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The Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card is an excellent choice for maximizing miles on everyday purchases. As you’ve probably heard Jennifer Garner boast a hundred times, “You can earn double miles on every purchase, every day.” That’s no small feat compared to other rewards cards that earn 1 mile per dollar, with varying category bonuses. But the card has a lot more going for it than just valuable miles. It also offers numerous benefits that are quite generous for a card that comes with just a $95 annual fee (Rates & Fees).
If you’ve recently applied for a Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card or are considering doing so, here are eight things new cardholders should do to maximize its benefits:
1. Earn the Sign-Up Bonus
The first thing you want to do after getting the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card is meet the minimum spending requirement for the welcome bonus. Cardholders can receive 75,000 bonus miles after spending $4,000 within the first three months of account opening, which we estimate to be worth at least $750 toward travel purchases through Capital One Travel. You can get even more value from Capital One miles by transferring them to one of 18 airline and hotel transfer partners for luxury travel redemptions.
While spending $4,000 in three months may elicit a bit of panic, many folks can achieve this by moving their normal expenses to the card. Everything from your monthly cellphone bill to utilities, insurance premiums and everything in between can be paid with your card. You can also time your card opening around a large purchase. I completed my Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card spending requirement by purchasing furniture and appliances for my sister’s home remodel. The timing worked out perfectly for me.
2. Apply for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck
The Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card is one of the few cards with a $95 annual fee (Rates & Fees) that provides a Global Entry or TSA PreCheck application fee credit up to $100 every four years when you pay with your card. Most other cards with this benefit charge annual fees well over a couple hundred dollars, making the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card a great value.
In my many years of having both Global Entry and PreCheck, I’ve saved close to 100 hours bypassing long immigration and security lines. Not having to take my shoes off in the PreCheck line makes transiting TSA checkpoints speedier and more convenient, while circumventing the full-body scanner is a nice bonus. There have also been countless times when multiple jumbo jets have landed at the same time, leading to a mile-long immigration queue. Being able to bypass a nearly hour-long wait by heading to the Global Entry kiosks and walking right out in minutes has been massively convenient.
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Global Entry is a trusted traveler program that expedites immigration when you return home from abroad. Meanwhile, PreCheck provides access to expedited security lines at airports within the U.S. It’s worth noting that approval for Global Entry gets you automatic enrollment in TSA PreCheck and only costs $22 more. And since the entire application cost is covered by the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card’s credit, it’s worthwhile to splurge on Global Entry.
3. Visit an Airport Lounge
Capital One
Besides the application fee credit, the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card is one of the few cards at its price point to provide airport lounge access. Cardholders receive up to two annual visits to Capital One or Plaza Premium lounges worldwide. Capital One currently operates three Capital One lounges (at Dallas Fort Worth, Denver International, and Dulles International), with more on the way.
Meanwhile, the Plaza Premium lounge network consists of over 100 lounges around the world. You can even use one of these visits for a guest, making it an excellent option for infrequent travelers or couples traveling together. If you have a trip coming up, it’s worth exploring the eligible lounges to determine where you can put your lounge visits to use.
Capital One will be removing this benefit for the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card by December 31, 2024.
4. Get a Virtual Card Number
Credit card fraud has become all too common, with hackers accessing our valuable information—often by hacking retailers’ databases. One way to protect yourself against this is by utilizing virtual card numbers. Capital One is one of a handful of banks that provides virtual card numbers, which is immensely valuable. My Citi and Wells Fargo accounts were hacked numerous times after they were stored on retail sites. Ever since I began using virtual card numbers, I’ve noticed a sharp decline in these instances.
Unfortunately, Chase doesn’t yet offer this feature, so I mostly use my Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card when shopping online. If you want to avoid dealing with these hacks, getting a virtual card number for your card is a great way to secure your transactions. It’s also incredibly easy:
- Log in to your Capital One account
- Find your card
- Click on the “Get your Virtual Card”
- Create a virtual card and use it to shop more securely online
Capital One also allows you to create virtual card numbers for specific merchants by utilizing the Eno tool.
5. Book a Hotel With The Lifestyle Collection
Capital One offers exclusive perks to enhance your experience at hotels participating in The Lifestyle Collection. The Lifestyle Collection is a great way to receive money-saving benefits usually reserved for elite members. Benefits include space-available room upgrades, early check-in, late checkout, free Wi-Fi and a $50 experience credit per stay.
You’ll also earn 5 Venture miles per dollar on these bookings, providing even more incentive to book through this portal. Many recognizable hotel brands are participating in The Lifestyle Collection, including Kimpton, Viceroy and Ace Hotels.
6. Book a Flight With Your Venture Miles
When you’re ready to redeem your Venture Miles, you can get good value using them for international flights. You can redeem as few as 15,000 miles for a one-way award ticket to Europe with Flying Blue (a 1:1 transfer partner) and save on foreign transaction fees (Rates & Fees) when using your card abroad. Credit card foreign transaction fees are typically 3% of any purchase originating abroad, including online purchases. You'll bypass the fee by using your Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card for these purchases.
On a recent trip to Ireland, I charged everything from my rental car purchase to hotels, meals and gas to my Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card. I saved over $100 in foreign transaction fees from this one trip alone. You can easily offset the $95 annual fee (Rates & Fees) from your Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card by using this perk even once a year.
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7. Familiarize Yourself With the Travel Protections
The Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card offers numerous travel protections that can save you money and provide peace of mind during your trip. The card provides travel accident insurance, auto rental collision damage waiver, travel and emergency assistance services, and lost luggage reimbursement.
Take the time to understand the limitations and restrictions of these protections. When it comes time to book travel, you can decide whether these protections are sufficient or if you need supplemental coverage. I’ve had credit card travel protections come to my aid numerous times, including saving me thousands of dollars when my rental car was totaled.
For Capital One products listed on this page, some of the above benefits are provided by Visa® or Mastercard® and may vary by product. See the respective Guide to Benefits for details, as terms and exclusions apply.
8. Refer a Friend for Bonus Points
If you love your new Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card, you can get rewarded for spreading the word. Capital One’s referral program allows cardholders to earn Venture miles for referring others to the card. This is one of the most lucrative ways to earn more Capital One miles every year.
Simply sign in to the refer-a-friend page and share your unique referral code with a friend or family member. When they apply and get approved, you’ll receive bonus miles. This is a great way to earn extra rewards without much effort.
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Bottom Line
The Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card is an excellent travel credit card with many notable benefits. By familiarizing yourself with these perks and making use of them early, you can get much more value out of the card.
Studio Simpatico
Johan Mengesha is the Editorial Director at Slickdeals.net where he manages a team of writers who cover news related to the best deals on the Web. He loves to travel the world when there's a good flight deal available, such as his last trip to Australia which only cost him $1,000 for two round-trip tickets. So far he has traveled to countries like England, Ethiopia, Italy, Mexico and Argentina. Mengesha has written for print and online media outlets since 2003 and has a journalism degree from Cal State Northridge.
