Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card Review
Best all-rounder card for travel partners and airport lounge access.
By Sebastian F.|Updated on 1/3/2024
Back
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.
Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card
Earn 75,000 bonus miles when you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening
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 hefty 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
Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card Calculator
Cardonomics calculates the expected value of the The Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card based on the information you provide. The expected value is calculated based on the dollar value you input into the calculator.
The default figures in the calculator are just an example, so you should enter your own information for more accurate results. The methodology for this calculator is explained at the bottom of the post.
The Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card Intro Offer
Are you eligible for the intro offer? You are not eligible if you have or have had the card (even without getting the bonus).
Are you able to complete $4,000 of spend in the first 3 months?
The current public offer is 75,000. What bonus are you considering?
miles earned from intro offer:
0Credits: How Do You Value Them?
The Capital One Venture X annual fee is $395.
Given how you value the credits, your effective annual fee is: $95
Miles Multipliers: Category Spend
Yearly miles earned from spend breakdown:
Other Perks and Benefits: How do you value them?
Value of other perks and benefits:
How do you plan on redeeming points?
Capital One gives you many ways to redeem your miles. Here are some common examples:
- Miles are denoted as CPM = "cents per mile"
Given how you value miles...
Expected Value of Miles
(Intro offer + credits + spend - annual fee)
Additional disclosures:
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.
Hertz benefit: 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.
Calculation Methodology
The calculator's results are determined by several factors, including your ability to meet the minimum spending requirement to earn the welcome offer, spending habits in different categories, point redemption strategy, and how much relative value you place on other benefits.
The "Years" in the calculator refer to the cardmember year, which begins when you are approved for the card. The first year of membership is the first 12 months after approval, and the second year is the 12 months following that.
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.
Shop Online via Amazon or PayPal
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 SavorOne 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/SavorOne categories), this is a way to pool miles strategically for “once in a lifetime” trips.
Alternatives
The 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.
If you don’t care about the lounge perks and are focused on the simplicity of the multipliers, the Citi Premier® Card is different but has the same proposition. You earn 3X across multiple categories that are common with everyday life.
The Platinum Card® from American Express
Earn 80,000 Membership Rewards® Points after you spend $8,000 on purchases on your new Card in your first 6 months of Card Membership.
The Platinum Card® from American Express is one of the best travel cards, especially if you can use the many credits. For many, this becomes a highly subsidized lounge access and travel perks card.
Chase Sapphire Reserve®
Earn 75,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. That's $1,125 toward travel when you redeem through Chase Travel℠.
The Chase Sapphire Reserve® is a strong premium card if you care about earning points or benefits when you travel. Despite the $550 annual fee, the $300 travel credit, Priority Pass membership, and travel insurances make the card worth considering.
Citi Premier® Card
Earn 60,000 bonus ThankYou<sup>®</sup> Points after you spend $4,000 in purchases within the first 3 months of account opening. Plus, for a limited time, earn a total of 10 ThankYou<sup>®</sup> Points per $1 spent on hotel, car rentals, and attractions (excluding air travel) booked on the Citi Travel<sup>℠</sup> portal through June 30, 2024.
One of the best all-around earners with 3x back on restaurants, supermarkets, gas stations, air travel, and hotels. This can be a "one and done" setup for many with no foreign transaction fee.
The big drawback is that the card doesn't have any additional benefits like trip delay or lost luggage protection.
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.
Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card
Earn 75,000 bonus miles when you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening
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 hefty annual fee, but the credits, anniversary miles, and perks easily outweigh this for most people.