4/23/2024 Update: Venti is now allowing users to redeem points for AirTags at a rate of 30 points for 1 AirTag and 85 points for 4 AirTags. Since 1 point is worth a dollar towards travel, you could view this as 4 AirTags in exchange for $85 worth of travel credit. Note that Amazon typically sells 4 AirTags for $79.99. This isn’t a bad redemption if you are lacking the ability to redeem these points. Tag those bags! If you are short in points, I would consider transferring some money to generate enough interest to hit 85 points threshold needed for AirTags redemption.
Venti is a travel finance company that is currently offering 9% APY on a balance of up to $25,000. The interest is paid in the form of Venti points (called Boarding Pass Points), which can be redeemed towards travel using their portal and cannot be converted into cash. Venti is currently charging a $9.99 verification fee to verify your identity. If you register before January 1, 2024, they will waive $6 monthly fee. I got $20 worth of points for making a deposit.
The product is currently in beta and I think they are still fine-tuning things so some things may be subject to change. The platform is scheduled to start taking orders on December 31, 2023. This post will be a little heavy on screenshots for the abovementioned reason.
Venti Plans
I realized that Venti had different plans only when I started to write this review. Their plan ranges from free to $42/month with APY ranging from 0%-9%. As stated in the screenshot below, “VIP Members get one year of First Class APY free, when they join by Dec. 31, 2023”.
About Venti
Venti banks with Veridian Credit Union through Dwolla. See the screenshot below for details.
How Venti Works?
As I mentioned in the intro, you deposit money in Venti, you earn APY in the form of points, and you can use points for travel. The screenshot below says the same thing.
Venti Flights
Here is what the booking platform looks like. Some of the budget airlines are currently not supported.
Venti Points (Boarding Pass Points)
The points you earn in Venti are called Boarding Pass Points (BPP). One point is worth $1. The screenshot below describes BPP and shows the Venti dashboard.
Referral and $1 Flight?
Venti is offering $10 worth of points for each referral. I got $20 worth of points for making my first deposit and I think you do too (see bottom of screenshot below).
Venti is offering $10 for referring a user. You get $20 worth of points for making a deposit by Dec 31?
https://venti.co/s/93ddf1387e531a62
Price Matching and Tax
Venti will offer price matching (see screenshot below for details and this link for further details).
Are Venti Points Taxable?
Venti points are taxable when you apply points towards a purchase. I believe this means when you send Venti points to someone else (yes, they will allow this), the redeemer will incur a taxable event, not you.
Closing Thoughts
9% APY is good but you can easily get 5% cash APY at the moment so is an extra 3% worth creating an account on yet another platform, not using your credit card (or gift card), and not incurring hotel/airline loyalty points? I am not sure. But I created an account since fintech seems to create nice opportunities here and there and you never know what kind of Venti opportunities might exist a year from now.
Yes, you have to pay $9.99 but they seem to give back $20 in points so it’s not too terrible I guess.
