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Why the Capital One Venture Card Is Still Worth It in 2025

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Ryan Smith
Updated: 
Edited by: Michael Y. Park
& Jestan Mendame
Why the Capital One Venture Card Is Still Worth It in 2025
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You won’t find a list of jaw-dropping benefits on the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card. It doesn’t provide a private concierge, lounge access, or a long list of flashy perks.

However, these perks are less important to me than the rewards potential and the numerous ways I can use them once they hit my account. In short, this is a great travel credit card that punches above its weight.

But the card has gained even more importance to me since the landscape has changed. With devaluations of other credit cards and competing rewards programs, here’s why this card now looks better than ever.

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Capital One Venture Card Overview

In exchange for its $95 annual fee, the Capital One Venture card offers a simple — yet powerful — earning structure and several ongoing benefits:

  • Unlimited 5x miles on hotels, vacation rentals, and rental cars booked in the Capital One Travel portal
  • Unlimited 2x miles on all purchases
  • Up to $120 credit to reimburse your application fee for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck
  • Access to exclusive experiences, extended warranty protection, travel assistance services, MasterRental insurance, and purchase assurance
  • Complimentary Hertz Five Star elite status upon enrollment
  • No foreign transaction fees

Additionally, the card offers multiple ways to use the Capital One miles it earns, including cash, covering recent travel purchases, paying for Amazon or PayPal purchases, and transfers to travel partners.

Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card
Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card
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The rating for this card has been determined by our own industry experts who know the ins and outs 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!

Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card
Get 2x miles plus some of the most flexible redemptions offered by a travel credit card!
Earn 75,000 miles once you spend $4,000 on purchases within the first 3 months from account opening, equal to $750 in travel.
75,000 miles
$1,350
$95
Purchases: 19.99% - 28.99% (Variable)
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 card application.
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
  • 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
  • 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: Purchases: 19.99% - 28.99% (Variable)
  • Foreign Transaction Fees: None
Rewards Center

Capital One Miles

Recent Downgrades to Other Travel Cards

Recent negative changes to other credit cards and rewards programs have forced me to reevaluate my points and miles strategy altogether.

First, there was the announcement about slashed lounge and authorized user benefits on the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card and Capital One Venture X Business Card. These upcoming changes, which will take effect in February 2026, made me decide not to apply for the Capital One Venture X card this year, though I’d originally planned to.

Capital One Lounge JFK bar
Image Credit: Jarrod West

From Chase, we saw the introduction of the Points Boost feature. While this is touted as providing “up to 2 cents” in value when using points in the Chase Travel portal, it will only apply to select bookings — and will never apply to cruises, tickets, or activities. It will only apply to “some” hotels and flights going forward, losing the breadth of the current redemption process and the reliability of knowing what your points are worth.

Now cardholders won’t know what their points are worth toward a redemption until they start searching for travel — and won’t get the 1.25 or 1.5 cents in guaranteed value that some cards currently provide. The “maybe more sometimes, but often less” value proposition here is an overall negative for many people.

We also saw The Business Platinum Card® from American Express announce a devaluation of a perk I really love: the 35% points rebate. Presently, you can get 35% of your points back when using Pay with Points to book flights in any cabin with your pre-selected airline or for first- or business-class seats with any airline.

Amex Business Platinum 1
Image Credit: Upgraded Points

You can get up to a million points back annually with this perk, but this benefit will take a serious nosedive on September 18, 2025. After that date, the ability to get a points rebate in first or business class with any airline will go away — applying to just 1 airline going forward, which you must choose in advance.

Hot Tip:

Amex plans to update its premium cards, both personal and business, later this year, and there may be other downgrades to the Amex Business Platinum card when those changes are announced.

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Where the Capital One Venture Card Shines

As other rewards programs devalue perks and redemptions, being able to count on a good deal is fundamental. The Capital One Venture card continues to offer solid redemptions, quality 2x miles, and a fair number of benefits.

In contrast to Chase and Amex devaluing some of their points redemptions, Capital One continues to offer a great range of redemptions. It’s possible to redeem Capital One miles in the travel portal at 1 cent apiece in value, redeem them as cash for a statement credit, use them as a payment for some online purchases, transfer them to a strong list of transfer partners, and even redeem them to cover recent travel expenses.

This provides incredible value, as I can purchase any travel I want — such as a tour, ferry ride, train, or other options you can’t normally redeem miles for — and then cover the cost with miles after the fact, available within 90 days of the transaction.

Capital One Venture Card Bill
Image Credit: Upgraded Points

True, the Capital One Venture card lost its once-per-year lounge visit benefit in early 2025, but that didn’t affect my overall valuation. And the perks I care most about on the card, namely its earning and redeeming capabilities, haven’t changed.

Along with being able to redeem miles in multiple, flexible ways, I love that this card is one of — if not the — best cards for everyday spending.

We value Capital One miles at 1.8 cents each, so earning 2x on pretty much everything is a 3.6% return on spending. That earning rate helps me earn miles quickly by pulling out the Capital One Venture card for those “other” purchases that won’t trigger bonus categories on my other credit cards. Then I can use those miles to book travel or pay for travel I couldn’t pay for with different rewards programs.

The Capital One Venture card remains strong as other programs continue to devalue their redemptions, require more guesswork, or cut card benefits. And compared to what’s happening elsewhere, it’s becoming even more important to me.

» Related: 22 Benefits of Using the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card

Final Thoughts

As other cards and rewards devalue, the Capital One Venture card remains a formidable option in my wallet — both for earning and redeeming rewards. And as I compare it to the negative changes happening with other credit card programs, this card is becoming even more critical in response.

For Capital One products listed on this page, some of the above 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.

Featured Image Credit: Upgraded Points LLC
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About Ryan Smith

Ryan completed his goal of visiting every country in the world in December of 2023 and is now revisiting some favorites. Over the years, he’s written about award travel and credit cards for publications like AwardWallet, The Points Guy, USA Today Blueprint, CNBC Select, Tripadvisor, Point.me, and Forbes Advisor.

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