Sorry, Happy - I meant the Arrival program being less flexible than Venture in regards to what counts as "travel," not vice versa. I see the way I worded it was ambiguous. What you describe is how I understood Venture to work, very flexible in allowing for travel redemption.
I ended up deciding on an Arrival, as well as an AMEX Blue Cash Preferred. I did the math, and based on our spending, we would overall come out ahead if we pair the two and charge all the "high earning category" spending to the AMEX and everything else to Arrival, even taking in to account two annual fees. I also thought about it more, and like the idea of diversifying the type of award, in case we find the Arrival too restrictive on redemption. Both have a nice signing bonus, which negates the fees for both cards for the first couple years. I figure I'll try this paring out for awhile and see how it works, and if I end up being unhappy with one or both of the cards, will cancel and try something else.
Thanks everyone for the input!