How the Capital One Venture Business Card Stacks Up to Other Popular Options

Capital One recently rebranded its Spark Miles business cards and integrated them into the Venture Business card family. The Capital One Venture Business card family now includes the following cards:

• Capital One VentureOne Business Credit Card ($0 annual fee)
• Capital One Venture Business Credit Card ($95 annual fee)
• Capital One Venture X Business Credit Card ($395 annual fee)

Prospective business cardholders can now find a card for every type of spending profile.

Here’s a guide to the Capital One Venture Business Card—Capital One’s mid-tier business offering—to see if it’s the right fit for your business. We’ll also compare it to other cards within the Venture family and business cards offered by other issuers.

The Capital One Venture Business at a Glance

The Capital One Venture Business offers strong earning rates and a handful of cardholder perks, making it perfect for business owners with diverse spending who don’t want to pay triple-digit annual fees.

Here’s a breakdown of its main features.

Bonus Spending Categories

The Capital One Venture Business offers the following bonus spending categories:

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

Like other Capital One cards, the Venture Business prioritizes simplicity and is a powerhouse for rewards. The flat rate of 2X miles on all spending means every dollar you spend on your business, including software purchases, tax payments and contractor invoices, earns rewards.

The 5X miles on eligible spending through Capital One Business Travel can also come in handy when it comes to booking business trips for yourself and your employees. The average business trip costs $1,771 for United States-based businesses. Based on this figure, if you or your employees travel at least once a month, you’ll earn 106,260 miles per year simply by funneling the cost through Capital One Business Travel. That said, if you prefer booking directly with the airline or hotel, this earning rate doesn’t offer much value.

Statement Credits

The Venture Business card also offers a handful of credit perks:

• $50 annual travel credit for bookings made through Capital One Business Travel
• $50 annual statement credit for qualifying purchases from eligible software and advertising providers
• Credit of up to $120 toward Global Entry or TSA PreCheck® every four years

While the Venture Business doesn’t offer a long list of statement credits like some business cards, you can offset its annual fee every year simply by using its two $50 credits. If you maximize these credits, the card becomes a net gain from the outset.

Cardholder Perks

The Capital One Venture Business comes with zero foreign transaction fees, allowing you to spend and earn miles abroad without incurring additional costs. It also comes with complimentary Hertz Five Star® status, coming in handy for car rentals on business trips. In addition, you’ll enjoy premium benefits with the Lifestyle Collection, including a $50 experience credit and room upgrades (subject to availability).

Capital One Venture Business vs. Capital One Venture X Business Rewards Credit Card

If you’re considering the Capital One Venture Business, it’s natural to compare it to its sibling, the Capital One Venture X Business Rewards Credit Card. The Capital One Venture X Business offers premium perks without the hefty price tag, coming in at $395 per year.

That makes the Venture X Business Card ideal for business owners wanting a taste of luxury without forking out $500 or more in annual fees.

As a Venture X Business cardholder, you’ll earn the following on eligible spending:

• 10X miles on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Business Travel
• 5X miles on flights and vacation rentals booked through Capital One Business Travel
• 2X miles on all other purchases

These rates are similar to those of the Venture Business Card, with the addition of 10X miles on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Business Travel. This earning rate could be a game-changer if you book employee travel through Capital One Business Travel—for instance, $10,000 in hotel and rental car spend would net you 100,000 miles. That’s double what you’d earn on the Venture Business Card.

The Venture X Business also offers a number of useful travel perks, including:

• $300 travel credit for purchases made through Capital One Business Travel
• Complimentary access to Capital One Lounges and Landings and participating Priority Pass Select™ lounges
• Up to a $120 credit toward Global Entry or TSA PreCheck® every four years
• Complimentary Hertz President’s Circle status
• 10,000 bonus miles each year, starting with your first anniversary year
• Exclusive perks with the Premium Collection, such as a $100 experience credit

By using the $300 travel credit and lounge access, you can easily offset the card’s annual fee. The Capital One Lounges and Landings perk provides exclusive access to its small yet luxurious network of premium lounges. These lounges tend to suffer from less overcrowding than other networks, such as American Express Centurion Lounges. Additionally, access to the Priority Pass network opens up more than 1,300 lounges worldwide, meaning you’ll almost always find somewhere to unwind before takeoff, no matter where you’re flying from.

Overall, if you’re looking for strong earning rates combined with simple yet lucrative travel perks, all without a hefty annual fee, the Capital One Venture X Business takes the lead over the Venture Business Card.

Capital One Venture Business vs. Capital One VentureOne Business Credit Card

The Capital One VentureOne Business Credit Card is an alternative to the Venture Business Card without the annual fee. It offers a lower headline earning rate of 1.5X miles per dollar spent, in addition to 5X miles on hotels, vacation rentals and rental cars booked through Capital One Business Travel.

If your business spends $50,000 per year, you’d earn 75,000 miles on the VentureOne Business Card compared to 100,000 miles on the Venture Business Card. The higher your annual spend, the greater the difference in points earned.

The VentureOne Business also comes with Hertz Five Star status and no foreign transaction fees. Aside from this, it doesn’t offer any statement credits or additional cardholder perks.

In short, the VentureOne Business is a no-frills, cost-effective card for low-spend businesses. If you can offset the annual fee of the Venture Business Card, you’re likely better off going for that one instead.

Alternatives to the Capital One Venture Business

The Capital One Venture card family offers simple yet lucrative cards. However, if you’re looking for alternative earning rates, more diverse perks or access to different hotel and airline transfer partners, there are other cards outside of Capital One’s portfolio to consider.

Here are some alternatives to the Capital One Venture Business.

Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card

The Chase Ink Business Preferred^® Credit Card is the natural competitor of the Capital One Venture Business. With the same $95 annual fee, you should weigh the pros and cons of each card to see which best suits your business spending patterns.

The Ink Business Preferred earns 3X points on the first $150,000 spent (1X points thereafter) on the following purchase types:

• Shipping purchases
• Advertising purchases made with social media sites and search engines
• Internet, cable and phone services
• Travel

That means you could earn 450,000 Ultimate Rewards points on these purchases if you reach the annual spending cap. If your business spends heavily in any of these categories, the Ink Business Preferred is hard to beat.

However, if your spending is more diversified, the Venture Business Card could offer greater earning potential, as the Ink Business Preferred earns only 1X points on non-bonus spending compared to 2X miles with the Venture Business.

The Ink Business Preferred also offers robust protection policies, including trip cancellation and interruption insurance, cell phone protection and auto rental coverage.

One of the deciding factors is the rewards ecosystem you want to be part of. Both Chase Ultimate Rewards and Capital One Miles offer numerous transfer partners across all three major airline alliances. Capital One offers access to more than 15 transfer partners, while Chase offers more domestic transfer partners. Which issuer offers more valuable transfer partners depends on your travel goals.

The Blue Business® Plus Credit Card from American Express

The Blue Business^® Plus Credit Card from American Express is an alternative to consider if your business spends less than $50,000 per year.

The Blue Business Plus earns 2X points on the first $50,000 in annual spending, then 1X points thereafter. If your business spends less than this, charging your spend to the Blue Business Plus card would save you $95 per year compared to the Venture Business, as it comes with a $0 annual fee (see rates and fees).

You’ll earn American Express Membership Rewards points on the Blue Business Plus, which transfer to a number of hotel and airline partners. There’s a lot of overlap between Amex and Capital One’s 15+ transfer partners.

Amex has better transfer ratios with certain partners, and it also provides access to Hilton Honors and Marriott Bonvoy—major global hotel portfolios. However, both issuers offer a long list of airline programs across all three alliances.

Which card is best for you depends on your business’s level of expenditure and which transfer partners best match your travel goals.

American Express® Business Gold Card

The American Express^® Business Gold Card (see rates and fees) has a higher annual fee of $375, with more benefits on offer. If you’re looking for a business card but don’t want to pay more than $500 in annual fees, the Amex Business Gold could be a solid mid-tier alternative to the Capital One Venture Business.

The Amex Business Gold earns 4X points on the top two categories your business spends the most on each billing cycle. These 4X earnings are capped at $150,000 in annual spending, after which you’ll earn 1X points per dollar spent. Eligible spending categories include the following:

• Purchases at U.S. media providers for advertising in select media (online, TV and radio)
• Purchases made from U.S. electronic goods retailers and software and cloud system providers
• Purchases at U.S. restaurants, including takeout and delivery
• Purchases at U.S. gas stations
• Transit purchases, including trains, taxicabs, rideshare services, ferries, tolls, parking, buses and subways
• Monthly wireless telephone service charges made directly from a wireless telephone service provider in the U.S.

This flexibility is a massive advantage for businesses with diverse spending that changes seasonally or monthly. With the Amex Business Gold, you’re not locked into earning points on a narrow range of purchases. You could earn 600,000 Amex points every year by maxing out the $150,000 spending cap.

The card also earns 3X points on flights and prepaid hotels booked on AmexTravel.com or the Amex Travel App™ when you use your card to book. If you’re open to booking employee travel through Amex Travel, this is a solid rate of return.

Not to mention, the Amex Business Gold also comes with two annual statement credits which, put together, can offset the annual fee from the outset. These include a $240 flexible business credit, issued in $20 monthly credits, for eligible U.S. purchases at FedEx, Grubhub and office supply stores, as well as a $155 Walmart+ credit, issued in $12.95 monthly credits. If these statement credits are of use to your business, the Amex Business Gold can be a points-earning powerhouse, quickly offering a real return on every dollar spent.

You’ll also have access to the full gamut of Amex transfer partners, allowing your points to fund both business and leisure trips.

If you’re looking for a business card that offers a lucrative return on specific purchase categories without costing $500 or more per year to hold, the Amex Business Gold is a great alternative to the Capital One Venture Business.

Final Thoughts

No matter how much your business spends, there’s a card out there that can turn your outgoings into future returns. The Capital One Venture Business is perfect for business owners with low-to-medium levels of annual expenditure and who want strong earning rates without the frills.

If your spend is on the lower end of the spectrum, the VentureOne or Blue Business Plus Card may be better options. Alternatively, if you’re after different earning rates, the Ink Business Preferred or Amex Business Gold may better support your business spending. And if you’re looking for lucrative travel perks combined with strong earning rates, the Venture X Business is a solid bet.