How do you take one of the best entry-level travel rewards credit cards and make it even better? By adding an additional 25,000 miles to an already great welcome offer.
That's exactly what Capital One is doing with its longtime favorite Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card , offering air travelers a 100,000-mile bonus after spending $5,000 on purchases within the first three months of card membership. This new, bigger offer first started popping up at airport kiosks across the country within the last week or so and is only available if you apply in the airport with the advertised QR code on a mobile device.
That's up from the standard welcome offer of 75,000 Venture Miles when you spend $4,000 in the first three months that you'll find on sites like ours and even Capital One's own page.
To be clear, there isn't a publicly available link for this new offer. In order to get the 100,000-mile bonus you'll need to be traveling through an airport where it's advertised and then use the displayed QR code to access the application. In order to ensure the offer was intended for the right person, Capital One is requiring applicants to turn on their location services as part of the application process.
Before accessing the application, you'll be prompted to take a four question travel quiz – but don't worry, how you answer the questions has no bearing on your eligibility for the bonus offer. And if you don't want to bother with the quiz, you can skip it altogether before accessing the application.
This offer first appeared at our home airport, Minneapolis – St. Paul (MSP), but it's likely available in others as well.
If you're going to be traveling soon and this card has been on your radar – and you can reasonably spend an additional $1,000 in the first three months – it makes sense to be on the lookout for this bigger offer.
Just remember: Credit cards are serious business. You should never apply for a credit card if you're already in debt, and never charge more to a credit card than you can afford to pay off immediately. However many points and miles you can earn, they're not worth it.
Here's everything you need to know about the Capital One Venture Card.
Not sure if the Venture Card is right for you? See our full comparison of the Capital One Venture and Venture X Card .
Capital One Venture Card Overview
The Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card earns unlimited 2x miles per dollar spent on every purchase, everywhere. This makes racking up miles super simple, as you can swipe away knowing that you're getting a decent return on your spending – no matter the store.
On top of a respectable earning rate, you can expect a few additional travel-related perks with the Capital One Venture Card.
Each year that you have the Venture card, you'll get two complimentary passes to Capital One Lounges. As of now, there is only one lounge in Dallas , but more are on the way with planned locations in Denver (DEN) and Washington, D.C.-Dulles (IAD) opening sometime soon .
You'll also get up to $100 in statement credits every four years for the purchase or renewal of TSA PreCheck or Global Entry . No matter which pre-clearance option you go with, getting the cost covered with your Capital One Venture Card is a win and it will make life easier for even the most infrequent traveler.
Here's a full breakdown of the Capital One Venture card.
75,000 Capital One Venture Miles after spending $4,000 on the card in your first 3 months of card membership (standard offer)
100,000 Capital One Venture Miles after spending $5,000 on the card in your first 3 months of card membership (targeted in-airport offer)
2 annual complimentary passes to the Capital One Lounges
$100 credit for either TSA PreCheck or Global Entry
2x miles on every dollar spent
5x miles on hotels and rental cars
No fee to add authorized users.
No foreign transaction fees
$95 annual fee
Click Here to learn more about the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card
How to Use Venture Miles
If you don’t want to deal with the hassle of transferring points and jumping through hoops to book a free flight or hotel, this is the right option for you. You won’t find an easier way to use points on travel. Just book your flight, hotel, rental car, or other travel expense with your Capital One card, then go back and remove the purchase using miles.
Thrifty Tip: Use Capital One Venture Miles to make a cheap flight, like the ones we send out as part of Thrifty Traveler Premium+ , a free flight by removing the travel charge from your statement.
Every Venture Mile is worth one cent apiece, which means this 100,000-mile bonus gets you at least $1,000 toward travel. You can also book flights, hotels, and rental cars through the new Capital One Travel portal (but you shouldn't) or send your points to an impressive array of Capital One transfer partners to get even more value out of these miles.
Some of our favorite Capital One travel partners include Air France/KLM, Air Canada Aeroplan, British Airways, and Turkish Airlines.
Here's the full list of transfer partners:
Program Type Ratio Transfer Time
Aeromexico Airline 1:1 Instant
Air Canada Aeroplan Airline 1:1 Instant
Air France/KLM Airline 1:1 Instant
Avianca LifeMiles Airline 1:1 Instant
British Airways Airline 1:1 Instant
Cathay Pacific AsiaMiles Airline 1:1 Up to five business days
Emirates Airline 1:1 Instant
Etihad Airline 1:1 Up to 1 day
EVA Air Airline 2:1.5 Up to five business days
Finnair Airline 1:1 Instant
Qantas Airline 1:1 Instant
Singapore Airline 1:1 Instant
TAP Air Portugal Airline 1:1 Same day
Turkish Airlines Airline 1:1 Same day
Virgin Red Other 1:1 Same day
Accor Hotel 2:1 Up to two business days
Wyndham Hotel 1:1 Same day
Choice Hotels Hotel 1:1 Same day
Having the option to go the easy route or take things to the next level through transfer partners is what makes Capital One miles – and the Venture Card – such a great place to get started.
Read more: The Best Ways to Use Capital One Venture Miles
Bottom Line
Capital One is out with an awesome, alternative offer on the Capital One Venture Rewards card, giving air travelers a 100,000-mile bonus after spending $5,000 on the card in the first three months. This offer is only available when scanning an advertised QR code in the airport and applying on your mobile device.
If you're traveling soon and come across this increased 100,000-mile offer it's well worth picking up the extra miles by applying at the airport.
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