Great Card If
- You want an all-in-one premium travel card that offers strong rewards earning, lounge access, and access to transfer partners
- You don’t mind making all of your travel bookings through Capital One Travel
Don’t Get If
- You book most of your airfare and hotels direct in order to earn elite status
- You don’t want a credit card that charges an annual fee
The Ideal Cardholder
For the most part, the most ideal cardholder of the Capital One Venture X card is someone who is looking for a 1-card setup when it comes to travel rewards, wants a premium card that offers lounge access, and doesn’t mind making all of their travel purchases through Capital One Travel.
The Capital One Venture X card could also be a good fit if you’re looking for a card that offers the following perks and benefits:
Capital One Venture X Card Benefits
Annual Travel Credit and Bonus Points
While the Capital One Venture X card does charge a $395 annual fee, these 2 benefits alone will help take the sting out of that as each year you’ll get up to $300 travel credit that can be used towards any purchase made through Capital One Travel. Plus, you’ll get 10,000 bonus miles added to your account, worth a minimum of $100 when redeemed towards cash-back — or even more when you transfer to the Capital One transfer partners.
Lounge Access
Like any good premium credit card, the Capital One Venture X card offers airport lounge access — a welcome perk for all types of travelers. With the card, you’ll get a Priority Pass Select membership, which grants you access to over 1,300 airport lounges worldwide. You also have access to 110+ Plaza Premium Lounges.
Plus you’ll also receive access to Capital One’s very own lounge network. Though only 3 of these lounges have been announced so far, it appears that they will rival the quality of the massively popular American Express Centurion Lounges.
Global Entry/TSA PreCheck Credit
Global Entry and TSA PreCheck are easily 2 of the most useful benefits for travelers, as there are few things worse than standing in the standard security lines or customs lines at the airport. Global Entry and TSA PreCheck help you bypass the standard lines, giving you an expedited security experience.
Hertz Gold Plus Rewards Elite Status
Capital One Venture X cardholders can score some additional benefits on their Hertz rentals thanks to their complimentary Hertz President’s Circle status, which is usually only achieved after 15 rentals or $3,000 in spend.
Hertz President’s Circle includes the following benefits:
- 1.5x points per $1 spent on rentals
- Guaranteed car upgrades
- Widest selection of cars to choose from
- Free additional driver
- Dedicated customer service line
How To Use Capital One Miles for Max Value
Once you’ve built up a stash of Capital One miles, you’ll want to redeem them for as much value as possible. Fortunately, Capital One gives you quite a few options when it comes to redemption options.
Capital One Transfer Partners
Using the Capital One transfer partners is by far your best option if you’re looking to get as much value out of your miles as possible. After all, redeeming your miles this way will allow you to book first and business class flights for a mere fraction of the cash cost.
Capital One offers 16 different transfer partners for you to choose from, 14 of which can be transferred to at a 1:1 rate, including fantastic partners like Air Canada, Avianca, and Turkish Airlines.
Hot Tip: Need some ideas for great ways to redeem your Capital One miles? Read through our guide on the best ways to redeem your Capital One miles!
Capital One Travel
Just as you’ll receive 5x to 10x miles per $1 when making certain travel purchases through Capital One Travel, you can also redeem your miles straight through the portal as well. When you redeem this way, you’ll receive just 1 cent per mile in value, so it’s not quite as good of a value as you’ll get with transfer partners.
But what you lose in value you make up for in flexibility as your miles can be redeemed for literally any travel purchase with no blackout dates or award availability hoops to jump through.
Statement Credit
You’ll also have the ability to redeem your miles for cold hard cash-back, but at a rate of just 0.5 cents per mile. This is the worst redemption option from a value perspective, so you’ll want to opt for some of the other choices unless you really need the cash.
Gift Cards
Like most other travel loyalty programs, you’ll have the ability to redeem your miles for gift cards with select merchants, and you’ll usually receive anywhere from 0.8 cents to 1 cent per mile when doing so. Given that, this is one to skip if you’re trying to get as much value as possible.
Checkout With Amazon or PayPal
Lastly, if you have your Capital One Venture X card linked to your Amazon or PayPal account, you’ll have the option to use your miles as your method of payment when checking out via either platform. Redeeming your miles this way will also give you a value of 0.8 cents per mile — so it’s hardly the best use of them.
Bottom Line: Point blank, if you’re looking to get as much value as possible for your Capital One miles, then you should be redeeming them almost exclusively through the Capital One transfer partners.
How To Earn More Capital One Miles
Booking Hotels and Rental Cars Through Capital One Travel
With the Capital One Venture X card, you’ll earn a whopping 10x miles per $1 on hotel and rental car purchases made through Capital One Travel. Given that we value Capital One miles at 1.6 cents per mile, this is effectively like earning a 16% return on these purchases!
Of course, there is the downside that by not booking directly with the hotel, you won’t earn redeemable hotel miles, nor will those stays count towards your elite status qualification with the chain, so this is definitely important to keep in mind if that is important to you.
Booking Airfare Through Capital One Travel
On airfare purchases made through Capital One Travel, you’ll earn 5x miles per $1. This is a very solid rewards rate that is in line with or better than many other premium cards, but again, flights purchased through the Capital One portal won’t count towards elite status.
All Other Purchases
One area where the Capital One Venture X card really shines is that it earns an uncapped 2x miles per $1 on all purchases. Usually, premium rewards cards earn just 1x mile per $1 on non-bonused purchases, causing savvy points travelers to add an “everywhere else” type card to their wallet to ensure they’re always earning as many miles/points as possible.
But those using the Capital One Venture X card could easily take a “one-card-fits-all” approach by knowing that they’ll earn 5x to 10x miles per $1 on travel purchases and an unlimited 2x miles per $1 on every other purchase.
Adding Additional Capital One Miles Cards
Capital One offers several other cards that earn Capital One miles that you could pair alongside your Capital One Venture X card, but it might not necessarily make sense to do so.
The reason being is that all other Capital One miles-earning cards offer between 1.25x to 2x miles per $1 on all purchases. Given that you’ll already be earning an uncapped 2x miles per $1 on all purchases with your Capital One Venture X card, you’ll probably need a very specific reason to add another card that has overlapping or worse rewards rates.
Alternative Cards to the Capital One Venture X Card
Chase Sapphire Reserve®
In many ways, you’ll find the Chase Sapphire Reserve card to be pretty similar to the Capital One Venture X card. The Chase Sapphire Reserve card also offers 10x points per $1 on hotels and car rentals and 5x miles per $1 on flights purchased through the Chase portal, but it also offers 3x points per $1 on all other travel purchases and dining purchases.
While its annual fee is quite a bit higher, it also comes with benefits like an annual travel credit, a Priority Pass Select membership, a Global Entry credit, Lyft Pink membership, DoorDash DashPass, and much more. Plus, your points are worth 50% more when redeemed through the Chase travel portal.
The Platinum Card® from American Express
If you’re really looking for a premium card with premium benefits, it doesn’t get much better than the Amex Platinum card. While it does come with a hefty annual fee, it is absolutely loaded with perks.
We’ve also compared the Capital One Venture X card to other popular cards:
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.
Upon enrollment, accessible through the Capital One website or mobile app, eligible cardholders will remain at upgraded status level through December 31, 2024. Please note, enrolling through the normal Hertz Gold Plus Rewards enrollment process (e.g. at Hertz.com) will not automatically detect a cardholder as being eligible for the program and cardholders will not be automatically upgraded to the applicable status tier. Additional terms apply.
For rates and fees of The Platinum Card® from American Express, click here.
16 comments
Dee
February 11, 2022
Great card! The benefits are huge and more than pay for the annual fee.
Jasmin
April 26, 2022
I currently have the CapOne VentureOne card, but I want to ensure I get a welcome bonus, if that’s still possible? Do you think I should outright apply versus just asking for an upgrade?
Jarrod West
April 27, 2022
Hi Jasmin,
If you want to get the welcome bonus you must apply outright, as the welcome bonus is not offered on card upgrades.
Mitch
July 12, 2022
Is it true that Capital One Travel does not book JetBlue flights?
Jarrod West
July 13, 2022
Hi Mitch,
You should be able to book JetBlue flights through Capital One.
Dorota
August 02, 2022
I booked first/business class via the venture x travel portal and when I arrived at the airport I was told I was in premium economy. I had to pay to get the upgrade and then spent hours on the phone with Venture X trying to get a refund (which no agent will confirm in writing).
Our return flight is in 4 days and I spent 3 hours in the phone trying to ensure this won’t happen again. The agents are incompetent – and blame the portal for not being able to fix their mistake. See my screen grabs below. Capital One shows business / First. And United app shows premium economy. I’ve tweeted and sent messages in Instagram. Both tell me to call an agent and ask for supervisor. This is beyond stressful when it is a very simple fix on their side.
And public press you can share to help me and let Capital One know that this service is horrendous would be awesome.
John
August 02, 2022
While the benefits might be good, some of them will require pulling teeth to actually get credited to your account. Customer service is the worst (and destroy any value of the card due to the headache you will deal with trying to talk to them)! After booking using the VRBO offer, they refused to give me my 5% cash back. When asked why, they said I didn’t fulfil the terms of the deal (despite meticulously doing so and already being told twice that I did it correctly), and when I asked why, they refuse to give me any more information other than “because you didn’t but I can’t tell you why other than you didn’t”. So basically they treat you like a 5 year old when a parent says “because I said so and that’s final!” – definitely finding a way to use my SUB and cancelling my account. I had similar issues with Savor card a few years ago but was hoping their “premium” cc had improved…I was wrong – don’t waste your money like me.
Sam
August 09, 2022
For Capital Venture X card with $395 annual fees additional cons should be mentioned:
1. If you want to book trip their website it is not user friendly. If you call their customer service they charge $25 per trip booking.
2. Customer service is not good.
3. Why no vacation packages available? You have book flight, hotels, individually. You cannot book ride from Airport to hotel etc. It is important when you are booking a trip to Mexico or Caribbean.
4. No cruise option available.
Jeff
August 17, 2022
CapitalOne makes it difficult to qualify for their cards. I’ve had an 800+ credit score for years and when I applied for the Venture card I was denied twice before finally being approved (this was over an extended period). I’ve had the Venture card for about 3 years now and wanted to get the VentureX card. I wanted the signup bonus but not the hard pull so I called CapitalOne in an attempt to do a product change. They told me unless I received an offer for the upgrade that upgrades are not available. I was also told that if I wanted the VentureX card I had to apply. So much for the hard pull. I applied and of course I was denied and now I have a new hard pull on my credit report. I have done product changes with Chase and AmEx without any issues (and no special offer) so I cannot understand why CapitalOne is so strict with customers in good standing. What was drawing me to the VentureX is the fact that authorized users get their own Priority Pass Select membership. We travel with family and being able to easily get entry into the lounge for 6 people is a great benefit. I wish my AmEx Aspire card had that option. My Sapphire Reserve used to allow unlimited guests but that changed, darn! Good luck to those applying for the VentureX.
jo
September 08, 2022
Jarrod, why it is not mentioned on the Capital One Venture X website that there are Visa Infinite Travel protections like travel insurance, extended warranty, etc? Are these benefits still included on this card? Thanks.
Jarrod West
September 22, 2022
Hi Jo,
All of those benefits are detailed in the ideal cardholder section of the piece.
Joyce
October 20, 2022
Question regarding Venture X cardholder. Is it only the main cardholder who can have access to the airport lounges? Or can a supplemental cardholder who is traveling alone also have access to the lounges?
Thanks.
Christine Krzyszton
October 21, 2022
Hi Joyce. Authorized users do receive Priority Pass access. Enrollment is required. Here is our article on the benefits of adding an authorized user to the card: /credit-cards/reviews/capital-one-venture-x/adding-authorized-users/
Will
November 09, 2022
At the Venture travel portal, one can only book round-trip ticket, not on multi-city itineraries.
Mark A.
May 21, 2023
The Capital One Venture X does NOT have any trip cancellation/interruption coverage for it’s rather high annual fee. I would not recommend for international travel purposes.
Christine Krzyszton
May 21, 2023
Hi Mark. You might be thinking of the Capital One Venture card. The Capital One Venture X card comes with primary car rental coverage, trip cancellation, trip interruption, and trip delay coverage, lost luggage reimbursement, and no foreign transaction fees.
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