The Capital One Venture X was a new card that burst onto the scene at the end of 2021. Now that it's early 2023, and I've had mine for just past a year, how does is stack up with the other cards I use, and do I still think it's worth it? The short answer is in the title: I like this card a lot.
Image: Capital One
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First, let's recap what the Venture X is. This card is the high end of C-tier on my tier list (high-end, but not luxury or invite-only) clocking in with a $395 annual fee, which is certainly a new one for Capital One, who offer a lot of lower-end cards. In exchange for that fee, the card comes with three main benefits: straightforward and strong earning rates of flexible Venture Miles* (VM), an easy-to-use credit, and lounge access.
Specifically, you'll earn 2x VM on all purchases, except when in the Capital One Travel portal, where you'll earn 5x on flights on 10x on hotels and rental cars. And you'll definitely want to use that portal, because the first $300 spent each cardmember year on travel through the portal are reimbursed, which brings the effective annual fee down to $95, as long as you spend at least $300 through through the Capital One Travel portal. I recommend using it for domestic flights; $300 is the right amount to fly most places within the US lower 48, and airlines are better about honoring elite status and frequent flyer benefits when booked through a 3rd party compared to hotels. Rental cars would work, too. On top of the travel credit, you'll receive 10,000 bonus VM each cardmember year. At a minimum, these are worth 1 cent each, or $100. That would bring the effective annual fee to -$5, which is like getting paid to hold the card and if you would spend at least $300 on travel. If you're like me, however, you want flexible points like VM to be worth at least 2 cents each, which makes the card even better. Lastly, Capital One is starting to open branded lounges, like their one at DFW, and the card also includes Priority Pass.
The simplest reason I like this card is that it's almost guaranteed to be positive expected value, even if spending very little on it. After the credit and the anniversary bonus, you're up at least $5, but possibly more like $105 if you value the miles at 2 cents each. That means you're getting paid to have lounge access and the strong earning. Speaking of the earning rate, I've also been using this as a catch-all card when I'm not working towards any sign-up bonuses. Other cards have higher earning rates for certain categories, but this is one of few cards earning 2x flexible miles on everything. Since it has a negative effective annual fee, it's also arguably even better than the gold standard of comparisons, the Citi Double Cash!
There's not much more to say about the card because it's just so good at face value. You don't have to jump through hoops to get value out of it, you don't have to remember anything except to book travel in the Capital One portal once per year, and you don't even have to displace any other annual fee cards with it! I hold it in my wallet right alongside an Amex Gold and Platinum, and you could also hold it with other Mastermind cards like the the Chase Sapphire Reserve or the Citi Premier. In a way, it's kind of a brilliant move by Capital One to get into as many wallets as possible with big-hitting cards like the Platinum and CSR, rather than competing head-to-head with them and trying to lure people away.
So who does it make sense for? Anyone. I've never met someone who doesn't travel in some way at least once per year, and that's all you need to do to turn this card into, at the very worst, a metal version of the Citi Double Cash. Oh, except your points are transferrable if you want more value out of them, you'll have lounge access, no foreign transaction fees, and earn a much better sign-up bonus.
* - I have a gripe with Capital One because of their stupid commercials about how "some cards only earn bonus miles on some purchases, but this card earns bonus miles on all purchases" for the Venture, where "bonus miles" means neither bonus, nor miles. 1.5x, the rate of the Venture, isn't anything special, being lower than the Citi Double Cash and the same as the Chase Freedom Unlimited. It was also always extremely irritating to me that they call these "miles," when they are not affiliated with any airlines. Before Capital One introduced transfer partners, their "miles" were actually just cash back with a different name, because they had a fixed value of 1 cent each and could only be used to offset purchases. It was just a completely uncompetitive card attempting to masquerade as a travel card. That's improved in recent years, particularly with the Venture X, but it still doesn't make sense that these are "miles."
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