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

BY 

Christine Krzyszton

- UPDATED: August 19, 2021

1. Credit Cards

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Capital One is a unique credit card issuer offering a large collection of cards that includes an option appropriate for every credit level and situation. Perhaps you’d like to get started on the path towards 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.

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

In an effort to illustrate an example of a path one can take towards securing a rewards-earning card, we’ve selected 3 Capital One cards today, each of which is 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 card, and the Capital One Venture Rewards card.

Minimum Qualification Requirements

As we mentioned in the introduction, each of our featured cards has its own specific requirements in order to qualify and subsequently be approved for a card. Let’s look at the level of recommended credit you would need to qualify for each card.

CapOne Platinum Card

The CapOne 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 ideal 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.”

CapOne VentureOne Card

If your credit score is considered good to excellent range, you might want to apply for the CapOne 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.”

CapOne Venture Card

The CapOne 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’re determined where you stand currently 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.

The Value of a Welcome Bonus

While the CapOne Platinum card does not offer a welcome bonus, the CapOne VentureOne card and CapOne 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.

Credit Card

Benefits & Info

Capital One Platinum Credit Card Learn More (at our partner's secure site)

Be automatically considered for a higher credit line in as little as 6 months Fraud coverage if your card is lost or stolen Use online banking to access your account, even from your smartphone, with our 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 Get access to your account 24 hours a day, 7 days a week Help build your credit through responsible use of a card like this Fair to Average Credit Recommended (580-669) Annual Fee: $0 Must Reads: For more info on the Capital One Platinum Card, see our insights on its benefits and why it's one of the best cards for limited or no credit history.

Credit Card	Benefits & Info
Capital One VentureOne Rewards Credit Card Learn More (at our partner's secure site)	Earn 20,000 mile sign up bonus (worth $200) once you spend $500 on purchases within 3 months from account opening. 0% Intro APR on purchases for 12 months; 14.99% - 24.99% variable APR after that Earn 1.25x Miles on every purchase Annual Fee: $0 Must Reads: For more info on the VentureOne Card, see our thoughts on its benefits and our full review.

Credit Card

Benefits & Info

Capital One Venture Rewards card Learn More (at our partner's secure site)

Earn 60,000 miles once you spend $3,000 on purchases within 3 months from account opening. Earn unlimited 2X 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 Receive up to $100 credit for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck No Foreign Transaction Fees Excellent Credit Recommended (740-850) Annual Fee: $95 Must Reads: For more info on the CapOne Venture card, see our thoughts on its benefits and our full review.

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 60,000-mile welcome bonus would equal $600 in travel value. However, you could receive potentially greater value when utilizing the option to transfer miles to travel partners and use 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 CapOne VentureOne card vs. the CapOne Venture card.

Earning Rewards

Although Capital One refers to its rewards as miles, the miles are not actually airline frequent flyer miles but more like redeemable points. Fortunately, Capital One is known for its simplistic earning structures, so you’ll always know how many “miles” you’ll be earning on every purchase you make.

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

Bottom Line: The no-annual-fee CapOne Platinum card is designed primarily for building credit and does not earn rewards. The CapOne VentureOne card earns 1.25 miles per dollar spent on every purchase and also does not charge an annual fee. The CapOne Venture card charges a $95 annual fee but has the highest earning level of 2 miles per dollar spent on every purchase. 

Redemption Options

While the CapOne Platinum card doesn’t earn rewards, miles earned on the CapOne VentureOne card and CapOne Venture card offer several redemption options from which to select.

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. Not all options provide good value, however. Strive for no less than 1 cent per mile in value.

Everything Else You Need To Know

Your CapOne VentureOne card or CapOne Venture card could be issued as either a Visa Platinum or Visa Signature card depending on Capital One’s assessment of your creditworthiness. Credit limits and benefits will vary based on which card you receive.

The minimum credit limit for the Visa Signature card is $5,000. The minimum credit limit for the CapOne Platinum card is $300 but you will be automatically considered for a higher credit limit after 6 months of successful history.

None of our featured cards charges a fee for adding an additional user.

CapOne Platinum Card vs. CapOne VentureOne Card & CapOne Venture Card — Summary

Now it’s time to 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.

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 CapOne Platinum card could help you improve your credit and ultimately qualify you for a next-step card such as the CapOne VentureOne card and then the CapOne Venture card. For information on additional Capital One 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.

The information regarding the Capital One VentureOne Rewards card and Capital One Venture Rewards card was independently collected by Upgraded Points and not provided nor reviewed by the issuer.