Chase Sapphire Preferred Card vs. Capital One Venture Card: Which $95 annual fee travel card is better?

Chase and Capital One offer a wide range of travel credit cards that can be beneficial if you’re looking to save on your next trip. The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card and the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card (see rates and fees) are two comparable cards that both have $95 annual fees and an array of travel perks.

If you’re someone who typically travels often, you should consider opening one of these cards. Even if you don’t have any upcoming vacations, you can use the Sapphire Preferred or Venture Rewards to earn rewards that can offset future travel arrangements. Depending on the card you open, you can benefit from a fee credit for TSA PreCheck® or Global Entry, travel insurances and/or a generous welcome bonus.

Select breaks down the features of each card, so you can choose the best one for your needs.

• Fees
• APRs
• Rewards
• Welcome bonus
• Additional benefits
• Bottom line

Both cards come with a $95 annual fee, which is on the lower end when you consider some other travel cards like the Chase Sapphire Reserve® have fees of up to $550. You can more easily offset this annual fee through the rewards you earn each year. For instance, you can cover the annual fee by spending $4,750 each year on travel with the Sapphire Preferred since those purchases earn 2X points per dollar spent.

With the Venture card, you can recoup the annual fee by spending $4,750 on everyday purchases that earn 2X miles, or even faster if you book hotel and rental cars with Capital One Travel, which earn 5X miles per dollar spent.

The APRs are comparable between the Chase Sapphire Preferred and Capital One Venture Rewards. Neither card offers an introductory 0% APR period on new purchases or balance transfers so you'll want to pay your bills on time and in full each month.

The Chase Sapphire Preferred charges a variable APR of 21.49% - 28.49% while the APR on the Venture Rewards is 19.99% - 29.99% variable (see rates and fees).

While Sapphire Preferred and Venture have a slight overlap in rewards, they provide different reward rates on other purchases. Here’s the breakdown:

• Chase Sapphire Preferred: 5X points on travel purchased through Chase Travel℠, 3X points on dining, 3X on online grocery purchases (excluding Walmart®, Target® and wholesale clubs), 3x points on select streaming services, 2X points on all other travel purchases. You can also earn 5X points on Lyft rides through March 2025 and 1X points on all other purchases.
• Capital One Venture Rewards: Earn 5X miles per dollar on hotel and rental cars when paying with your card and booking through Capital One Travel, unlimited 2X miles on all other purchases.

Additionally, the Sapphire Preferred provides cardholders an anniversary bonus. The anniversary bonus is equal to 10% of your total purchases made the previous year so if you spent $15,000 on purchases, you'll get 1,500 bonus points.

Rewards earned with both cards can be redeemed in similar ways, including travel, gift cards and merchandise. However, Chase Sapphire Preferred offers a unique bonus: If you redeem points through the Chase Travel℠ portal they're worth 25% more.

For example, 75,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.

The Capital One Venture Rewards doesn't offer a bonus redemption on miles and you must redeem miles toward travel to get the full one cent per mile return. For example, you'll generally get less value when redeeming Venture miles for gift cards or cashback. (see rates and fees)

Both cards also allow you to transfer points to a variety of airline and hotel partners. Although Capital One offers slightly more transfer partners, Chase's partners may be slightly more useful, including partners like Southwest, United and Hyatt.

In addition to everyday rewards, you can benefit from lucrative welcome bonuses.

New Chase Sapphire Preferred cardholders can earn 75,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. That's over $900 when you redeem through Chase Travel℠ and potentially more when redeemed through one of Chase's many airline and hotel transfer partners.

Meanwhile, the Capital One Venture Rewards (see rates and fees) is currently offering 75,000 bonus miles after spending $4,000 on purchases within the first the months from account opening. That's worth up to $750 when redeemed as a statement credit to offset past travel purchases or more when transferred to one of Capital One's travel partners.

Consumers with either card can benefit from:

• Ability to transfer points to participating frequent travel programs
• No foreign transaction fees (see Venture rates and fees)
• 24 hour travel assistance services
• Lost luggage insurance
• Exclusive access to culinary, music and sports events

Chase Sapphire Preferred cardholders enjoy these added perks:

• Receive 25% more value when you redeem for airfare, hotels, car rentals and cruises through Chase Travel℠. For example, 75,000 points are worth $937.50 toward travel.
• Earn 5X points on Lyft rides through March 31^st, 2025
• Up to $50 annual Ultimate Rewards Hotel Credit
• Receive a complimentary DashPass membership for a minimum of one year, which provides free delivery and lower service fees from hundreds of restaurants on DoorDash orders of $12 or more (You must activate by December 31^st, 2024)
• Baggage delay insurance
• Auto rental collision damage waiver
• Trip delay reimbursement
• Travel and emergency assistance services
• Purchase protection
• Extended warranty protection

Capital One Venture Rewards (see rates and fees) cardholders enjoy these added perks:

• Up to $100 credit for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck application fee every four years.
• Purchase Assurance** - Doubles the time period of your covered purchase's original warranty, up to a maximum of twenty-four months
• Master RoadAssist®**
• Lost or Damaged Luggage**
• MasterRental Insurance**
• Purchase Assurance**

*Terms, conditions and exclusions apply.  Refer to your Guide to Benefits for more details.

** Benefit available to accounts approved for the World Elite Mastercard product, subject to terms, conditions, and exclusions in the World Elite Mastercard Guide to Benefits. See Account Terms or Application Terms for more details. Terms, conditions and exclusions apply.

The Chase Sapphire Preferred and Capital One Venture Rewards (see rates and fees) cards are two competitive options for consumers looking to take advantage of travel benefits. But at the end of the day, choosing the best card depends on your individual preferences.

If earning rewards is your main focus, there's a bit of a toss-up between the Sapphire Preferred and the Venture Rewards. The Sapphire Preferred offers more bonus categories but the Venture Rewards still stands for providing you with 2x rewards on all of your purchases. If you’re looking for a full range of travel benefits, like lost luggage insurance, trip delay reimbursement and an annual hotel credit, the Sapphire Preferred card has you covered. However, if you only travel once or twice per year, you might prefer the Global Entry or TSA PreCheck application fee credit provided by the Venture Rewards.

While these cards are both good options for travelers, you may want to consider alternatives that may be a better fit. If you’re looking for a premium credit card, check out the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card (see rates and fees), which offers up to $300 back in travel credits when booking through Capital One Travel and unlimited airport lounge visits. And if you want a no-annual-fee travel card, consider the Discover it® Miles.

For rates and fees of the Discover it® Miles, click here.

For Capital One products listed on this page, some of the above benefits are provided by Visa® or Mastercard® and may vary by product. See the respective Guide to Benefits for details, as terms and exclusions apply.