I receive compensation for content and many links on this blog. Citibank is an advertising partner of this site, as is American Express, Chase, Barclays and Capital One. Any opinions expressed in this post are my own, and have not been reviewed, approved, or endorsed by my advertising partners. I do not write about all credit cards that are available -- instead focusing on miles, points, and cash back (and currencies that can be converted into the same). Terms apply to the offers and benefits listed on this page.
Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card (See rates and fees)
Capital One Venture X is the premium version of its signature Venture product. And I’m sort of amazed at how much they’re including at the price point.
For travel rewards fans this is going to be a strong card to consider – and it hits high marks for all of the reasons you may want to get and use a card – a (very) big initial bonus, strong earning for your spend, and great benefits.
The idea that Capital One would be coming out with a Visa Infinite premium card in travel has been rumored – and expected – for some time. For my part, I’m glad they took the time to get it right and to align with the opening of their own airport lounge network, and the launch of their travel portal.
I’m very excited about this card. I applied and received an instant approval. I’ve heard from several readers that they received similar approvals right away as well. And they shared news of the same credit line, too.
Capital One Venture X Initial Bonus
Capital One Venture X is offering 75,000 bonus miles when you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening, equal to $750 in travel
Annual Fee
The Capital One Venture X carries a $395 annual fee. That’s on the low end for premium travel cards and a great price. Consider that competitor products generally run $450 to $695, they clearly made a conscious decision to pack a lot of value into their card and charge less than American Express, Chase, or Citibank.
With an initial bonus offer worth well over $1000 in my view, exceeding $395 in value by a lot the first year should be easy even without statement credits but they’ve set up benefits that make the card pay for itself quite easily. Read on.
Earning For Your Spend
The card earns 2 miles per dollar on every purchase, and 10 miles per dollar on hotels and rental cars booked at Capital One Travel as well as 5 miles per dollar on flights booked via Capital One Travel.
The Capital One travel site is quite good as far as credit card booking portals go. I wouldn’t hesitate to book air and rental car here for the outstanding earn rates. Booking hotels means giving up hotel loyalty points, credit towards earning elite status, and elite status benefits – so I’d only do that if you aren’t chain-loyal or are booking outside of your preferred chain.
While it’s possible to pair cards from other issuers to get at least 2 miles per dollar on all spending (e.g. Citi Premier + Double Cash), Capital One offers the only consumer cards that gives you 2x earning on everything , transferable to other points in many cases 1:1, and where that earning isn’t capped. That makes Capital One Venture X a good single card solution for a lot of people.
On the points-spending side you can redeem points through Capital One’s travel portal, but you do not have to in order to use points for paid travel, since you can also redeem against recent travel purchases on your statement. My favorite use of course is transfers to other loyalty programs, which are now nearly all at 1:1.
Capital One miles now transfer 1:1 to:
- Star Alliance: Air Canada Aeroplan, Singapore Airlines Krisflyer, Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles, Avianca LifeMiles, TAP Air Portugal Miles&Go
- oneworld: British Airways Executive Club, Cathay Pacific Asia Miles, Finnair Plus, Qantas Frequent Flyer
- SkyTeam: Air France KLM Flying Blue, Aeromexico Club Premier
- Non-alliance: Emirates Skywards, Etihad Guest, Virgin Red
- Hotels: Wyndham Rewards, Choice Privileges
Capital One miles also transfer at 2-to-1.5 into EVA Air Infinity MileageLands. And they transfer 2-to-1 into ALL Accor Live Limitless.
I like that they allow transfers in just 100 mile increments rather than 1000 mile increments (as long as there’s a 1000 mile minimum transfer), since I often find after a transfer I might have 878 miles in an account. I’d much rather go closer to zero, and not ‘waste’ that extra 1000 miles. It’s a small win, but something Capital One does for customers that other issuers do not.
And while not all points transfers are instant, the ones you’ll probably use most like Air Canada, Air France, Avianca, British Airways, and Emirates generally seem to be.
Capital One Venture X Statement Credits And Anniversary Bonus
On an ongoing basis the card offers:
- Up to $300 credit annually for bookings made at Capital One Travel (including airline tickets, so easy to use this)
- 10,000 bonus miles every account anniversary (equal to $100 towards travel, or transfer to other loyalty programs)
- Up to $100 in statement credits for either TSA PreCheck or Global Entry (every 4 years)
The $300 travel credit and 10,000 bonus miles alone ‘cover’ the card’s annual fee in terms of value.
Lounge Access
The Capital One Venture X card comes with unlimited access to Capital One airport lounges, including access for 2 accompanying guests.
The card also comes with Priority Pass Select. The Capital One Venture X card lets you add up to 4 no annual fee authorized users and authorized users get lounge access, too (along with cell phone protection). Each authorized user gets a Priority Pass Select card, and also can access Capital One airport lounges and the ability to bring up to 2 guests.
Capital One Venture X Additional Benefits
The Capital One Venture X card is a premium card, and comes with additional premium benefits.
While some United elites may be unhappy about losing Hertz status, this card comes with complimentary Hertz President’s Circle status which is their top public tier. This benefit is for primary cardholders, authorized users and account managers. Meanwhile Capital One offers additional benefits with National Car Rental, Avis and Silver.
There’s primary car rental protection; lost luggage reimbursement; trip delay + cancellation/interruption reimbursement; cell phone protection; and extended warranty protection.
How Can It Even Make Sense To Offer This To Customers?
The premium travel rewards credit card space has been so crowded, and gotten so expensive, that it’s seemed to me there’s only two strategies: do something really niche, so you can provide value to a small number of cardmembers in a way that’s affordable to offer, or go big and lose money.
After Sapphire Reserve came out Chase said rewards were nine-figures more expensive than what they’d modeled. And they were attracting a very affluent demographic that wasn’t likely to revolve balances. They spent a lot of money, and kept spending even more money, and had largely just interchange to cover their costs.
If you want to take on a product like that head-on, it seemed like that means spending even more money, and “the only winning move is not to play.”
Yet somehow Capital One has come up with a model that offers a lot of valuable points up front, continues offering valuable benefits to cardmembers going forward and rewards them very well for their spend, and does this all at an even lower annual fee than competitors charge. I don’t know if that can possibly make any money for the issuer, but the Capital One Venture X is unquestionably a great option for consumers.
Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card
Visa/Mastercard: 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: 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
I’m very much on the fence about this card for one simple reason: C1 customer service is truly abysmal. Does anyone know if this new premium card will come with a premium line of customer service, like what Chase did with their Sapphire line?
huge value for who? bloggers that doesn’t give us all the facts, just enough to make their pitch
It’s good to see you catch up with Bennie in posts shilling this card.
I recently stated at a Wingate arranged and paid for by my company. I used my own Venture X for food at the hotel. Well a week later I received a “vacation rental” credit to my card for the exact amount I charged at the Wingate. Didn’t expect that but sure nice.
Thank You Mr. Leff
Unfortunately, Capital One’s travel portal is absolutely worthless! Wanted to book a simple one way from Miami to LAX in mid April in Business Class. American shows tons of availability. Capital One – only one flight (and, of course, the most inconvenient.) Don’t even try to book a RT from Europe to LA departing in August and returning in November. While Google Flights shows somewhere in the neighborhood of 400 million combinations (or so ;-), Cap One says: “No flights available.”
Must have some 5/24 like rule. Declined with 790 credit and high income.
For households, can miles from other capital one cards be transferred or pooled into this new card account? I ask because I heard someone who tried to transfer miles from capital one to a spouse’s airline miles account and the transaction was denied because the names had to match. Is there a workaround like with Chase household points pooling/transfers?
Seeing conflicting information on using the CapitalOne Travel Portal for Hertz reservations. Will I still get President Club privileges if using the portal? Assume won’t get hertz points, which I’m fine with.
Hmm. Just got approved last week. Was looking to book AUS-DFW positioning flight for intl travel on their Travel website. Only options I see are United flights via IAH.
When it comes to reposting another shill for the Venture X card, the rule is: “If Ben goes low, Gary goes lower.”
Doesn’t the citi double cash also offer 2x for a consumer credit card?
How does the Priority Pass work with this card? If I get the card, am I charged each time I use the priority pass or is it a totally free benefit? Is my wife included as a guest on the Priority Pass? Thanks.
My wife and I get $56 worth of food coming and going to PDX. Well worth the Venture X and no restrictions like Amex priority which is refused in PDX.
Made my spend and love the card.
Is this a corporate card (Venture for “ventures”) or an individual card? What’s “Spark?”
No American, United, or even Delta (which came in handy recently as a transfer partner for Chase when they had 57K miles to Europe/Israel,
Had a Feb 10th VRBO charge that still hasn’t seen the statement credit, guess it’s time to call in…
I’m debating picking up the card for my wife, I’m thinking I’m better served putting that spend toward multiple signup bonuses on other cards
If they pull the offer, they get little to no new signups. There are always offers out there. Tons of competition in the premium ard space. AMEX just waived 600.00 annual fee from my Business Plat card.
I love my amex. Amex over any other.
Sweet 🙂
Cap One Travel portal only let’s you book round trip and one way flights. As frequent cruisers my wife and I need multi-city flights since we generally fly into one port city and out of from another. Cap One tells me they were going to add multi-city bookings early in 2022 but it has not yet happened.
I love the Venture X and use it for pretty much everything abroad now (still prefer AmEx Business Blue for domestic, up to $50k). One thing not mentioned: the primary rental car coverage specifically excludes rentals in Israel, while Sapphire Reserve covers them.
Wouldn’t tomorrow be the last day? Per a BRM tomorrow is the last day.. I got approved but looking to get p2 approved.. waited till the last minute ♂️
Does the Hertz benefit come with a
get out of jail free card?
Thanks for the reminder. I applied but not from the link from your blog. If you were a bit more honest with readers, I would have rewarded you.
This offer is still up at 6am EST on the 15th. Update this post, it’s misleading and causing FOMO
Other than the sign up bonus and the DFW lounge, I still don’t quite get this card. The earnings, without portal spend, are not differentiating relative to competition (e.g., AmEx BBP, Citi Double Cash, Chase Freedom/Ink Unlimited). And, portals suck. They’re an extra middle man to get involved to resolve issues. They also complicate hotel loyalty. A good hotel, whether it has a points (e.g., Hyatt) or not (e.g., Four Seasons), will treat loyal customers nicely. Portals degrade this part of the customer experience.
Don’t even consider the travel portal as a “benefit.” It’s pretty much crap. There isn’t even a way to email Cap One on the site. Tells you something — they know it’s bad and don’t want to hear from you.
Do you think it’s likely to go back up to 100k in the foreseeable future or would you apply now?
@ Alex, I got rejected too earlier this year. One thing Capital One is sensitive about on the Venture X from my research is the total number of credit cards you have open. If you have say 5, you would have been approved. If your closer to me, and have like 15 then your almost certainly going to be declined. They are not after the churner type, they want the person who will get and keep the card, and obviously their data analytics folks determined if you have a bunch of cards is not a good omen for keeping the card long term.
Yes, as other Commenters have pointed out, this appears to be a sad attempt to generate some Click Commissions:
– This is a completely inferior Sign-Up Offer. The Last Capital One offer for the Venture X was 100,000 points for the same spend. Let’s get excited when Capital One has a sign up Promotion equivalent or better than than their last offer.
– This Promotion also does not have a $200 Airbnb Credit.
In Summary, this Offer is a Dud. Let’s wait until Capital One comes out with a better promotion. If Capital One wants to continue increasing their Market Share, they’re going to have to do a lot better.
I got the card right when it came out. Didn’t really like the travel portal, it’s a work in progress. BUT, going through San Jose, Heathrow and Ben Gurion airports using the lounges was great, especially with premium plaza access. I got the VRBO credit and 100k miles, and it’s a great card overseas for any spending. I even got a Hertz rental without getting arrested! Also, Cap1 has great discounts on their website and through their shopping portal. I got 30% back from my Best Western stay in Tel Aviv, that was huge.
I have the original Venture card and Hertz pres circle. Is there still a strong value of getting the X for the annual fee difference?
In addition to Priority Pass, you also get Plaza Premium lounges
I used their online tool to book a hotel; but when I got to the hotel they didn’t have any record of the reservation & wouldn’t check me in. I tried calling Capital One to help me find a replacement hotel, but they only wanted to refund my money and didn’t care that I didn’t have a place to stay. I was homeless in San Francisco for several hours due to their poor customer service.
Thought I would give it go, but once again declined – Credit score 800+ and high income. Seems like an odd strategy to court high income earners with strong credit and then tell them to go away when they apply. Not the way to build brand equity.
They are *removing the restaurant benefit* from Capital One’s included Priority Pass. Received this email recently: “Effective January 1st, 2023, access to Priority Pass non-lounge experiences will no longer be part of the membership programme provided as part of your Capital One Venture X Visa Infinite benefits.”
Priority Pass is getting less and less useful. No lounge at LAX?!
I was recently approved for the CapOne Venture X card, and had a look at the CapOne Travel website. I didn’t book flights yet but noticed that it asked for my frequent flyer account number, the same way other sites like Expedia or CheapOair do. Does this mean that there really is no drawback to booking flights via their website?
@Ned – I booked a flight on Capital One’s website two days ago. That said, you may have to deal with Capital One Travel or pay a fee to have an airline take over your reservation to make changes.
I got this card, and then after I activated it capital one immediate blocked it and demanded I send them pictures of my driver’s license, social security card, cable bill, bank statement and three months of paychecks. The link they sent me to upload all this stuff didn’t work. I decided not to cancel my Chase Reserve card as planned and instead just cancelled the new Venture X. At least my daughter got a sign up bonus out of it.
Why does this show up as news, and why does it still read as if this were some “new” card? The earliest cooments date from November 2021 – more than a year ago. If these old cards must be flogged again and again, at least update the wording.
Ho-hum card. Doesn’t give me any meaningful value over what my other cards provide.
For how long have the DEN & IAD lounges been coming soon? How many partner lounges are in domestic US terminals?
The Capital One Venture X card seems like a great option for travel rewards enthusiasts. With a generous initial bonus, strong earning potential, and valuable benefits, it’s definitely worth considering.
Well, another post advocating a credit card sign up for someone who will get a commission by applying via their link. Hardly surprising for those who read points/miles blogs such as this. I view it as the price I pay for getting information I might not otherwise gather on my own, which is also why I don’t use ad blockers when viewing sites such as this or non-subscription news sites.
My main problem with this post is the recommendation to use the C1 travel portal for booking flights. Good luck during times of irregular operations! I much prefer to book air travel directly with the airlines.
But 90k miles now through referrals. Why no mention?!?
@Andy because it effects his bottom line so he would rather bump the lower offer with the kickback, meanwhile Frequent Miler only want referral links offering 90K. A 8 figure balance in flexible points isn’t enough for Gary he wants to be a billionaire.
Gary,
I think you should do a story about the broken Cap1 rewards transfer to airlines.
I’ve been prevented from transferring for a month now, as have others.
In addition, people are being subjected to lenghty fraud checks (Yes, really, fraud check to convert miles!) , to the extent the award flights are gone by the time the miles make it to the target airline.
This is really shameful and they are being tight lipped about how long it will be to fix this bug.
See https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/capital-one-rewards-miles/2139806-cannot-access-convert-miles-due-mobile-network-two-factor-authentication-failure.html and https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/capital-one-rewards-miles/2083200-capital-one-points-transfer-security-delay-issues-2.html