If You Want One Travel Card…This Is It
Our pick for the Best Overall Travel Card
By Ana Staples
Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card offers you two miles for every dollar spent with no limit, plus a decent sign-up bonus. The card’s simple-yet-generous reward scheme, along with a modest $95 annual fee, make it an ideal option for anyone looking to score upgrades or the occasional free trip—without shelling out for a huge fee or dealing with complicated points rules. Those factors are a big reason Buy Side from WSJ named it Best Overall Travel Card for 2022.
Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card
- Base rewards rate: 2x
- Bonus rewards: 5x on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One
- Sign-up bonus: 75,000 miles after spending $4,000 in the first three months (worth $750 when redeemed for travel at one cent per mile)
- Key perks: Two free lounge visits per year, Hertz Five Star status, $100 Global Entry/TSA Precheck fee credit every four years.
- Annual fee: $95
- APR: 20.74% - 28.74%, variable
- Foreign transaction fee: 0%
In addition to the card’s lucrative rewards, Capital One allows you to redeem Venture miles as a statement credit for recent travel purchases, rather than requiring you to book travel through its proprietary portal. That’s a relatively unusual feature that could make the card far easier to use for many travelers. Cardholders can also transfer miles to airline and hotel loyalty programs or use them through Capital One’s portal, if they choose.
If you’re a heavy traveler, Capital One Venture Rewards has its drawbacks, such as lacking free airport lounge access. Plus, while the flat rate may be convenient, it doesn’t allow for higher rewards in categories where some cardholders spend the most.
Are the fees worth the rewards?
With an annual fee of $95, Capital One Venture Rewards offers a lower price compared to many top travel cards. To offset the fee, you need to spend at least $396 per month, provided you redeem for travel at one cent per mile and pay off the balance in full every month.
If you tend to carry a balance, a rewards credit card may not be a good idea for you. A balance of $1,000 on the Venture Rewards card will cost you between $16 and $24 in monthly interest charges, depending on your credit score, which will almost certainly outweigh the value of any miles you earn.
Assuming you do pay off your balance each month, Venture Rewards can offer attractive rewards, especially in the first year. The card comes with a 75,000-mile sign-up bonus after you spend $4,000 in the first three months (worth $750 when redeemed for travel for one cent per mile).
For the typical Wall Street Journal reader who spends $3,000 a month, this translates into 147,000 miles of first-year travel reward earnings—or $1,470 when redeemed for travel. After the first year, annual earnings in this scenario will amount to 72,000 miles (or $720 worth of travel for one cent per mile).
Cardholders with high spending in categories like dining and groceries may find better returns with other cards. Still, Venture Rewards’ high rewards rate on general purchases, flexible redemption policies, and generous sign-up bonus make it a great travel credit card.
Card details you might miss
At Buy Side from WSJ, we judge rewards credit cards based on their potential rewards earnings. However, when it comes to travel credit card products, it’s often perks and benefits that make up a large portion of the card’s value.
Here’s what the Capital One Venture Rewards offers, along with some important terms and conditions:
- Up to $100 statement credit for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck® application fee every four years
- Option to redeem miles as a statement credit toward any eligible travel purchase made within the last 90 days
- Travel protections, including auto rental collision damage waiver coverage, lost luggage reimbursement, and travel accident insurance
- Extended warranty protection, which extends a manufacturer’s warranty on items bought with the card
- Discounted rates to access Capital One Lounges
Who benefits most from this card?
The Capital One Venture Rewards is an excellent choice for an occasional traveler who wants a simple and affordable rewards credit card. Its flat-rate rewards structure makes it easy to rack up miles without a complex credit-card strategy.
Redeeming rewards is also easy with Venture Rewards. The option to redeem miles as a statement credit toward any eligible travel purchase made within the last 90 days is one of the card’s standout features. In contrast, other popular travel card issuers including American Express and Chase offer travel redemptions only through their travel portals.
Venture Rewards’s closest competitor is the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card. At $95 per year, the Chase card offers extensive travel protections Venture Rewards doesn’t have. These include trip delay reimbursement, trip cancellation and interruption insurance and primary car rental coverage. Annual hotel credits and an anniversary points bonus also put the Sapphire Preferred® ahead of the Venture in terms of ancillary benefits.
Still when it comes to earning basic rewards, Capital One Venture Rewards easily comes out ahead. That’s because Venture Rewards offers two miles per dollar spent on general purchases, compared to just one point for Sapphire Preferred®. (Sapphire Preferred® does offer higher rates on dining and online grocery purchases, and if you spend heavily in these categories, the Sapphire Preferred® might be a better option.)
Venture Rewards offers Global Entry or TSA PreCheck® credits, a perk loved by many travelers. Besides that, you get a discounted rate to access Capital One airport lounges (but only one, at Dallas Fort-Worth International Airport, is open so far). However, you may find the Venture lacking if you’re looking for premium traveler benefits.
For more attractive perks, like generous travel credits, complimentary access to airport lounges world-wide and elite statuses in loyalty programs, look into cards such as The Platinum Card® from American Express and the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card. Those, however, come with a much higher annual fee—$695 and $395 per year respectively. (See Amex rates and fees.)
What know about Capital One credit cards
- Capital One is the fourth-largest credit-card issuer in the U.S., according to market tracker Nilson.
- However, Capital One is only the 10th largest U.S. bank by assets and has 322 local branches, meaning you may not be able to easily locate a bank branch, depending on where you live.
- Capital One ranks in the top three credit-card issuers by customer satisfaction, according to research firm J.D. Power’s 2021 U.S. Credit Card Satisfaction Survey. Capital One scored 815 out of 1,000 points, only topped by Discover (837) and American Express (838).
- Last year, Capital One ramped up its game by launching its first luxury travel credit card with a highly competitive annual fee. The issuer also announced ambitious plans to develop a branded airport lounge network. If Capital One stays the course, it may become a serious competitor to top travel card issuers like Chase and American Express.
Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card
- Base rewards rate: 2x
- Bonus rewards: 5x on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One
- Sign-up bonus: 75,000 miles after spending $4,000 in the first three months (worth $750 when redeemed for travel at one cent per mile)
- Key perks: Two free lounge visits per year, Hertz Five Star status, $100 Global Entry/TSA Precheck fee credit every four years.
- Annual fee: $95
- APR: 20.74% - 28.74%, variable
- Foreign transaction fee: 0%
Methodology: How we evaluated Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card
To pick Buy Side from WSJ’s Best Travel Cards, we looked for cards with the most generous sign-up bonuses, rewards rates and other perks for a moderate annual fee. We also looked for cards that were easy to use, since we assume most readers are not credit-card obsessives willing to keep and track a dozen cards.
To find out more about how we rate credit cards—and to meet our panel of experts—you can check out Buy Side from WSJ’s full best credit cards methodology.