Why the Venture X is the Best Travel Credit Card

I’m a huge fan of the Chase Sapphire Preferred credit card and Chase Ultimate Rewards. But as I said in My Free Travel Journey post, one of my goals was to investigate other flexible reward currencies to diversify my travel hacking strategy. In doing so, I found that the Capital One Venture X card just might be the absolute best premium travel credit card on the market!

The Capital One Venture X is definitely a premium credit card in that it has a lot of wonderful benefits but also a hefty annual fee of $395. Yes, $395! I never thought I would be the type of person that would drop that much money on an annual fee. But I quickly discovered this card pays for itself – and then some!

Note: If you apply for a credit card on any of the links provided in this article, I may receive a referral bonus.

Venture X vs. Sapphire Preferred

The Capital One Venture X card has similar perks to my beloved Chase Sapphire Preferred. This includes a nice welcome bonus (currently 75,000 points after spending $4,000 in 3 months). You can transfer points to travel partners (currently 18 airline and hotel groups are available). It also provides a myriad of insurance protections: primary rental car, trip delay, trip cancellation and interruption, lost luggage, and travel accidents. Finally, like my Chase Sapphire Preferred, there are no foreign transition fees on purchases abroad.

But there are so many ways that the Capital One Venture X shines brighter than the Chase Sapphire Preferred and is the best travel credit card available. Read on for 9 reasons why this card will remain in my wallet for years to come!

$300 Travel Credit

Remember that shocking $395 annual fee that comes with the Venture X? Does $95 sound better? It definitely does to me! And that’s really all this card costs if you take into account the fact that you get a yearly $300 credit for purchases made in the Capital One travel portal. You can book hotels, flights, or rental cars through the portal.

I use this credit every year to book a hotel during our annual holiday trip to see grandparents. For example, one year I booked a hotel through the portal for $397.32. A few weeks later, a $300 credit showed up on my statement.

As long as you know you will spend at least $300 on travel each year, this card is worth getting.

10,000 Mile Anniversary Bonus

We’ve wiped out $300 of the $395 annual fee already. But we won’t stop there. Each year on the anniversary of the day you opened the card, you will receive 10,000 miles in your account. If you just want to convert 10,000 miles to cash, Capital One will give you $50. This combined with the $300 travel credit means your annual fee is now only $45.

These 10,000 miles are even more valuable if you transfer them to travel partners (between 1 and 1.7 cents each). Or you can use them for gift cards at a value of 0.8-1 cent each.

Airport Lounge Access

I know this is starting to sound like an infomercial, but wait, there’s more! One of my favorite things about the Venture X card is that it gives me access to airport lounges around the world. I’ve always been jealous of people who can go into airport lounges and enjoy free food and drinks and sit in comfy chairs while waiting for their flights. Now I can do it, too!

The Venture X card comes with access to Capital One lounges (currently in Dallas, Denver and Washington, D.C.). Fortunately, I often transit through Dallas, so I’ve been able to use it several times.

You also receive a Priority Pass Select membership which provides access to 1,300 airport lounges around the world. In case this isn’t enough lounge access for you, you also can enter Plaza Premium Lounges around the world as well.

And all of this access is not only for you – you are allowed up to two guests! I would say all of this lounge access for me and two guests is worth at least $45. So now we can consider this card free!

Cell Phone Protection

I am usually very careful, but I have destroyed several iPhones. I’ve dropped and shattered two, and I accidently washed one in the laundry! So cell phone insurance plans are very important to me, and I used to pay my cell plan carrier a ton of money for it.

But now that I have the Venture X card, I’m covered for free! I simply charge my cell phone plan to this card, and in return Capital One provides me with insurance of up to $800 per claim with a maximum of two claims per year. There is a $50 deductible, but that’s a free $750 for the next time I (or any member of my family) inevitably breaks their phone. It also covers phone theft (you will need a police report), but unfortunately not accidental loss of the device. Good thing my kids have their phones permanently glued to their hands!

Global Entry or TSA PreCheck Fee Credit

Every four years, you can get a credit for up to $100 to enroll in either Global Entry or TSA PreCheck. Both programs help you speed through the security process at the airport. You get to go through the much shorter TSA PreCheck line, leave your shoes and jacket on, and keep your laptop and other devices in your bag. It makes security much less painful and leaves more time to linger in your airport lounge! If you travel internationally, Global Entry is a good choice because it also expedites your entry through U.S. immigration upon return to the country.

Even better, you can use this benefit for someone other than yourself. For example, my work pays for my Global Entry fee. But my teenage daughter begged me for her own TSA PreCheck now that she is too old to come through the expedited boarding process with me. Guess what she received for her 16th birthday present?

Free Membership to The Cultivast

The Cultivast is a membership club that offers free entrance to museums around the world for the member and three guests. Venture X cardholders are eligible for a free 6 month membership. This is obviously a much more limited benefit, but it will definitely come in handy if you are planning a trip where you plan to visit a lot of museums.

I definitely plan to take advantage of this free membership for a family trip to New York that I’m planning this summer. Taking teenagers to museums that they should see but will just complain about is much more palatable if we aren’t paying an arm and leg for admission!

Erase Travel Charges

Capital One miles are like most transferable reward currencies. You can use them to transfer to travel partners, to purchase gift cards, to exchange for cash, etc. But one of the more unusual opportunities is to “erase” any charges on your card that are coded as travel at a 1 mile to 1 cent value.

For example, I bought tickets to Disneyland using a third party seller I knew would code as travel. Then I used my Capital One miles to cover the cost of this purchase. I love visiting Disney parks, but I especially love visiting Disney parks for free!

2x Miles on Every Purchase

One of the games that travel hackers play is figuring out what card will bring in the most points for every purchase. Serious travel hackers will have a huge stack of credit cards. They use spreadsheets keeping track of what card to use for a particular purchases. It’s complicated and confusing.

The beauty of the Venture X card is that you get 2 points for every dollar spent on the card. This is double the earnings rate of most categories on other cards, and not much less than the maximum amount you can earn in some categories.

For example, my Chase Sapphire Preferred card gives me 3 points for every dollar spent on restaurants and streaming services , 2 points on travel, and 1 point on everything else. But with the Venture X, I don’t have to keep track of all of this. I just know I’ll get 2 points on everything. Easy peasy!

You also get 10 points for each dollar spent for hotels and car rentals and 5 points per dollar spent on flights on the Capital One Travel portal. I don’t love booking things on portals like these, so that’s not as valuable to me. But I keep swiping my Venture X card for those 2 points per dollar elsewhere!

Free Authorized Users

What’s better than having a card you love? Being able to share that card with others you love! You can add up to four authorized users to the Venture X card for free. The primary reason you would want to do this is for the airport lounge access. Your authorized users also receive the same free access to lounges as you do, even when you aren’t traveling with them!

This is great for families. A Venture X card allows for you and two guests to enter the airport lounges. We have one Venture X card and pay one annual fee. But I’ve made my husband an authorized user. So when my family of four travels together, all of us can enter an airport lounge using our two cards. When my kids are a older and traveling on their own, I will add them as authorized users as well. Then they can have lounge access for themselves and their travel companions, too. Yes, my kids are spoiled!

One caveat – please be aware that all charges to your authorized user cards show up on your statement. You are responsible for the bill. So add authorized users with care!

Have I convinced you that the Venture X is the best travel credit card available?

Tell me below in the comments. Also check out all of my posts on travel hacking. And subscribe to our newsletter so you never miss a post!