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

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.

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.

LIMITED-TIME OFFER

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 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!

Welcome Offer

Earn more than $1000 in Travel Bonuses with a limited-time $300 Capital One Travel stays credit, plus earn 75,000 bonus miles once you spend $4,000 on purchases within the first 3 months of account opening—that's more than $1,000 in travel value. 

$300 Travel Credit + 75k miles

UP's Offer Valuation*:

$1,650

Annual Fee

$95

APR

Purchases: 19.74% - 28.74% (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 card application.

Good to Excellent Credit

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

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Card Highlights

• LIMITED-TIME OFFER: Enjoy $300 to use on hotel and vacation rental bookings through Capital One Travel in your first cardholder year, plus earn 75,000 bonus miles once you spend $4,000 on purchases within the first 3 months from account opening – that’s more than $1,000 in travel value
• 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
• Top rated mobile app

Financial Snapshot

• APR: Purchases: 19.74% - 28.74% (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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.