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Yes, the Capital One Venture Rewards card is a serious contender

My entire impression of Capital One changed a couple years ago when they announced they’d added transfer partners to their program. Suddenly, one of the biggest cash back hitters became a major player in the aspirational travel game. With this addition, it prompted me to write my first ever post recommending a Capital One card: The Capital One Spark Miles for Business Card.

Since then, things have gotten progressively better and better. They’ve continually added more partners and a couple of days ago, Cap1 announced that 15 out of their 17 travel partners would transfer at a 1:1 ratio.

THIS IS MASSIVE.

When the program first dropped, most of the partners were 4:3 and it could make things quite confusing when it came time to redeem, but also made the points of Chase, Citi, and Amex more valuable since they were usually 1:1. Capital One has closed that gap, and their Venture card got even more valuable. Let’s take a look.

Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card

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Details:

• 60k welcome bonus after spending $3k in 3 months
• 2x miles on every purchase
• up to a $100 credit for Global Entry and TSA Pre
• Earn 5X miles on hotels and rental cars booked via Capital One Travel
• Transfer miles to 15+ partners
• No foreign transaction fees
• $95 annual fee
• Learn more

60k Welcome Bonus after $3k spend in 3 months + 2x on every single purchase

This welcome bonus used to be far harder to figure out when Capital One miles transferred at a 4:3 ratio, but now that most of them are 1:1 it’s super easy. In fact, you could redeem just 87k Avianca LifeMiles to fly like I did on Lufthansa First Class.

2x on everything with no limits

As I just mentioned above, you’ll get 2x on every. single. purchase.  No need to worry about category bonuses, etc, you will earn 2 outstanding points on every dollar you spend. Best part…it isn’t capped at any fixed amount. If you spend $1 Billion dollars, you’d earn 2 Billion points. Ok…this is extreme but you get the point.

Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card

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For us…It’s all about the 17 transfer partners: FLY IN LUXURY + COMFORT

The ability to transfer into other programs equates to unlocking increased value in your points. For instance, Avianca is a partner, and you can redeem just 87k Aeroplan miles to fly Lufthansa First Class from the US to Europe.

Don’t be deterred if you’re unfamiliar with many of the programs listed below, they’re programs based outside the United States, but offer incredible opportunities to fly flat.

In fact, Aeroplan, Air France, Avianca, Cathay Pacific, Singapore, Emirates, and Etihad are all programs we’ve extensively written about in the past that facilitate the aspirational redemptions we want to achieve. They’re Capital One partners.

• The following partners are now 1:1
  • Aeromexico Club Premier
  • Air Canada Aeroplan
  • Avianca LifeMiles
  • Air France Flying Blue
  • British Airways Executive Club
  • Cathay Pacific Asia Miles
  • Choice Privileges
  • Etihad Guest
  • Emirates
  • Finnair Plus
  • Qantas Frequent Flyer
  • Singapore Airlines
  • TAP Air Portugal Miles&Go
  • Turkish Airlines Miles and Smiles
  • Wyndham Rewards
• Accor transfer 2:1
• EVA transfers 2:1.5

 

Hotel partners

The Accor situation could be quite interesting. Accor’s redemption is such that 2000 Accor points = 40 Eur credit. So 4000 Cap1 points = 40Eur off. Since you’re earning 2x on purchases, you’re earning 0.02Eur on each dollar spent when transferred to Accor. Pretty decent hotel discount actually.

Approval tips

Capital One will only process one credit card per 6 months…so if you’ve already applied for one in that time frame, you’re going to have to wait. This means both business and personal. Recently picked up their Spark Miles for Business card – you’ll need to wait.

Can you combine your miles with other Capital One accounts? This is incredible.

Yes, you can combine your points into one account. This applies to accounts under your name, and also to ANYONE else that has a Venture or Spark account. Pretty awesome.

Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card

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How quickly do you accrue the bonus and miles?

Anecdotally, people are reporting that Capital One is crediting accounts with points when the purchases hit the account rather than having to wait until the statement processes.

Conclusion: more competition is better for the market

I already have cards with Citi, Chase, Barclay, and Amex, but have avoided adding Capital One because of its prior concentration on cash back. I like redemptions that put me in hotels and airline cabins that I wouldn’t pay for out of pocket, and greatly outsize the value of cash-back.

As a result of Capital One’s program changes, I now have long term plans to add both the Capital One Spark Miles for Business and this Capital One Venture Rewards to my wallet.