The Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card is one of the best premium travel cards, given the travel perks and overall simplicity. The card does have a $395 annual fee but the credits, anniversary miles, and perks easily outweigh this for most people.

Point Multipliers

The Venture X earns Capital One miles and is great for travel spending and as a catch-all option. You get:

• 10X on hotels and rental cars (booked through Capital One Travel)
• 5X on flights (booked through Capital One Travel)
• 2X on all other purchases

Optimal Strategy

The Venture X is a great option to earn miles for your everyday spending and get travel protection and other perks when you travel.

The card comes with a $300 annual credit for bookings through Capital One Travel and 10,000 anniversary miles (worth at least $100) each card member year. This means that you’re paying $395 to get $400 in travel – effectively breaking even or coming slightly ahead.

This is before considering all the other perks you get with the card.

Capital One Lounge

You get unlimited complimentary visits to Capital One airport lounges for you and two guests. Any additional guests will cost $45 per visit.

Priority Pass

You get a Priority Pass membership that gets you and two guests complimentary visits to airport lounges (and restaurants) in their network of over 1,300+ partners. Unlike other cards that limit your usage (i.e., 10 per year), there is no limitation here.

Plaza Premium Lounge

You and two guests get complimentary access to Plaza Premium Lounges worldwide. Plaza Premium has 130+ airport lounges in 30+ countries and is a frequent winner of awards for its international lounges. This includes 60 accolades in the past five years, including “world best independent airport lounge” from 2016 to 2021.

Venture X Authorized Users

Capital One allows you to add up to 4 authorized users for no additional fees. Authorized user cards have access to Capital One Lounges, get Priority Pass memberships, and can access Plaza Premium Lounges without the primary cardholder.

Many families use this as a strategy to get everyone – even those who travel less frequently – lounge access.

Hertz President’s Circle Elite Status

Hertz President's Circle Elite status is their top-tier status. To earn this, it usually requires 15 rentals per year or $3,000 in rental car spending, so if you value Hertz status, the Venture X is worth considering. 

Get benefits like:

• Guaranteed car upgrades, a minimum of one class, at participating locations
• 50% bonus on Gold Plus Rewards points on all qualified rentals
• Expedited vehicle pick-up at over 1,000 locations worldwide
• Hertz Valet
• A dedicated President’s Circle call center line

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.

Redeeming Points

The Venture X earns Capital One miles, and you have a few options for redeeming, depending on your goals.

Cash Back

At a minimum, miles can be redeemed for 0.5 cents per point (0.5 CPP) as cashback; this means that 2X is only effectively 1%. This option isn’t recommended if you travel.

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With this option, you get 0.8 CPP. This means 2X = 1.6%, which is still below the 2% threshold target.

Book New Travel and Cover Travel Purchases

Capital One miles redeem at 1 CPP ($0.01) against new or past travel. This means 2X is 2%, the baseline value you should target with your miles.

Aspirational Travel

Miles can also be transferred to airline and hotel partners, which work great for aspirational travel (think first or business class travel).

Here, you can reasonably get 2 CPP, where 2X = ~4% in value. This can be substantially higher (closer to 10 CPP) if using retail price, but I’d recommend adjusting to what you’d be willing to pay as a benchmark.

Capital One Duo

Capital One allows you to transfer cash back to miles. This means cards like the Savor or Savor earn cash back that can be transferred to miles, which can then be transferred to airline or hotel partners for elevated value.

For people who dine out (or value the other Savor/SavSavortegories), this is a way to pool miles strategically for “once in a lifetime” trips.

Alternatives

The Platinum Card® from American Express might be a better option if you value a stronger lounge network. Capital One is still growing its namesake lounges while Centurion Lounges have been firmly rooted, especially for domestic travelers.

If you want a similar card in terms of lounge access but are NOT interested in aspirational travel, the Chase Sapphire Reserve® (CSR) allows you to redeem for 1.5 CPP through their portal. 

Main Takeaway

The Venture X is one of the best premium cards available given its simplicity, reasonable annual fee, and anniversary credits + miles. Once you factor in the lounge perks and how that can be supercharged through authorized users, it becomes a great pickup for solo travelers and families alike.

Hertz Benefit: Upon enrollment, accessible through the Capital One website or mobile app, eligible cardholders will remain at an 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 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.