Capital One Venture Credit Card Review
Be warned: Not all travel cards are created equal. Here’s what you need to know about the Venture card and why it’s different.
Since making its debut nearly 2 years ago, I’m sure you’ve seen your fair share of commercials touting the Capital One Venture credit card. So are those vikings and Alec Baldwin right? Should you fill out an application or is this card just hype?
Admittedly, I was quite skeptical – the 2 miles per dollar sounded a bit too good to be true. But I did a thorough review of the card myself – and – gathered feedback from others. Here are 5 things I found out.
#1. The double miles are the real deal
It’s not just hype, nor are there any tricks buried in the fine print. With the Capital One Venture you really do get 2x miles for each dollar spent. There’s no cap or ceiling on this – you get unlimited double miles no matter how much you spend.
#2. It’s like earning 2% on everything you buy
This is how the Venture rewards program works: Each mile you earn is worth $0.01 towards a travel purchase. Examples:
Since you are earning 2 miles/dollar, this means you are earning a whopping 2% rebate when you use your miles for travel purchases.
The nice thing about this system is that you have the freedom to buy reward travel on your own, from wherever you want. For example, you could buy a flight from the Delta Airlines website or a hotel room through Priceline. Just charge that purchase to your Venture card and afterward, you can redeem your points to offset that eligible purchase.
#3. There’s no foreign transaction fee
When you make purchases outside of the US, just about every card on the market will sock you with a foreign transaction fee. It’s usually around 2-3% of the purchase price.
On one hand you want to use your credit card while traveling because it’s much safer than cash – but on the flip side – if you have to pay that 2-3% surcharge, the cost vs. benefit is a major dilemma. But with the Venture card you won’t encounter that predicament, since there are no foreign transaction fees.
#4. It comes with a number of benefits
As a Visa Signature card, you get a number of cardholder perks including an extended warranty program, travel accident insurance, a free 24/7 phone concierge service, and others. The application page goes over the details/rules for each benefit.
#5. There are 2 different Venture cards
Although the commercials tend to be for the double miles version, there are actually 2 different types depending on your needs:
- Venture Rewards – This is the most popular. It gives the 2 miles per dollar and has a $59 annual fee.
- VentureOne Rewards – This is a no annual fee version which gives 1.25 miles per dollar spent. Reviews from forum members have said its customer service and benefits are just as good on the $59 version.
Verdict?
The Capital One Venture credit cards definitely deliver. Even if you prefer other cards for special categories of spending, on all other purchases (which usually make up the bulk of your spending) there’s a good chance you’re only earning 1%. So having a card that can earn more than that is a no-brainer.
But which one should you get? Well I created this handy-dandy graph comparing the Capital One Venture vs. VentureOne, so you can see where the breakeven point is…
Once you’ve spent $7,866 the value of your earned rewards (assuming you redeem them for travel) will be worth the following:
Venture: $157.32
VentureOne: $98.32
The difference between the two numbers is $59… the same amount as the annual fee for the Venture. So as long as your annual spending will be more than $7,866 (average of $656/month) it makes more sense to get the $59 Venture. If you spend less, go with the no annual fee VentureOne card.
Here are the current promotions available for each:
Capital One Venture Rewards – Get your first year free plus earn a bonus of 10,000 miles for spending $1,000 in the first 3 months.
Capital One VentureOne Rewards – Earn a bonus of 10,000 miles for spending $1,000 in the first 3 months. 0% until Feb 2013 on purchases.
I am desperately trying to rebuild my credit. How foolish I was to not take credit as serious as it should be so I am certainly paying the price. Thankfully, I am getting the opportunity to rebuild it but I am given very low balances. Capital One gave me a MC and I am hoping that with paying on time, without missing a payment that they will eventually give me a Venture card. Anyone been there and been given a Venture card down the road?
Thank you so much for this post, particularly with the graph in deciding which of the two Capital One cards to get! I really appreciate it!
I love the Vikings…..can’t stand Alec Baldwin….
I was a fan of Capital One Venture but no longer. I purchased 220 printed T Shirts from Raul Carreon owner of Color Glossy Prints in CA with my Venture card. After one washing, all of the art washed off. I immediately filed a dispute with Capital One and sent them a 16 page fax which included images of the T-’s, and answers to all of their questions and a letter from my client that received the faulty T’s. However, due to Capital One’s “Policy” requesting a credit voucher and cancellation number (from Raul who refused to communicate) Capital one said “our further dispute rights have been negated”. They chose to pay the T-shirt printer.
Needless to say, I’m in the market for new card.
some people demand too much from credit cards. the rule is, if you want a good relationship with your credit card, pay more than minimum of not all balances on time. most important, don’t go on a shopping spree. it’s just a big red flag on your account. spend what you can afford. i have been with capital one for 5 years now. i use the card sparingly and pay full balance on time. they never gave me griefs. : )
I am amazed at the negative reviews. I lost my card on vacation last year and called Capital One. They had a card overnighted to me. I had a new card the very next day! Customer service was awesome!
I have had a Capital One card for 12 years, My experience with customer service has been going from good to great. No issues nor charges for purchases made overseas. Now I just opened a bank account with them and could not be happier. They also got two JD Power certifications last year for excellent customer service
For case and obvious point, see M U’s rant above.
I’ve had experience with Capital One, and it’s all been bad. I place them in my collection of banks that I recommend that you avoid. Others in this group are: HSBC, Citi, US Bank, GEMB and BofA (and their FIA Card Services group) plus all the many subprime lenders out there. I’ve done business with a lot of banks over the years. I would say go with an AmEx(a charge card or Blue Cash Preferred) and/or Discover(Escape is great). You will probably need a VISA or MC; for that I think JPM Chase, Wells Fargo and little advertised Nordstrom, fsb are good bets too. Take a look at your credit union and USAA(if you qualify). Consider all aspects of having a particular card. It’s not just about rewards; look at service, billing disputes and others’ experiences before you apply.
I got the venture one card and was supposed to have my “miles matched”. I had 31,000 miles and I got the runaround for over 4 months. They not only did not match my miles (even after I got a confirming email from them stating I was due them), they now are saying I do not qualify. I plan to report the company. I will definitely cancel the account.
I have always had good CS with Capital One. I have a platinum rewards card, yet keep getting Venture solicitation. Is there somthing I’m missing here? They want to increase my rewards 25% for nothing? I know the interest rates are higher, but I always pay my total balance.
Is it possible that the new contract gives them greater flexibility in making arbitrary changes down the road??
I have one capital one card the rewards platinum and I love it. Always pay on time and for a person trying to rebuild their credit they are number one in my book, best customer service and they helped me by believing in me and my credit score is getting better and better. Thanks to Capital One they opened the door for other companies to give me credit just pay your bills ol time and the quality of my life has been so rewarding.
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.
I have found that to many B & B and Lodges will not take a Discover card !
please stay away !!!!
There are no issues what so ever with capitalone customer service. I have been using their card for 3 years now, I had a late payment twice and charged the late feee, and when I called customer service, they waived it, with out a second question. Also had a over the limit usage fee, which was also waived. I am sure the customer service is outsourced as we can understand by the ascent, but I did not have any issues, as my fees was waived
Everyone, calm down. The negative reviews are so unbelievably overblown and exaggerated — OR maybe I’m just very lucky. I’ve had nothing but STELLAR service from Capital One. I’ve had the Venture card for several months now, so far no complaints, it’s been great. That said, I can’t comment on any redemption situations as I have not tried to redeem any miles at this point.
I have been with Capital One for nearly six years, and I have nothing but good stories and feedback regarding their customer service. They’ve been outstanding, for these reasons specifically:
1) Every time I’ve had to call, I’ve never had a foreign call-center rep(not that it would bother me anyway).
Replacement cards have arrive quickly in the mail, and are painless to acquire. Usually a nightmare in my experience.
2) CapOne customer service also has always been very gracious to me, thanking me every time I call for my loyalty and being with them for such a long time.
3) CapOne customer service reps are always polite, I’ve never had a single experience with a rude/unpleasant rep.
4) Forgiveness. There have been 2-3 instances, in the six years I’ve been a member, where I genuinely forgot to pay my bill on time. I was an EXTREMELY BUSY college student, it happens. The reps, seeing that I consistently pay on time, fixed the problem and reversed all chargers IMMEDIATELY. No hassle what so ever, no need to beg or plead.
5) They offer limit increases to me, again, no need to beg or plead.
6) No unbearably long wait times on the phone, I’ve got a rep almost instantly most times, or within a reasonable wait-period.
7) Website is a dream to use, makes things so easy.
9) Fraud liability and protection: a dream.
10) Probably what blew me away from the start — THEY TOOK A CHANCE ON ME. When I was a lot younger, nobody would take a chance on me to give me a credit card, not even my local credit union which I only banked with for a short period at the time. I’m very grateful Capital One helped me out with my first credit card, $500 at the time, more than enough for a young man eager to start building credit.
DON’T BE FOOLED, CAPITAL ONE CUSTOMER SERVICE, AND IN GENERAL, HAS BEEN AN OUTSTANDING COMPANY TO ME.
Card turned down without reason during overseas trip. Yes, I did tell Capital One in advance that we would be traveling, including dates and destinations. When I tried to call international service collect, I got a recording telling me to call another number–and the international operator hangs up if it gets a recording, telling me to try again later. Repeated “secure” email requests for customer service all told me to call the international customer service number–which I told them I was not able to do. My cell provider billed me almost $20 for the two “collect” calls which reached only a recording and not be accepted by Capital One. Security called my home about one charge even though they know I was out of the country. Worst customer service I have ever had.
The TV ad featuring Alec Baldwin is 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.
I have the Capital One Venture One Visa Signature Card, and this is a GREAT CARD! Earning 1.25 miles per dollar spent is better than the standard 1 point per dollar, or 1 point per 2 dollars, and way better than the Chase Sapphire card. I have called Customer Service several times and get through and get VERY GOOD assistance right away. I have had a No Hassle Cap One card for about 10 years and upgraded to the Venture One Visa Sig card and have not had any issues with either card. I also have the Sapphire Preferred and have cancelled it since it charges an annual fee. I think a lot of the people that are having issues have bad credit or did not qualify for the Visa Signature and received the regular Platinum card.
I love my Cap One Venture Visa Sig card ! I also think all the guys that are complaining didn’t qualify for the Visa Sig card. I travel internationally A LOT, and this is one of the few cards that has no foreign transaction fee. This alone has saved me thousands per month. The customer service is great and you get a live rep within seconds of entering your credit card number. The card is also very nice looking, all gold with Passport stamps on it. I like this better than my AMEX Blue and Chase Sapphire Cards. There is no annual fee and the points are easy to redeem. If you are using this card for travel then getting a credit for airfare or travel expenses is no problem.
I’ve had Capital One for years. Had issues here and there and their customer service was excellent. Every issue was resolved quickly and to my satisfaction. I’m in no hurry to switch. I have one major credit card and it’s Capital One. It’s all I need. Also have great service redeeming rewards. I had a Chase Continental Airlines Visa for years and the rewards got so skimpy and hard to use I dropped them like a bad habit. I just wish I found Capital One sooner. Live and learn….
Hated my crappy Capital One student card, then they upgraded me to the Venture card.
Night and day, its like dealing with two different companies. When I call about my venture card, I get a real person, US based who quickly handles my concerns. It took me 3.5 hours to unlock my old C. One card while I was traveling and had filed a travel thing with them so they WOULDNT lock my card.
Hey all, how do you compare the Capital One VentureOne (the free version- no annual fee, 1.25% on purchases) to the Chase Sapphire? Which card works out better?
I feel your frustration somewhat. Unfortunately you lack the intelligent verbal ability to express yourself without the F word. It diminished everything else you had to say for me to empathasize with you. Also….America is capitalized !!!
I think I know what MU was talking about. I think “Kathie” and “Jordi” were offended just by taking what they read rather than the what MU was really really saying. It’s just a figure of speech guys… listen to what MU is saying….. Hey MU, I’ve been there. I moved on to do something else that I enjoy doing and getting paid with the same company. Good luck with your next adventure, hopefully to a better one
Kathie – I agree that MU’s use of foul language really diminishes any point he’s trying to make, but since we’re on the topic of verbal ability, what does “empathasize” exactly mean?