Credit Card Review: Capital One Venture X

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Capital One has drastically improved its credit card offerings as of late. They’ve transformed their rewards program from a cashback system to one that allows transfers to loyalty programs. At the same time, they revamped their travel portal, making it more robust.

In November 2021, Capital One launched a new luxury card called Venture X. It’s an extension of the Venture line of travel rewards cards and provides additional benefits for a higher annual fee.

I wrote about getting the card for myself and Sharon, primarily to take advantage of the large 100,000-point sign-up bonus. That mega-bonus is gone, but the card still has appealing features.

Capital One Venture X

Annual Fee

$395 per year. Four additional cardholders can be added at no additional charge.

Sign Up Benefits

This card currently has a 75,000-point bonus if you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first three months from account opening.

We’d appreciate it if you use our referral link for the Venture X card if you are interested in applying. If you’re approved, we’ll get a referral bonus.

Spending Bonus Categories

Venture X’s bonus categories mainly focus on travel bookings made through the Capital One Travel website. Capital One refers to its rewards as “miles,” but the program is not distance-based for earning or redemptions. A more accurate term is that you earn points in the program:

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

While the payouts for travel booked with the Capital One Travel website are significant, one disclaimer is that you’re ineligible for perks and earning points at hotels by booking with a third party.

There’s also a limited-time offer for 10X points with Turo, the car-sharing service, which will run through May 16, 2023.

Capital One Points

The points you earn with your Venture X card can be used in several ways:

• You can use points to erase travel expenses charged to the card at the value of 1 cent per point. Purchases made from airlines, hotels, rail lines, car rental agencies, limousine services, bus lines, cruise lines, taxi cabs, travel agents and time shares are generally considered to be travel purchases and availability for redemption is based on the merchant category code assigned to them by the merchant.
• You can book directly through Capital One Travel using your points at the value of 1 cent per point.
• You can redeem for cash or statement credit at the value of 0.5 cents per point (PLEASE DON’T DO THIS!)

Besides these ways to book or pay for travel with your points, there’s another option. Transferring points to partners is, by far, the way to get the most value for your points. Capital One currently has 18 travel partners:

• Aeromexico Club Premier
• Air Canada Aeroplan
• ALL – Accor Live Limitless
• Asia Miles
• Avianca LifeMiles
• British Airways Executive Club
• Choice Privileges
• Emirates Skywards
• Etihad Guest
• EVA Air – Infinity MileageLands
• Finnair Plus
• Flying Blue (Air France KLM)
• Qantas Frequent Flyer
• Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer
• TAP Miles&Go
• Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles
• Virgin Red
• Wyndham Rewards

All transfers are 1:1 except for EVA Air, which is 750 miles per 1,000 Capital One points. Of these partners, TAP, Finnair and Accor are exclusive to Capital One.

$300 Annual Travel Credit

Venture X cardholders will receive a $300 annual travel credit based on the cardholder’s anniversary date, not the calendar year. Eligible travel needs to be booked through Capital One Travel.

Anniversary Bonus

Cardholders will receive 10,000 bonus points yearly, starting on their first anniversary.

No Foreign Transaction Fees

As you would hope a card marketed to travelers would, the Venture X doesn’t charge foreign transaction fees.

$100 Global Entry or TSA Pre✓^® credit

Every four years you can get up to a $100 statement credit for the application fee for Global Entry or an $85 credit for TSA Pre✓^®. 

Lounge Access

You can access three groups of lounges with the Venture X card.

1. Capital One Lounges – Currently, there’s only one Capital One Lounge at DFW but two others at IAD and DEN are set to open in 2023. Cardmembers can bring two guests with them for no charge.
2. Priority Pass – Cardholders get a Priority Pass Select card good to access network lounges for themselves and two guests.
3. Plaza Premium – Cardholders can enter Plaza Premium lounges, like the one in MCO’s Terminal C.

Hertz President’s Circle

The Capital One Venture X card provides complimentary Hertz President’s Circle status. This is Hertz’s top-tier status and usually requires 15 rentals or spending $3000. You need to link your Hertz account to Capital One and it takes a while for the status to show on your rentals.

Primary Rental Car Coverage

The Venture X is one of the few cards that provide primary rental car CDW coverage. This means you don’t have to file a claim with your coverage. US rentals for up to 15 days are covered for cars valued up to $75,000. International rentals are covered for up to 31 days. This coverage is almost as good as what you’ll get with the Chase Sapphire Reserve.

Trip Protections

Since it’s a Visa Infinite, the Venture X card has good travel protection insurance. You’ll have coverage for lost luggage, trip cancellation/interruption and trip delays. Unlike most other delay coverages, this one kicks in at 6 hours or overnight. The one coverage missing is for luggage delay.

Cell Phone Insurance

If you pay your cell phone bill with your card, you’ll receive $800 in coverage for damage to or theft of your phone. There’s a $50 deductible and a max of 2 claims per year. You have to decide if it’s worth using the coverage from a credit card or paying for insurance.

Shopping Protection

You’ll have peace of mind knowing that the Venture X card provides purchase security/protection, extended warranty and return protection.

Final Thoughts

When Capital One walked into the luxury travel card space, they knew they’d only have one chance to indicate they were serious. With the Venture X card, they put their best foot forward. At a lower price than the other players, the Venture X is a well-rounded card that earns transferrable points and provides all of the perks you’d expect from a luxury travel card.

In addition, it has some things that set it apart, like earning 10X points when booking through Capital One Travel, Hertz President’s Circle and access to their branded lounges plus Plaza Premium locations.

If you have other premium travel cards, you need to consider getting the Venture X card. It might make some of your other cards look less attractive in comparison. Remember to please use our referral link for the Venture X card if you’re interested in applying. If you’re approved, we’ll get a referral bonus.

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This post first appeared on Your Mileage May Vary