Capital One Venture Business Card Review

If you’re a traveler like me, chances are you’re always on the lookout for ways to make your trips more affordable. That’s why I collect points and miles: they help me lower my travel costs so I can spend my money on what’s actually important…which is usually booking more trips!

One card that can help you earn more points and miles — which translates to more free flights and free hotel stays — is the Capital One Venture Business card. It’s an easy-to-use card perfect for travels who want to simplify their points and miles collecting. Here’s everything you need to know about the card to help decide if it’s for you. It’s a solid business card for those who don’t want a high annaul fee card but want some added perks besides just getting miles when you spend money.

 

What Is It?

The Capital One Venture Business card is the new rebranded version of Capital One’s Spark Miles. But it has some noteworthy improvements that I think make it worth adding to your wallet. Here’s a look at the card’s main perks:

• Earn a one-time welcome bonus of 100,000 miles once you spend $10,000 on purchases within the first 3 months from account opening.
• Standard 2x miles on every purchase
• 5X miles on hotels, vacation rentals and rental car purchases when booked through Capital One Business Travel
• $50 annual travel credit
• $50 annual statement credit
• Up to $120 for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck
• Hertz Five Star status
• No foreign transaction fees

The annual fee for the card is just $95, which means it’s effectively free once you factor in the two statement credits. With a default 2x miles for every dollar spent, that makes this card a solid choice for everyday spending. And without a ton of differing spending categories, the card is very easy to use, making it perfect for travelers new to the points and miles game.

Rental Car Perks

In addition to giving you Hertz Five Star status, which lets you skip the counter at select locations while also offering a wider selection of cars, the card also offers rental car coverage when renting a car for business reasons. You’ll need to charge the full fee to your card and also decline the company’s collision damage waiver, but once you do that, you’ll be covered for damage due to both collisions and theft.

While I don’t often rent cars for work, I appreciate the free collision coverage and being able to skip the line (especially at busier rental locations).

Travel Partners

With this card, you’ll earn Capital One miles. You can use them like you would any other rewards program: to get cash back, book travel directly, or transfer them to travel partners.

The easiest option is to redeem your miles for travel in the Capital One travel portal, which works like booking through Expedia or any other online travel agency. Doing so is very straightforward. You simply search for and book your flight, hotel, or rental car and choose “miles” as your payment method. It’s basically like using your miles as cash, at a value of one cent per mile.

Both options are super easy to implement, which is why this is a great card for newbies. And if this is the only way that you’ll use your miles, go for it! Using them is better than letting them sit around.

However, you can usually get more for your miles when you transfer them to Capital One’s transfer partners.

The ability to transfer to travel partners is what makes Capital One miles valuable. While the actual value varies based on what you book, you can usually find airline and hotel redemptions worth much more than the aforementioned 1 cent per mile.

Transferring to travel partners is a bit more work than using the portal, but there are more tools than ever to help you maximize your miles (such as point.me for finding flights and Awayz for finding award hotel stays).

Here are their current hotel and airline transfer partners:

• Accor Live Limitless
• Aeromexico Rewards
• Air Canada Aeroplan
• Avianca Lifemiles
• British Airways Club
• Cathay Pacific Asia Miles
• Choice Privileges
• Emirates Skywards
• Etihad Guest
• EVA Air
• Finnair Plus
• Flying Blue
• I Prefer Hotel Rewards
• Japan Airlines Mileage Bank
• JetBlue TrueBlue
• Qantas Frequent Flyer
• Qatar Airways Privilege Club
• Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer
• TAP Miles&Go
• Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles
• Virgin Red
• Wyndham Rewards

Who Is This Card For?

This card is best for business travelers who are looking for an easy-to-use card to help them earn points and miles. While I personally think the Capital One Venture X Business card is a better card, it comes with a higher annual fee so, if you want a solid travel card for your business and don’t need the upgraded perks of the Capital One Venture X Business card, this is the Capital One card for you. And since the credits cover the annual fee, the card is essentially free!

***The new Capital One Venture Business card has an amazing welcome offer, a respectable 2x on every purchase, and some solid perks for regular travelers. And with its low annual fee, this card is a no brainer for travelers looking for a new business card. I just wouldn’t wait too long — this huge welcome offer isn’t gonna last forever!