Capital One Venture X Credit Card Review: Great Returns for Frequent Travelers
Written by
Scott Jeffries
Edited by
Amber Barkley
Commitment to Our Readers
GOBankingRates' editorial team is committed to bringing you unbiased reviews and information. We use data-driven methodologies to evaluate financial products and services - our reviews and ratings are not influenced by advertisers. You can read more about our editorial guidelines and our products and services review methodology.
20 Years
Helping You Live Richer
Reviewed
by Experts
Trusted by
Millions of Readers
GOBankingRates Score
-
Travel
5.0
Pros
- Excellent reward rate
- Bonus offers for new cardholders
- Travel credit for bookings made using Capital One Travel
- Bonus rewards on every account anniversary
- Access to Priority Pass Select membership
Cons
- Annual fee may be too high for some
- Demands excellent credit
Capital One Venture X Credit Card Overview
Right after its launch in November 2021, Capital One Venture X became the talk of the town. This premium travel card has a lot more to offer than many of its competitors. From an easy sign-up bonus to access to various airport lounges, the Capital One Venture X card provides some valuable perks.
The credit card has features that can easily meet your travel preferences and goals. It does come with a hefty fee of , but in regards to the fees of other premium cards, it’s comparatively low.
The Capital One Venture X card offers a generous sign-up bonus of 75,000 miles after spending $4,000 on the card within the first three months. One mile is essentially worth one cent, so you would end up with a $750 bonus. This amount is enough to cover your annual fee for almost two years.
Key Features
Here are some of the best features of Capital One Venture X.
Fees
The annual fee of the Venture X is . This might be substantial for many, but similar premium cards often charge the same amount or more. For instance, the Chase Sapphire Reserve has an annual fee of $550. Similarly, the Platinum Card from American Express charges a fee of $695.
If this fee is too much for you, you can opt for an alternative card, such as the original Capital One Venture Rewards card. This comes with fewer perks but follows the same general reward structure of a Venture X card.
APR
The Capital One Venture X card doesn’t offer an introductory APR. Rather, it comes with a APR for all purchases and transfers.
Travel
This card comes with a variety of travel benefits that can improve the travel experience of cardholders:
- Airport Lounge Access: Besides having access to more than 1,400 Priority Pass lounges, this card also gives you Capital One Lounge access. Note that there is currently just one Capital One Lounge location — Dallas-Fort Worth — with two others slated to open in 2023.
- Rental Car: The cardholder and authorized users receive Hertz President’s Circle status. This status includes benefits such as car upgrades, an additional driver for free and a dedicated line for customer service.
- TSA PreCheck or Global Entry: You can get a maximum of $100 in credit for either of these services. Both Global Entry and TSA PreCheck allow you to bypass any standard lines.
- Primary Car Insurance: As part of travel protections, you can receive a maximum of $75,000 to cover any damage to your rental car caused by theft or accident.
- Interruption Insurance and Trip Cancellation: In case of a canceled or interrupted trip, you can get a maximum of $2,000 for any non-refundable expenses incurred during every insured trip.
- Insurance on Trip Delay: For a flight delay exceeding six hours, you can get $500 to cover costs such as meals.
- Reimbursement on Lost Luggage: For every covered trip, you are eligible for a maximum of $3,000 to cover loss or damage to your bag.
Benefits
Capital One also offers a few additional perks for cardholders:
- Authorized Users: Other than a cardholder, authorized users can also access lounges. Unlike other travel cards, there is no fee for adding these users to the card.
- Anniversary Bonus: You can earn 10,000 miles on every anniversary of your account. The value of these miles is $100.
- Cell Phone Protection: If you use your card for making your cell phone bill payment, you are automatically eligible for coverage of up to $800 per claim. You are allowed just two claims, and there is a deductible of $50 on every occurrence.
- Shopping Protections: You are eligible to receive coverage of a maximum of $10,000 for every claim made on the theft or damage of items purchased in the last 90 days. Additionally, there is return protection where you can receive a maximum of $300 on every item if the retailer fails to accommodate your return. Lastly, you can also receive an extended warranty for purchases with a warranty period of three years or less.
How the Capital One Venture X Credit Card Stands Out
Capital One Venture X offers great benefits that are easy to claim. For example, you can earn around 10 miles for every dollar spent on rental cars and hotels purchased using Capital One Travel. You get five miles for every dollar on flights booked through Capital One Travel and two miles for other eligible purchases.
You are free to make any purchases you want and, after the bill arrives, you can use your earned miles against purchases in a specific category. There are many ways to redeem your miles earned via Capital One Venture X Credit Card.
Capital One has a host of hotel and airline transfer partners, such as Air Canada Aeroplan, British Airways Avios and Emirates Skywards. Unfortunately, miles earned through Capital One can be difficult to redeem for U.S.-based airlines.
Additionally, Capital One also facilitates its customers with fixed-value redemptions. This feature works ideally for people looking for a straightforward redemption system rather than a cent-per-point value.
This redemption includes:
- Easily book any new travel via Capital One Travel.
- Utilize your miles for gift cards.
- Redeem your miles for cash back. You can expect to get this amount within a few business days.
- Link your card with PayPal or Amazon and use the miles to make payments through these platforms.
- Redeem miles for exclusive tickets, event access and perks via Capital One Entertainment.
Comparable Credit Card Options
Many other credit cards offer similar services and rewards to the Capital One Venture X. However, two competitors, American Express Platinum and Chase Sapphire Reserve, stand out.
American Express Platinum
For starters, the annual fee of the American Express® Platinum is , which is considerably more than Venture X’s annual price tag. Secondly, Venture X stands out from its competitor regarding simplicity. Other than that, the American Express Platinum card also has some benefits that might not be useful for most cardholders. For instance, the SoulCycle credit may prove useless for people who don’t want to buy a bike.
On the other hand, Venture X has a minimal lounge network, but American Express Platinum has Centurion Lounges in more than a dozen airports. So, if you fly regularly, you may prefer American Express Platinum over Venture X for this fantastic benefit.
Chase Sapphire Reserve
Many factors make a Chase Sapphire Reserve card similar to a Capital One Venture X card. For example, the former provides similar earning rewards, except that it offers three points for every dollar spent on dining and travel purchases.
Additionally, the Ultimate Rewards program by Chase has excellent transfer partners, including World of Hyatt. Also, the 1.5 cent rate of redemption for any travel by the cardholder is more than the 1 cent rate offered by Venture X.
However, the annual fee of Chase Sapphire Reserve is $550, which is comparatively high. In that case, Venture X proves much more affordable and offers similar perks.
How To Apply
To apply for the Capital One Venture X credit card, access Capital One’s website and click on “Credit Cards.” Find the Venture X credit card and click “Apply Now.”
The application requires you to fill out some personal information, including your name, date of birth, tax ID, income information and more. You can also check if you qualify for pre-approval with no impact on your credit score through Capital One’s website.
Keep in mind that this card requires excellent credit, so if you have a score of under 700, the likelihood that you will be approved is low.
Who the Capital One Venture X Credit Card Is Best For
If you want to boost your travel experience, the Capital One Venture X Credit Card is perfect for you. The Capital One Venture X card provides free airport lounge access and travel protection and offers its cardholders 10,000 bonus miles on account anniversaries. In some cases, the card extends a few of these perks to four authorized users for free.
In a nutshell, a Capital One Venture X credit card should suit anyone looking for a one-card setup designed to gain some travel rewards and facilitate all travel purchases.
Final Take
Venture X is an ideal travel credit card for anyone who wants to enjoy strong earnings, access travel lounges and redeem miles via travel partners.
FAQ
Here are the answers to some of the most frequently asked questions about the Capital One Venture X Credit Card.- Is there an expiration date for Capital One miles?
- No, Capital One miles do not expire – as long as your account is open and in good standing, you can redeem the miles whenever you want.
- However, if you close your account, any unredeemed miles will go to waste.
- Is Venture X hard to get?
- You'll need an excellent credit score to qualify for the Capital One Venture X card. Before you apply for the card, you should ensure that your credit score is high enough and you can easily afford the $395 annual fee.
- A high score helps increase your acceptance chances.
- What is the difference between Venture Rewards and Venture X cards?
- The Venture Rewards card has an annual fee of $95, which is far less than $395 with Venture X. When it comes to the sign-up bonus, Venture X and Venture Rewards both offer 75,000 miles after you spend $4,000 within the first three months.
- Venture Rewards doesn't offer any annual credit, while Venture X offers up to $300 travel credit. Venture Rewards also provides only five miles per dollar spent on car rentals and hotels booked through Capital One Travel, compared to the 10x miles that Venture X gives you. Venture Rewards offers two miles for every dollar spent on booked flights, while Venture X offers five miles per dollar for flights booked on Capital One Travel.
- Venture Rewards only offers two complimentary visits per year to Capital One lounges, whereas Venture X offers unlimited visits. Venture Rewards also doesn't offer access to Priority Pass lounges in international airports.
- What is the Capital One Venture X credit limit?
- Capital One decides credit limits on a case-by-case basis based on factors like your income, credit score and current debts. Capital One does not disclose its credit limits or methodology. However, cardholders have generally reported credit limits between $15,000 and $30,000.
Cynthia Measom and Chris Ozarowski contributed to the reporting for this article.
Rates are subject to change; unless otherwise noted, rates are updated periodically. All other information on accounts is accurate as of May 15, 2023.
Editorial Note: This content is not provided by any entity covered in this article. Any opinions, analyses, reviews, ratings or recommendations expressed in this article are those of the author alone and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any entity named in this article.
All information about American Express card offers has been collected independently by GOBankingRates and has not been reviewed or approved by American Express. These offers are not available through GOBankingRates.
The information related to the Chase Sapphire Reserve credit card was collected by GOBankingRates and has not been reviewed or provided by the issuer of this card. Product details may vary. Please see the issuer’s website for current information. GOBankingRates does not receive commission for this product.
