Looking for our Venture X Business Card Review?
Capital One has launched a new premium credit card called the Venture X that I think will excite many of you.
It’s now open for applications here.
You may recall that in August of 2019, I wrote about speculation regarding a premium Capital One credit card. For fun, I’ll compare how the 2019 rumor compares to the final card product, but I’ll do that after (so as to not confuse the real offering).
In this article
Capital One Venture X
Called “Venture X” this new card is indeed Capital One’s premium consumer card offering, a step above the standard Venture Rewards credit card.
The Capital One Venture X card, which carries a $395 annual fee, has the following earn rates and benefits:
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- 2X miles on every purchase
- 10X miles on hotels and rental cars booked via Capital One Travel
- 5X miles on flights booked via Capital One Travel
- Up to a $300 credit annually for bookings made on Capital One Travel
- 10,000 bonus miles every account anniversary (equal to $100 towards travel)
- Unlimited access to Capital One Lounges and also to 1,300+ Priority Pass lounges internationally + two guest passes (Notably, I verified with Capital One that this is “full” Priority Pass access, meaning that it includes airport restaurant locations like Chase and Citi (and unlike Amex.)
- Up to $100 in statement credits for either TSA PreCheck or Global Entry
- Complimentary Hertz President’s Circle status (top tier!) for primary cardholders, authorized users and account managers
- Car rental collision damage waiver is primary.
- Visa Infinite level Trip Interruption / Cancellation coverage.
- Authorized Users can be added for no fee and they also get their own Priority Pass membership.
- Cardholders can earn up to 100,000 miles per year for referring friends, who can then experience the unparalleled benefits Venture X has to offer (up to 4 referrals per year; 25,000 miles awarded per referral)
- No foreign transaction fees
Capital One Venture X Early Spend Bonus Offer
New cardholders who sign up now can earn 75,000 bonus miles after spending $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months.
Capital One Miles Recently Got Much Better
You can still redeem your Miles for travel at a penny a mile, but recall that Capital One recently greatly improved their transfer partner setup, with 15 airline and hotel transfer partners, almost all at a 1:1 transfer ratio. This makes the Capital One Venture X card even more compelling.
| Capital One Miles | ||
|---|---|---|
| Transfer Ratio | Expected Transfer Time | |
| Air Canada (Aeroplan) | 1:1 | Instant |
| Air France / KLM Flying Blue | 1:1 | Instant |
| Avianca Lifemiles | 1:1 | Instant |
| Aeromexico | 1:1 | Instant |
| British Airways Avios | 1:1 | TBD |
| Cathay Pacific Asia Miles | 1:1 | Nearly instant |
| Choice Hotels | 1:1 | 1 day |
| Emirates Skywards | 1:1 | Instant |
| Etihad Guest | 1:1 | 1-2 days |
| Finnair | 1:1 | Instant |
| Qantas | 1:1 | 1-2 days |
| Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer | 1:1 | 1-2 days |
| TAP Air Portugal | 1:1 | TBD |
| Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles | 1:1 | TBD |
| Wyndham Rewards Hotel Program | 1:1 | Instant |
| EVA | 2:1.5 | 1-2 days |
| Accor Live Limitless (ALL) Hotel Program | 2:1 | 1-2 days |
| Virgin Red | 1:1 | TBD |
Capital One Travel Also Got Better
It’s now powered by Hopper, which provides generally better prices (not just than other credit card portals, but overall) as well as a unique ability to put tickets you are buying with Capital One Miles on hold for 14 days.
How Does This Compare to the 2019 Rumors?
I didn’t forget….
This is what we’d heard rumored in 2019:
- 10X points per dollar on hotels booked through the Capital One portal
- 5X points per dollar on airfare booked through the Capital One portal
- 4X points per dollar at restaurants
- 1X points per dollar on all other purchases
- Additional point bonuses at certain spend thresholds
- $300 travel credit
- $495 annual fee
As it turns out, we had it pretty much all wrong except the 10X / 5X earn rate for Capital One Travel Portal bookings and the $300 travel credit.
In the end, though, the new version is leaps and bounds better, so I’ll take it!
My Take on the Venture X
Well, I’m pretty impressed with the Venture X, I must say!
Sure, the $395 fee sounds like a lot. But I happily pay the $250 annual fee on my Amex Rose Gold Card and the Venture X seems to come with a lot more benefits.
If you are taking advantage of the card benefits, that $300 in reimbursed travel via Capital One Travel brings your fee down to $95.
Then you get 10,000 Capital One Miles annually – which I value at $150 currently. Even at cash value, it’s worth $100.
So, at that point, you are being paid $5 (or $55 if using my valuation) to carry the card.
OK, so now that it’s essentially a card paying you to carry it, let’s see what other value you get:
- Priority Pass membership
- Priority Pass for any authorized users and this has no extra fee
- Cell phone insurance for you and authorized users
- The $100 TSA credit if you need it
- Top tier Hertz President’s Circle status (the best upgrade pool – I am driving a Mercedes A220 from Hertz right now from the President’s Circle lot).
- Access to Capital One lounges (they look pretty good from the pictures)
- An early spend bonus worth at least $1,000 (I’d value around $1,500).
All of that is worth a LOT more than $0. For starters, unlimited Priority Pass lounge access is only a benefit on premium credit cards with high annual fees. So, where Chase requires you to have their $550 annual fee Sapphire Reserve (OK, net $250 fee after the $300 travel credit) to get Priority Pass, you have this card down to where you are being paid to carry the card and you still get it? I kind of don’t get it!
And then they also throw in top tier Hertz President’s Circle status? That’s a level above what the The Platinum Card® from American Express even offers – and that annual fee is $695!
So yes, I think this is a good card.
And it’s now open for applications here. (Using this link supports MilesTalk and gives you the same offer as anywhere else, so thank you very much for your support.)
The card may be arriving 2 years later than we originally thought – but it’s been worth the wait.
Obviously, the next step will be to compare the Capital One Venture X against the competition. And I will. But not now… I’m supposed to be mid-serenity and completely unplugged at Miraval this week – and yet, the news waits for no one 😉
Thoughts?
Let me know below in the comments, on Twitter, or in the private MilesTalk Facebook group. And don't forget to follow me on Instagram for all sorts of tips on miles, points, credit cards, and travel.
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You can find credit cards that best match your spending habits and bonus categories at Your Best Credit Cards.
New to all of this? My “introduction to miles and points” book, MilesTalk: Live Your Wildest Travel Dreams Using Miles and Points is available on Amazon and at major booksellers.
