Capital One Venture X review: A premium travel credit card for everyone

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Travel rewards enthusiasts are raving about the new premium credit card Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card for its benefits, including up to $300 in travel credits, 10,000 bonus miles on your account anniversary, access to airport lounges, TSA PreCheck/Global Entry credits and more.

The card comes with a $395 annual fee. However, it can be quickly offset by using the benefits associated with the car. But is the card as great as it first sounds?

Below, CNBC Select breaks down the rewards, benefits and fees associated with the Capital One Venture X to help you decide if it's the right card for your needs.

• Welcome bonus
• Benefits and perks
• How to earn and redeem Capital One miles
• Rates and fees
• Card comparison
• Who the Capital One Venture X card is best for
• Bottom line

The Capital One Venture X card is offering a large welcome bonus to entice new cardholders to sign up. Right now, you can earn 75,000 bonus miles after spending $4,000 on purchases within the first three months of account opening.

The benefits of the Capital One Venture X card mainly cater to travelers, so if you're at least a semi-frequent traveler and want additional perks for your adventures, this may be a great card for you.

The Capital One Venture X offers the following benefits:

• Up to $300 back in statement credits each year for bookings made through Capital One Travel
• A 10,000-mile bonus on each account anniversary, starting on your first card anniversary
• Up to $120 statement credit for either Global Entry or TSA PreCheck®
• Airport lounge access: You will have access to over 1,300 Priority Pass lounges, as well as Capital One Lounges. Venture X cardholders and authorized users will get unlimited access to Capital One and Priority Pass lounges, along with free entry for up to two guests per visit. It's $45 per visit for additional guests.
• Access to the Capital One Travel portal, which includes benefits such as opt-in travel insurance, price drop protection and price match guarantee
• Access to in-person events through the Capital One Experiences program, such as dining and sports events
• Primary cardholders can earn up to 100,000 miles per year for referring friends to the Venture X card (up to four referrals per year; 25,000 miles awarded per referral)
• Complimentary Hertz President Circle* status for primary cardholders, authorized users and account managers. Benefits include: skip the counter and e-return, the widest vehicle selection, guaranteed upgrades, free additional driver, and more.
• Complimentary cell phone insurance, up to $800 in coverage**
• No additional annual fee to add authorized users

*Upon enrollment, accessible through the Capital One website or mobile app, eligible cardholders will remain at upgraded status level through December 31, 2024. Please note, enrolling through the normal Hertz Gold Plus Rewards enrollment process (e.g. at Hertz.com) will not automatically detect a cardholder as being eligible for the program and cardholders will not be automatically upgraded to the applicable status tier. Additional terms apply.

**Terms, conditions and exclusions apply.  Refer to your Guide to Benefits for more details.

In the first year, you'll receive $300 in travel credits and 75,000 miles worth at least $750 in travel from the welcome bonus, which makes this card easier to justify.

CNBC Select calculated how many points the average American can earn in a year when using their Capital One Venture X card. We worked with the location intelligence firm Esri, who provided us with a sample annual spending budget of $22,126.

The budget includes six main categories: groceries ($5,174), gas ($2,218), dining out ($3,675), travel ($2,244), utilities ($4,862) and general purchases ($3,953). Here's what the average consumer would earn using this card:

• Groceries: 10,348 Capital One miles
• Gas: 4,436 Capital One miles
• Dining out: 7,350 Capital One miles
• Travel: 11,220 Capital One miles (Assuming all travel earns 5X miles for every dollar spent on flights through Capital One Travel)
• Utilities: 9,724 Capital One miles
• General purchases: 7,906 Capital One miles

With all spending considered, this would give a cardholder 50,984 Capital One miles in the first year, and if you include the 75,000 miles welcome bonus, 125,984 miles. Over a five year period, cardholders could earn 229,920 Capital One miles. Cardholders could earn more (or less) miles depending on their annual spending habits.

But arguably the best part of the card is earning Capital One miles that can be redeemed in a number of ways.

Earning Capital One miles

Earning Capital One miles is simple as Capital One offers several travel credit cards, including the Capital One Venture X card, with excellent spending categories.

With the Venture X card, you will earn:

• 2X miles for every dollar spent on all eligible purchases
• When booking travel through the Capital One Travel portal, you will earn 5X miles for every dollar spent on flights and 10X miles for every dollar spent on hotels and rental cars

This means that all purchases outside of Capital One Travel bookings will earn you a minimum of 2% back in value, which is a respectable return. And if you prefer to book through Capital One Travel you'll be rewarded handsomely.

If you enjoy earning Capital One miles, but don't want to pay a large annual fee upfront, be sure to also consider the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card.

Redeeming Capital One miles

Capital One miles can be redeemed in several ways, including:

• Booking travel directly through Capital One Travel
• Transferring them to the 15+ different airline and hotel partners (like Air France-KLM Flying Blue and Air Canada Aeroplan)
• Use them for recent travel purchases on your credit card statement
• Redeem them for gift cards
• Redeem for cash back (note: this is the least valuable option. If you want to earn cash back, consider a cash-back credit card)

The most valuable way to redeem Capital One miles is to transfer them to the various travel partners and book business or first-class award flights. The 15+ partners include: Aeromexico, Air Canada, Air France-KLM, ALL Accor Live Limitless, Avianca, British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Choice Privileges, Emirates, Etihad, EVA Air, Finnair, Qantas, Singapore Airlines, TAP Air Portugal, Turkish Airlines and Wyndham Hotels.

While the majority of these are international programs, they're still great to book U.S. based flights. For example, you can send your miles to Turkish Airlines and book one-way United Airlines flights to Hawaii for 7,500 miles in economy and 12,500 miles in first class.

By transferring them, you're able to have more control over the value of your miles. This is different than redeeming them through Capital One Travel or erasing travel purchases, which gives Capital One miles a fixed value of one cent per point.

The card has a $395 annual fee. It does not have any foreign transaction fees. The balance transfer fee is $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) and late payment fees can be up to $40.

If you plan on carrying a balance month to month, this card may not be the best. It has a high interest rate range of 19.99% - 29.74% variable APR. If you want to avoid accruing interest, consider a credit card with a 0% introductory APR offer like the Wells Fargo Reflect® Card (0% intro APR for 21 months on purchases and qualifying balance transfers from account opening; 17.74%, 24.24%, or 29.49% variable APR thereafter, see rates and fees).

The Capital One Venture X can provide great value for consumers who enjoy traveling and want perks to make their experience even better. But, is the Venture X the best travel-rewards credit card for you?

CNBC Select analyzed two other premium travel credit cards to see how they match up with one another.

Capital One Venture X vs. Chase Sapphire Reserve®

The Chase Sapphire Reserve is a great premium travel credit card, but how does it match up to the Venture X?

It has a $550 annual fee, but it comes with a long list of benefits, including being able to earn Chase Ultimate Rewards points. As you spend on the card, you will earn:

• 5X points per dollar spent on flights when you purchase travel through Chase Travel℠ after the $300 travel credit is spent on travel purchases annually.
• 10X points per dollar spent on hotels and car rentals when you purchase travel through Chase Travel℠ after the $300 travel credit is spent on travel purchases annually.
• 3X points per dollar spent on other travel worldwide after the $300 travel credit is spent on travel purchases annually.
• 10X points per dollar spent on Chase Dining purchases with Ultimate Rewards^®.
• 3X points per dollar spent on other dining at restaurants, including eligible delivery services, takeout and dining out.
• 1X point per dollar spent on all other purchases.

The benefits of the card are very similar to the Capital One Venture X, as both include travel insurance, a $300 travel credit, airport lounge access through Priority Pass, Global Entry/TSA PreCheck credit and rental car insurance.

The Capital One Venture X's welcome offer of 75,000 miles is larger than the 60,000 points offered by the Sapphire Reserve. While Chase points are worth 1.5 cents each when redeemed through Chase Travel℠ with the Sapphire Reserve, the flexibility of Capital One miles to cover recent travel purchases. However, Capital One miles are worth only 1 cent each when redeemed this way.

Capital One has more transfer partners than Chase, but Chase's partners include more hotel and domestic airline options. You'll want to evaluate how you'll redeem points to decide which program is more useful to you.

Overall, the Sapphire Reserve offers a few more benefits, like Lyft Pink and Peloton and DoorDash statement credits. But these are more so considered "lifestyle benefits". If you're specifically focused on travel-related benefits, the Capital One Venture X travel perk's more easily offset the annual fee compared the Sapphire Reserve.

Capital One Venture X vs. The Platinum Card® from American Express

The The Platinum Card® from American Express is another premium travel card available to consumers, but how does it stack up against the Venture X?

The card has a $695 annual fee (see rates and fees), which is one of the highest annual fees around.

To get started with the card, you can earn 80,000 Membership Rewards points after you spend $8,000 on purchases in the first six months.

As you spend on the card, you will earn:

• 5X Membership Rewards® points per dollar spent with airlines directly or with Amex Travel, up to $500,000 per calendar year
• 5X points per dollar spent on prepaid hotels with AmexTravel.com
• 1X point per dollar spent on all other purchases

The card also comes with a long list of lifestyle and travel benefits, including:

• $200 Uber Cash: Platinum Card® Members can get out and about and explore their local area with $15 in Uber Cash for US rides each month, plus a bonus $20 in December. That can be up to $200 in annual Uber savings. Simply download the Uber app and add your Platinum Card® to your Uber account to get started. Available to Basic Card Member only. Effective 11/8/2024, an Amex Card must be selected as the payment method for your Uber or Uber Eats transaction to redeem the Amex Uber Cash benefit.
• Up to $200 airline fee credit (Enrollment required)
• Up to $100 Saks in statement credits annually (Enrollment required)
• Receive either a $120 statement credit every 4 years for a Global Entry application fee or a statement credit up to $85 every 4.5 years for a TSA PreCheck® (through a TSA official enrollment provider) application fee, when charged to your Platinum Card®. Card Members approved for Global Entry will also receive access to TSA PreCheck at no additional cost.
• $240 annual digital entertainment credit. (Enrollment required)
• Up to $300 per calendar year equinox credit. (Enrollment required) Visit https://platinum.equinox.com/ to enroll. 
• $155 Walmart+ credit. Plus ups not eligible. Subject to auto-renewal. Up to $12.95 plus applicable taxes on one membership fee.
• $199 CLEAR® Plus Credit: CLEAR® Plus helps to get you to your gate faster at 50+ airports nationwide and get up to $199 back per calendar year on your Membership (subject to auto-renewal) when you use your Card. CLEARLanes are available at 100+ airports, stadiums, and entertainment venues.
• Access to the American Express Global Lounge Collection, including Centurion lounges and Delta SkyClubs when flying Delta on the same day. (Enrollment required)
• Complimentary gold status at Marriott Bonvoy and Hilton Honors (Enrollment required)
• Comprehensive travel insurance
• Rental car loyalty program benefits
• Access to American Express concierge service

The Amex Platinum has now rebranded itself as a lifestyle card, rather than purely a travel card. Compared to the Venture X, one is not necessarily better than the other, as both cards target slightly different audiences.

If your goal is to grab a travel credit card purely for travel, the Capital One Venture X is likely the better choice. However, the Platinum has more travel perks than the Venture X, including better airport lounge access and complimentary hotel elite status with Hilton and Marriott. Most will have an easier time recouping the cost of the annual fee with the Venture X's simple travel credit and anniversary miles, but the Amex Platinum does offer a whopping $1,500 in credits a year.

The Capital One Venture X is a great addition to the credit card portfolio of someone who enjoys traveling and is not brand loyal. The points you earn can be used to cover any travel purchase, so this card is really best for someone who isn't focused on earning status with either a hotel or airline.

This card is a solid option for someone who values simplicity when it comes to earning back the value of their annual fee. By simply using the travel credit, earning the 10,000 miles anniversary bonus, and earning 2X points on every dollar spent on eligible purchases — cardholders will quickly make up for the cost of the $395 annual fee.

Additionally, if you have upcoming travel that you've not planned yet, this card would be a great addition for multiple reasons. You'd be able to take advantage of the credits for travel immediately after receiving the card, and the associated spending would get you even closer to meeting the minimum spend threshold to reach the 75,000-point welcome bonus.

Also, if you've trusted family members or friends, this card is great as there are no additional fees for authorized users. They will have equal access to airport lounges and help you earn even more Capital One miles along the way.

Lastly, if you have an iPhone or another smartphone that is worth a decent chunk of change, this card is great as it comes with cell phone insurance. All you need to do is pay your monthly bill with the card, and it is automatically covered in case of damage or theft.

The Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card is arguably one of the best premium credit cards on the market right now. It has a modest annual fee (for a premium card) and delivers value quickly in the form of travel credits. And the welcome offer makes this card incredibly valuable in its first year.

However, before applying for this card, be sure that you have an excellent credit score as well as the ability to earn the welcome offer without overspending. But if you're an avid traveler and are able to meet the criteria for the card, this one is worth strongly considering.

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For rates and fees of The Platinum Card® from American Express, click here.

For Capital One products listed on this page, some of the above benefits are provided by Visa® or Mastercard® and may vary by product. See the respective Guide to Benefits for details, as terms and exclusions apply.

Eligibility and Benefit level varies by Card. Terms, Conditions and Limitations Apply. Please visit americanexpress.com/benefitsguide for more details. Underwritten by New Hampshire Insurance Company, an AIG Company.