We believe everyone should be able to make financial decisions with
confidence. While we don't cover every company or financial product on
the market, we work hard to share a wide range of offers and objective
editorial perspectives.
So how do we make money? Our partners compensate us for advertisements that
appear on our site. This compensation helps us provide tools and services -
like free credit score access and monitoring. With the exception of
mortgage, home equity and other home-lending products or services, partner
compensation is one of several factors that may affect which products we
highlight and where they appear on our site. Other factors include your
credit profile, product availability and proprietary website methodologies.
However, these factors do not influence our editors' opinions or ratings, which are based on independent research and analysis. Our partners cannot
pay us to guarantee favorable reviews. Here is a list of our partners.
Capital One Venture vs. Chase Sapphire Preferred: Sapphire Shines a Bit Brighter
Both are solid choices, but the Chase Sapphire Preferred boasts potentially higher point values and robust travel protections.
Lindsay is a former NerdWallet writer and credit cards expert. Lindsay wrote much of NerdWallet's foundational content about credit cards and credit scoring and helped developed our "house views" on building credit and using credit cards wisely. She later moved on to become head of NerdWallet's user operations team. In that role, she helped users understand their choices in financial products and make smart buying decisions.
Sara Rathner is a NerdWallet travel and credit cards expert. She has appeared on the “Today” show and CNBC’s “Nightly Business Report,” and has been quoted in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, Yahoo Finance, Time, Reuters, NBC News, Business Insider and MarketWatch. Before joining NerdWallet, Sara worked at The Motley Fool for nearly 10 years. She also worked as a freelance personal finance writer and paraplanner and has a bachelor's degree in journalism from Northwestern University.
Kenley Young directs daily credit cards coverage for NerdWallet. Previously, he was a homepage editor and digital content producer for Fox Sports, and before that a front page editor for Yahoo. He has decades of experience in digital and print media, including stints as a copy desk chief, a wire editor and a metro editor for the McClatchy newspaper chain.
Updated
How is this page expert verified?
NerdWallet's content is fact-checked for accuracy, timeliness and
relevance. It undergoes a thorough review process involving
writers and editors to ensure the information is as clear and
complete as possible.
The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card and the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card don’t provide the multitude of perks you’d find with ultra-premium travel cards, but they both offer quite a bit of value thanks to generous sign-up bonuses and comparatively modest annual fees.
The Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card stands out for how simple it is to use, but the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card comes out slightly ahead because the points it earns can be worth more when you redeem them for travel through Chase. If you carry other cards that earn Chase Ultimate Rewards® points, like the Chase Freedom Flex® or Chase Freedom Unlimited®, you can transfer points to your Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card to redeem for a potentially higher rate.
Why the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card is better for most people
More bonus categories and, potentially, higher point values
The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card boasts higher point-earning opportunities in popular spending categories like dining, gas and streaming, as well as eligible travel and online grocery purchases. With the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card, the best you'll do is 2X back on most purchases, unless you book travel via Capital One Travel.
This advantage also extends to redemption options. In general, Chase Ultimate Rewards® points are worth 1 cent each. And prior to sweeping changes Chase made to its redemption policy in 2025, if you redeemed them for travel through Chase you’d earn 1.25 cents per point. This still applies for customers who had the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card or applied for it before June 23, 2025. Those cardholders can continue to redeem their points earned before Oct. 26, 2025, at the prior 1.25 cents per point, until Oct. 26, 2027.
However, for new cardholders who apply for the card on or after June 23, 2025, you can redeem points for up to 1.5 cents each for hotels and flights with select airlines, and up to 1.75 cents each for premium cabin tickets on select airlines booked through Chase. All other point redemptions for travel via Chase that are not eligible for Points Boost are worth 1 cent each. Note that the Points Boost system will take effect for all cardholders beginning Oct. 26, 2027.
Chase boasts some big-name transfer partners, too, including United, Southwest, JetBlue and Marriott, to which you can transfer points at a 1:1 ratio.
Full list of Chase transfer partners Full list of Chase transfer partners
Airlines
Aer Lingus (1:1 ratio).
Air Canada (1:1 ratio).
Air France-KLM (1:1 ratio).
British Airways (1:1 ratio).
Iberia (1:1 ratio).
JetBlue (1:1 ratio).
Singapore (1:1 ratio).
Southwest (1:1 ratio).
United (1:1 ratio).
Virgin Atlantic (1:1 ratio).
Hotels
Hyatt (1:1 or 4:3 ratio; varies by card).
IHG (1:1 ratio).
Marriott (1:1 ratio).
Wyndham (1:1 ratio).
The Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card also features multiple transfer partners, but as you'll notice in the list below, the card lacks many big-name domestic brands.
Full list of Capital One transfer partners Full list of Capital One transfer partners
Airlines
Aeromexico (1:1 ratio).
Air Canada (1:1 ratio).
Air France-KLM (1:1 ratio).
Avianca (1:1 ratio).
British Airways (1:1 ratio).
Cathay Pacific (1:1 ratio).
Emirates (1:1 ratio).
Etihad (1:1 ratio).
EVA (2:1.5 ratio).
Finnair (1:1 ratio).
Japan Airlines (2:1.5 ratio).
JetBlue (5:3 ratio).
Qantas (1:1 ratio).
Qatar Airways (1:1 ratio).
Singapore Airlines (1:1 ratio).
TAP Air Portugal (1:1 ratio).
Turkish Airlines (1:1 ratio).
Virgin Red (1:1 ratio).
Hotels
Accor (2:1 ratio).
Choice Privileges Hotels (1:1 ratio).
I Prefer Hotel Rewards (1:2 ratio).
Wyndham Rewards (1:1 ratio).
Travel protections
If you’ve ever experienced travel plans completely falling apart, you’ll appreciate the built-in travel protections that come with the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card:
Trip cancellation and interruption insurance: Get reimbursed for up to $10,000 per person and $20,000 per trip if you must cancel or go home early due to a covered reason like illness or severe weather.
Rental car coverage: Primary collision and theft insurance.
Baggage delay insurance: Get up to $100 a day for five days to buy clothing and toiletries if your baggage is delayed.
Trip delay reimbursement: If you’re delayed for more than 12 hours or must stay overnight, you’re covered for up to $500 per ticket on your reservation for meals and lodging.
Emergency assistance: This is helpful if you experience an emergency while traveling. You will be responsible for the cost of any services you opt into.
The Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card offers rental car coverage and travel accident insurance, which is helpful, but doesn’t go above and beyond.
Why you might prefer the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card
Straightforward rewards
The Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card is a remarkably easy card to use. Not only do you earn 2 miles per $1 on purchases — meaning there’s no need to keep track of several different spending categories — but redeeming for travel is as simple as requesting a statement credit. Capital One considers purchases from the following merchants to count as travel: airlines, hotels, rail lines, car rental agencies, limousine services, bus lines, cruise lines, taxi cabs, travel agents and timeshares. Miles are worth one cent each when redeemed for travel.
As noted, you can also transfer miles to multiple airline and hotel loyalty programs.
Both cards have their upsides, but the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card comes out slightly ahead because of its potential for higher point values, its robust list of transfer partners, and its comprehensive travel protections.
If you’d simply prefer the flexibility to book however you want and pay with rewards later, the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card is probably more your speed.
Whether you want to pay less interest or earn more rewards, the right card's out there. Just answer a few questions and we'll narrow the search for you.