Why the Capital One Venture Rewards Card is an excellent choice for weddings and honeymoons

When two of my college friends were preparing for their wedding, they expressed how overwhelming their expenses were — even before factoring in the costs of their honeymoon. I inquired about the card they were using for these expenses and was disappointed to find they were primarily relying on checks and a card that offered no rewards.

At TPG, we believe that’s simply leaving money on the table, so we developed resources to assist future newlyweds in maximizing points and miles when organizing their wedding and honeymoon.

If you’re looking for a simple card without complicated bonus categories — or if you want to use rewards from your wedding expenses to book your honeymoon travel, knowing that most charges won’t appear until close to your wedding date — the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card might be the perfect option for you.

Overview of the Capital One Venture Rewards Card

Annual fee: $95 (see rates and fees)

Sign-up bonus: Earn 75,000 bonus miles by spending $4,000 on purchases within the first three months of opening your account. As of July valuations, TPG estimates Capital One miles are worth 1.85 cents each. When you combine the value of the miles with the Capital One Travel credit, this welcome bonus totals $1,388.

Earning rate: 2 miles for every dollar spent on all purchases and 5 miles per dollar on hotels and rental cars booked through the Capital One Travel portal.

Earning 2 miles for every dollar spent on all purchases is a great perk — especially since it happens automatically without any hassle. Plus, as we’ll explore later in this guide, the Venture Rewards Credit Card provides multiple redemption options, including the ability to redeem miles for travel and transfer miles to airline and hotel partners.

Cardholders enjoy benefits such as a Global Entry or TSA PreCheck application fee credit (up to $120). There are no foreign transaction fees (see rates and fees), and you'll also have access to perks like extended warranty protection, MasterRental Insurance, and trip cancellation/interruption coverage when using your card.

Earning miles on wedding-related expenses

With the Capital One Venture Rewards card, you earn 2 miles for every dollar spent, so you can use it freely without worrying about how your purchases will be categorized. If your wedding or reception is held at a restaurant or hotel, and you know those charges will be classified as dining or lodging, you might prefer a card that offers higher rewards for those specific categories. Plus, you earn 5 miles per dollar on hotels and rental cars booked through the Capital One Travel portal. This can significantly enhance your earnings during the wedding, particularly if you're reserving rooms at independent hotels not linked to major chains.

If you prefer a simple and stress-free approach to earning rewards, consider putting all your expenses on your Capital One Venture Rewards card. You can charge your wedding costs to this card, earn the sign-up bonus, and then use the miles accumulated from the welcome bonus to help cover some of your honeymoon expenses.

Using miles for your honeymoon

It's advisable to plan and book your honeymoon well in advance of your wedding day. However, if you intend to fund your trip with credit card rewards accrued from wedding expenses, you might face a challenge. Credit card rewards are credited only after purchases are posted, and many wedding-related purchases often take time to post, which may delay your honeymoon planning.

You can either postpone your honeymoon or use miles you've already earned from your wedding expenses to reduce the cost of your trip. Just remember, this might not allow you to utilize all the miles you will eventually earn from charges related to your honeymoon (like flights, hotels, massages, excursions, etc.).

There are additional ways to redeem your Capital One miles that might offer better value. For instance, you can transfer your Capital One miles to select airline and hotel partners and then redeem them for flights or accommodations through those programs.

According to TPG's latest valuations, you can estimate the value of Capital One miles at 1.85 cents each when redeemed through these partner programs.

This indicates that you might not be maximizing your Capital One miles to cover recent travel costs if you're not transferring them to partner programs. Other cards may also offer better rewards on dining, hotels, and non-bonus purchases. However, if your goal is simply to offset honeymoon costs using rewards earned from wedding expenses, the Venture Rewards Credit Card remains one of the best options.

TPG senior writer Katie Genter prefers to transfer her Capital One miles to Turkish Air or Wyndham when she spots a redemption opportunity in either program and needs to boost her balance.

Conclusion

The Capital One Venture Rewards card is an excellent choice for weddings and honeymoons. It earns a consistent 2 miles per dollar on all purchases, and you can enhance your rewards by booking hotels through the Capital One Travel Portal. We recommend signing up for the card before your wedding, charging all your expenses to it to earn the sign-up bonus, and building a substantial mile balance for your honeymoon.

Redeeming points with Capital One is straightforward, and by using transfer partners, you can maximize the value for your honeymoon.

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