Capital One Venture X Rewards card: Is it worth it?

As the country re-opens and the economy gets back to running at full speed, folks are starting to travel again for business and pleasure. For that reason, the CardName is a stand-out option in the premium travel card space.

The CardName comes to the marketplace armed with many of the perks luxury travelers have become accustomed to, as well as a beefed up version of Capital One's popular rewards program. And it does it all with a lower-than-expected annual fee in the premium card space.

Cardholders can earn numerous bonuses, including a 75,000-mile welcome bonus, a 10,000-mile card anniversary bonus, and a $300 annual credit for bookings made through Capital One Travel. We get into the details on how to take advantage of all these offers below.

Cardholders also receive unlimited complimentary access for you and two guests to 1,300+ lounges, including Capital One Lounges and the Partner Lounge Network.

One of the characteristics that may not be flashy but should catch your eye is the card's annual fee. It's just AnnualFees (See Rates and Fees), which isn't anything to sneeze at, but it IS much lower than that of other premium cards, such as CardNamediscontinued (AnnualFees) and CardName discontinued (AnnualFees, See Rates and Fees; American Express is a CardRatings advertiser).

CardName WELCOME BONUS

If you become a CardName cardholder, it will be well worth it to put that card to use right away. Cardholders will earn a welcome bonus of 75,000 miles once spending at least $4,000 in the first three months from the date of account opening.

The 75,000 miles have a value of $750 if redeemed for travel-related purchases (plane, hotel, rental car) through Capital One Travel or for a statement credit against travel purchases.

Additional redemption options include gift cards, merchandise and more.

Miles can also be transferred to more than 15 partner airline and hotel programs. The value then depends on the specific program; you can learn more in our Guide to Capital One Miles.

VENTURE X TRAVEL BENEFITS

If you are a frequent traveler for business or pleasure, the CardName is a solid consideration for your wallet, if only for the travel benefits that come with the card.

As you begin your journey, your card membership opens the door to numerous benefits in the area of convenience and comfort. CardName cardholders and authorized users receive unlimited access to more than 1,300 lounges, including Capital One Lounges and the Partner Lounge Network. Cardholders are also allowed to bring two accompanying guests.

Cardholders also save with up to a $100 credit for either their TSA PreCheck® or Global Entry application fee.

And when you return from your trip, a quick look at your Capital One rewards account will reveal you've been earning solid miles on every leg of your journey and you haven't been paying foreign transaction fees (if traveling internationally) while you do it.

Finally, elevate every hotel stay from the Premier or Lifestyle Collections with a suite of cardholder benefits, like an experience credit, room upgrades, and more.

CardName REWARDS

Speaking of earning rewards, the CardName makes it easy to keep refilling your rewards bank, offering 10 miles for every $1 spent on hotels and rental cars through Capital One Travel and five miles for every $1 spent on flights booked via the portal. Additionally, you earn two miles for every $1 spent on all other purchases.

As already mentioned, those miles are redeemable for, among other things, statement credit at $.01 each to cover travel-related purchases, which according to the Capital One definition of travel, could mean anything from a train ticket to a cruise and much more.

HOW TO OFFSET THE CardName ANNUAL FEE

While the AnnualFees annual fee might seem steep, in reality the CardName will pay for itself multiple times over if you put it to good use and take advantage of all the statement credit opportunities. See Rates and Fees

For new cardholders, for instance, earning the 75,000-mile welcome bonus is worth as much as $750 for travel statement credit when you use those miles to cover a recent travel purchase. That's almost equal to more than two years' worth of annual fees. That bonus could be worth even more if you transfer the miles strategically to one of Capital One's travel partners.

On an ongoing basis, however, it pays to put all the statement credit opportunities to good use:

• $300 annual credit for bookings through Capital One Travel
• Receive 10,000 bonus miles each year – that's equal to $100 in travel – beginning with your first anniversary
• Save with up to $100 in statement credit to cover your Global Entry or TSA PreCheck® application fee

Between the annual miles bonus as well as the $300 annual credit for bookings through Capital One Travel, you can more than offset the annual fee.

Beyond that, a frequent traveler booking through Capital One Travel could even more easily offset the fee. That's because you earn 10 miles for every $1 spent on hotels and rental cars, and five miles for every $1 spent on flights booked via Capital One Travel. As an example, a cardholder who makes monthly trips for business plus an annual family vacation could spend $8,000 per year on airline travel (earning 40,000 miles), $4,000 on hotel stays (40,000 miles) and $3,000 on car rentals (30,000 miles). This cardholder would have earned 110,000 miles, with a value of $1,100 in travel. Add to that the everyday 2X miles per $1 spent that you earn on all your other purchases, and it's not difficult to see how the annual fee is a distant afterthought.

POTENTIAL DOWNSIDES OF THE CardName

On the other hand, if you don't travel frequently, that annual fee can become a burden. This is a card that shouldn't sit in your wallet gathering dust.

You also need to remember that many of these benefits – particularly the annual travel credit of $300 – require you to book through Capital One Travel to earn it. Some of the other premium cards allow more flexibility when it comes to earning a travel credit. If you prefer to use an agent you or your company requires you to go through a different portal or system, you could miss out on that statement credit.

Another issue could be the convenience and accessibility of some of the "perks." For example, while the Capital One Lounges at airports promise to offer a luxurious, relaxing place for cardholders to wait for their flight to board, they are not yet commonplace. The first lounge is now open at Dallas-Forth Worth Airport (DFW) and new lounges are planned for Denver International and Dulles (Washington DC) in 2022.

Lastly, though not unusual for a travel rewards card, this one doesn't feature an introductory 0% APR period and does come with a relatively high RegAPR ongoing APR. See Rates and Fees

CAPITAL ONE VENTURE X CARDHOLDER SCORES

CardRatings conducts a survey annually to learn what actual cardholders think of their cards. Here are the results:

*Scores above reflect the results of surveys with actual cardholders. Full methodology below.

HOW DOES VENTURE X COMPARE TO OTHER CARDS

CardName vs. CardName

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CardName and CardName have similar rewards program: Both offer 10X miles/points on hotels and car rentals and 5X miles/points on flights through their respective travel portals (for Sapphire Reserve, this points earning kicks in after you've earned your $300 travel credit each year). Chase Sapphire Reserve also offers 3X miles on dining and other general travel expenses (again, after earning your credit) and 1X point on all other purchases. Venture X, on the other hand, offers 2X miles on all other purchases.

A big difference between the cards is the annual fee each charges: AnnualFees for Venture X (See Rates and Fees) vs. AnnualFees for Sapphire Reserve. Even though the fee is higher for Sapphire Reserve, there are still options to offset it, including up to $300 in statement credit annually for travel purchases – and they don't have to be booked via a particular portal, making this credit more flexible to earn.

Still, both cards encourage booking travel through their company's own booking department. Notably, CardName offers a 50% bonus to the value of points redeemed when booking travel through Chase Travel℠. That means the Sapphire Reserve welcome bonus of 60,000 points after spending $4,000 in the first three months are worth up to $900 in travel when booking through Chase Travel.

CardName does not offer an equivalent to Venture X's 10,000-mile annual card anniversary bonus.

CardName vs. CardName

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It's hard to miss that CardName has a massive annual fee (AnnualFees), even when compared to another premium card like the CardName. That said, it allows the chance to offset that fee through a series of annual credit opportunities and benefits (enrollment required for some benefits). These include $20 monthly statement credit for digital entertainment providers (Disney+, The Disney Bundle, ESPN+, Hulu, The New York Times, Peacock, and The Wall Street Journal for up to $240 in statement credit annually (enrollment required); up to $200 in credit annually for Uber rides and Uber Eats purchases (terms apply); up to a $200 hotel credit annually when you use your card for prepaid bookings with American Express Travel at Fine Hotels + Resorts or The Hotel Collection (minimum two-night stay required) properties; up to $300 annually for your Equinox membership; up to $200 annually for incidental charges with a pre-selected airline; and more.

Both cards have a healthy welcome bonus offer. Platinum requires new cardholders to spend $8,000 on purchases in the first six months to earn 80,000 bonus Membership Rewards® points, while Capital One Venture X requires $4,000 on purchases in three months to earn the 75,000-mile bonus.

The Platinum Card's standard reward program is not quite as attractive as that of Venture X in that it's more restricted when it comes to earning more than one point per $1 spent. With the American Express Platinum Card, you earn 5X points on flights booked directly with airlines or through American Express Travel (on up to $500,000 in these purchases each year) and on prepaid hotels booked through AmexTravel.com as well as 1X point on all other eligible purchases.

Also, with CardName, if you want to redeem your points for travel, you would do so through American Express Travel portal or by transferring points to one of the loyalty program partners. There's a lot of value to be had there, but it's not quite as flexible as what Venture X offers with its ability to cover recent travel purchases with miles.

Once again, American Express Platinum also does not offer an equivalent to Venture X's 10,000-mile annual card anniversary bonus.

CardName vs. CardName

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CardName should be viewed as the luxury alternative to the CardName card, but if you're looking for similar rewards without the added perks and luxury polish, Venture Rewards might be a better option.

CardName has a significantly more affordable annual fee (AnnualFees) compared to Venture X, but the benefits and perks are on a smaller, less luxurious scale. For starters, Venture Rewards does not offer the 10,000-mile annual bonus after your cardholder anniversary. It also doesn't offer $300 annual travel credit for your purchases through the Capital One Travel portal.

The Venture welcome bonus is the same as Venture X: a one-time bonus of 75,000 miles earned once spending $4,000 in three months.

The regular rewards program offers the same base rate of 2X miles on "other purchases," but the earning via the Capital One travel portal is more modest at 5X miles on car rentals and hotel stays booked through Capital One Travel (versus 10X on hotels and rental cars and 5X on flights through the portal for Venture X).

Should you upgrade your Venture card to Venture X? Learn more.

IS THE CardName WORTH IT?

A premium card from Capital One was long overdue and the CardName is helping to fill a gap in affordable luxury card options. The modest annual fee (for a luxury card with all these perks) is enough to grab our attention, but the opportunity to offset it with several combinations of available statement credits and regular rewards earning is what really makes it impressive.

While the lack of Capital One Lounges is disappointing for now, our fingers are crossed that the footprint will grow and, in the meantime, that the Partner Lounge access will meet the airport lounge needs for many cardholders.

Overall, this is a solid card choice with a lucrative welcome bonus and the opportunity to keep racking up rewards day after day.

Survey Methodology: CardRatings commissioned Op4G in September 2023 to conduct surveys among 1,869 cardholders nationwide. CardRatings website analytics from Jan. 1, 2023-Aug. 31, 2023 were used to determine a selection of the most popular cards and additional cards were included to add survey breadth. Responses to each of nine questions were given on a scale of 1-10 and respondents' scores were then averaged under broad topics. To determine the overall score, responses from questions 1-8 were summed and the answer to "How likely are you to recommend this card to a friend, coworker or family member?" was double weighted. “Current Scores” reflect scores from the most recent survey (2023); "Past Scores" reflect scores from the 2022 survey.

To see the rates and fees for CardName, please see the following link: See Rates and Fees

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