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If you are willing to invest up to $95 per year in annual credit card fees, Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card and Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card offer some of the best travel benefits you can get with the Intermediate Bonus Card, especially in the first year.
However, choosing between two travel cards can be tricky, especially if you’re not sure which card best suits your spending and reward habits.
For cardholders who travel frequently and eat out, Chase Sapphire Preferred offers some enticing benefits as well as a great signup bonus. But for a cardholder who doesn’t want to spend a lot of time tracking spending or maximizing their rewards, it’s hard to beat Venture Card’s unlimited double miles on every purchase. Here’s what else we found when comparing the two cards:
Map details
| Card |
Chase Sapphire prefers |
Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card |
|---|---|---|
| Interest rate |
|
|
| Bonus for registration | 60,000 points when you spend $4,000 in 3 months | 75,000 bonus miles when you spend $4,000 on purchases within 3 months |
| Annual fee | $95 | $95 |
| Estimated annual remuneration (based on annual expenses of $15,900) | $392 | $233 |
Chase Sapphire Preferred Card vs. Capital One Venture Card
Bonus for registration
| Chase Sapphire prefers | Capital One Venture Card |
|---|---|
| 60,000 points when you spend $4,000 in 3 months | 75,000 bonus miles when you spend $4,000 within 3 months |
Winner: Draw
Both cards provide some of the best signup bonuses and have the same spending goal, requiring you to spend around $1,333 each month. At first glance, 60,000 Chase Sapphire Preferred points seem like less than 75,000 Venture Card miles. However, since Chase Ultimate Rewards points are worth 1.25 cents each when redeemed for travel through the Ultimate Rewards portal, your bonus of 60,000 points is worth up to $750.
The Venture Card, meanwhile, offers 75,000 bonus miles, but since Capital One miles are worth 1 cent each, it also costs up to $750. In fact, any card will bring excellent profits once you reach the required expenses.
Receiving awards
| Chase Sapphire prefers | Capital One Venture Card |
|---|---|
|
|
Winner: Chase Sapphire Preferred
These cards are inherently different, making it hard to compare them just for rewards. The Capital One Venture Card offers an unlimited bonus of 2 miles on every purchase, allowing you to earn miles every time you make a purchase or pay a bill with your card. You’ll be surprised how quickly and easily the fixed rate will bring you rewards. It offers bonus miles on trips booked through Capital One Travel, but these are limited to hotels and rental cars only.
On the other hand, Chase Sapphire Preferred earns 5x points on all trips booked through the Chase portal, and if you need to book elsewhere, you will still earn 2x points on regular trips. 3x points for meals, choice of streaming services and online grocery shopping also allows you to effectively use some key everyday categories. And since Sapphire Preferred points cost 1.25 cents per point, they potentially earn more than Venture Card.
Buyout flexibility
| Chase Sapphire prefers | Capital One Venture Card |
|---|---|
|
|
Winner: Draw
You can understand from the table above, but the Sapphire Preferred Card offers a few more repayment options. Not only can you use the standard redemption methods – credit statement, cash back and gift cards – but also more issuer-specific redemptions such as Chase Experiences, which give you exclusive access to sports events, concerts and famous restaurants. And of course, like many other mid-tier travel cards, you can transfer points at different rates to Chase partner airlines and hotels. This is a big plus if you have already accumulated airline or hotel loyalty points and could use an infusion of rewards.
The Capital Venture Card has fewer redemption options than the Sapphire Preferred, but you still have plenty of options. In addition, the card allows you to book trips yourself on any travel website you choose and will refund your credit if you pay it off within 90 days. This provides a lot of flexibility if you’re a bargain hunter who regularly scans third-party websites for the cheapest flights and hotel rooms. Capital One also has its own transfer partners, more than 15 of them, but there are no major US airlines on the list.
Travel insurance and other benefits
| Chase Sapphire prefers | Capital One Venture Card |
|---|---|
|
|
Winner: Chase Sapphire Preferred
Overall, the Chase Sapphire Preferred offers more perks and more value than the Capital One Venture Card. Most notable for Sapphire Preferred is its trip cancellation/interruption insurance, a rarity usually reserved for higher annual fare passes that provides secondary coverage for various covered incidents. Other important card benefits include a $50 annual Ultimate Rewards hotel credit (which you must use before you earn 5x hotel points) and a 10 percent annual points bonus based on your total spending each year.
What card should you get?
Chase Sapphire Preferred is a more lucrative card that allows you to earn high rewards and potentially significantly increase the value of your points. However, its fixed bonus categories require more effort than the Capital One Venture Card to maximize them. The flat rate reward on the Venture Card makes it easy and simple to use for all purchases.
- If you want Chase Ultimate Rewards: Sapphire Preferred is a great introductory card to one of the top rated rewards programs with a 25% boost in card points and a generous reward structure.
- If you love to travel: The Sapphire Preferred program includes a lot of travel-focused features – Ultimate Rewards travel points boost, up to 5x points for travel purchases, and multiple travel insurance – sure to take the worry out of your vacation and make your vacation more rewarding.
- If you want to use one card for all purchases: 2x Unlimited Miles with the Capital One Venture Rewards Card makes it easy to use the card for all your purchases so you don’t have to think about it. And you’ll be surprised how fast your score pile grows.
- If you prefer simplicityA: When it comes down to it, the Venture Card is simpler than the Sapphire Preferred, but that’s the advantage of the Venture Card given the fierce competition. Flat rate remuneration, easier repayment options, and small travel incentives simplify management and maximize value.
bottom line
Power cardholders who don’t mind taking the time to maximize their rewards may find the Sapphire Preferred Card more attractive, especially if you travel frequently and like to pool the points you earn through various loyalty programs. For cardholders who would like easy rewards without wasting too much time, the Capital One Venture Card offers more value and is easier to use.
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The editorial content on this page is based solely on the objective judgment of our contributors and is not based on advertising. It was not provided or ordered by credit card issuers. However, we may receive compensation when you click on links to our partners’ products.