Opinion: Why I Love My Capital One Venture X Card
The Capital One Venture X card was one of the hottest credit cards released in 2021. It established its solid presence in the fierce premium travel credit card market, competing against well-known products like the AMEX Platinum card and the Chase Sapphire Reserve card. With its relatively low annual fee for a top-of-the-line credit card and straightforward travel credit, I instantly became a huge fan of the card. Even though it doesn’t have the 100,000 miles as a sign-up bonus anymore, it is still a very solid premium travel credit card that deserves a spot in your wallet. Here is why I love my Capital One Venture X card:
Sign-Up Bonus & Multiplier: Worth up to $1,275
The current sign-up bonus is 75,000 miles after spending $4,000 on eligible purchases in three months. I personally value Capital One miles at 1.7 cents per mile, valuing this sign-up bonus at $1,275. As mentioned previously, when the card was launched in 2021, the sign-up bonus was 100,000 miles after spending $10,000 in six months. Because the promotional credit was only available during the first few months of the card’s release, 75,000 miles would likely be the highest sign-up bonus for a long time. Additionally, the $10,000 spending requirement was lowered to $4,000, and I believe more people would be happier with the lowered spending requirement.
The Capital One Venture X card offers valuable benefits and is relatively affordable compared to its competitors.
The Venture X card is a premium travel card, and if you are looking for a one-card solution for your wallet, this may be the card for you. The card earns 10X miles on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel, 5X miles on flights booked through Capital One Travel, and 2X miles on all other purchases. Be aware that you must utilize Capital One’s travel portal to earn elevated multipliers for travel expenses. Though I generally advocate booking directly with airlines and hotels to get the best available price, Capital One will price-match competitors and even give you a partial refund if the price on its travel portal is higher. The price match guarantee is a nice safety net approach for those looking to maximize savings.
If you’d like to apply for the Capital One Venture X Card, please consider using my referral link. It will continue to help fund my blog operations and help visitors make informed decisions to maximize their rewards. Thank you! Click HERE to access my referral link!
Annual Fee & Benefits
The Capital One Venture X card carries an annual price tag of $395, which is lower than its competitors. For instance, the Chase Sapphire Reserve card costs $550, and the American Express Platinum card costs $695. The Capital One Venture X card may offer fewer benefits than those two. Nonetheless, because some premium travel credit cards have so many benefits and perks, the process of tracking bonuses and credits may be difficult for some people. If you are looking for a streamlined credit card that offers solid and streamlined benefits rather than having an endless list of coupons, the Capital One Venture X card would be a great solution for your wallet.
Why the Annual Fee Is Justified—$300 Statement Credit & 10,000 Annual Bonus Miles
The annual fee of the Capital One Venture X card is $395, but it is pretty painless to recoup the cost by fully utilizing the two major benefits that come with the card. The first benefit of the Capital One Venture X card is an annual statement credit of $300 when booking through the Capital One Travel portal. Essentially, any hotel, car rental, or flight booking made on its travel portal will count towards the bonus. The only caveat is that your elite nights or miles may not count toward your status if you are chasing hotel or airline status. There is always a chance that some hotel or rental car companies honoring your purchase toward status, so it doesn’t hurt to ask when you check-in or rent a car.
The price drop protection gives card members of the Capital One Venture X card peace of mind. Photo by Capital One.
The second benefit of the card is the 10,000 annual miles bonus given on your card anniversary. Therefore, in order to qualify for the bonus, you will need to renew your card. Since I value Capital One miles at 1.7 cents per mile, I value 10,000 miles at $170. If you prefer cashback, you can redeem the bonus miles at 1 cent per mile, yielding $100 as a statement credit. Combined with the $300 travel portal credit, these two benefits can completely offset the annual fee.
Many Ways to Maximize Capital One Miles—Transfer Miles to Travel Partners
The Capital One Venture X card earns Capital One miles, which are versatile points. For instance, when you earn Delta SkyMiles, you are stuck with flying Delta. On the other hand, Capital One miles can be redeemed for cash back and gift cards but if you want to maximize the value, consider transferring them to Capital One’s travel partners.
Transfer Capital One miles to Avianca to fly Delta!
The airline transfer partners are:
Aeromexico
Air Canada
Air France - KLM
Avianca
British Airways
Cathay Pacific
Emirates
Etihad
EVA Air
Finnair
Qantas
Singapore Airlines
TAP Air
Turkish Airlines
The hotel transfer partners are:
Accor
Choice
Wyndham
While most transfer ratios are 1:1, be aware that Accor and EVA Air use 2:1 and 2:1.5 ratios, respectively.
Your Family Can Enjoy Premium Airport Lounge Access…for Free!
The Capital One Venture X cardholders can enjoy access to the Priority Pass Lounge network, which covers over 1,200 airport Priority Pass lounges worldwide. In addition, you can receive restaurant credits at select airport restaurants, between $28 and $30 towards food and drinks per person. The best part is if you are traveling with a companion, your guest qualifies for the food and beverage credit as well. Since airport food is usually heavily marked up, the food and beverage credit could save you quite a bit at the airport.
When I visited Premium Plaza lounge at Toronto Pearson International Airport, the lounge offered a basic selection of alcoholic beverages for free.
However, Priority Pass Lounges can be hit-or-miss; some lounges are spacious and clean, while others get crowded very fast and offer a very limited selection of food and drinks. Don’t be disappointed yet because you frequent DFW, IAD, or DEN, you are in luck. Capital One launched its own premium lounge at DFW earlier this year, and IAD and DEN are scheduled to get Capital One Lounge in late 2022. Capital One Lounges offer premium food and drinks and are equipped with luggage lockers, cycling and yoga rooms, and shower suites. Venture X card members can bring up to two guests for free, and it will cost $45 per visit per additional guest.
I really like Capital One Lounge provides grab & go food for folks in a time crunch. Photo by Capital One.
To top it off, as a primary cardholder of the Capital One Venture X card, you can add up to four authorized users, and they are free! Although authorized cardmembers do not receive primary perks like the $300 travel credit or the 10,000-anniversary mileage benefits, they do receive lounge access, Priority Pass membership, and other Visa Infinite perks. This is especially great if you have a family because other premium travel cards will charge you a considerable amount to add authorized users.
Other Travel Benefits & Visa Infinite Perks
As with most premium travel credit cards, cardholders of the Capital One Venture X card can get up to $100 in statement credit toward a Global Entry or TSA PreCheck application. I would highly suggest using this benefit for a Global Entry application since it includes TSA PreCheck.
Breeze through airport security using Global Entry and/or TSA PreCheck.
Driving a rental car? If you pay for your rental car with your Capital One Venture X card, you can have peace of mind since you automatically get primary rental car insurance. Capital One’s primary rental car insurance would cover any damage before your original car insurance if you were to get involved in a car accident. Hopefully, you won’t have to use it, but when an emergency arises, it can save you thousands of dollars. The card also includes great trip delay protection, purchase protection, lost luggage reimbursement, and a complimentary Visa Infinite concierge service.
The primary rental car insurance was useful when I needed to rent a car in Europe.
Lastly, I make sure I pay my cell phone bill with the Capital One Venture X card because the card provides a stellar cell phone protection plan. A cardholder can get up to $800 per claim, and the protection is limited to two claims per 12-month period up to $1,600 overall amount. Per occurrence, it will cost a $50 deductible, which is significantly cheaper than paying for a monthly cell phone insurance premium through a carrier.
Summary
The Capital One Venture X card is a relatively new premium travel credit card that established itself by offering competitive benefits that people genuinely value. The current sign-up bonus is 75,000 Capital One miles after spending $4,000 in three months, and I value the bonus at $1,275 if you were to transfer the miles to its airline and hotel travel partners. It does have an annual fee of $395, but it is considerably lower than its competitors where annual fees range anywhere from $550 and $695. If you think its annual fee is high, don’t get sticker shocked yet because the card is equipped with valuable benefits that will effectively cancel out the annual fee. On your card anniversary date, you will receive 10,000 Capital One miles, and the $300 travel credit is easy to use on flights, hotels, and car rentals as long as they are booked on the Capital One Travel portal. Moreover, you can add up to four complimentary authorized users, and the cardholders can enjoy Priority Pass Lounges and Capital One Lounges for free, in addition to various travel benefits like primary rental car insurance. No wonder the Capital One Venture X card was the hottest credit card product released in 2021. If you are looking for a solid travel credit card to elevate your travel style, don’t hesitate to apply for the Capital One Venture X card!
If you’d like to apply for the Capital One Venture X Card, please consider using my referral link. It will continue to help fund my blog operations and help visitors make informed decisions to maximize their rewards. Thank you! Click HERE to access my referral link!
