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Earn 10X miles on hotel and rental car purchases made through Capital One Travel, 5X miles on airfare purchased through the portal, and 2X miles per dollar spent on all other purchases. This card has a $395 annual fee.
Capital One’s Venture X credit card outperforms the standard Venture card in several key areas, including travel credits, hotel benefits and rental car coverage.
The Capital One Venture X card fee is $395 per year, while the fee for the Venture card is just $95 per year.
We recommend the Capital One Venture X card unless you feel that you won’t travel enough to justify the $395 annual fee.
Both cards come with plenty of perks, but there are some differences in how you earn rewards, how you can redeem those rewards and how much it costs to maintain your membership. Based on these differences, one may be a better fit for your lifestyle.
We compared Capital One Venture vs. Venture X to help you decide which one to get.
Capital One Venture vs. Venture X: Which is better?
Generally, the Venture X is better than the Venture simply because it gives you more bonus miles on hotels, flights and rental cars.
Venture X cardholders also qualify for a $300 travel credit each year, while Venture cardholders don’t.
That said, the Venture X is only worth its steep annual fee if you travel frequently. Venture is better if you’re looking for a low annual fee coupled with premium benefits.
The table below gives an overview of which card is better per category.
Category
Capital One Venture
Capital One Venture X
Winner
Welcome bonus
75,000 miles after spending $4,000 within 3 months of opening the account
75,000 miles after spending $4,000 within 3 months of opening the account
Tie
Rewards earning rate
- 5 miles per dollar on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel - 2 miles per dollar on other purchases
- 10 miles per dollar on hotels and rental cars when booking via Capital One Travel - 5 miles per dollar on flights booked through Capital One Travel - 2 miles per dollar on all other purchases
Venture X
Other perks
- TSA PreCheck® or Global Entry® credit (up to $100) - Two free visits per year to Capital One Lounges and Plaza Premium Lounges
- $300 annual statement credit for travel purchases - TSA PreCheck or Global Entry credit (up to $100) - Complimentary, unlimited access to over 1,300 airport lounges for the cardholder and 2 guests - 10,000 bonus miles on your card anniversary date
Venture X
Annual fee
$95
$395
Venture
Foreign transaction fee
None
None
Tie
Eligibility
Must have excellent credit
Must have excellent credit
Tie
Why should I get the Capital One Venture card?
The Capital One Venture card is a good fit if you’re looking for a balance of benefits and affordability. It comes with more than enough perks to justify the $95 annual fee, even if you don’t take several trips per year. This card also gives you 2X miles on everyday purchases.
Consider the Venture X card if you’re a road warrior who spends a lot of time flying, driving rental cars or staying at hotels. In addition to the benefits included with the Venture card, Venture X members get personalized concierge access via the Visa Infinite network, a $300 annual credit for travel purchases and extra consumer protections. You even get 10,000 bonus miles on your card anniversary, which is enough to cover almost one-third of the annual fee before you even start earning rewards.
Capital One offers the same sign-up bonus for the Venture credit card and the Venture X credit card. If you spend at least $4,000 within three months of opening your account, you’ll receive 75,000 bonus miles.
Since the welcome offers are the same, we recommend that you choose a card based on other factors, such as the number of miles earned per dollar or the availability of additional consumer benefits.
Capital One Venture vs Venture X: Rewards
Before you apply for one of these cards, find out which one is better under each of the circumstances listed below.
Which is better for earning rewards?
Overall, the Capital One Venture X Rewards credit card is better for earning rewards.
The Venture card gives you 5X miles on certain travel purchases and 2X miles on all other purchases. If you have the Venture X, however, you get 10X points on hotels and rental cars booked through the Capital One Travel portal.
Imagine you’re planning a 7-day trip to Amsterdam. You spend $1,800 on the hotel, $2,800 on airline tickets for two people, $940 on a rental car and $1,400 on meals.
Here’s how many miles you’d earn with each card:
Capital One Venture: You’d earn 9,000 miles on the hotel stay, 5,600 miles on the airline tickets, 4,700 miles on the rental car and 2,800 miles on meals. This is a grand total of 22,100 miles.
Capital One Venture X: You’d earn 18,000 miles on the hotel stay, 14,000 miles on the airline tickets, 9,400 miles on the rental car and 2,800 miles on meals. This is a grand total of 44,200 miles, double what you’d earn with the Venture card.
Which is better for redeeming rewards?
When it comes to redeeming rewards, it’s a bit of a toss-up. Both the Capital One Venture Card and the Capital One Venture X card come with the same redemption options. For example, you can transfer your Capital One miles to certain hotel and airline loyalty programs, redeem them for a statement credit or even transfer them to someone else. Both rewards cards also give you access to Capital One Shopping, which features flat-rate discounts, coupon codes and other deals.
Which is better for transferring rewards?
The Venture and Venture X are evenly matched when it comes to transferring rewards.
Neither are specifically airline credit cards but they allow you to transfer your bonus miles to one of 15 airline loyalty programs, including British Airways Executive Club, Qantas Frequent Flyer and Virgin Red. Capital One also allows you to transfer miles to Choice Privileges, Accor Live Limitless and Wyndham Rewards, making it easier to get discounted hotel stays.
The Capital One Venture card and the Capital One Venture X Rewards credit card also have the same redemption rates:
500 Accor Live Limitless points for every 1,000 Capital One miles
750 Infinity MileageLands (EVA Air) miles for every 1,000 Capital One miles
1,000 miles/points for every 1,000 Capital One miles for every other transfer partner
How much are Capital One Miles worth?
The value of Capital One Miles varies depending on how you choose to redeem them. The chart below shows the average value of miles based on how they are redeemed:
Redemption option
Value of 1 mile
Value of 20K miles
Travel purchases with Capital One Travel
1 cent
$200
Outside travel purchases (as statement credit)
1 cent
$200
Gift card
0.8 cents
$160
Cash back (as statement credit or check)
0.5 cents
$100
Transfer partners
Average 1.4 cents but up to 2.6 cents, depending on the transfer partner
Average $280, up to $520
Capital One Venture vs Venture X: Travel perks
Both credit cards offer many of the same travel benefits, but the Venture X comes out slightly ahead when you account for the $300 annual travel credit and expanded access to airport lounges.
Here’s how the two cards stack up against each other.
1
Airport lounge access
The Capital One Venture X Rewards credit card beats the standard Venture card in this category, as you get unlimited visits to Capital One Lounges, Plaza Premium lounges and Priority Pass lounges. You can also bring two guests at no additional charge. With the Venture credit card, you only get two complimentary lounge visits per year. Additionally, lounge access is limited to Capital One Lounges and Plaza Premium lounges.
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2
Travel insurance
Both credit cards come with several types of travel insurance, including coverage for trip delays, lost or stolen baggage, trip cancellations and trip interruptions. Therefore, there’s no clear winner in this category.
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3
Car rental benefits
The Capital One Venture X Rewards credit card pulls ahead of the Venture card in terms of car rental benefits. As a Visa Infinite card, the Venture X gives you primary rental car coverage when you’re in the United States. Primary coverage kicks in before your personal auto insurance does, while secondary coverage acts as a supplement to your personal policy.
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4
TSA PreCheck or Global Entry
Once again, the cards are evenly matched, as they both come with a credit of up to $100 toward your TSA PreCheck or Global Entry enrollment fee.
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5
Hotel access
The Capital One Venture X Rewards credit card offers slightly better hotel benefits than the Venture card, so it handily wins as the better hotel credit card. When you use Capital One Travel to book a hotel in the Premium Collection, you’ll get daily breakfast for two, a $100 experience credit, complimentary room upgrades (when available) and early check-in/late checkout (when available). This collection includes high-end hotels selected for their premium features. If you use your Capital One Venture X Rewards credit card to book a hotel in the Lifestyle Collection, you’ll receive a $50 experience credit. With the Venture card, you only get to choose from hotels in the Lifestyle Collection, and your experience credit is limited to $50 per eligible stay.
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6
Travel credits
One of the biggest advantages of the Venture X credit card is that it comes with a $300 annual statement credit to offset some of your travel purchases. This covers almost the entire annual fee, making it a valuable benefit. The Venture credit card doesn’t come with an annual travel credit.
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Capital One Venture vs Venture X: Other benefits
Travel perks aren’t the only reason to get one of these Capital One travel credit cards. You also gain access to several other benefits.
Consumer protections
Both cards come with $0 fraud liability, security alerts, extended warranty coverage and emergency card replacement.
The Venture X credit card also includes return protection, purchase protection and cell phone protection, making it the clear winner in this category.
Return protection reimburses you if a retailer refuses to refund you for a damaged or defective item within 90 days of purchase. Purchase protection gives you 90 days of coverage for theft or damage. You must purchase a covered item with your Venture X credit card to use either type of protection.
Cell phone protection reimburses you in the following circumstances:
You accidentally damage your phone.
Someone steals your phone.
You’re separated from your phone and can’t retrieve it. For example, if you drop your phone through a sewer grate, you probably won’t be able to get it back.
To use the cell phone protection, you must use your Venture X card to pay your phone bill.
Authorized users
Unlike many credit card companies, Capital One doesn’t charge a fee to add authorized users to an account. This applies to both the Venture card and the Venture X card.
Capital One Venture vs Venture X: Fees
The Venture card wins this category, but only because its annual fee ($95) is less than one-third of the fee for the Venture X ($395).
Otherwise, both credit cards have exactly the same fees:
Balance transfer fee: $0 at the transfer APR, 4% of the amount of each transferred balance that posts to your account at a promo APR that Capital One may offer to you
Cash advance fee: Either $5 or 5% of the cash advance, whichever is higher
Foreign transaction fee: $0
Late payment fee: Up to $40
Capital One Venture vs Venture X: Eligibility
Both of these Capital One cards are difficult to get, as they’re for consumers with high credit scores.
At a minimum, you should have a FICO score in the high 700s, although Capital One says an exceptional FICO score of 800+ may improve your chances of approval.
Should I get the Capital One Venture or Venture X credit card?
These Capital One credit cards come with many of the same benefits, such as extended warranty protection, insurance coverage for trip delays and trip cancellations, access to Capital One Shopping and up to $100 toward your TSA PreCheck or Global Entry enrollment fee.
Where the Capital One Venture X Rewards card really shines is in the travel perks category. Once you have this credit card, you earn 5X on eligible flights and 10X on eligible hotel stays and car rentals. Venture X members also get a $300 annual travel credit, making it much easier to break even on the annual fee.
The standard Venture card is for consumers who don’t travel frequently or don’t want to pay $395 per year to maintain their membership. You can still earn plenty of rewards with the Venture Rewards card; it will just take a little longer to accumulate miles.
Can I upgrade from the Venture to the Venture X?
You may be able to upgrade from the Venture to the Venture X if you’ve had your Venture card for at least a year. You can check if you’re eligible by calling the number on the back of your card and speaking to an agent, or by signing into your account online and viewing your available offers and upgrades.
Should I get both Capital One cards?
Capital One allows you to combine miles from multiple cards, so it’s worth it to get the Capital One Venture and the Capital One Venture X Rewards credit card if you want to earn miles much faster than usual. The good news is that you can earn the welcome bonus on each card.
However, you can’t apply for both cards at the same time as Capital One only issues one card every six months. The company also limits the total number of cards you can have at one time. Therefore, if you’re one card away from the limit, you can only apply for one more. If you’re not sure whether either of these cards are right for you, check out our other Capital One credit card reviews.
Earn 10X miles on hotel and rental car purchases made through Capital One Travel, 5X miles on airfare purchased through the portal, and 2X miles per dollar spent on all other purchases. This card has a $395 annual fee.
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FAQs
Is the Venture card or the Venture X card better?
The Venture X card has better travel benefits, making it a good fit for frequent travelers.
Who might prefer the Venture Rewards card?
You might prefer the standard Venture Rewards card if you don’t travel often or you’re trying to minimize card fees.
Who might prefer the Venture X card?
The Venture X is suited for road warriors who want to rack up bonus miles as quickly as possible. It’s also a good choice if you want access to hotels in the Premium Collection instead of the Lifestyle Collection.
Should I upgrade my Venture card to Venture X?
If you’re traveling more often than you did when you opened your Venture card, you should consider upgrading to the Venture X. With a new card, you’ll be able to earn more points on eligible travel expenses and benefit from the $300 annual travel credit.
How do I upgrade my Venture card to Venture X?
Call the number on the back of your Venture card to find out if you’re eligible for an upgrade. You can also log into your Capital One online account to see if you have any offers or upgrades available.
Leigh Morgan is a seasoned personal finance contributor with over 15 years of experience writing on a diverse range of professional legal and financial topics. She specializes in subjects like navigating the complexities of insurance, savings, zero-based budgeting and emergency fund development.
In the last 5 years, she’s authored over 300 articles for credit unions, digital banks, and financial professionals. Morgan is also the author of “77 Tips for Preventing Elder Financial Abuse,” a book focused on helping caregivers protect the elderly from financial scams.
In addition to her writing skills, she brings real-world financial acumen thanks to her previous experience managing rental properties as part of a $34 million real estate portfolio.
* Opinions expressed here are those of the LA Times Compare Cards Team and have not been reviewed or approved by any advertiser or entities included within this content. See our editorial policy for more details.
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