Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card Review

You'll earn lots of miles on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel, and a generous welcome bonus.

With flexible miles and tons of travel perks, the Capital One Venture X Rewards is a compelling card if you're a frequent traveler.

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Overview of the Capital One Venture X Rewards

The Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card offers all the perks you would expect from a premium travel card: global lounge access, status with Hertz, hundreds of dollars in travel credits, and application credit for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck®.

You can also enjoy complimentary luxury memberships and massive rewards for spending on hotels and rental cars.

Capital One miles are also quite flexible — you can use them to cover travel purchases, shop online, and pay through PayPal or Amazon. Or transfer them to travel partners for even better redemptions.

The annual fee is steep, but lower than many comparable premium travel cards. And you get rewards that make up for it, including a $300 general travel credit when booking through Capital One Travel, a credit up to $120 toward TSA PreCheck® or Global Entry, 10,000 bonus miles every anniversary, and lounge access all over the world.

Capital One has expanded its partnership to 17 travel partners, allowing you to transfer your Capital One miles to them at a 1:1 ratio (or better). Partners include popular airlines and hotels, such as Virgin Red, Flying Blue, British Airways, and Choice Privileges®.

To stretch your miles even further, Capital One will occasionally have transfer partner bonuses, giving you even more points when transferring to a partner airline or hotel loyalty program.

Overall, the Capital One Venture X Rewards card is a premium card worth holding if you travel often.

LEARN MORE: Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card

Redeeming Rewards

Capital One Rewards can be used for travel, cashback, gift cards, and even at checkout with some apps.

Capital One Travel portal

You can book travel directly through the Capital One Travel portal, including flights, hotels, and car rentals. You'll redeem your miles at $0.01 per mile through the travel portal.

You can also book Premier Collection hotels for a $100 experience credit plus get daily breakfast for two.

Transfer partners

As of publishing, Capital One has 17 travel partners that you can transfer miles to:

• ALL – Accor Live Limitless
• Aeromexico Club Premier
• Air Canada Aeroplan
• Air France and KLM Flying Blue
• Avianca LifeMiles
• British Airways Avios
• Cathay Pacific Asia Miles
• Choice Privileges®
• Emirates Skywards
• Etihad Guest
• EVA Air Infinity MileageLands
• Finnair Plus
• Qantas Frequent Flyer
• Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer
• TAP Miles&Go
• Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles
• Virgin Red

Transferring miles to most partners offers a 1:1 transfer ratio, except EVA (2:1.5 ratio) and ALL (2:1 ratio). 

Before transferring your miles, research your booking and know exactly how many you need. Once the miles leave your Capital One Rewards account, they cannot be transferred back.

Other redemptions (gift cards, cashback, points at checkout) 

You can redeem your Capital One Venture X miles for cashback, gift cards, and Amazon and PayPal points at checkout. Redemption values vary by strategy:

• Cashback = $0.005 per mile
• Gift cards = $0.008 per mile
• Amazon and PayPal points at checkout = $0.008 per mile

Cashback comes as a credit on your card or mailed as a check. Gift cards will occasionally go on “sale,” meaning you use fewer miles to buy them.

Additional Benefits

The Capital One Venture X Rewards also comes with the following perks:

• Travel protection: Travel accident insurance, trip delay insurance, lost baggage coverage, primary auto rental collision insurance, and more
• Lounge access: Unlimited access to Capital One, Plaza Premium, and Priority Pass™ lounges (plus two guests)
• Hertz President’s Circle status: Complimentary Hertz President’s Circle status, which offers free car upgrades and “choose your own vehicle” at select airports
• Discounted memberships: Credits toward PRIOR, Cultivist, and Gravity Haus memberships

Who Should Get the Capital One Venture X Rewards?

The Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card is ideal if you're a frequent traveler who can take advantage of the travel perks, such as airport lounge access, Hertz status, hotel benefits, upgrades, and travel credits.

Plus, if you spend a lot on travel, the miles on hotels and auto rentals through Capital One Travel can add up quickly.

Who Shouldn’t Get the Capital One Venture X Rewards?

If you don’t travel much, you might not get the full value of the Capital One Venture X card. The biggest perks of the card are access to airport lounges and the $300 travel credit.

In this case, you would be better off with the lower fee Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card instead.

Alternatives to the Capital One Venture X Rewards

For casual travelers: Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card

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While the Venture X card offers a lot more perks, if you’re a casual traveler, you might enjoy the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card. Not only does it come with a much lower annual fee, but it also shares many benefits such as the ability to earn miles on everything and access to Capital One Travel.

LEARN MORE: Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card

For better cashback value: Chase Sapphire Reserve®

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Both Chase and Capital One offer flexible rewards programs that let you use your points how you want. While Capital One offers the best redemptions on travel, Chase has better value for cashback rewards.

The Chase Sapphire Reserve® is Chase’s flagship credit card, with lounge access, travel credits, and tons of other included perks — giving the Capital One Venture X a run for its money.

LEARN MORE: Chase Sapphire Reserve®

For more travel perks: The Platinum Card® from American Express

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Both Capital One and American Express let you redeem rewards points for travel, cashback, or gift cards, or you can transfer them to travel partners. And both The Platinum Card® from American Express and Venture X have premium benefits, such as lounge access, travel credits, elite status, and more.

But The Platinum Card comes with way more travel benefits, including hotel status, a CLEAR® Plus credit, and over $1,000 in travel-related credits.

LEARN MORE: The Platinum Card® from American Express

FAQs

What are Capital One Rewards points worth?

Capital One Venture X Rewards points are worth $0.01 per point when redeemed for travel. In contrast, they are valued at about $0.008 per point when used for Amazon and PayPal purchases or gift cards. The value drops to $0.005 per point when used for general cashback.

Using transfer partners can potentially increase the value to up to $0.02 per point or more, depending on the chosen redemptions.

How much are 100,000 Capital One miles worth?

Capital One miles are valued at $0.01 per point when redeeming for travel through Capital One Travel. However, their worth diminishes when utilized for cashback, gift cards, or Amazon and PayPal purchases.

If you are using the entire 100,000 for travel, that is equal to $1,000 worth of travel. But it could be worth less, depending on how you use them.

The Bottom Line

The Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card is a good credit card if you travel a lot and can take advantage of its perks, like airport lounge access, hotel benefits, and upgrades, to offset the high annual fee.

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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.

Disclosure: Opinions expressed here are the author's alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, hotel, airline, or other entity. This content has not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of the entities included within the post.