$1,500 Capital One Business Card Intro Offer

The intro offer on the Capital One Venture X Business is excellent. Earn 150,000 bonus miles once you spend $30,000 in the first 3 months from account opening.

Still, spending $30,000 in the first three months is a very high bar. Plenty of other good options exist if you want easier access to a bonus offer.

For example, the World of Hyatt Business card provides up to 60,000 Bonus Points by offering 30,000 Bonus Points after spending $3,000 in the first three months and up to 30,000 Bonus Points by earning two Bonus Points total per $1 spent in the first six months (on up to $15,000 spent).

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Or, with The Business Platinum Card® from American Express, you can earn up to $4,000 (200,000 Amex points) after you spend $20,000 in the first three months.

Venture X Business Card Overview

Capital One Venture X Business

This premium travel rewards business card is designed for higher-spending enterprises. Earn 150,000 bonus miles once you spend $30,000 in the first 3 months from account opening.

The card offers powerful ways to rack up points, which can be redeemed on travel purchases at a rate of one point per dollar. You may also transfer points to Capital One's travel partners, which may deliver value above a 1:1 redemption rate.

The Venture X Business card is a charge card, not a credit card, so you will need to pay your balance in full each month. You also won't be able to use the card for balance transfers.

If the $395 annual fee gives you heartburn, remember that cardholders get a $300 credit for travel bookings each year, as well as a 10,000-mile yearly bonus credit.

A much cheaper way to earn Capital One points is through the personal Capital One Venture Rewards card. Check out that card's bonus offer.

View Offer

• Sign-up bonus: Earn 150,000 bonus miles once you spend $30,000 in the first 3 months from account opening
• Interest rate: Since this is a charge card that must be paid in full every month, there is no interest rate. Any unpaid portion of your bill will be charged a 2.99% late payment fee. There isn't a rate for balance transfers since you can't use this card for them.
• Spending limit: With no preset spending limit, enjoy big purchasing power that adapts so you can spend more and earn more rewards. This does not mean you have unlimited purchasing power on your card. The purchasing power adapts based on factors such as payment history, spending behavior, credit profile and other factors, which may be external.
• Annual fee: $395. This fee is about average for a premium card but may be mostly offset by the $300 annual credit on Capital One's travel booking site.
• Foreign transaction fee: None, so this card is ideal for travel abroad.
• Top rewards rate: Earn 10X miles on hotels and rental cars and 5X miles on flights and vacation rentals booked through Capital One Business Travel
• Other rewards rate: Five miles back on flights and vacation rentals booked through Capital One Travel. Two miles back on all other purchases.
• Annual rewards: Every year, you'll get 10,000 bonus miles after your account anniversary date. Plus, receive an annual $300 credit for bookings made through Capital One Business Travel.
• Business-friendly benefits: Free employee cards, with the ability to set individual spending limits on them. Authorized users do not get airport lounge access.
• Travel lounges and benefits: Receive up to a $120 credit for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck^®. Enjoy access to 1,300+ airport lounges worldwide, including Capital One Lounge locations and Priority Pass™ lounges, after enrollment.
• Redemption: Miles earned are worth a penny each if you redeem them for travel on the Capital One portal, or you may transfer them to participating partners, potentially delivering more value for your miles. The cash-back rate is only half a cent.
• Top-rated mobile app

What can you spend the Bonus Miles on?

You may use the 150,000 bonus miles in several ways.

• Book travel through Capital One’s portal ($1,500 value): redeem miles on the company’s travel portal on a 1:1 basis. This is the simplest way to get the full value of your bonus miles.
• Transfer miles to a partner frequent flyer or hotel program: Capital One partners with more than 15 airlines and three hotel chains at a one-penny-per-point ratio, so you can easily transfer your Capital One miles to your preferred partner program. Since the points on these partner programs may vary in value depending on how and when you use them, the actual value of your transferred Capital One miles may be more or less than 1:1. Before you transfer miles, make sure the travel you want to book is available.
  
  Two other transfer partners redeem less than on a 1:1 ratio. Taiwanese carrier EVA Air redeems at a 2:1.5 ratio, so you could redeem 10,000 Capital One miles for only $75 worth of EVA points. The French hotel chain Accor only offers a 2:1 ratio, meaning you only get fifty cents to the dollar on points transferred.
• Redeem miles for expenses on a past trip: Book your travel through your preferred travel website or travel agent using your Capital One Rewards card. Then, within 90 days from the date your travel purchase posts to your account, sign in to your account at capitalone.com and select Cover Your Travel Purchases. It may take a couple of months for the credit to post to your account.
• Shop at Amazon.com: You may redeem purchases at Amazon for 0.8 cents for each mile. Although this is slightly better than opting for cash back, it is still well below the redemption rate of many cash back credit cards.
• Cash Back: You should avoid redeeming your bonus for cash back, as it delivers the lowest value (0.5 cents per mile) of any redemption type. By logging into your Capital One reward account, you will see options for cash back at the rate of one-half penny for each mile. You may redeem any amount for a check in the mail or an account credit.

Capital One Transfer Partners

The Capital One Venture rewards program has partnerships with 15+ airlines, allowing cardholders to transfer Capital One Venture miles to the partner rewards programs. These partners cover destinations across much of the globe, including off-the-beaten-path destinations like Istanbul, Turkey and Barbados.

Capital One Venture rewards miles are worth one point on most of these carriers when you log in to your Capital One account, transfer Capital One miles to the frequent flyer account of a partner, and book your travel on the partner's website. These Capital One transfer partners are as follows:

When you transfer 1,000 Capital One miles to any of these transfer partners, you’ll receive 1,000 miles or points with the following travel loyalty programs:

• Aeromexico Club Premier (based in Mexico)
• Air Canada - Aeroplan®
• Cathay Pacific - Asia Miles (based in Hong Kong)
• Avianca LifeMiles (based in Colombia)
• British Airways Executive Club
• Emirates Skywards (based in Dubai)
• Etihad Guest (based in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates)
• Finnair Plus (based in Finland)
• Flying Blue (for Air France and for KLM, based in the Netherlands)
• Qantas Frequent Flyer (Australia)
• Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer
• TAP Miles&Go (based in Portugal)
• Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles
• Virgin Red (based in the U.K. but partnered with Delta Airlines)
• Qatar
• EVA Air - Infinity MileageLands (based in Taiwan).
  This program carries a 2:1.5 transfer ratio, so 1,000 Capital One miles are only worth 750 miles when using this loyalty program.
• Jet Blue - The program offers a 5:3 transfer ratio. So if you transfer 1,000 Capital One miles to Jet Blue, you'll receive 600 TrueBlue points.

The Capital One Ventures rewards program also partners with three hotel chains. Capital One miles are worth one point at each of these hotels, but are worth half as much if booked with Accor hotels chain.

• Choice Privileges^®
• Wyndham Rewards
• ALL - Accor Live Limitless, with a 2:1 transfer ratio. When you transfer 1,000 Capital One miles to this transfer partner, you’ll receive 500 miles or points with its travel loyalty program.

Pros and cons of the Capital One Venture Rewards card

Pros:

• Generous bonus offer.
• Unlimited points that do not expire.
• No foreign transaction fee.
• Many perks are designed for travelers, including price match, price alert, up to $120 reimbursement for a Global Entry or TSA PreCheck pass, and more.

Cons:

• Annual fee of $395 (though partially offset by $300 annual travel credit).
• Lack of flexibility when redeeming points.
• Most travel partners are based abroad.
• No balance transfer options.
• Low redemption value for cash back.
• Capital One and Discover may merge, which could change credit card terms for both companies' products.

How will the Discover merger impact cardholders?

Recently, Capital One's acquisition of Discover Financial Services was approved. The $35.3 billion merger positions Capital One as one the largest credit card issuers in the country.

How it will impact you moving forward? At this time, it's business as usual. You'll still rely on the same customer service, account and app access and there will be no changes to card terms, unless notified by Capital One.

What to consider before getting a business card

Before you apply for a business credit card, here are some potential things to keep in mind to determine whether it's the right move:

• Your credit score: Most of the top business credit cards require good or excellent credit, which means a FICO credit score of 670 or higher. If your score is lower than that, your options may be limited.
• Potential costs: Business credit cards often charge high interest rates, and some also assess an annual fee. You can avoid interest by paying your balance in full each month, but if you think you'll be carrying a balance, consider how potential interest charges could impact your bottom line. If you're thinking about getting a card with an annual fee, make sure you can get enough value from the rewards program and perks to make up for it.
• Whether you can take on another financial account: Managing multiple financial accounts can be challenging. If you already have multiple personal and business accounts to keep track of, adding another one could make things more complicated. In some cases, it can make sense to stick with what you already have, as long as you have enough accounts to keep personal and business expenses separate.
• Your reasons for wanting one: Business credit cards can help with everyday cash flow, but if you're looking to finance growth in your business beyond the initial stages, you may want to consider a small business loan instead. Also, don't think that using a business credit card will shield you from responsibility if your company goes under — business card issuers typically require a personal guarantee when you apply, so you'll still be personally liable for the debt.
• Security: Make sure you can keep the account secure, particularly from potential business partners and employees.

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