Link: Apply now for the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card (Rates & Fees)
The Capital One Venture X has quickly become one of the most popular premium credit cards. While the card has a $395 annual fee (Rates & Fees), that fee is extremely easy to justify, thanks to the amazing perks, huge bonus, and great return on spending.
While I’ve written a detailed review of this card, in this post I wanted to share 14 reasons you should apply for the Capital One Venture X.
In this post:
Welcome bonus of 75,000 Capital One miles
The Capital One Venture X is offering an excellent welcome bonus of 75,000 miles after spending $4,000 on purchases within the first three months. Personally I value Capital One miles at 1.7 cents each, so to me 75,000 miles are worth ~$1,275, which is a phenomenal bonus.
See this post for Venture X application tips & guidelines. Note that you’re eligible for this card (including the bonus) even if you have the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card (review) (Rates & Fees).
2x Capital One miles on everyday spending
The Capital One Venture X offers unlimited 2x miles on all purchases, making this one of the best cards for everyday spending. I value Capital One miles at 1.7 cents each, so to me that’s the equivalent of a 3.4% return on everyday spending. This is the card that I spend the most money on nowadays.
In addition to earning 2x miles on all purchases, the card also offers some bonuses:
- Earn 10x miles for rental cars and hotels booked through Capital One Travel
- Earn 5x miles for flights booked through Capital One Travel
No foreign transaction fees
The Capital One Venture X has no foreign transaction fees (Rates & Fees). While that’s expected for a premium card, I think that’s especially worth calling out, given the card’s otherwise excellent return on spending. I consider this to be the single best card to use for purchases abroad.
A flexible & valuable mileage currency
Capital One miles have become increasingly valuable in recent years, and there are lots of great ways to redeem these miles. While you can redeem Capital One miles for one cent each toward virtually any purchase, that’s not my preferred use of these miles.
Rather my preference is to transfer miles to Capital One’s airline & hotel partners, as you can transfer miles at a 1:1 ratio to over a dozen partners. As is the case with all major transferable points currencies, this allows you to get way outsized value, especially when redeeming for first & business class travel.
$300 annual Capital One Travel credit
The Capital One Venture X offers a $300 credit for Capital One Travel every cardmember year, which can be used for flights, hotels, rental cars, etc. Personally my strategy is to just book a $300+ flight through the portal every year, and that’s an easy way to recoup the full value of that.
As mentioned above, the card has a $395 annual fee (Rates & Fees), but that $300 credit alone should easily offset more than 75% of that fee, which is awesome. So while the card’s annual fee might seem high on the surface, it shouldn’t really be costing anyone all that much to hold onto.
Anniversary 10,000 Venture bonus miles
Not only does the Capital One Venture X offer a $300 credit every cardmember year, but it also offers 10,000 miles on your account anniversary every year. Personally I value those 10,000 miles at ~$170, meaning your annual fee is more than covered between these two perks alone.
Priority Pass membership
The Capital One Venture X offers a Priority Pass membership, which gets you access to the world’s largest network of airport lounges, with 1,300+ locations around the world. You can bring up to two guests with you into lounges at no extra cost. This is one of the best credit cards for a Priority Pass membership.
Plaza Premium Lounge access
The Capital One Venture X also offers access to 100+ Plaza Premium Lounges around the world, including Virgin Atlantic Clubhouses in the United States. While Priority Pass now offers access to many Plaza Premium Lounges, there are still some lounges exclusively accessible through Plaza Premium, so there’s value to this.
Capital One Lounge access
The Capital One Venture X offers unlimited access to Capital One Lounges, with the ability to bring two guests with you at no extra cost. Currently Capital One has three lounges, including in Dallas (DFW), Denver (DEN), and Washington (IAD), with more locations expected in the future. These are fantastic lounges, among the best in the United States, so having access to Capital One Lounges is a treat.
Hertz President’s Circle status
The Capital One Venture X offers Hertz President’s Circle status for as long as you’re cardmember. This status with Hertz comes with perks like being able to skip the counter, guaranteed upgrades, free additional drivers, and more. Rental car elite status like this really takes the pain out of the typical rental car experience.
Global Entry or TSA PreCheck credit
The Capital One Venture X offers a TSA PreCheck or Global Entry credit once every four years. Just charge the enrollment fee to your card, and it will automatically be reimbursed. Even if you already have Global Entry or TSA PreCheck, you can always use this for someone else, as long as your card is used to pay.
Unrivaled authorized user perks
The Capital One Venture X lets you add up to four authorized users to the card at no extra cost (Rates & Fees), and they receive some unbelievably generous perks, including:
- A Priority Pass membership
- Access to Plaza Premium Lounges
- Access to the Capital One Lounges
- Hertz President’s Circle elite status
In each case, the terms associated with access are the same as for the primary cardmember, so that truly is more generous than you’ll find with just about any other card. That makes this the ideal card for families.
Cell phone protection
The Capital One Venture X offers a cell phone protection plan. Just pay your monthly bill with the card, and you’ll be protected if your phone is stolen or damaged, minus a $50 deductible. Given how expensive smartphones are nowadays, this is a great perk, and the Venture X offers among the best coverage of any card.
Rental car & travel protection
When considering a premium credit, I recommend getting one that offers valuable travel coverage, since that can come in handy when you least expect it. The Capital One Venture X offers:
- Rental car coverage, where you receive coverage if you decline the collision damage waiver offered by the rental car company, and pay the full price of the rental car with your card
- Trip delay reimbursement, where you can be reimbursed for up to $500 for reasonable expenses when your flight is delayed by more than six hours
- Lost luggage reimbursement, where if your bag is lost, you can be reimbursed
Bottom line
If there’s such a thing as a credit card that’s too good to be true, I’d say the Capital One Venture X is it. The way I view it, the card’s $395 annual fee (Rates & Fees) is more than offset by the $300 annual credit plus 10,000 anniversary bonus miles.
You’re then left with a card offering a huge new cardmember bonus, an industry-leading return on spending, an amazing lounge access program (Priority Pass, Plaza Premium, and Capital One Lounges), travel coverage, cell phone protection, and more. To top it all off, you even get lounge access for four authorized users at no extra cost (Rates & Fees). This is a value proposition that’s very tough to beat, if you ask me.
Link: Apply now for the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card
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.
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.
Ben, here's another reason to add to your list: Capital One allows a person to transfer points to any other Capital One card holder. (Not certain whether the recipient must have a points card or if cash back only cards are eligible.)
Only 14? Used to be 19. What changed?
Does their travel portal still keep refunds? Still have higher fares than the airlines direct?
Since that's fundamental to getting the $300 back, it's the one an only reason I canceled it. It's not $300 back if you lose $750 in vouchers when changing plans.
Pricing is absolutely critical to the utility of a portal. It's why Citi Travel is a non-starter. But, if (non-network) hotels are reasonably priced on Capital One, that would be a means to capture the $300 credit.
It should be known that contrary to information on many blogs, transfers to airline partners are not always immediate. It might take 2-4 days. I have 240K orphaned miles at Aeroplan after award availability disappeared while waiting for the transfer. Many examples over on Flyertalk.