So is the Captial One Venture Card something to get excited about? If you play the credit card points/miles/cash back game and travel is your chosen reward, perhaps…
In general, I recommend most people go with one of these highly-rated cash rewards credit cards. The rewards are generous and they can be redeemed for real cash or travel or gift cards. With other cards, you may be stuck with points or miles that aren’t as useful.
(And a friendly reminder, if you don’t pay off your credit card balance(s) in full every single month, don’t bother with a rewards card…you won’t come out ahead).
All that said, Capital One cards are becoming popular with travelers for two reasons:
On the Downside…
Capital One often ranks near the bottom in credit card customer satisfaction surveys. In this JD Powers credit card satisfaction survey, Capital One only scored a two out of five for overall satisfaction. American Express and Discover were near the top with five-star ratings for overall satisfaction.
What’s New About the Venture Card?
At first glance, the Capital One Venture Card offers similar benefits to the card company’s No Hassles Miles Rewards cards except that the Venture Card has a higher rewards level: You’ll earn two miles for every dollar spent, without limits. According to Capital One:
There are no limits on when, where or how you earn double miles, no retailer specifications or spending categories, no separate rewards enrollment or re-enrollment requirements, and no limit on the number of miles cardholders can accumulate. What’s more, cardholders enjoy easy redemption by booking on any airline at any time, with no blackout dates, no advance booking required, and no expiration. Rewards can be redeemed for any travel related expense, such as airline, hotel, cruise line and rental car transactions.
The other big difference with the Venture Credit Card is the way you redeem rewards—you can use your miles to pay for any travel-related purchase you make with your card. You simply purchase your travel and flag the charge for reimbursement from your accumulated miles. And the redemption rate is average—100 points equals one dollar’s reward. So $15,000 in spending earns you 30,000 miles which can buy a $300 airline ticket…any airline ticket. That’s better than a lot of points rewards cards that only give you one point for every dollar spent and then require you to cash in up to twice as many points to get a cash-value reward like a gift card.
Is It Worth It?
The Capital One Venture Credit Card is free for the first year but has a $59 annual fee thereafter (with its rewards structure, you’d need to spend $3,000 a year on the card to break even with the annual fee). As of its introduction, the card has a variable 13.9 percent APR. There is also a no-fee version of the card—the Capital One VentureOne Credit Card—which offers similar benefits but pays only 1.25 miles rewards per dollar spent.
APPLY FOR CAPITAL ONE CREDIT CARDS
Consider a Cash Back Card
I think cards that offer cash rewards (all for no annual fee) are the better deal. At the end of the year, I’d rather have $300 cash-in-hand, even if I ultimately spend it on a plane ticket.
If you’re interested in going this route, check out our list of cash rewards credit cards compared. These include the following highly-recommended cards:
And again, if you carry a balance on your card, just forget the rewards game altogether. Find the lowest APR card you can and pay it off as fast as you can with a card like the Citi® Dividend Platinum Select® MasterCard® , which offers a 0% APR for 15 months on balance transfers.
###
I’ve had a Capital One card for 10 years and in the past year their customer service has been horrible. Most recently I spent 15 minutes on hold to activate my new card, and they hung up on me, then I called back, spent another 15 minutes on hold and when I finally got through they told me their system was down and to call back in 3-4 hours.
I am not the only one who feels this way: http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/SmartSpending/ConsumerActionGuide/the-customer-service-hall-of-shame-2009.aspx
Look at #4 on this list.
Capital One has really improved their service in the past few years. Their special service for higher end cards like the Venture has actually won several awards recently.
Good to know, Lauren; thanks for sharing your experience. I have a Capital One card but I rarely use it and to be honest, hadn’t had much experience with their customer service…though I have yet to meet a big bank/credit card company that leaves me all warm and fuzzy.
The 0% foreign transaction fee is the top reason why we recommend Capital One cards as one of the best travel credit cards. Keep in mind this card is for people with excellent credit.
I have a Cap1 Card (No Hassle Miles) that has no annual fee and accumulated miles can be used for anything – even cash – all at the same rate of 100 miles per reward dollar. I *could* request that Cap1 reimburse me for specific travel purchases (like a flight), but I find it easier to just request a credit to my statement…plus I still earn the miles on the flight purchase.
Also, I earn miles at a rate of 1 mile per dollar on the first $1k spent each month, and 2 miles per dollar thereafter. So for $3k spent in a month, I am earning an average of 1.67 miles per dollar. I used to get a flat rate of 1.25 miles per dollar, but request the change and they obliged.
I’ve never had a bad experience with Cap1 customer service, but have heard many complaints from others. My only beef is that my wife is an auth. user and I would like her to be a joint account holder, but they will not do that without opening a new account.
I have a Capital One card and it is joint account with my daughter who attends college. We have had this joint account since her junior year in high school (5 yrs). You might want to speak with a manager.
Capital One has been great particularly when my daughter studied aboard – no fees!
Capital One “no hassels” is very misleading. My husband and I have used this card for 10 years and as of recently have been extrememly disappointed. We travel abroad frequently so the lack of a foreign transaction fee is appealing, but we found that the “customer service” protection that they tout as a benefit is non-existent. We had a recent issue in Mexico, they have used every exploitive tactic to avoid assisting us in recovery. Beware, if you are using Capital One you may be avoiding the foreign transaction fee but if something goes down, YOU ARE ON YOUR OWN!
If you are choosing between the 1.25 mile card and the 2 mile card with the fee, you need to spend about $7900 to break even. (You are trading $59 for 0.75 points per dollar spent. $59 divided by .0075 is $7866.67.) The $3000 means you aren’t paying more in the annual fee than you earn in mileage, but that is a rather low bar if you qualify for another miles card with no annual fee.
I have a Capital One Signature Card which earns 3 miles for every $1. spent on gas and groceries. My credit limit is $30,000. and the interest rate is low, I pay it off every month. I wanted to get a Capital One Vantage Card in addition the the one I already have, however Cap 1 will not approve it, because I have a credit limit of 30k, I asked them to lower it to 10k and approve the Vantage Card, they could not / would not do it. I am so angry and frustrated with Cap 1. ALL banking, money market, some CD’s , checking and credit cards are with Cap 1, I don’t know where to go from here.
Kathleen, I work for Capital One in the dept that upgrades customers to the venture and we are supposed to make sure the card is going to fit the customer before we upgrade them. If you are already getting the visa signature benefits with 3 miles per dollar, no annual fee with a high limit, and low int rate then you should be very happy with your account because the venture earns 2 miles and the $59 fee. Capital One offered the 3 miles per dollar program for a very limited time and no longer offers it to new customers. When I see accounts like yours I think of that customer being extremely lucky because those are the best accounts. Hope I changed your outlook a little.
@AH
You don’t seem to understand the terms of the Visa Signature card. Yes, there are 3 mile for every dollar spent on GAS & GROCERIES only! All others is 1 to 1. In my plea I want to keep this card, I also wanted to the Venture card to use on other purchases. I dropped my AA Citibank card which also had a fee and wanted to replace it with the Venture card.
After many weeks of hassling trying to get the Venture card, I had success. A personal banker took up my case, (she had worked at many positions for Cap1 and knew people that could help), she spent many hours on my case. She got them to lower my credit limit on my Signature card, allowing me to get the Venture card.
Now my advise to you AH is to read and listen to your customer. Also know what the Signature card offers, I would be extremely happy if what you stated is true 3 to 1 on everything, but that is not the case.
Thanks to Brittany at Capitol One Branch, North Plano (Coit) she got to a real person, instead of a computer. Thank you Brittany.
AH, perhaps if Cap 1 gives the customer what they want, instead of what Cap 1 wants, problems similar to mine would be easily solved.
Also, if I get with the Signature Card 3 miles for EVERY dollar, I would love to see that in writing. I had to choose which of the 3 choices I wanted to have 3 miles for the dollar spent. I choose Gas and Groceries. If I am wrong in this statement, please advise me.
Thank you
To follow up, I finally got my Venture Card, however, they only gave me a credit limit of $6k, and dropped my Signature to $24k, however, I want to use the Venture Card as my primary and Signature for Groceries only… now I have to get it switched around! NOT an easy task, after about 3 months, I finally got an agent that would help me, she put my problem in the hands of a human being instead of a computer. Success, now both cards have a limit of $24k… and I am a happy camper!
Oh SNAP!
I use the Cap 1 card because of the international benefits on currency fees. I think almost all customer service with credit cards is poor. AMEX is good for fraud protection, but they’ve never impressed me as I don’t think I get what I pay for. I upgraded to the Venture card, as I will put all my biz expenses on it. It should allow me to really nail down some good free travel. I really like that I can book the flight and still earn MQM’s on Delta (which speaking of poor customer service…)
What cards like Delta Platinum provide, is the ability to upgrade to their airline status. I spent $50K this year, and got 25,000 medalion points. that is enough to get a silver status. I will be platnum soon, and can get miles quicker… it is hard to just compare money to status…
We have had the Capital One no hassles card for at least 5 or 6 years. We have made purchases with points and when we used the card for travel, cap one flagged the purchase and asked us if we wanted to use our points for the miles. I was impressed. I am very happy with them so far and am waiting for our new Venture card.
We are extremely impressed with Cap One service. My husband was pickpocketed in Barcelona–had the Cap One card with him. We were on a cruise, and they had an emeregency card delivered to us at our next port within 48 hours. We spoke to Americans in America, too. Just switching to Venture, and these comments have helped us decide whether to call to activate or not!
I think capital one has changed the venture card so you no longer have an annual fee. Unless they were just trying to trick me….
Nick, I hope you are right about the annual fee. However, my husband has a Venture card with no fee, milage is different 1 mile per 1 dollar. That is a no fee card. The advantage of the Venture card is how the tiers are set up.
There are two venture cards. Venture One has no annual fee but you get 1.25 miles / $1. Venture card has a $59 annual fee, but you get 2 miles / $1. If you charge more than $10K/year on your card, go with the annual fee one, it pays off in the end.
Were you aware that when the ‘Double the Miles’ they only pay 1/2% when you convert to cash? I just did this. Redeemed 40,000 miles (which had been doubled) for $200, that comes to a lackluster 1/2%. A marketing scam.
i am rebuilding my credit. got the cap 1 secure card which goes to $3K. Wells Fargo goes to $10K limit.
My question is what do I have to do to get to the venture card? if I save $30,000 in the CDs will I still be able to get the upper level card?
I have had a Capt. One card for years and have had NO complaints. the customer service reps I have spoken with have been super pleasant and helpful. My husband and I each upgraded to a Venture card. Hope we continue to be as pleased as we have been in past. We use our points for travel. When I received the cash back, I always twittered it away; at least now I will have something to show for it….and yest, I do spend enough on my card , as does my husband, to make it worthwhile….we are excited about this new opportunity.
is there a percentage fee for making a transaction outside the usa?
Capital One is one of the few companies that don’t charge transaction fees outside the USA. Nets you savings of 3% + your 2X miles!
can someone tell me what the cash rewards are for the venture card. is it $50 per 5000 miles etc. called them and would not tell me. said i had to be a cardholder for cashback info.
The venture card w/ double miles pays 1%. They double the miles but when they convert miles to cash they only pay 1/2%. So why not just give me regular miles (don’t double it) and pay 1% instead of the wonderful doubling of miles and paying .005. Lame.
I have a new venture which I love best cc I ever used. My question is I have a US Air card I closed out but have about 21,000 miles on may I transer the miles to my venture card
thanks
I got a Capital One Venture card for the no foreign transaction and rewards features. First problem was incorrect processing of automatic payment request. Second problem was that auto payment requests take 6-8 weeks to process (whereas Chase & Citi are much quicker). Customer service calls were very unsatisfactory on this matter. Then the redemption clerk was rude and difficult to work with. Nest, I called to reduce our credit limit and received a letter stating that our credit increase had been denied and this had been reported to the credit reporting agencies. I wrote to inform them of their error and in reply, I received a form letter that did not address their error -no apology and I doubt if anyone read my letter. We cancelled the card, simply because the customer service was so shoddy. Subsequently, our BA Chase card started offering no foreign transaction fee. Have had numerous credit cards and never had customer service issues with any other credit card company.
Yo, I see the Venture card as at best a deceptive double miles plan. Ok, for $59 annual fee you get double miles. BUT they only pay 1/2% (compared to 1% on most other cards) when you cash in miles for cash. I just redeemed 40,000 miles for $200 (that’s .005 or 1/2%). You’re better off getting the ‘cash rewards’ card w/o an annual fee and getting 1% on everything or even 2% on gas/groceries.
Bottom line: they double the miles but pay half the benefit- it all comes down to 1%, it’s a wash. And they get an annual fee! Scam.
The TV ad featuring Alec Boldwin is completely misleading.
First, the actor notes that it is nearly impossible to get an air ticket from airlines mileage programs for 25000 miles, which is true, but then he continues that with the Capital One Venture Card you can get air ticket on any airline at any time. The confluence of the two is the impression that with the Capital One Venture Card you can get air ticket on any airline at any time for 25000 points. This is false. Each point counts as 1 cent towards the purchase of an air ticket for whichever the price is. Since most long-haul tickets today cost more than $400 it means that with the Capital One Venture Card you get a ticket for more than 40000 points. But most airlines these days have a two or three tier pricing and for fixed 40000 miles you can still get an unrestricted air ticket at any time.
Would you want to deal with a company that uses deceptive advertising?
After the fourth time my B of A visa account was invaded, I applied for a Capital One Venture card. The no foreign transaction fees and 1.25 milage credit was appealing. But, they limit me to $3,000. My B of A card has a $21,700 limit. My first time to book foreign travel I ended up using the B of A card and paying $136.00 transaction fees. I appealed to Capital One to increase my credit limit. They will not consider my credit rating, assets, or payment history. They’re answer is simply “no”. Any ideas how I can get past this? What good are the great benefits if I can’t ever use them!
I just obtained a credit card and I’ve fought with them every step of the way. Nothing has worked right and their customer service is hideous. They fall all over themselves with scripted apologies but their card is a total hassle to possess. I got it for an upcoming trip to have as a spare. It’s too late to get another but this one will be canceled the day I return. I will not deal accept this kind of service or deal with these imbeciles.
Today I tried to pay my bill online. Apparently I cannot pay it until the statement is issued! What kind of idiots are these people?
I strongy advise you try a different provider unless you like sending long periods of time on-hold, waiting for an attendant who is of absolutely no help.
At least you spelled imbecile right.
I just applied for the Cap1 Venture card as I’m traveling overseas for 6 months. The no foreign transaction fees are great, and as long as you redeem for travel you get a decent 1% rate. They screw you on cash redemption, but to be fair, the card is advertised as a miles card so if you wanted cash, why you get this card?
However, they have some racket going when trying to reach them while overseas. They declined a purchase because of the $ amounts so I tried to call the ‘call collect’ phone # on the back of the card. It wouldn’t go through. When I finally got an operator on the line, they said the 804# on the back of the card has a collect call block on it! AMAZING. So, instead I logged into my account, sent a secure email with my details, the merchant name, $ amount, etc. so they wouldn’t decline the transaction. The response I got was “call the collect # on the back of your card, we can’t accept written communication for this request”. Again, AMAZING.
Absolutely terrible customer service!!!
Capital One really doesn’t want my business. I was shopping for a decent cash back card and called to ask about benefits – whether they offer return protection and price protection. Spoke to two reps in the application dept and was told by both that “we’re not responsible for that.” Apparently, the benefits department would know, but I could not talk to them until after I register for a card. Why on earth would I get a card without learning about benefits first?
Another reason to go with the Fidelity investment rewards amex. The amex seems to have excellent customer service, return protection, and only 1% on forex (that’s only $5 more than the Cap One a year if you spent $500 overseas – definitely worth it given better experience).
CapitalOne finally increased my Venture Card limit by $5,000 bringing it to $8,000. This is sufficient for our month-to-month spending but I still must use my B of A card to book travel. My wife received a credit application in the mail from CapitalOne. We went on line and filled out the application and she was immediately approved with a $10,000 limit! It seems to me they prefer to operate on their own rather than the customers terms. But, we’re satisfied that we can get the benefit of the no foreign transaction fees. And, it looks liek I’ll be able to stop using my B of A card.