5 Reasons I Closed the Capital One Venture Card (And the Credit Cards I Applied for Instead)

The Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card was my first foray into the points and miles world.

I was still in college when I applied, so I only had a few priorities in mind — and the Capital One Venture card easily ticked off all those boxes.

Easy to use? Check. Affordable? Check. A TSA PreCheck or Global Entry credit? Check. I was sold.

While the Capital One Venture card was a nice starter card to have, I began using it less frequently as I picked up other cards over the years. Then, I found those other cards were so much better suited to my lifestyle and travel needs that I was “sock drawer-ing” the Capital One Venture card.

Here at Upgraded Points, we’re all for reassessing the cards you have in your wallet. Keep reading for the 5 reasons I decided to close my Capital One Venture card — and what I found works better for me instead.

1. Capital One No Longer Waives the First Year Annual Fee

I had applied for the Capital One Venture card in 2018. Back then, the issuer waived the first-year annual fee for new applicants, which made it easy for a college student with very little income to justify the cost of a paid credit card (oh, the horrors!).

That was no longer the case in 2020, when the issuer decided to make this $95 annual fee mandatory, as it remains now (rates & fees).

So, while this annual fee change did not impact me directly, it made me question whether I should keep recommending this travel credit card to my friends and family. After all, many travel cards have arguably better long-term value (more on this below).

That annual fee change made me realize this travel credit card wasn’t the right fit beyond the first year.

2. Lack of Unique Capital One Transfer Partners

The Capital One Venture card introduced me to rewarding travel lessons that can’t be overlooked. This card taught me how to be a more savvy traveler, from transferring miles to airline and hotel programs for maximum value to getting my Global Entry/TSA PreCheck application fee credit waived.

But in 2021, there was a blow to the Capital One Miles program: the loss of JetBlue TrueBlue as a transfer partner. While this may not seem like a big deal, JetBlue was Capital One’s only domestic airline partner — now, there aren’t any.

Around the same time, Capital One improved the transfer ratios of loyalty partners to finally get on par with its main rivals, Amex and Chase. While you can definitely redeem Capital One miles for outsized value on international business class tickets, it’s not every day that I’m redeeming for a flight to Paris or Johannesburg.

Although TrueBlue is a revenue-based program, there have been countless instances where I’ve saved money by finding dirt-cheap award tickets for short domestic hops across the country — sometimes for as low as 3,500 points. I was a huge fan of the ability to earn JetBlue points by transferring my Capital One miles in a pinch to book affordable travel.

Ultimately, I found that Capital One transfer partners were simply not unique nor compelling to me. Out of Capital One’s 15+ transfer partners, I didn’t feel like I was truly missing out on any programs (perhaps only Turkish Miles&Smiles and Wyndham Rewards?). Even then, those 2 loyalty programs alone did not move the needle for me as an award traveler.

3. Unlimited Double Miles Is No Longer a Competitive Earning Rate

Capital One’s transfer partner list wasn’t the only reason I began favoring other cards.

Once I picked up a few other cards (namely from American Express and Chase), I discovered that I spread my credit card spending too thin. The only time I used the Capital One Venture card was to take advantage of the 2x miles on all eligible purchases.

While 2x is an excellent rate for non-bonus spending, it’s not impressive on its own. When you consider earning rates of any credit card, you also have to factor in the value at which you’re redeeming your miles.

That’s why Upgraded Points publishes monthly points and miles valuations to help you get a clearer picture of what your rewards are actually worth. Here are our best estimations for the main transferable programs:

• Amex Membership Rewards points: 2.2 cents
• Bilt Rewards points: 1.8 cents
• Capital One miles: 1.8 cents
• Citi ThankYou Points: 1.6 cents
• Chase Ultimate Rewards points: 2.0 cents

At best, I only put less than $10,000 annually on my Capital One Venture card to earn the 2x bonus miles. There were plenty of other cards or tactics I could have used, such as:

• Reaching spending minimums of welcome bonus offers
• Earning 1 American Airlines AAdvantage mile and 1 Loyalty Point per dollar spent on my Citi^® / AAdvantage^® Platinum Select^® World Elite™ Mastercard^® to help me earn AAdvantage miles and toward American elite status — double the wins in my book!
• Lining up my monthly bills on Bilt’s Rent Day, which offers double points on non-rent spending on the first of the month with the Bilt World Elite Mastercard^® Credit Card
• $0-annual-fee cards like The Blue Business^® Plus Credit Card from American Express still offer 2x points up to 50,000 points per calendar year (rates & fees)

When the Capital One Venture card first debuted, it was touted as a game-changing card for its 2x earning rate. With other competing cards starting to mimic or innovate with better benefits, the Capital One Venture card started to lose its luster.

By only limiting my non-bonus spending on the Capital One Venture card, I was accruing small lumps of miles each month to a limited set of transfer partners.

4. Other Travel Benefits I Don’t Use

The Capital One Venture card has several other unique features, but they never provided much use for me.

A popular redemption option is to redeem travel purchases made on your statement credit within 90 days for 1 cent apiece. This could be helpful for travelers who want to save money on vacation rentals, cruises, or other expenses.

Then, in 2021, Capital One introduced the Capital One Travel portal exclusively for cardholders. The issuer even encourages you to use the portal by offering 5x bonus points on hotels and rental cars for Capital One Venture cardholders.

While the 5x earning rate is great, it doesn’t apply to flights, making it much less useful for me. Plus, booking major chain hotels via Capital One Travel meant that I was likely ineligible for any hotel points or elite status benefits.

Finally, unlike the Chase Travel portal, you don’t get a preferred redemption rate when booking through the issuer-only portal. With an eligible Chase travel card, you can get 1.25 cents to 1.5 cents more value for Chase Travel bookings — the Capital One Venture card offers a flat-rate 1-cent redemption.

5. There Were No Downgrades Available

All of the reasons piled up, so it was only a matter of time before I decided it was time to cut the cord.

Since the Capital One Venture card was one of the oldest cards in my wallet, I didn’t want to completely close the card to impact my length of credit. Fortunately, in most cases, you should be able to downgrade your credit card to a no-annual-fee product within the same family.

That was exactly my plan. I called customer service to downgrade my Capital One Venture card to the $0-annual-fee Capital One VentureOne Rewards Credit Card (rates & fees).

The agent would not allow me to downgrade my card — even after calling twice — so I decided it was worth taking the credit hit of a few points to close the account altogether. Similar user reports online have stated the same issue, but in this industry, your mileage may vary (YMMV).

Credit Cards That Have Replaced My Capital One Venture Card

This is not to say the Capital One Venture card isn’t valuable for some consumers.

It can still be a solid travel card for beginners, but I’ve found a few other great cards that could be a better fit — let’s take a look.

If you’ve made it this far, you may wonder: What about the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card? In a new league above the Capital One Venture card, the Capital One Venture X card offers unlimited access to Capital One Lounges and the Partner Lounge Network, a $300 annual travel credit through Capital One Travel, and more.

This card makes a lot more sense for frequent travelers, even with its $395 annual fee (rates & fees). However, I’m laser-focused on my Chase and Amex point strategies at the moment.

Capital One remains off the table, even a few years after I closed my Capital One Venture card. Maybe I’ll reconsider once Capital One opens more airport lounges near me.

Final Thoughts

It may feel like it’s taboo to close a credit card, but there’s no shame when it no longer works for you.

In my case, I had the Capital One Venture card for more than 3 years before I decided that it no longer made financial sense for me. Not to mention, my travel goals have changed over the years. Naturally, it makes sense that my rewards strategy has shifted, too, so the Capital One Venture card no longer fits the bill.