Jeroen Vogel
Matt, you never talk about interests payable. Most cards are charging 20% on top of their annual fee. I don’t believe for a second that these flights are free or at least dirt cheap after spending a certain amount. I have always kept my Australian bank account, where they give out Visa Debit cards (Canada does the same). It’s perfect: they don’t cost anything, they don’t put you in debt, they don’t seduce you with “free” rewards. Another good card is the Bitcoin debit card that you can apply for in Hong Kong.
NomadicMatt
If you can’t pay off your bill in full each month, you have spending problems. I’m making the assumption here people pay their bill in full. But you are right, if you can’t pay the bill, the interest on these cards is higher than most and not worth getting!
Jeroen Vogel
I’m not American and don’t know much about credit cards (I’ve had one in my entire life…), but it was my assumption that the interest was payable regardless of settling the debt. What else could these companies live off?
NomadicMatt
You’re only charged interest if you don’t pay your bill in full each month. Credit card also make lots of money off merchant fees each time you swipe the card!
Katie
I wrote a whole post several years ago about my horrible experiences with Capital One. Customer service while I was overseas for a year was atrocious. Lost my debit card in an ATM and quickly learned that they won’t send replacement cards overseas. Had an ATM transaction not go through in Georgia (the country) but they deducted the money anyway and sided with the vendor when I challenged it. I couldn’t prove I didn’t get the money so I was SOL. Also thought their fraud prevention was pretty lax – I booked train tickets to Kazakhstan, a hotel in Uzbekistan and flights To Latvia, Spain and the US within 24 hours and that raised NO red flags! Yet when I came home and went to Target 2 days in a row they froze my card and it took 2 days to unfreeze it. Bizarre.
So yeah, not a fan of Capital One.
Mariah Li.
For covering travel expenses, this card is perfect I think. Your points are clearly explained in this post. You stated good instance of card. Thanks a lot for the suggestion, actually I was wondered for it.
Kerjan
Just got the Chase Sapphire!! 🙂
Justin Urbas
I think its really an eye opener, was recommended many times by my friends to use these capital one cards. But now i am really need a better travel credit card. Do you know any?
Cathy Ptak
I just applied for a Capital One card for my daughter to use while studying abroad. I thought you had posted on your blog that it was good because there aren’t international fees. We already have two Chase cards, I am looking for the best option for her. I don’t really care about the earnings since she will only use it this next semester.
NomadicMatt
In this situation, it’s perfect. Keep the card.
Darrin
Another card which doesn’t have an annual fee and doesn’t charge foreign transaction fees (which is the only positive with the Capital One Venture card) is the Orbitz card. Though it lacks a stellar sign-up bonus, the card might be worth a look.
Ashley
This is funny because I literally /just/ got this card in the mail today. It’s my first credit card ever, and I only had so much time in my day to dig into what card to get, so I guess it’s not surprising that I landed with a shitty one. I’ll use it for the first year and see how I feel after that I guess – I just got into a car crash where the other driver was found at fault and am going to be reimbursed for all car repairs, so at least I’ll get to game the point system a little.
NomadicMatt
For a starter card for building credit, it’s perfect. Stick with it for a year and then move to something better!
Priscilla McCarthy
l love this card…for 2-4 trips a year in North America …all”free”..I have had issues with a hotel & a small flight Co.& they immediately took care of it. have had many types of cards & this is my favorite …It suits my travel needs
Claire Hardwick
Hi Matt ! What are your thoughts on the Citi ThankYou® Premier Card ?? I only use my credit card for when out traveling and flights, but never before have had a credit card specifically earning travel points. I’ve already heard about the pro’s and con’s of the Capital One card, so was wondering if the Citi ThankYou® Premier Card had very similar con’s as Capital One . Would immensely appreciate your thoughts ! xx
Travel Griz
Claire, I am not Matt but the Citi Thank You is a great card in my opinion because you can transfer the points to other partners. For example you could transfer those points to Singapore Airlines and book flights on any Star Alliance Partner like United. It is a little more complex but you get a ton more value out of your points.
Totally agree with your assessment Matt. Since I got into the travel hacking game a lot of my friends and family struggle to understand what makes a card good for traveling. The Venture card always comes up (good advertising I suppose) and I have to tell them there are better options out there. Now I can just point them to this post.
NomadicMatt
I also agree about Citi. I was the new Premier card a lot. Thank You rewards used to be junk but Citi has really stepped up their game a lot to make the program better.
Brad
Agreed Matt the 3% on all types of travel make the thank you premier card worth while on top of the sign on bonus.
Gaby
Hi Matt, what are your thoughts on the Cap One Spark Travel Business Card?
NomadicMatt
I haven’t used it nor know anyone who has. Since I know a lot of card junkies, that’s not a good sign!
Jamie
Well damn, you scared me for a second there. I have a Capital One card and was afraid you were gonna tell me I was getting ripped off somehow, but it was just about reward points 🙂
That being said I do agree with what you said – the rewards points I get on my Citibank card are way better than my Capital One one. Those are the only two cards I have though so I can’t speak for any others!
Natasha
I’m going to disagree with this a little and saying that it’s the worst. I travel full time and have had this card for 3 years now. I have also had the AMEX Delta card, Barclay World Mastercard Elite, Chase Sapphire Preferred, LAN PASS, and the British Airways Mastercard.
I haven’t once paid the annual fee for the Capital One Venture, I just call and ask them to waive it and they do. Their customer service is especially valuable to me, where I have dealt with lets say Citi Bank, and can’t get anywhere with them.
This post seems a little more geared for individuals who are looking for first class tickets and business travel, and that’s fine. But for budget travelers like myself I think the ease of this card is great. I get 2 miles per dollar spent on anything, and then I can go into their easy online system and redeem anything I want that is travel related (the same goes for Barclay cards).
That means I can book last minute airfare deals on Skyscanner, book with all sorts of budget airlines and hotels and never have to worry that I can’t redeem my points. With the Chase Sapphire I have to use their crappy online booking system whose airlines partner with Chase and the flights on there are always more expensive than the budget flights you can find on Skyscanner or Google Flights.
I’m not disagreeing with you in saying that other cards can have more points value, but for people that want to book with ANY airline, travel in coach, or work on an extremely flexible schedule the Venture is great.
NomadicMatt
I disagree. Even on economy, Capital One isn’t worth it. Barclay’s gives you 5% back on redemptions and the Chase points are worth more when you redeem them for cash too. For cheap flights, I use the other two since you still get more value.
But everyone has different needs and if the card works for what you want, stick with it!
Christy
What about Barclay Arrival? I got the C1 first and earned my bonus 40k & then some. Then i got the Barclay & did the same & am over in Ireland & the EU for the next couple of months. Im going to primarily use the Barclay but have the C1 as a backup. Any flights or rentals or AirB&B ill book through Barclay because I earn 5% back in points on those purchases. Am i doing that right? Would love any advice!
NomadicMatt
Barclays is essentially a cash back card in many ways but since you get 5% back on redemptions, it’s slightly better than Capital One.
Trevor Thorpe
I find the wording of this post a bit strong, though I do agree with some points. The card does offer $460 in free travel, so you’re hardly doing poorly in the first year with the card. After the first year, the return on credit cards declines across all companies, since the sign-up bonuses are so lucrative. One thing that is bad about Cap One that hasn’t been mentioned is that when you apply, they will hard-pull from all three credit score providers. That has more of a negative effect on your credit than other banks that typically pull from only one.
NomadicMatt
It’s good bonus for the first year but after that, there are other cards to put your spending on.
Eric
Hey Matt – such clear and great insight on such a complicated space. I love both your blog and your book.
Following your suggestion, I’ve been using a Chase Sapphire Preferred as my primary card for almost a year (after capitalizing on the 40k pts sign up bonus). However, I’m looking to expand my travel hacking abilities and add another card to the lineup. The American Airlines AAdvantage Platinum Select is offering 50k “Bonus” Miles for spending 3k in 3 months. Is there a difference between “bonus” miles and normal miles?
As this article clearly illustrates, some companies use such convoluted language it’s hard to know what’s what. Thanks so much and looking forward to your future posts!
Eric
NomadicMatt
Bonus miles are what you get in addition to regular spend miles for signing up. So once you meet the $3k requirement, you’ll get an extra 50k miles.
AJ
Matt, I would disagree with you on the Capital One Venture Card. Since I obtained the card a couple of years ago, both my wife and I have booked free flights to Israel, Dominican Republic, and Hawaii. I love that there are no black out dates. It is exceedingly difficult to find reward seats on American Airlines without ridiculous routings and terrible travel times with overnight stays. My job does not allow me flexibility to find random dates to use miles. The convenience and simplicity of the Capital One Card has allowed me about one free flight every year which I find to be pretty good value. In fact, airlines will continue to devalue miles every year, making them more useless. Also, Capital One has amazing security surveillance. If there is a breach, they usually are on top of it within minutes, so I do appreciate their diligence in this matter. Just my two cents.
NomadicMatt
I use those numbers because they are nice whole numbers and make seeing the math much easier!
And Capital One does have good security and customer service! That’s definitely true!
Katarina
I always wondered about that card and if it really was as good as everyone said it was. I won’t get it now…even though I wasn’t really planning to get it to begin with but I was curious.
Shelly
Ok since I’m a first time traveler planning on Sicily and Norway this summer. , should I consider getting any of these cards to get saving points for traveling. I need something very simple and uncomplicated to use.
Richelle
Hi Matt,
Thanks so much for this post! I was wondering if I could get your advice on this: I’ve been using the Capital One card for the last three years or so. I live in China, where I can’t use my credit card often. I actually prefer to use my Chinese bank card whenever possible because I have to remit all my money back to the US for my credit card. While most months I spend less than $100, every few months I buy a plane ticket or a larger purchase. Usually my flights are only a few hundred round trip though, from China to SE Asia and back or something of that nature. In my case would you recommend sticking with Capital One, or trying to get into one of those travel-hacking cards that’s not airline specific? I did the whole Delta card thing, however I gave it up after the first year once the fees kicked in. Thanks so much!!!
-Richelle
Don Nadeau
Capital One provides a super option for those in Canada & the States who either lack a credit history or have a bad one (even if they’ve have had a recent bankruptcy). The amount of the security deposit you place with Capital One determines your line of credit.
Using this card for purchases, instead of a bank debit (ATM) card, gives you far better protection against fraud. With a debit card, a hacker can drain your entire bank account and it can be difficult and time consuming to prove (if you can) that you did not use it especially at merchants with no video surveillance.
In contrast, using a Capital One card doesn’t threaten your entire bank account and the fraud process is much easier to navigate. Moreover, Capital One, unlike many card companies, does not charge extra for converting foreign transactions into American or Canadian dollars. Note though that a secured by deposit Capital One card does not provide travel points.
Otherwise, I agree with Matt.
NomadicMatt
They are a very good company and a good card BUT not for travel hacking!
Megan
Hi Matt! With the help of your blog, I’ve been doing a lot of research over the past few days because I want to make a point of getting a travel rewards credit card. I’m on the younger side of being an adult, so I’m having a bit of trouble. I’m leaning towards the Citi Thankyou Premier card because of the point structure, but if I’m being honest I don’t know if I would spend enough to earn the sign up bonus. That, coupled with the annual fee for the card, make me wonder if that particular card would be worth it for me. Would my case be one where the Capital One card would be a better option? I know the Capital One cards make you cringe, so I was also looking at the B of A Travel Rewards credit card. It’s basically the same thing as the Capital One card, but at least you get 1.5 points per dollar instead of 1.25, right? I’m a little stumped at the moment and would really appreciate your input!
NomadicMatt
If you’re a low spender, the Capital One card can be good but if I had to go with any cash back style travel card, it would be the Barlcays World card. I think it’s redemption is the best.
Dee
I agree it might not be the greatest card, but that is the only travel rewards card that I could get approved for. I had a bankruptcy in 2010, so none of the airlines will give me a card. I have done the reconsideration line 3 times to no avail. I have been on time with all of my bills for the last 6 years and my credit score is now 698. My husband has airline cards, but he overspends and carries balances on them , so I am almost sorry I got him into this hobby. So he has a one way business class ticket to Europe and I have enough for economy. I am hoping after my 7 years has passed I will finally get approved for a good airline card.
Amber
Hi Matt,
Could you please tell us what card we should use? Currently my husband and I pay for everything with our credit card, and pay the balance in full each month. So we end up with a lot of points/miles. We used to have the Citi ThankYou Premier card, but I really disliked how I had to book travel with their thankyou site. I also disliked how the flights were always more than what I could find on kayak or the actual carriers site. We basically save all of our points to redeem for flights. We usually take one trip a year, and it’s nice to have at least one of the flights paid for.
I ended up getting this card about 6 months ago. I have no complaints but I haven’t used it for any travel yet. And after reading this, I’m wondering if there might be a better card for us?
Thanks!
Piper
Capital One Travel will find ways to screw you out of your points. They have the worst customer service. DO NOT BOOK WITH CAPITAL ONE TRAVEL.
Georges
What do you think about the Spark Miles for Business Credit Card? Is it a good choice?
karma
I think biggest issue is that redemption rate is NOT what it seems. When you try to redeem (or erase your travel charges) they have categories. So they have bucket that if your travel spend is between $350 and $600 it will cost you 60K points. So maximum value is 1 cent but usually is much lower then that, This is the biggest scam !
Bobby Baucom
I have had an AAvantage card from Citibank linked to AA for many years and have been thinking it might be better for me to have a credit card that offered cash back instead of miles. My rational was that I could use the cash back to buy a ticket and get wider choices as to times and days of the flight. Also, most of the time now when I try to book a flight using my miles the connections are terrible, they want lots of miles, and sometimes there are long waits between flights. Also, if I fly in or out of Heathrow, the fees are horrendous. But last year I was in Madrid on a frequent flyer ticket with my wife and daughter in law, and we wanted to fly back to Las Vegas three days early. I was able to change my flight with no charge. Also, the flight from MAD to LAS cost only 15,000 miles. So I’m really torn as to what to do. But the writer of this article seemed to say it’s a no brainer. Air miles are better! I’ll try to study this a little more. Thanks so much.
sharon
I worked for Capital One for many years and saw first hand how credit cards work. First of all I had never seen so many payments one day late -HMMM- you figure that out , its easy. Cards sent to underage people , even infants. My job, along with many other really good workers, went to INdia. Let me tell you how India works. They don’t know what they are doing for one thing but it was cheaper for the jobs to be sent there with incompetent people now having the information of your accts. Ex of a day at India capital one= a rep sits down then has to use the restroom and another jumps in that person seat and plays rep. til that person has to get out of their seat for some reason. They use the names Elvis etc in hopes you don’t recognize they are not from the U.S So many things capital one does not want their card holders to know so they can get more money out of them. I could go on and on but the last thing I will say Flee from this company as fast as you can.
Cristi
I made the mistake of using this card for years before really getting into points/miles. If you want a fixed-value card there are definitely better options. The Bank of America Travel Rewards card works great for me because it has no fee and I get an extra boost in points per dollar since I’m a preferred customer.
Mallory
What are your thoughts on the Discover Miles card?
NomadicMatt
Also not a great card for mileage earning!
Liz
Any experience charging g food and services to a hotel room and using capital one reward points to cover the cost of dinning as a travel expenses when I called a capital one rep they agreed that it was a covered travel expenses Any experience with this option
SV
Thank you for your expert and detailed analysis, Matt.
I am no expert in your area and although this article is over a year old I am sure it is still fairly accurate and applicable now.
I just wanted to show one other angel of the downside of Capital One rewards:
I have both, a Capital One Venture One card and a Delta SkyMile American Express gold card.
I needed to book two round trip tickets (coach) in the U.S. (booked 90+ days in advance).
I did not have enough miles to cover both in my Delta SkyMile reward points and these are Delta flights, so I redeemed 20,500 miles and booked one ticket. I then used reward points in my Capital One to cover the second (identical) ticket. WELL, that ‘cost’ me 25,841 miles. So if you calculate the difference of 5341 miles, it is a whopping 26% more miles than what it cost on Delta.
Other things to consider are the annual fee on Delta card ($95/year, but first year was free) and bonus miles when signed up versus Capital One no annual fee. Both have no foreign transaction fees and all Delta related charges get you 2 points for every $1. One last IMPORTANT fact: If I were to buy (with money) that same ticket from Delta’s site, it would have cost me $195 and yet Capital One ‘charged’ me $258.41 worth of miles for that same flight!!! You are right, Matt.
Andrea
I know this article is a bit dated, but I don’t think the travel rewards have changed much. I am looking into a new credit card that has good travel rewards and/or general cash back rewards in which I can just use for travel. I travel a moderate amount (4 trips planned this year- 2 abroad) and I currently do not have a credit card without foreign transaction fees. I have done a fair amount of research and the Chase Sapphire Preferred card and Barclay card are attractive for rewards, however, I have a hard time paying a fee for a credit card. What would you recommend? Is it really worth paying an annual fee?
NomadicMatt
Yes, both are those cards are worth the fee! I have them both! I’d go wit the Chase Sapphire over the Barclay’s card if I had to choose one. Better rewards.
Alex
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