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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 Autograph℠ Card. Both credit cards offer award travel redemptions, the opportunity to earn bonus miles/points on every purchase, and no annual fee. So, between the Wells Fargo Autograph vs Capital One VentureOne, which is best?

20,000 bonus miles: Capital One VentureOne Rewards Credit Card

20,000 bonus points: Wells Fargo Autograph℠ Card (Learn more: Rewards Credit Card)

Town and Country Hotel San Diego (April 2022). Credit: Johnny Jet

Wells Fargo Autograph vs Capital One VentureOne Review

To help you pick the better option, we’ll compare all the benefits both cards offer. Both the Wells Fargo Autograph and the Capital One VentureOne are Visa cards. Both cards also have no limit on how many rewards can be earned. Additionally, both don’t charge a foreign transaction fee.

Welcome Bonus

Capital One VentureOne: 20,000 bonus miles after spending $500 in the first three months ($200 value)
Wells Fargo Autograph: 20,000 bonus points after spending $1,000 in purchases the first three months ($200 value)

Wells Fargo Autograph

With the Wells Fargo Autograph, your 20,000 bonus points are worth $200 when redeemed for cash rewards.

Capital One VentureOne

With the VentureOne bonus, your miles 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 Capital One hotel transfer partners.

Purchase Rewards

Capital One VentureOne: 5x miles on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel; 1.25x miles for all other purchases
Wells Fargo Autograph: 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

Earn 5x miles on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel. Otherwise, the Capital One VentureOne Rewards Credit Card earns an unlimited 1.25x miles per $1 spent regardless of the purchase category. The 1.25x bonus can be a better option if the Wells Fargo Autograph bonus categories don’t align with your purchase habits. But, the Autograph earns 3x points on common purchases.

Wells Fargo Autograph

You will earn unlimited 3x rewards points on the following purchases:

All remaining purchase categories earn an unlimited 1 point per $1 spent.

The 3x bonus on travel purchases is very generous. It doesn’t matter if it’s plane tickets, hotels, cruises, Uber rides, or tolls, you get 3x points when you travel. Plus, being able to earn on streaming services and phone plans is an easy way to earn rewards.

Wells Fargo Autograph vs Capital One VentureOne: Redeeming Rewards Miles/Points

Capital One VentureOne: Award travel, travel reimbursement, transfer to travel programs, gift cards
Wells Fargo Autograph: Award travel, gift cards, statement credits, online shopping with PayPal

Both cards have multiple miles/points redemption options.

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 and gift cards or even transfer your miles to other Venture cardholders on a 1:1 basis so they can book an award trip sooner.

Wells Fargo Autograph

With the Autograph, you can redeem your rewards points for travel, gift cards, or statement credits. Or, you can shop at millions of online stores and redeem your rewards when you check out with PayPal.

Additional Card Benefits

A rising trend for rewards credit cards with low or no annual fees 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.

For instance, with the Autograph, you can get up to $600 of cell phone protection against damage or theft when you pay your monthly cell phone bill with your eligible Wells Fargo card (subject to a $25 deductible).

Annual Fee

Capital One VentureOne: $0
Wells Fargo Autograph: $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:

  • You can earn more with 1.25x flat-rate rewards than the Autograph tiered rewards
  • Want to transfer miles to leading travel loyalty programs

Being able to redeem your miles for travel statement credits or future award travel is a nice touch too.

When to Apply for the Wells Fargo Autograph

The Wells Fargo Autograph is a powerful credit card when it comes to earning points. And the additional card benefits aren’t too shabby either.

Apply for the Wells Fargo Autograph in these instances:

  • Benefit more from the tiered 3x bonus categories
  • Desire a card with cell phone protection

Summary of Wells Fargo Autograph vs Capital One VentureOne

Both credit cards are solid options to earn bonus miles/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 on a monthly basis.

20,000 bonus miles: Capital One VentureOne Rewards Credit Card

20,000 bonus points: Wells Fargo Autograph℠ Card (Learn more: Rewards Credit Card)

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1 Comment On "Wells Fargo Autograph vs Capital One VentureOne: $0 Annual Fees"
  1. JuJu|

    Your article doesn’t mention the 0% APR periods on both cards, which it should for a valid comparison.

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