Capital One Platinum Card vs. VentureOne and Venture Cards [Detailed Comparison]

Capital One is a unique credit card issuer offering a large collection of cards with options appropriate for every credit rating. Perhaps you’d like to get started on the path toward securing a rewards-earning credit card, for example, but your credit history is not quite there yet. There’s a Capital One card right for you.

Conversely, if you’ve worked hard to improve your credit history, you’ll find several card options that will allow you to earn rewards on every purchase you make.

We’re comparing 3 Capital One cards today, each designed for a consumer with a specific level of credit history. We’ll cover what it takes to qualify for each card, compare the features and benefits, and if applicable, how you can earn and redeem rewards.

Join us as we discuss the Capital One Platinum Credit Card, the Capital One VentureOne Rewards Credit Card, and the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card.

Overview

First, let’s take a side-by-side look at our 3 featured cards. You’ll notice that each level of card comes with additional reward-earning potential and greater features/benefits.

The Value of a Welcome Bonus

While the Capital One Platinum card does not offer a welcome bonus, the Capital One VentureOne card and Capital One Venture card each offer a welcome bonus in the form of Capital One miles earned when you complete minimum spending requirements within the first 3 months after card approval.

Terms Apply / Rates & Fees

Capital One Platinum Credit Card

U.P. Rating 

The rating for this card has been determined by our own industry experts who know the in's and out's of credit card products. Bonuses, rewards as well as rates and fees are all taken into account. Compensation from the issuer does not affect our rating. We only recommend products we either use ourselves or endorse.

The Capital One Platinum card is great for those looking to build up their credit score and credit history, without paying a deposit or annual fee.

Learn More(at our partner's secure site)

Capital One Platinum Credit Card

The Capital One Platinum card is great for those looking to build up their credit score and credit history, without paying a deposit or annual fee.

Welcome Offer

None

Annual Fee

$0

APR

29.99% (Variable)

Credit Recommended

Upgraded Points credit ranges are a variation of FICO^®Score 8, one of many types of credit scores lenders may use when considering your credit cardapplication.

Fair to Good (580-739)

Why We Like This Card

If you’re ready to get serious about building or rebuilding your credit, you’ll want a credit card for which approval is probable, one that has a simple structure and is easy to manage, and ideally, has some benefits you can use. This is where the Capital One Platinum Credit Card really shines.

Pros & Cons

Pros

• No annual fee (rates & fees)
• Free credit monitoring

Cons

• Does not earn rewards
• The high APR can be costly if you carry a balance

Read Full Review

Card Highlights

• No annual or hidden fees. See if you're approved in seconds
• Be automatically considered for a higher credit line in as little as 6 months
• Help build your credit through responsible use of a card like this
• Enjoy peace of mind with $0 Fraud Liability so that you won't be responsible for unauthorized charges
• Monitor your credit score with CreditWise from Capital One. It's free for everyone
• Get access to your account 24 hours a day, 7 days a week with online banking from your desktop or smartphone, with Capital One's mobile app
• Check out quickly and securely with a contactless card, without touching a terminal or handing your card to a cashier. Just hover your card over a contactless reader, wait for the confirmation, and you're all set
• Pay by check, online or at a local branch, all with no fee - and pick the monthly due date that works best for you

Financial Snapshot

• APR: 29.99% (Variable)
• Foreign Transaction Fees: None

Terms Apply / Rates & Fees

Capital One VentureOne Rewards Credit Card

U.P. Rating 

The rating for this card has been determined by our own industry experts who know the in's and out's of credit card products. Bonuses, rewards as well as rates and fees are all taken into account. Compensation from the issuer does not affect our rating. We only recommend products we either use ourselves or endorse.

The card offers unlimited miles at 1.25x per $1 and no annual fee. When you consider the flexible rewards, frequent travelers come out on top.

Learn More(at Capital One's secure site)

Capital One VentureOne Rewards Credit Card

The card offers unlimited miles at 1.25x per $1 and no annual fee. When you consider the flexible rewards, frequent travelers come out on top.

Welcome Offer

Earn a bonus of 20,000 miles once you spend $500 on purchases within 3 months from account opening, equal to $200 in travel.

20,000 miles

UP's Bonus Valuation*:

$360

Annual Fee

$0

APR

19.74% - 29.74% (Variable),0% intro on purchases for 15 months

Credit Recommended

Upgraded Points credit ranges are a variation of FICO^®Score 8, one of many types of credit scores lenders may use when considering your credit cardapplication.

Good to Excellent (670-850)

Why We Like This Card

Interested in a travel rewards credit card without one of those pesky annual fees? Then say hello to the Capital One VentureOne Rewards Credit Card.

In addition to no annual fee, the Capital One VentureOne card offers no foreign transaction fees.

But is this card worth its salt, or is it merely a shell of the more popular Capital One Venture card?

Pros & Cons

Pros

• No annual fee (rates & fees)
• No foreign transaction fees (rates & fees)
• Ability to use transfer partners

Cons

• Weak earn rate at 1.25x miles per $1 spent on all purchases
• No luxury travel or elite benefits

Read Full Review

Card Highlights

• $0 annual fee and no foreign transaction fees
• Earn a bonus of 20,000 miles once you spend $500 on purchases within 3 months from account opening, equal to $200 in travel
• Earn unlimited 1.25X miles on every purchase, every day
• Miles won't expire for the life of the account and there's no limit to how many you can earn
• Earn 5X miles on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel, where you'll get Capital One's best prices on thousands of trip options
• Use your miles to get reimbursed for any travel purchase—or redeem by booking a trip through Capital One Travel
• Transfer your miles to your choice of 15+ travel loyalty programs
• Enjoy 0% intro APR on purchases and balance transfers for 15 months; 19.74% - 29.74% variable APR after that; balance transfer fee applies

Financial Snapshot

• APR: 19.74% - 29.74% (Variable),0% intro on purchases for 15 months
• Foreign Transaction Fees: None

Rewards Center

Capital One Miles

Terms Apply / Rates & Fees

Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card

U.P. Rating 

The rating for this card has been determined by our own industry experts who know the in's and out's of credit card products. Bonuses, rewards as well as rates and fees are all taken into account. Compensation from the issuer does not affect our rating. We only recommend products we either use ourselves or endorse.

Get 2x miles plus some of the most flexible redemptions offered by a travel credit card!

Learn More(at Capital One's secure site)

Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card

Get 2x miles plus some of the most flexible redemptions offered by a travel credit card!

Welcome Offer

Enjoy a one-time bonus of 75,000 miles once you spend $4,000 on purchases within 3 months from account opening, equal to $750 in travel.

75,000 miles

UP's Bonus Valuation*:

$1,350

Annual Fee

$95

APR

19.99% - 29.74% (Variable)

Credit Recommended

Upgraded Points credit ranges are a variation of FICO^®Score 8, one of many types of credit scores lenders may use when considering your credit cardapplication.

Good to Excellent Credit (670-850)

Why We Like This Card

The Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card is one of the most popular rewards cards on the market. It’s perfect for anyone in search of a great welcome offer, high rewards rates, and flexible redemption options.

Frequent travelers with excellent credit may benefit from this credit card that offers a lot of bells and whistles. And it offers easy-to-understand rewards earning and redemption.

Pros & Cons

Pros

• 5x miles per $1 on hotels, vacation rentals, and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel
• 2x miles per $1 on all other purchases
• Up to a $120 Global Entry or TSA PreCheck application fee credit

Cons

• $95 annual fee (rates & fees)
• Limited elite benefits

Read Full Review

Card Highlights

• Enjoy a one-time bonus of 75,000 miles once you spend $4,000 on purchases within 3 months from account opening, equal to $750 in travel
• Earn unlimited 2X miles on every purchase, every day
• Earn 5X miles on hotels, vacation rentals and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel, where you'll get Capital One's best prices on thousands of trip options
• Miles won't expire for the life of the account and there's no limit to how many you can earn
• Receive up to a $120 credit for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck^®
• Use your miles to get reimbursed for any travel purchase—or redeem by booking a trip through Capital One Travel
• Enjoy a $50 experience credit and other premium benefits with every hotel and vacation rental booked from the Lifestyle Collection
• Transfer your miles to your choice of 15+ travel loyalty programs

Financial Snapshot

• APR: 19.99% - 29.74% (Variable)
• Foreign Transaction Fees: None

Rewards Center

Capital One Miles

Keep in mind that welcome bonuses can change, but we’ve shown a snapshot above of the current applicable welcome bonuses and spending requirements.

Miles can generally be redeemed for 1 cent each, so a 75,000-mile welcome bonus would equal $750 in travel value. However, you could receive potentially greater value when utilizing the option to transfer miles to travel partners and use them for flights or hotel nights. We’ll cover more on redemption options shortly.

If you’d like to learn more about how the 2 rewards-earning cards compare, we’ve put together a detailed comparison of the Capital One VentureOne card vs. the Capital One Venture card.

Earning Rewards

Capital One is known for its simplistic earning structures, so you’ll always know how many Capital One miles you’ll earn on every purchase you make.

Let’s look at how our 3 featured cards compare when it comes to earning rewards:

Redemption Options

While the Capital One Platinum card doesn’t earn rewards, miles earned on the Capital One VentureOne card and Capital One Venture card offer several redemption options.

Here are your options for redeeming your Capital One miles:

• Transfer to Travel Partners — Receive the highest potential value for your miles by transferring to airline and hotel loyalty programs and purchasing award travel or free hotel nights.
• Purchase Travel via Capital One Travel — Receive 1 cent per mile in value when purchasing travel via the Capital One Travel portal.
• Additional Redemption Options — Redeem miles for gift cards, shopping at Amazon, statement credits, and more. However, not all options provide good value. Strive for no less than 1 cent per mile in value.

Minimum Qualification Requirements

Each of our featured cards has its own specific requirements to get approved for the card. Let’s look at the level of recommended credit you would need to qualify for each card.

Capital One Platinum Card

The Capital One Platinum card encourages at least a fair credit score. The definition of a fair credit score, according to leading credit score creator FICO, is a score between 580 and 669. Additionally, Capital One describes the typical qualifying applicant as “having defaulted on a loan in the past 5 years” or “having a limited credit history, owned a credit card or other credit for less than 3 years.”

Capital One VentureOne Card

If your credit score is considered good to excellent, you might want to apply for the Capital One VentureOne card. According to Capital One, in order to qualify for the card, you “have not declared bankruptcy or defaulted on a loan in the past 5 years” and “have a credit card or loan that has not been more than 30 days late on any payment in the last year.”

Capital One Venture Card

The Capital One Venture card recommends a good to excellent credit score which is generally defined as between 670 and 850. Capital One states that the ideal applicant “has never declared bankruptcy or defaulted on a loan, not been more than 60 days late on any credit card, loan, or medical bill, in the last year, and has had a loan or credit card for 3 years or more with a credit limit above $5,000.”

Next Steps

Prior to applying for any card, you’ll want to know your credit history and credit score. You can obtain a credit report from each of the major credit bureaus via AnnualCreditReport.com and there is no cost for the service. Reviewing your credit report for accuracy is always a good first step.

Should you find any errors on your credit report, you’ll want to submit a dispute to the credit bureau and resolve the issue prior to applying for a card.

Once you’ve determined where you stand and have corrected any errors, you can access any available card offers risk-free with the CardMatch tool. There is no inquiry on your credit report and very little information is required to utilize the tool. Capital One also has a risk-free pre-qualification tool, but it does require you to provide more information.

These tools provide a list of card offers you may qualify, for but do not guarantee that you will be approved for the cards.

Final Thoughts

Capital One is a good place to start building or rebuilding your credit. The variety of cards offered can serve as stepping stones to elevate your creditworthiness to a point where you may have an endless choice of rewards-earning card options.

If your credit is fair, starting with the Capital One Platinum card could help you improve your credit and ultimately qualify you for a next-step card such as the Capital One VentureOne card and then the Capital One Venture card. For information on additional Capital One miles- and rewards-earning cards, you’ll want to check out this list of some of the best cards from this issuer.

If you have bad credit or absolutely no credit, you still have options for cards to help you build good credit.

Once you’ve achieved a good to excellent credit score, you’ll have your choice of some of the best travel rewards cards.

For Capital One products listed on this page, some of the benefits may be provided by Visa^® or Mastercard^® and may vary by product. See the respective Guide to Benefits for details, as terms and exclusions apply.