Capital One Venture X vs. Capital One Venture

But The Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card, which is Capital One’s top travel card, gives it a lot of competition. With good rewards rates and a welcome bonus of 75,000 bonus miles after spending $4,000 in the first three months, The Venture X compares well to other top travel cards.

Which of these two credit cards from Capital One should you apply for? Here are the most important things to think about when deciding which choice is best for you.

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Capital One Venture X vs. Capital One Venture Highlights

Even though The Capital One Venture and Venture X offer valuable travel perks and double miles on all purchases, they are not of the same value. The best card for you will depend on how you spend money and what you want to do with your money. We looked at each card’s benefits, bonuses, fees, and more to help you choose between the two.

Winner of The Welcome Bonus

At the moment, the sign-up bonus for both The Capital One Venture X and The Capital One Venture is the same: 75,000 miles after spending $4,000 in the first three months. That’s $750 in travel purchases and to get the bonus miles, you need to spend about $1,333 per month.

In the case of The Capital One Venture X, The current welcome offer has a lower spending limit than the card’s previous welcome offer, which provided 100,000 bonus miles after spending $10,000 on purchases in the first six months, or about $1,667 per month. The previous Capital One Venture Card offer gave you 60,000 miles if you spent $3,000. The current offer gives you $150 more to spend on travel. This way, you’ll be better off applying for either card.

Capital One Venture X: Rewards Rate Winner

The Capital One Venture X gives you 2X miles on all purchases, plus 10X miles when you book hotels and rental cars through Capital One Travel and 5X miles when you book flights through Capital One Travel. All purchases made with The Capital One Venture Card earn 2X miles, and hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel earn 5X miles.

In this category, The Capital One Venture X is better than The Capital One Venture because it gives more rewards on travel purchases, like flights, than The Capital One Venture.

Capital One Venture X: Annual Fee Winner

The annual fee for The Venture Card is $95, while the annual fee for the Premium Card is $395. This makes it clear that the winner is the Capital One Venture. However, the Venture X gives cardholders a $300 statement credit toward purchases made with Capital One Travel. This could help make up for the annual fee in a big way.

Foreign transaction fee winner: Tie

Neither The Venture nor The Venture X charges foreign transaction fees for purchases made outside of the United States. There are no fees for using a Capital One credit card abroad from any other country.

Which Card Earn The Most?

Which of these two credit cards with travel rewards to choose from may come down to how you spend money. Both cards give you two miles for every dollar you spend, but The Venture X gives you more money for travel.

The annual fee for the Venture Card is only $95, which most people can easily get back. Because of this, the annual fee shouldn’t affect how much money you make. The $395 annual fee for The Venture X is harder to make up for with rewards unless you use the (up to) $300 in statement credits to book travel through Capital One Travel and get the account anniversary bonus of 10,000 miles, which is worth $100.

The Capital One VentureOne Rewards Credit Card is a good choice if you want a travel card with no annual fee. However, the rewards rate is lower, with 5X miles on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel and 1.25X miles on all other purchases.

Capital One Venture X vs. Capital One Venture Spending Example

You spend $1,000 monthly on groceries, gas, restaurants, and your cell phone bill. Since both cards give you two miles for every dollar you spend, the value of your rewards would be the same whether you use the Venture or the Venture X. With both cards, you’d get 2,000 miles each month, worth $20 in travel rewards.

But what if you book a trip for two with your card? Say you pay $800 for a round-trip flight, $1,000 for a six-night stay at a hotel, and $400 to rent a car, for a total of $2,200.

In this case, the Capital One Venture Card will give you 5X miles on purchases of hotels and car rentals and 2X miles on purchases of flights. That means you’ll get 7,000 miles for your hotel and car rental costs and 1,600 miles for your flight costs. In total, you’ll earn 8,600 miles, a $86 travel value.

On the other hand, when you book travel through Capital One Travel with The Venture X, you get great rewards. You’ll get 5,000 miles for your $800 plane tickets and 10,000 miles for your $1,000 hotel stay and $400 car rental (4,000 miles). In this case, you’ll earn a total of 18,000 miles, which is worth $180 worth of travel.

Why Should You Get Venture X From Capital One?

Additional benefits

There are a lot of great travel benefits that come with the Venture X card. For example, when you book travel through Capital One Travel, you can get up to $300 back on your statement each year. It also gives you 10,000 bonus miles every year on the anniversary of your account, which is worth $100 toward travel purchases.

The Venture X Card also tries to improve your time at the airport by giving you free guest passes and unlimited access to the Capital One Lounge. Plus, the card comes with a membership to Priority Pass Select, which gives you access to more than 1,300 airport lounges worldwide. Lastly, you’ll get up to $100 in credits every four years to cover the application fee for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck. With these privileges, the security check can be done a lot faster.

Lastly, The Venture X comes with cellphone protection and Visa Infinite benefits, such as trip cancellation and interruption insurance, travel accident insurance, auto rental collision damage waiver coverage, and more. Our guide to the best credit cards for travel insurance has more information about the insurance that comes with the Venture X Card.

Final Lines

When you compare the Capital One Venture to the Capital One Venture X, you’ll see that both cards give you two miles for every dollar you spend, with no limit. Both cards offer rewards when you buy a hotel room or rent a car through Capital One Travel, but The Venture X gives you 10X miles and the Venture 5X miles. Also, The Venture doesn’t offer 5X miles on flights booked through Capital One Travel, but The Venture X does.

Considering the 75,000-mile introductory offer (after spending $4,000 in the first three months), the up to $300 statement credit for travel purchases, and the 10,000 bonus miles on your account anniversary, the Venture X Card is a better deal. But if you don’t want to pay a higher annual fee, you might be better off with the Venture Card.

Stay tuned for more updates, Venturejolt.