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The battle for no annual fee credit cards is heating up. Two options you might be considering are the Capital One VentureOne Rewards Credit Card and the Wells Fargo Propel American Express® Card. Both credit cards offer award travel redemptions, the opportunity to earn bonus points on every purchase, and no annual fee.
Capital One VentureOne vs. Wells Fargo Propel Review
To help you pick the better option, we’ll compare all the benefits both cards offer.
VentureOne and Wells Fargo Propel Welcome Bonus
Capital One VentureOne: 20,000 bonus miles after spending $1,000 in the first three months ($200 value)
Wells Fargo Propel: 20,000 bonus points after spending $1,000 in purchases the first three months ($200 value)
Since the bonuses are the same, the one with the most value will be the one that works best for your goals.
Wells Fargo Propel
With the Wells Fargo Propel, your 20,000 bonus points are worth $200 when redeemed for cash rewards. It’s the best Wells Fargo card, imho.
Capital One VentureOne
With the VentureOne bonus, your points are worth $200 when redeemed for award travel. You can either use Capital One’s Purchase Eraser tool to get a statement credit on previous purchases or book future award travel on the travel portal. Cardholders can transfer miles to over 15+ leading travel loyalty programs, including new Capital One hotel transfer partners.
Purchase Rewards
Capital One VentureOne: 1.25x points for all purchases
Wells Fargo Propel: 3x points on select categories and 1x point for all remaining purchases
You will need to choose the card that lets you earn more points based on your purchase habits.
Capital One VentureOne Rewards Credit Card
The Capital One VentureOne Rewards Credit Card earns an unlimited 1.25x points per $1 spent regardless of the purchase category. The 1.25x bonus can be a better option if the Wells Fargo Propel bonus categories don’t align with your purchase habits. But, the Propel earns 3x points on your most common everyday purchases.
Wells Fargo Propel
You will earn unlimited 3x rewards points on the following purchases:
- Restaurants and takeout
- Travel and transit
- Gas stations
- Popular streaming services (i.e. Netflix, Hulu, Spotify)
All remaining purchase categories earn an unlimited 1 point per $1 spent.
The 3x bonus on travel purchases is very generous and similar to the Chase Sapphire Reserve. It doesn’t matter if it’s plane tickets, hotels, cruises, Uber rides, or tolls, you get 3x points when you travel.
Redeeming Rewards Points
Capital One VentureOne: Award travel, Cash back, Gift cards
Wells Fargo Propel: Award travel, Cash back, Gift cards
Both cards have multiple point redemption options but award travel is the most valuable redemption for either card. Neither card lets you transfer points directly to airline or hotel travel partners.
Capital One VentureOne
When you’re ready to redeem Capital One Venture miles, your most valuable option will be award travel. You can either redeem them for travel statement credits or book future award travel on the Capital One Venture travel portal. With either option, each Venture mile is worth 1 cent each.
If you don’t want to redeem them for travel rewards, you can also get cash statement credits, gift cards, or even transferring your points to other Venture cardholders on a 1:1 basis so they can book an award trip sooner.
Wells Fargo Propel
You have similar redemption options with your Wells Fargo Go Far Rewards points, that you might like more. There are several categories to redeem your points in, including flights, hotels, and cruises. Digital downloads, merchandise, and gift cards are also options.
Additional Card Benefits
A rising trend for rewards credit cards with low or no annual fee is to offer additional card benefits. If you use these benefits for amenities that you already use.
Because both of these cards don’t charge an annual fee, you won’t get much in terms of additional card benefits. But, you’ll still have something beyond earning and redeeming purchase rewards.
Capital One VentureOne
Additional Capital One VentureOne Rewards Credit Card benefits also include:
- Secondary rental car collision damage waiver protection
- Extended warranty protection
- Travel accident insurance
If you’re willing to pay a $95 annual fee, the Capital One Venture Rewards recently added a new travel benefit that frequent flyers will like, they reimburse your Global Entry or TSA Precheck application fee reimbursement. You can now skip the long security lines at the airport when you pass through U.S. Customs or the TSA security lines. And, you can also earn 2x points on every purchase instead of 1.25 points.
Wells Fargo Propel
The Wells Fargo Propel metal card offers more in terms of purchase protection than additional travel benefits. Since the Propel is issued by American Express, you have access to exclusive American Express ticket presales for shows and games.
The Propel also comes with cell phone protection that you might enjoy too. This benefit comes standard with several other Wells Fargo credit cards and provides up to $600 in protection per claim. Just make sure you pay your monthly bill with the Propel to qualify for the bonus.
Annual Fee
Capital One VentureOne: $0
Wells Fargo Propel: $0
Neither card charges an annual fee or foreign transaction fee.
When to Apply for the Capital One VentureOne
The Capital One VentureOne Rewards Credit Card is the better option when:
- Can earn more with 1.25x flat-rate rewards than the 3/1 Propel tiered rewards
- Want to transfer miles to 15+ leading travel loyalty programs
Being able to redeem your points for travel statement credits or future award travel is a nice touch too.
When to Apply for the Wells Fargo Propel
The Wells Fargo Propel is a no annual fee credit card. It’s a very powerful credit card when it comes to earning and redeeming rewards points. And the additional card benefits aren’t too shabby either.
Apply for the Wells Fargo Propel in these instances:
- Benefit more from the tiered 3x bonus categories
- Desire a card with cell phone protection
Summary: Capital One VentureOne vs. Wells Fargo Propel
Both credit cards are solid options to earn bonus points for every purchase. You also have flexible redemption options that make award travel easy. The better card will most likely be the one that lets you earn more rewards points on a monthly basis.
Related Posts:
Chase Sapphire Preferred or Capital One Venture
Contents
- 1 Capital One VentureOne vs. Wells Fargo Propel Review
- 2 VentureOne and Wells Fargo Propel Welcome Bonus
- 3 Purchase Rewards
- 4 Redeeming Rewards Points
- 5 Additional Card Benefits
- 6 Annual Fee
- 7 When to Apply for the Capital One VentureOne
- 8 When to Apply for the Wells Fargo Propel
- 9 Summary: Capital One VentureOne vs. Wells Fargo Propel
Your article doesn’t mention the 0% APR periods on both cards, which it should for a valid comparison.