Advertiser Disclosure: This site is part of an affiliate sales network and receives compensation for sending traffic to partner sites, such as CardRatings.com. This compensation may impact how and where links appear on this site. This site does not include all financial companies or all available financial offers. Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities.

Expired offer – the offers discussed on this page have expired.

Late last year, Capital One released the Venture X Rewards Credit Card with a list of benefits that raised eyebrows. With the intention of making a splash in the ultra-premium credit card pool, it did just that by offering a ton of useful and enticing benefits.

The Venture X is one of the best new cards on the market, and is definitely worth a look. 

Some History on CapitalOne

Before the Venture X, CapitalOne’s best offering was the Venture, a run-of-the-mill card that earns 2 “miles” per dollar on every purchase and offers a 50-60,000 mile bonus after $3k spend in 3 months. Their gimmick was that these miles could be used to “erase” travel purchases made on the card at 1 cent per point, so a 50,000 mile bonus would be able to wipe out $500 in purchases. Nothing revolutionary, but an approachable and easy-to-use way to pay yourself back for travel costs like rental cars, seat upgrades, and the like.

In November 2018 Capital One added the ability to transfer their miles to travel partners, transforming their miles from cashback to a transferable currency. The only problem was that unlike most other transferable currencies which swap 1:1 with airlines and hotels, CapOne was offering abysmal rates of 2:1 or 2:1.5, leaving very little reason to utilize their miles over another bank’s superior offerings.

That all changed in 2021, though, when CapOne revamped their relationships and updated transfer rates for all partners to 1:1. Though their list of transfer partners isn’t as robust as Chase, Amex, or even Citi, it does have some strong options such as Singapore Airlines, Flying Blue, Aeroplan, and Avianca.

With these new changes, collecting Capital One miles was actually a viable option for those looking to leverage them for maximum value. What they needed after that was a way to incentivize the use of their program and benefits, which they did with the release of the Venture X.

Venture X At a Glance

The new Venture X card comes with some impressive benefits, many of which are par for the course with ultra-premium cards. These include:

• 100,000 bonus miles after spending $10,000 on purchases in the first 6 months (current offer, subject to change) – Expired
• 10x miles on hotels and rental cars, and 5X on flights booked via Capital One Travel
• 2x miles everywhere else
•  $300 annual credit (cardmember year, not calendar year) 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 1,300+ Priority Pass lounges internationally
• $100 credit for either TSA PreCheck or Global Entry
• $200 in statement credits for vacation rental purchases like Airbnb and VRBO (limited time)
• No Foreign Transaction Fees
• Hertz Presidential Circle Status
• Free Authorized Users (who all get their own Priority Pass)
• Trip cancellation and interruption insurance
• Trip delay reimbursement
• Lost luggage reimbursement
• Primary rental car insurance
• Cellphone protection
• Purchase, extended warranty, and return protection
• $395 Annual Fee

Learn more about the benefits here.

What Else Should You Know?

When the Venture X was released, there was a lot of hype and also a fair amount of hate within the miles and points community. Most of those down on the release cited the fact that Capital One is all over the board when it comes to who they approve for cards and has a long history of declining even the best candidates for reasons unknown. Frustrated award travelers with 800+ credit scores have thrown their arms up in disbelief when denied for the most basic of accounts. This trend has continued with the Venture X, although some were pleasantly surprised to receive instant approvals.

I had not received an approval from Capital One in more than five years myself but decided to give the Venture X a shot and got lucky. You might too!

Another downside to applying for Capital One cards is that they pull your credit report from all three bureaus, leaving you with three hard pulls instead of just one as usual. This especially stings if you get denied for the card, as it’s like wasting three applications.

Likes and Dislikes

There are lots of things to like (and a few to dislike) about the Venture X card. Here are my picks:

What I like:

• Adding authorized users is free, and all additional users get full access to benefits such as their own Priority Pass membership, access to Capital One lounges, Hertz President’s Circle status, and purchase/travel protections. This is a massive benefit that no other cards offer to this extent
• The Priority Pass offered with the Venture X includes restaurant access, as opposed to the version offered with Amex that does not
• The travel benefits like trip delay protection, trip cancellation/interruption, and lost luggage only require you to pay a partial amount of the airfare in order for the benefits to apply. This means that you can pay just the taxes and fees of an award ticket with the card and get the benefits, as opposed to other premium cards that require the entire amount to be paid (e.g. cash ticket paid in full) in order to get the benefit
• The limited-time vacation rental credit is great addition, even though you can only use it once

What I don’t like:

• The $300 travel credit has to be redeemed through the CapOne travel portal, which limits the ease of use. Though apparently they offer a price match option if you find flights cheaper elsewhere, it’s still an extra step to go through
• As mentioned above, CapOne is notoriously stingy with approvals for their cards, the Venture X included
• After the Welcome Bonus, the ongoing earnings of 2x everywhere (unless booking through their portal) are disappointing. When other options exist that will give 4x or more for grocery and dining, there is no incentive to use the Venture X for those purchases (though the SavorOne is a solid choice as a companion card)

On a coffee plantation tour in Costa Rica, paid for with my Venture X card!

Compared to other Ultra Premium Credit Cards

In addition to the likes and dislikes I mention above, there are some benefits that the Venture X offers over other Ultra Premium credit cards such as the Amex Platinum, Chase Sapphire Reserve, and US Bank Altitude Reserve, such as:

• Lower annual fee ($395 vs $550+). The $300 credit and 10,000 bonus miles (worth at least $100) alone cover the cost, and if you factor in lounge access you come out ahead
• Cellphone protection
• Free authorized users with their own benefits (Hertz status and Priority Pass membership)

Here’s where the Venture X falls short of its competitors:

• Travel protections – it doesn’t offer delayed baggage benefits, emergency evacuation, emergency medical and dental, or free roadside assistance as the Sapphire Reserve does
• It’s harder to use the annual travel credit
• There are no spending multipliers, just 2x everywhere
• It’s harder to get approved for CapOne cards – or, at least, their approvals are inconsistent
• The transfer partners are not as good as transferable currencies

Final Thoughts

The new Capital One Venture X card hit the ground running in late 2021 with a slew of enticing benefits, a giant welcome bonus, and a relatively low annual fee. Though it falls short in some areas when compared to other ultra-premium cards, notably travel protections and earning rates, it surpasses them in several ways as well.

This card is an excellent choice for anyone who wants most of the benefits of an ultra-premium travel card without having to pay extra for the privilege. That is, assuming you can get approved for it!

Brandon Chase is a financially independent writer, endurance athlete, and travel hacking enthusiast originally from Maine. He is a former Foreign Service Officer with the U.S. Department of State and spent nearly a decade overseas serving at embassies in Cairo, Egypt, and Nicosia, Cyprus, and Islamabad, Pakistan. Since getting hooked on “the hobby” in 2013, he and his wife have accumulated and redeemed millions of points and miles for luxury travel, including a $35,000 trip around the world for 97% off retail which he wrote about on his blog Fit For Miles. In addition to travel, he loves to be outdoors and has summited Mt. Kilimanjaro, thru-hiked the Appalachian Trail, and completed ultramarathons at the 50k, 50-mile, and 100-mile distances. Brandon is thrilled to share his knowledge of credit cards, award travel, and optimization with the Go Curry Cracker readers and hopes to help people travel more and better than they ever thought possible.

Top offers from our partners

	Great travel card! card_name - bonus_miles_full annual_fees This is a great card for travelers!
	card_name - bonus_miles_full 2X miles on every purchase. Learn more here.
	card_name bonus_miles_full. *Rates and Fees. Numerous credits - Up to $200 in Uber Cash. $200 hotel credit with two-night minimum stay. $240 media credit. All as statement credits. (enrollment required) annual_fees. Terms Apply.
	card_name Small Business card. bonus_miles_full. Worth $1,250+. 3x points on travel (on the first $150,000 spent in combined purchases) annual_fees.

Interested in getting the best and latest offers directly in your inbox? We stay on top of the best offerings so you don’t have to. Subscribe here.

Editorial Note – Opinions expressed here are author’s alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, hotel, airline, or other entity. This content has not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of the entities included within the post.

User Generated Content Disclosure – Responses are not provided or commissioned by the bank advertiser. Responses have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by the bank advertiser. It is not the bank advertiser’s responsibility to ensure all posts and/or questions are answered.