Capital One Venture vs Chase Sapphire Preferred

Verdict: For the long run, get Chase Sapphire Preferred: same $95 fee as Capital One Venture, 3x categories, a $100 Chase Travel hotel credit every year, and a Global Entry credit Venture used to have to itself. For year one, Venture now carries the bigger offer: as of September 25, 2026, 75,000 miles after $4,000 plus a limited-time $300 Capital One Travel credit, against Preferred's 75,000 points after $5,000. Take Venture if you will book a hotel through Capital One Travel in your first year or will not track categories.

Both cards cost $95 a year. That used to be the whole comparison: pick your points currency and go. Chase's 2026 refresh changed the math. Preferred now pays 3x on dining, gas, EV charging, vacation homes, streaming, and online groceries. It also reimburses a Global Entry, TSA PreCheck, or NEXUS application fee up to $120 every four years, which was Venture's cleanest extra. The July 2026 limited-time 100,000-point Sapphire print is gone. Chase's own page, rechecked on September 25, 2026, posts 75,000 points after $5,000 in the first three months.

Venture's page still posts 75,000 miles after $4,000 in three months, unlimited 2x on every purchase, and 5x on hotels, vacation rentals, and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel. As of September 25, 2026, Capital One adds a limited-time $300 credit for hotel and vacation rental bookings through Capital One Travel, usable in the first cardholder year and expiring one year after account opening. Capital One publishes no end date for the offer. The fee is a tie. The homework is not.

This is not financial advice. Offers and APRs change. Read the issuer page before you apply.

Side by side

Figures below are from the issuer pages we fetched on September 7, 2026, rechecked on September 25, 2026, and from the Financeradar product rows those pages feed.

We publish 24 credit cards. The catalog average annual fee is $190. These two sit in the cheap half with Amex Blue Cash Preferred and Chase Ink Business Preferred. The other $95 names are a cash-back grocery card and a business card. They are not in this race.

The bonus now tilts toward Venture

The thin version of this post still advertised Preferred's July 2026 100,000-point elevated offer. That print is not on Chase's page today. Both cards now advertise 75,000 units. The differences are the spend gate, Venture's one-time travel credit, and the calendar.

Venture: $4,000 in three months. Preferred: $5,000 in three months. If you put $1,500 a month on a card already, Venture is the bonus you can finish without stretching. That credit only counts if you book a hotel or vacation rental through Capital One Travel within a year of opening the account. If you would book that trip anyway, and you value a mile and a point about the same, Venture's first year beats Preferred's 75,000 points plus its $100 hotel credit. If you can clear $5,000 without carrying a balance and skip the portal, the piles are the same size and Preferred's year-two value is better.

Capital One's footnote is strict. You are not eligible for the miles or the credit if you took a new-cardmember bonus on Venture or Venture X in the past 48 months. Chase's footnote is the usual "this card is unavailable if you already have it" plus a look at cards you have opened and closed. Neither bonus is a reason to carry a balance. The APR ranges above are purchase rates, not a feature.

Miles and points are not cash until you redeem them. Capital One will let you erase a recent travel purchase or transfer to 15-plus loyalty programs. Chase transfers to airlines (United, Air Canada, British Airways, Flying Blue, JetBlue, Southwest, Virgin Atlantic, and others listed on the Sapphire page) and hotels (Hyatt, Marriott, IHG, Wyndham). The 1:1 Hyatt transfer is the one people actually plan trips around. We do not publish a cents-per-point forecast. If you will redeem at the portal floor, treat 75,000 as a travel credit, not a windfall.

What you earn after the bonus

Venture is the anti-spreadsheet card. 2x on everything. 5x only when you book hotels, vacation rentals, or cars through Capital One Travel, or tickets through Capital One Entertainment. There is no 3x dining. There is no 3x grocery. If you hate portals, you live on 2x.

Preferred is a category card that got louder in 2026. 5x on Chase Travel. 3x on dining. 3x on gas, EV charging, and vacation homes at the brands Chase lists. 3x on top streaming and online grocery, exclusions apply. 2x on other travel. 1x everywhere else. The $100 hotel credit is a statement credit on Chase Travel hotel stays each account anniversary year. Purchases that qualify for that credit do not also earn points.

If most of your spend is "whatever I buy this month," Venture's 2x beats Preferred's 1x floor. If a real share of your spend is restaurants, gas, or a hotel you are willing to book through Chase Travel, Preferred pulls ahead on the same $95.

A worked example, not a forecast. $1,000 dining, $400 gas, $200 streaming and online grocery, $2,400 everything else, in a month, no portal hotel:

• Venture: 2x on the whole $4,000 = 8,000 miles.
• Preferred: 3x on $1,600 of categories = 4,800 points, plus 1x on $2,400 = 2,400, total 7,200 points, plus a $100 hotel credit you only get if you actually book a hotel that way.

Preferred wins that month if you use the credit. Venture wins if you do not. That is the whole card.

The extras that used to split them

Venture's page still advertises the up to $120 Global Entry or TSA PreCheck credit every four years. Preferred now advertises the same credit and adds NEXUS. That perk is no longer a reason to pick Capital One.

Preferred also throws a year of Apple TV if you activate by December 31, 2026 (Chase calls it a $156 value), a complimentary DashPass year if you activate by December 31, 2027, 5x on eligible Peloton purchases over $150 through December 31, 2027, and 5x on Lyft through September 30, 2027. Those are dated promos. They are real. They are not why you should keep the card in 2028.

Venture has no lounge access. Preferred has no lounge access. If you want a lounge, you are in Venture X at $395 or Sapphire Reserve at $795. Those only pencil if you use the credits. The travel card guide is the ranking for that stack.

Who this pair is for

Get Preferred if you already spend on dining or gas, or you will book at least one hotel night a year through Chase Travel to recapture the $100. Get it if you already hold a Chase Freedom card and want the transfer unlock. Get it if you care about Hyatt.

Get Venture if you will book at least one hotel or vacation rental through Capital One Travel in your first year (that is where the travel credit goes), if category tracking makes you skip the card, if $5,000 in three months is a stretch and $4,000 is not, or if you already live in Capital One Travel and want miles that erase any recent travel purchase without a partner chart.

Do not get either card to float a balance. The purchase APRs are ordinary expensive credit. A 20% APR on $3,000 leftover from the bonus spend costs more than the bonus in a few months.

FAQ

Which card should I get, Venture or Sapphire Preferred?
It depends on your horizon. As of September 25, 2026, Capital One Venture has the richer first year: 75,000 miles after $4,000 in three months plus a limited-time $300 credit for hotels and vacation rentals booked through Capital One Travel. Chase Sapphire Preferred matches the $95 fee and the 75,000-unit bonus (after $5,000) and wins from year two if you spend on dining, gas, or streaming, thanks to 3x categories and a $100 Chase Travel hotel credit every year. Take Venture if you will not track categories or you plan a portal hotel stay in year one.

Is the Sapphire Preferred 100,000-point offer still live?
No. Chase's Sapphire Preferred page as of September 25, 2026 posts 75,000 points after $5,000 in the first three months. The 100,000-point limited-time print from July 2026 is gone.

What is the Capital One Venture welcome bonus right now?
75,000 miles after $4,000 in purchases in the first three months, plus a one-time credit for hotel and vacation rental bookings through Capital One Travel that expires one year after account opening, both labeled limited-time on Capital One's Venture page as of September 25, 2026. Capital One says you are ineligible if you took a Venture or Venture X bonus in the past 48 months.

Do these cards charge a foreign transaction fee?
Both issuer pages say no. We do not store a foreign-transaction fee on either product row.

Is this financial advice?
No. It is a dated comparison of two $95 travel cards we verify. Your approval, your bonus, and next month's earn rates are the issuer's.