40,000 Miles ($400) With the Capital One Venture Card

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Thanks to Million Mile Secrets Reader, Tammy, for letting me know about the higher sign-up bonus for the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card.

You can get 40,000 miles when you spend $3,000 within the first 3 months on the card.  The old sign-up bonus was only 20,000 miles.

Capital One Venture Card

Link:   Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card

When you sign-up for the Capital One Venture card and complete the minimum spending you earn 40,000 miles.

Here are some additional benefits that come with this card:

• 2X miles on every purchase
• NO foreign transaction fees
• $59 annual fee waived for the first year

How Can You Use Capital One Venture Miles?

Capital One Venture miles are worth 1 cent per mile.  So the 40,000 mile sign-up bonus is worth $400 in travel.  You can use your miles as a credit towards most travel purchases you make on your card including airfare, hotels, bed and breakfasts, rental cars, and more.

For example, you could use your miles to stay at the Youngberg Hill Vineyards & Inn in Oregon’s Willamette Valley…

…or take a cruise.

Should You Sign-Up for This Card?

With the Capital One Venture card, you earn 2X miles on every purchase.

Capital One Venture miles are also very flexible.  You can use your miles as a statement credit for most travel purchases.  So you can book your travel on any site and you don’t have to worry about blackout dates.

Additionally, you can use your miles for travel categories that aren’t typically covered traditional mile and points, such as car services like Uber, cruises, and trains.  So if you enjoy having some flexibility this could be a great card for you.

However, a drawback to the Capital One Venture card is they pull your credit score from all 3 credit bureaus.  If you apply for lots of cards or have a blemish on your report with 1 of the credit bureaus, you may want to consider a different card.  Other banks typically pull your credit score from only 1 credit bureau.

I prefer the Barclaycard Arrival Plus card over the Capital One Venture card because you get the same flexibility.  And when you complete the minimum spending on the Barclaycard Arrival Plus World Elite Mastercard, you earn 40,000 Arrival miles which is worth ~$400 in travel.

You should get a credit pull (inquiry) with only 1 credit bureau, plus you earn a slightly higher 2.1% back as a statement credit on travel purchases.

Bottom Line

When you sign-up for the Capital One Venture card and complete the minimum spending, you will get 40,000 miles.  You can use your miles as a $400 credit towards travel.

This is great for folks who like flexibility.  You can use your miles as a statement credit towards almost any travel purchase and you don’t have to worry about blackout dates.

However, when you apply, there will be 3 credit pulls instead of one.  So this may not be a good choice if you apply for lots of credit cards.

While this is a great card, I still prefer the Barclaycard Arrival Plus because they only pull your credit report from 1 credit bureau and you earn 2.1% back on travel.  But if you’re running out of cards…