Capital One Venture Business review: Earn up to 150,000 bonus miles, $100 in annual credits

The Capital One Spark Miles for Business is no longer available for new cardmembers.

The newly rebranded Capital One Venture Business (formerly the Capital One Spark Miles for Business) has the same rewards program as before, which means it’s still a great option for earning travel rewards. Now, you also have access to new annual credits that can completely offset its $95 annual fee.

This refresh has taken a solid business credit card with a generous welcome bonus and made it more affordable. If you’re interested in turning your business or freelance expenses into miles you can transfer to airlines and hotels or redeem for statement credits toward travel purchases, this is a card worth considering.

The Capital One Venture Business has an incredible limited-time welcome offer worth up to 150,000 bonus miles. You’ll earn 75,000 bonus miles after spending $7,500 on purchases within the first three months of account opening and an additional 75,000 bonus miles after spending $30,000 in the first six months from account opening.

You’ll have to hit a high spending requirement to earn the full bonus, but you only have to spend an average of $5,000 per month to receive the entire 150,000 bonus miles. That’s not an unreasonable sum for many businesses. However, if you don’t spend anywhere near that much on your credit card and can only qualify for the first tier of this offer, earning 75,000 bonus miles is still an above-average deal.

• $50 in annual travel credit, which applies to bookings you make through the Capital One Business Travel site
• Up to $50 in annual statement credits for qualifying advertising or software purchases
• Up to $120 in credits for a Global Entry or TSA PreCheck application fee every four years

You can also enroll to receive Hertz Five Star status, which gets you bonus Hertz points on Hertz rentals and one-class upgrades (when available). Employee cards are free to add to your account.

The Capital One Venture Business earns Capital One miles at the following rates:

• 5X miles on hotels, vacation rentals and rental cars booked through Capital One Business Travel
• 2X miles on all other eligible purchases

Redeeming

Capital One miles are worth the most when you redeem them for travel. You can offset travel purchases made in the previous 90 days with your miles and receive 1 cent per mile. So a $100 travel booking costs 10,000 miles to erase.

You’ll get the same value if you use miles to pay for travel you book through the Capital One Business Travel portal. You can also use your annual Capital One Business Travel credit and pay with points on the same reservation.

To unlock higher values, take advantage of the best Capital One travel partners. Values vary depending on the partner program you transfer your miles to, so you’ll want to do a little research. Certain partners have transfer ratios of less than 1:1 or offer less valuable award redemptions. On the other hand, international business-class flights can cost thousands of dollars and may only cost 60,000 to 90,000 miles (depending on the route and airline program you book through), which is an incredible value per mile.

The Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card (see rates and fees) also has a $95 annual fee. It doesn’t offer annual credits but provides value in other ways.

It earns 3X points on up to $150,000 in combined annual spending on internet, cable, shipping, phone services, travel and advertising (with social media and search engines). If your business spends heavily in those areas, it may be worth it to earn 50% more rewards (3X vs. 2X) on those purchases.

The Chase Ultimate Rewards® points you earn with the Ink Business Preferred also transfer to travel partners, which makes it an equally strong business travel credit card. It lacks a trusted traveler program credit but makes up for it with excellent built-in protections, such as trip delay reimbursement and cell phone protection.

The Capital One Venture X Business Credit Card has largely the same rewards structure as the Venture Business, but it’s the premium perks that make the Venture X Business worth the higher $395 annual fee.

You’ll get access to Priority Pass lounges and Capital One lounges, plus an annual $300 Capital One Business Travel credit and 10,000 bonus miles every card anniversary (worth at least $100 in travel).

If you spend at least $400 on travel every year, then this card is one of the cheapest ways to get airport lounge access. Just be aware that complimentary lounge access is only available for the primary cardholder. You can purchase airport lounge access for up to four employee cardholders for $125 each (per year).

The Capital One Venture Business card provides just about everything I’d like to see in an entry-level to mid-tier business travel credit card. It has a reasonable annual fee that can be offset each year with two straightforward perks, and the Global Entry or TSA PreCheck credit is icing on the cake.

It also earns transferable travel rewards, while also offering simple 1 cent per mile statement credit redemptions for travel purchases. That gives you the best of both worlds since you can easily use rewards or unlock higher values with transfers.

The Venture Business card’s unlimited 2X miles everywhere is great. However, if your business spends heavily in a few specific categories, you may be better off with a card that provides a higher return on those purchases.

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