Pros
- Earn a 75,000-mile initial bonus
- 2 - 10 miles per $1 spent on purchases
- Annual credit & bonus opportunities
- Airport lounge access
Cons
- $395 annual fee
- Not good for financing
- Available to people with excellent credit
Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card
- Earn unlimited 10X miles on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel and 5X miles on flights and vacation rentals booked through Capital One Travel
- Earn unlimited 2X miles on all other purchases
Earn 75,000 bonus miles when you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening, equal to $750 in travel
Rewards Details
- Earn 75,000 bonus miles when you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening, equal to $750 in travel
- Receive a $300 annual credit for bookings through Capital One Travel, where you'll get Capital One's best prices on thousands of trip options
- Get 10,000 bonus miles (equal to $100 towards travel) every year, starting on your first anniversary
- Earn unlimited 10X miles on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel and 5X miles on flights and vacation rentals booked through Capital One Travel
- Earn unlimited 2X miles on all other purchases
- Enjoy access to 1,300+ lounges worldwide, including Capital One Lounge and Landing locations and participating Priority Pass™ lounges, after enrollment
- Use your Venture X miles to easily cover travel expenses, including flights, hotels, rental cars and more—you can even transfer your miles to your choice of 15+ travel loyalty programs
- Enjoy a $100 experience credit and other premium benefits with every hotel and vacation rental booked from the Premier Collection
- Receive up to a $120 credit for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck®
Additional Info
- Top rated mobile app
- Trip Cancellation and Interruption*: Add peace of mind to your itinerary when you use your Venture X card to book your travel
- Extended Warranty Protection*: Extend your qualifying product warranties automatically when you purchase using your Venture X card
- Return Protection*: Keep your options open with 90 days of Return Protection, here to help when you make a qualifying purchase with your card
- Cell Phone Protection*: Protect your cell phone every time you pay your bill. When you pay your monthly wireless bill with your covered Capital One card, your cell phone is protected for the next calendar month. So, you can get reimbursed if your cell phone is stolen or damaged ($50 deductible)
- Visa Infinite Concierge*: Concierge who can help you with requests, like dinner reservations, or Broadway, music and sporting event tickets
- Baggage Delay Reimbursement*: Your bags are covered against common carrier-caused loss or theft with Lost Luggage Reimbursement* when you use your Venture X card to purchase common carrier tickets
- Trip Delay Reimbursement*: Anticipate delays when you purchase air travel with your covered Visa Infinite card, with Trip Delay coverage of up to $500 when you’re stuck for more than six hours or require an overnight stay
- Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver*: Count on built-in auto rental coverage. Save money by saying no at the counter – rent with your covered Visa Infinite card and get built-in Auto Rental Coverage
- *For Capital One products listed on this page, some of the benefits may be provided by Visa® or Mastercard® and may vary by product. See the respective Guide to Benefits for details, as terms and exclusions apply
- More Details & Reviews About Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card
Is Capital One Venture X Worth It?
The Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card is worth it if you’re a big spender who travels often enough to enjoy perks like airport lounge access, annual travel credits, and a TSA PreCheck®/Global Entry fee credit. The card’s benefits and elite rewards can more than cover the cost of its $395 annual fee.
You could save over $1,600 during the first two years you have the Capital One Venture X, according to our calculations, and that’s accounting for the annual fee. If you get this card, you will earn 2 - 10 miles per $1 spent on purchases, plus a hefty initial bonus of 75,000 miles for spending $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months. Those rewards drive the card’s savings potential.
What You Need to Do to Make Capital One Venture X Worthwhile
To make Capital One Venture X worthwhile, you should spend at least $4,000 in the first 3 months to earn the card’s bonus of 75,000 miles. The bonus will cover the card’s $395 annual fee for the first year.
Without accounting for the initial bonus, you’d have to spend quite a bit to break even. You’d have to spend between $3,950 and $19,750 in a typical year to make the card worth it if you redeem the rewards for travel, according to our calculations.
You should also pay your credit card bill in full every month, or the cost of interest at the card’s 19.49% - 28.49% (V) APR will greatly dilute the value you get.
My Experience With Capital One Venture X
I applied for the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card a few months after it hit the market. This card appealed to me for obvious reasons, including its valuable initial bonus, high ongoing rewards rates, annual travel credit and airport lounge access, so I had been pondering an application since it launched. I just wasn’t sure I was spending enough on travel or traveling frequently enough to justify paying such a high annual fee. I definitely did for the first year or so and had a great time using Venture X.
Based on my experience with the Venture cards, Venture X is like a supercharged version of the normal Venture Card, and I really enjoyed the airport lounge access on the few occasions I was able to use it. I can see why consistently frequent travelers would want to keep this card in their wallets long term, but a brief taste of the high life was enough for me. I downgraded when my travel spending tailed off because I wasn’t using the benefits enough or earning enough rewards to justify paying the annual fee.
What I Like About Capital One Venture X
Big initial bonus: Earn 75,000 miles
The Capital One Venture X initial bonus is 75,000 miles for spending $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months. The bonus miles are redeemable for $750 in travel – more than enough to cover the annual fee for the first year or even a trip out of town. “I used my Capital One Venture X bonus for a warm weekend trip down to Florida,” WalletHub user Raquel Torres told me. “It was great to get away on Capital One’s dime.”
This bonus is larger than average for a rewards card right now, per our database of more than 1,500 credit card offers. On average, new credit card offers have an initial bonus of just 35,350 miles. Furthermore, not too many cards have bonuses as big as what Venture X offers, even among the best signup bonus credit cards.
Bonus Rewards via Capital One Travel: 10 miles / $1
Capital One Venture X gives you 10 miles / $1 on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel. The Capital One Venture X Card also gives 5 miles / $1 spent on flights and vacation rentals booked through Capital One Travel. I recommend redeeming your miles for travel as you’ll get the most value that way.
If you’re not familiar with Capital One Travel, it is the travel-booking website that cardholders can access to easily arrange travel accommodations and pay with rewards, their cards, or a combination. The site also offers a price-match guarantee if you find a better deal elsewhere. I recommend poking around the site for a while before you apply, to make sure it suits your travel preferences.
Above-Average Rewards on All Other Purchases: 2 miles / $1
At a minimum, you will earn 2 miles / $1 on purchases made with the Capital One Venture X Card. That’s more than the average miles card will give you: 1.2 miles per $1.
Annual Credits: $300
The first $300 in Capital One Travel bookings that you book to Capital One Venture X each year are on the house. You will receive credits to cover the cost. This effectively shrinks the cost of the card’s annual fee for anyone who can commit to booking travel through Capital One’s portal each year.
Account-Anniversary Bonus: 10,000 miles
After each account anniversary, when you’ve paid the next year’s annual fee, you get a 10,000-mile bonus as a reward.
Airport Lounge Access: 1,300+ locations
Capital One Venture X gets you into 1,300+ airport lounges, including participating Priority Pass™ lounges, after enrollment. It also unlocks the small but growing list of Capital One Lounge and Landing locations.
This is an excellent benefit if you actually spend time in airport lounges. I see a lot of people gravitate to perks like this then hardly ever actually use them.
Global Entry/TSA PreCheck® Benefit: up to $120
Capital One Venture X will credit you the cost of applying for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck® if you pay the fee with your card. These programs get you faster airport screening when returning to the U.S. (Global Entry) or flying domestically (TSA PreCheck®).
Opting for Global Entry is the better value, especially if you’re going to be traveling internationally. Global Entry also gets you TSA PreCheck®. Personally, I haven’t traveled frequently enough to justify signing up, but I hear good things.
What I Don't Like About Capital One Venture X
High Annual Fee: $395
The Capital One Venture X Card’s $395 annual fee is its biggest shortcoming and something that’s likely to scare away a lot of potential applicants.
You really should think twice before applying for a card with such a high membership fee because if you don’t use the card as much as you assume you will, you may not get your money’s worth. That said, this card does give you a lot of opportunities to recoup your investment and then some. My recommendation is to make an honest assessment of your spending habits, estimate how much you are likely to earn in rewards with this card, and then compare those potential earnings to what you’d get from other cards.
High APR: 19.49% to 28.49% (V)
The exact APR you will be assigned if approved for the Capital One Venture X Card depends on your credit standing, but it will be somewhere in the range of 19.49% to 28.49% (V). As a result, I strongly suggest paying your bill in full every month because interest charges will erode your rewards earnings otherwise.
People with a credit score high enough to get approved for the Capital One Venture X Card should have no problem qualifying for a 0% intro APR credit card to use for purchases that will take months to repay. Similarly, if you currently have expensive debt, you should be able to transfer it to a good balance transfer credit card that will save you money.
Other Things to Consider About Capital One Venture X
No Foreign Transaction Fee
The Capital One Venture X Card’s $0 foreign transaction fee is a good thing – it’s just not unique. No Capital One credit cards charge foreign transaction fees, which is good news if you’re planning to travel abroad or make purchases from foreign merchants online.
Excellent Credit Recommended for Approval
The Capital One Venture X is available to people with excellent credit. You can check your credit score for free on WalletHub.
Capital One Venture X vs. the Competition
annual fee$395 | annual fee$95 | annual fee$795 |
rewards rate
| rewards rate
| rewards rate
|
bonus offer Earn 75,000 bonus miles when you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening, equal to $750 in travel | bonus offer Earn a one-time bonus of 75,000 miles once you spend $4,000 on purchases within 3 months from account opening, equal to $750 in travel | bonus offer Earn 150,000 bonus points after you spend $6,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. |
Purchase Intro APRN/A | Purchase Intro APRN/A | Purchase Intro APRN/A |
transfer intro aprN/A | transfer intro aprN/A | transfer intro aprN/A |
Regular APR19.49% - 28.49% (V) | Regular APR19.49% - 28.49% (V) | Regular APR19.49% - 27.99% (V) |
SponsoredApply Now SponsoredApply Now | SponsoredApply Now SponsoredApply Now | SponsoredApply Now SponsoredApply Now |
Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card Review Methodology
This Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card review is based on WalletHub’s proprietary 100-point credit card rating system. By using a consistent methodology to evaluate the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card and all other cards, WalletHub’s credit card experts make it easy for people to compare their options and find the best credit cards for their needs.
The WalletHub rating system uses 16 key metrics grouped into seven categories: Fees, Rewards, Two-year Cost, Interest Rates, Approval Requirements, Special Features, and Reviews. Each metric has a maximum number of points allocated to it, based on the metric’s importance as determined by our editors. The points are added up to create an overall rating for the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card out of a maximum of 100 points, which is then converted to a 5-point scale.
Ratings for each category reflect how close Capital One Venture X is to WalletHub’s definition of a 5-star credit card, which is based on market conditions and what we believe are reasonable terms. We compare Capital One Venture X to that standard to give a numerical approximation of how reasonable and competitive its terms are compared to other cards.
To learn more about how WalletHub rates credit card offers, check out our full credit card review methodology.
About the Author
John S Kiernan
Ask the Experts
To help you make an informed decision about applying for the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card, we posed the following questions to a panel of experts. You can check out their responses by clicking “Read More” below.
- Is there a minimum income you’d recommend someone having before they apply for a credit card that costs hundreds of dollars per year to own?
- Do consumers lose out on anything when booking travel accommodations through a credit card company’s booking portal?
- What is the best way to put a value on features such as airport lounge access and concierge service?
- What type of person would you recommend the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card to?
Ask the Experts
Professor, Leonard N. Stern School of Business, New York University
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