Capital One Venture vs. Venture X Card- Which One is Right for You?
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The Venture Rewards and Venture X Card by Capital One share more than just the same family name. While they both earn 2x transferrable miles everywhere, they have a vastly different annual fee. The Venture X card has an annual fee of $395 vs the Venture card has an annual fee of $95.
I personally love having the Venture X Card, and find that its annual credits make it free. However, upcoming changes to the lounge access may cause me to look elsewhere for a premium card. The Venture card’s low annual fee is attractive for people who travel less frequently but still want to earn 2x Capital One Miles everywhere.
Similarities Between the Venture Rewards & Venture X
2x Miles Earned Everywhere
Both Venture cards are great for anyone who wants a simple way to quickly earn rewards on everyday spend. By earning 2 miles per dollar everywhere, you don’t have to worry about which category of purchases to use this card for.
It is essential for anyone who uses a credit card to have a card that at least earns 2x on everything to put regular spend on. This is a go-to card for me for shopping, entertainment, and paying bills.
5x Miles Earned through the Capital One Travel Portal
Earn even more with 5x on purchases made through Capital One’s travel portal. There you can book hotels, flights, and car rentals. The Capital One Venture X earns even more when booking hotels or cars through the travel portal, but the same 5x on flights.
Beware that sometimes prices may be higher through the portal or your desired option is not available. I’ve typically found it to be fairly close to competing sites though, so the 5x miles more than makes up for it.
Travel Portal Price Protection and Matching
The Capital One Travel Portal has Hopper price prediction built right in, so it tells you whether this is the best time to book your flight or not. If it recommends you purchase it, and the price drops within the next ten days of purchase, you’ll automatically receive a travel credit of up to $50 for the difference in fare.
They also accept price matches on the same flight, hotel, or car within 24 hours of booking with Capital One. Call their specialists so they can verify the price match claim and you’ll get the difference back in travel credit.
Ways to Use Miles
Erase travel purchases using your miles for 1 cent each. This is a nice way to cover travel expenses like Ubers, airline fees, and rental cars after the fact.
These points can also be transferred to airline and hotel partners for even more value. Great transfer partners like Aeroplan, Virgin Atlantic, and Flying Blue, make business class redemptions within reach.
No Foreign Transaction Fees
With no foreign transaction fees, the Venture cards are great for international travelers. This makes prepaying tours and trips abroad easy, since you won’t have to worry about any additional fees. This also means you can select the foreign currency when paying to get the best exchange rate.
Global Entry or TSA PreCheck Credit
Another great feature for travelers is the up to $120 credit for Global entry or TSA PreCheck. You’ll have this credit available to use once every 4 years.
It’s so convenient to be able to breeze through airport security without taking off your shoes or removing items from your bag. Global entry makes returning home from travel even easier with kiosks making customs an expedited process.
Welcome Offer
Currently the sign up bonus is the same for both cards. It is a whopping 75,000 miles when you spend $4,000 within the first three months. This is at least $750 worth of value, but can be transferred to travel partners for even more value.
VENTURE X WELCOME OFFER: 75,000 Points after $4,000 spend in 3 months
Differences Between the Venture & Venture X
The Venture card does not have the following premium benefits. These benefits are only for Venture X cardholders.
Annual Travel Credits & Miles
The Venture X card comes with an annual $300 travel credit that you can use in the portal. You can easily select to use this credit during booking. While you won’t earn miles on what is credited, it is nice to not have to worry about the credit or rebate coming through after paying.
This travel credit is issued around the time of the account anniversary, and you’ll be able to see when it next replenishes in the portal. This is a use it or lose it credit though, so don’t forget to take advantage of it! I tend to use this travel credit for cheap domestic flights and boutique hotel stays. It makes for a great weekend getaway or reducing costs on longer trips.
Each account anniversary, Venture X cardholders receive 10,000 miles. This can be cashed out for $100 to erase travel purchases or transferred to partners for even more value.
Between the annual travel credit and anniversary miles, $400 in value is provided each year to outweigh the $395 annual fee.
Lounge Access
The Venture X gives you access to Capital One Lounges & Landings and a Priority Pass membership. Free access has included the cardholder and two guests, as well as any authorized users and their two guests. However, starting February 2026, lounge access will only be free for the primary cardholder.
For Capital One Lounges and Landings, guest pricing will be $45, and $25 for guests 17 and under. Children under 2 years old remain free. For Priority Pass lounges, guest pricing will be $35 per person. Authorized users can pay an annual fee of $125 to gain lounge access.
Similar to the American Express Platinum card, if the primary Venture X cardholder spends $75,000 in a calendar year then they can bring up to two complimentary guests into lounges that calendar year and the following.
Lounge access is one my favorite perks on the Venture X card, and I detail everything you need to know about Capital One Venture X lounge access in another article.
10x Miles on Hotels & Cars Booked on the Portal
With the Venture X card, you’ll earn 10x miles on stays and rental cars booked though the portal. This is one of the best multipliers of any credit card travel portal. On the Venture card, all portal earnings are 5x.
Premium Stays
The Venture X card also gives you access to Premium Stays on the portal that are part of their Premier and Lifestyle collections. This is similar to Amex’s Fine Hotels & Resorts and Chase’s The Edit. This collection of hotels offers an experience credit and benefits like room upgrades, free breakfast, and early or late checkout.
The Venture Card only gives you the benefits at the hotels that are part of the Lifestyle collection, which is the lower tier that caps the experience credit at $50.
Hertz Status
Venture X cardholders receive complimentary Hertz President’s Circle Status. This means you can skip the line at the rental counter and select any car from the President’s Circle area. While I haven’t used this benefit due to Hertz’s clunky website not linking well to reservations and generally much higher prices, this may be useful at some time!
The Venture card only gives you Five Star status at Hertz, but still can save you time and let you choose from a wider selection of cars.
Final Thoughts: Venture vs. Venture X
The Venture X is a great card for the solo or business traveler that only needs lounge access for themselves. The annual travel credit and anniversary miles make up for the annual fee, making it an easy card to keep and continue to earn a great miles at a great rate.
The Venture card is a starter card that earns more than many other entry level travel rewards credit cards, with 2x on everything and good earnings within the portal. The sign up bonus and credit for Global Entry make the annual fee seem very reasonable for continued rewards.
