ADVERTISER DISCLOSURE

Capital One Venture X: My Go-To Card

The Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card is hands down one of the very best credit cards. It’s a premium card with amazing benefits- things like airport lounge access for the whole family, an annual $300 travel credit, a TSA PreCheck or Global Entry Statement credit, anniversary miles, and more. Plus it has the lowest annual fee of any premium card on the market! Let’s take a look at all of these details so you can decide if it’s a good fit for you.

Venture X basic info

The Venture X has a standard sign-up bonus of 75,000 Capital One miles when you spend $4,000 in the first three months of the account being open. The annual fee for the card is $395, which I know sounds like a lot. But I promise that the benefits easily make up for it. You can also add up to four authorized users for free. The Venture X card will count against Chase’s 5/24 rule, but it’s worth a spot!

Venture X benefits

  • Annual $300 travel credit
  • Airport lounge access
  • TSA PreCheck or Global Entry statement credit when you use your card to pay the enrollment fee
  • Access to Capital One transfer partners
  • 10,000-mile bonus on your card anniversary
  • No foreign transaction fees
  • Travel insurances- primary rental car coverage, lost luggage reimbursement, trip delay reimbursement, trip interruption/cancelation insurance, travel accident insurance
  • Shopping protections- purchase protection, extended warranty, cell phone insurance
  • 10X on hotels and rental cars and 5X on flights booked in the Capital One travel portal
  • 2X on all other purchases
  • Access to Capital One Premier Collection hotels

Annual $300 travel credit

This credit is valid for travel booked through Capital One Travel and is applied like a coupon during the checkout process. You can choose to apply it or not, and it can cover part or all of your booking. If you have credit leftover it can be applied to a future booking.

Airport lounge access

The card gives you access to lounges in multiple ways. One thing that separates this card from similar cards is that authorized users get the same airport lounge access as the main cardholder.

  • Capital One lounges. There are currently three Capital One lounges– Dallas (DFW), Washington D.C. (IAD), and Denver (DEN). There are also multiple other locations in the works. You just need to show your Venture X and boarding pass to enter. You can bring up to two guests for free.
  • Priority Pass. Use your Venture X card to sign up for a Priority Pass membership (here). Venture X authorized users can also sign up for their own Priority Pass, which is how a whole family can access lounges for free! To enter, show your Priority Pass card (the physical card or in the Priority Pass app) and your boarding pass. Each Priority Pass member can bring two guests for free.
  • Plaza Premium lounges. There are a handful of Plaza Premium lounges around the world that you can access with your Venture X card. Access Plaza Premium lounges by showing your Venture X and boarding pass. Cardholders can bring two guests for free.

You can search Capital One’s partner lounge network page for a full list of lounges that are available with your Venture X.

Using miles from your Venture X

The miles you earn on this card can be used in three main ways- cashed out, in the travel portal, and transferred to travel partners. To do any of these things, log on to your Capital One account and click on your miles.

Transferring to partners

If you’re looking to get the most bang for your miles, transferring them to travel partners is the way to do that. You can transfer miles and redeem them for flights and hotels that are worth well over one cent per point, which is the value you will get by redeeming miles any other way.

Capital One has 14 airline and three hotel transfer partners.

  • Aeromexico
  • Air Canada
  • Air France/KLM
  • Avianca
  • British Airways
  • Cathay Pacific
  • Emirates
  • EVA Air
  • Finnair
  • Qantas
  • Singapore
  • TAP Air Portugal
  • Turkish
  • Virgin Red (can be moved to Virgin Atlantic
  • Accor
  • Choice
  • Wyndham

To transfer your miles, log in and lick on your miles, then choose “convert rewards”. Select which program you’d like to transfer to.

A box will pop up and you can enter your information, then click next and choose how many miles you want to transfer. Finally, confirm the transaction. Most miles transfers are instant, but you may need to refresh your airline or hotel loyalty account.

Cashing out miles

Any purchase made on your card that is considered travel can be credited back to your account with your miles. Basically, you’ll trade in the miles to get a statement credit that covers the cost of the travel after you’ve booked it.

A box will pop up with any purchases that are eligible to be covered with miles. Choose which travel purchase and how many miles you want to use. You can cover a portion of the purchase or all of it. Select continue, then confirm the transaction. It takes 1-3 days for the credit to post to your account.

The travel purchase must be booked on your Venture X to be eligible to be covered with miles. Miles are redeemed at a one cent per point value, meaning every 10,000 miles is worth $100.

We like to use this option for things that are harder to cover with miles- like rental cars and theme park tickets. If you want to use them for theme park tickets, you’ll need to purchase through a third-party site like Undercover Tourist so that the purchase codes as travel on your credit card statement. We’ve done this multiple times for Disney tickets!

Using miles in the travel portal

You can use your miles to book rental cars, hotels, and flights in the Capital One travel portal. Like using them to cover travel purchases, they are worth one cent per point (so 10,000 miles = $100). Honestly, you shouldn’t ever use them this way because you’re missing out on the miles you could be earning from spending on your card.

Here’s what to do instead:

  • Use the travel portal to book your flight, hotel, and/or rental car, and use your Venture X to pay.
  • You’ll receive 10X miles for hotels and rental cars and 5X miles for flights.
  • Then once the miles have posted, use them (plus any other miles earned) to cover the purchase!

That way you are still using miles to cover the cost, but you’re earning extra miles first by putting that spending on your card.

Wrapping Up

I will never stop shouting from the rooftops how much I love the Venture X. The miles can be used in so many ways- from transferring to partners and booking hotels and flights, to using them for things like theme park tickets and rental cars. On top of that, we get airport lounge access for our whole family. Even better, the benefits more than make up for the larger annual fee, so it’s a win all around.

Related: Comparing the Capital One Venture and Venture X Rewards Cards


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.

Thank you for using our card links when applying for new cards. It helps us run our small business at no extra cost to you. We appreciate your support!



Opinions expressed here are the 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.

AFFILIATE DISCLOSURE:

The Traveling Hansens is part of an affiliate sales network and receives compensation for sending traffic to partner sites, such as MileValue.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.

EDITORIAL DISCLOSURE:

Opinions expressed here are the 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.