Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card vs. Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card [CNET]

Is one of them really worth its significantly higher annual fee?

Among Capital One’s three major travel credit cards, the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card* and the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card* are the two higher-end options, charging a $395 and $95 annual fee, respectively. 

The Venture X is considerably less expensive than other premium travel cards such as the Chase Sapphire Reserve® and The Platinum Card® from American Express. The Venture’s annual fee is in line with other cards in its class, such as the Citi Strata Premier℠ Card.

Which Capital One travel card is best for you will depend on your travel and spending habits. The Venture X is better-suited to frequent travelers who are willing to book trips through Capital One Travel, the company’s online booking platform. Less frequent travelers looking for a card that can also serve to earn rewards on everyday expenses, will be better off paying the Venture card’s lower annual fee.

Fees

Winner: Venture

With a $95 annual fee, the basic Venture card offers a much lower barrier to entry, making it a better choice for less frequent travelers who can’t justify the Venture X’s $395 fee in order to take advantage of its superior reward potential. 

Both cards offer no foreign transaction fees — standard for travel credit cards — as well as no balance transfer fees ($0 at the transfer APR; 4% of the amount of each transferred balance that posts to your account at a promotional APR that Capital One may offer to you). That noted, neither card offers an introductory APR period, so we recommend choosing a different credit card for balance transfers.

If you overall prefer an even more stripped-down version of the Venture cards with no annual fee, check out the Capital One VentureOne Rewards Credit Card*.

Welcome bonus

Winner: Venture

Surprisingly, the Venture offers the better welcome bonus: Enjoy $250 to use on Capital One Travel in your first cardholder year, plus earn 75,000 bonus miles after spending $4,000 on purchases within the first three months of account opening. That’s equal to $1,000 in travel. The Venture X Rewards lets you earn 75,000 bonus miles when you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first three months from account opening, equal to $750 in travel. Both cards are competitive with some of the cards that populate our current list of the best credit card welcome bonuses.

Along with the more rewarding welcome bonus, the Venture’s considerably lower annual fee makes it the better value.

Rewards

Winner: Venture X

There’s no real contest here: The Venture X offers a much more valuable rewards program. Here’s how the two cards’ rewards stack up by purchase type:

Whether the Venture X’s edge justifies the annual fee will be determined by your budget and travel habits.

Comparing rewards

Venture X	Venture
10x miles on car rentals and hotels booked through Capital One Travel	5x miles on car rentals, vacation rentals and hotels booked through Capital One Travel
5x miles on flights and vacation rentals booked through Capital One Travel	N/A
2x miles on all other purchases	2x miles on all other purchases

Travel perks

Winner: Venture X

Both cards feature special offers on Hertz car rentals, and both allow you to skip the rental counter line, but the Venture X gives cardholders President’s Circle Status, which confers complimentary upgrades and a wider range of cars to choose from.

Note that the Venture X’s $300 annual travel credit gets credited to your account after you spend $300 through Capital One Travel; other travel purchases don’t qualify.

Comparing travel perks

Venture X	Venture
Hertz President’s Circle® Status	Hertz Five Star® status
Global Entry or TSA Precheck Credit	Global Entry or TSA Precheck credit
$300 annual travel credit
10,000 mile anniversary bonus (worth $100 toward travel)

Airport lounge access

Winner: Venture X

As Capital One has been slowly expanding airport lounge offerings for cardholders, the Venture X provides unlimited complimentary access to Capital One Lounges plus two complimentary guests per visit. The catch? There’s only three airport lounges currently open — at Dallas-Fort-Worth (DFW), Denver (DEN) and Washington D.C.’s Dulles (IAD). 

As a consolation, Capital One provides cardholders with access to partner lounges. The Venture X gives you access to over 1,300 lounges worldwide, including Priority Pass and Plaza Premium lounges.

The Venture Card offers substantially less: Two complimentary passes to a Capital One Lounge (which ordinarily cost $65 per visit) or any of more than 100 lounges in the Plaza Premium collection. You must use the passes by December 31, 2024 — effective January 1, 2025, Venture Rewards cardholders will no longer receive complimentary lounge access. 

How Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card and Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card compare to other cards

 There are more options to choose from than just the Venture credit cards. Consider the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card if you don’t want to pay the Venture X’s high annual fee, or if you’re looking for a more flexible and valuable rewards program than the Venture.

The Chase Sapphire Preferred matches the annual fee of the Venture Rewards card, and comes equipped with a 25% point-redemption bonus when redeeming for travel through Chase Travel℠. It also features a 1:1 point-transfer rate to Chase’s travel partners.

FAQs

*All information about the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card, Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card, and Capital One VentureOne Rewards Credit Card has been collected independently by CNET and has not been reviewed by the issuer.

The editorial content on this page is based solely on objective, independent assessments by our writers and is not influenced by advertising or partnerships. It has not been provided or commissioned by any third party. However, we may receive compensation when you click on links to products or services offered by our partners.