Just last week, Capital One rolled out a bigger bonus on its popular Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card, offering a 75,000-mile bonus and a $250 Capital One travel credit (to use within the first year of opening an account) after spending $4,000 in the first three months. The bank just quietly rolled out something that could be even better.
You can instead earn a record-tying 100,000-mile bonus after spending $5,000 in the first three months on the Venture Card by applying through select personal referral links. While it requires another $1,000 in spending, earning an extra 25,000 Venture miles could easily be worth it for anyone who values those miles more than a one-time travel credit. Members of the Frequent Miler Insiders Facebook group first spotted this new offer.
Existing Venture cardholders may be able to refer friends and family for this 100,000-mile offer, earning a 10,000-mile bonus for each successful approval (for a total of up to 50,000 miles). But it's hit or miss: It appears to be targeted, so not all Venture cardholders will have it available – and in some cases, a different offer will appear.
If you don't already have a Venture Card, this 100,000-mile bonus is among the best we've ever seen on one of our absolute favorite travel credit cards. To be perfectly clear, there's nothing in it for us if you use this referral offer (other than a small referral bonus) – we just consider it part of our duty to point out an alternative offer when it's arguably more valuable to our readers.
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.
Read more: A Full Review of the Capital One Venture Rewards Card
Capital One Venture Card Overview
The Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card earns an unlimited 2x miles per dollar spent on every purchase, everywhere. This makes racking up miles easy, as you can swipe away knowing that you're getting a decent return on your spending, no matter where you're spending.
On top of earning more miles, you can expect a few additional travel-related perks with the Capital One Venture Card.
You'll get up to $120 in statement credits every four years for the purchase (or renewal) of TSA PreCheck or Global Entry. No matter which 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 quick breakdown of the Capital One Venture card.
- Earn 100,000 Capital One miles after spending $5,000 on the card in your first 3 months of card membership.
- Earn unlimited 2x miles on every dollar spent
- Earn 5x miles on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel
- Up to $120 statement credit for enrolling in TSA PreCheck or Global Entry
- Access Capital One Lounges for a discounted rate of $45 per visit
- No fee to add authorized users.
- No foreign transaction fees
- $95 annual fee
All information about the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card has been collected independently by Thrifty Traveler and has not been reviewed by the issuer.
Learn more about the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card (for full disclosure, this is a personal referral link).
How to Use Capital One 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 Miles to book a cheap flight – like the ones we send out as part of our Thrifty Traveler Premium flight deal alert service – and make it free by removing the travel charge from your statement after the fact.
Every mile is worth 1 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 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 |
| JetBlue | Airline | 2:1.2 | TBD |
| 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 Miles
Bottom Line
Capital One is out with an awesome new referral offer on the Capital One Venture Rewards card, giving travelers a 100,000-mile bonus after spending $5,000 on the card in the first three months.
This offer requires an additional $1,000 of spending in the first three months over the other limited-time offer. But getting an additional 25,000 miles instead of a one-time travel credit will no doubt be worth it for many.
Learn more about the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card (for full disclosure, this is a personal referral link).