Welcome bonus: The Venture X has a sign-up offer of 100,000 bonus miles after spending $10,000 on purchases in the first six months from account opening. For a limited time, cardholders can also get up to $200 in statement credits for vacation rental purchases like Airbnb and Vrbo charged to their account within the first year.
Earning: The Venture X earns 10 miles per dollar on hotels and car rentals booked via Capital One Travel, 5 miles per dollar on flights booked via Capital One Travel and an unlimited 2 miles per dollar on everything else.
Statement credit: Up to $300 back in statement credit annually for bookings made through Capital One Travel.
Anniversary bonus: 10,000 bonus miles every account anniversary, starting on your first anniversary (worth $100 toward travel).
Lounge access: Complimentary access for cardholders, authorized users and up to two guests per visit to Capital One Lounges and to more than 1,300 Priority Pass lounges worldwide.
Authorized users: Up to four authorized users can be added at no charge, and they also get Capital One Lounge access with up to two guests.
Global Entry or TSA PreCheck: Up to $100 in statement credits for either TSA PreCheck or Global Entry.
Annual fee: $395.
If anyone has an existing Venture card with a referral offer, feel free to send it my way.
This is essentially a better-than-free* Visa Infinite card. I predict a higher AF or lower annual statement credit or anniversary bonus soon. Get yours while it lasts!
And are willing to book through the CapOne portal. I try to avoid that because
Esp. with coronavirus where flight schedules keep changing, flights are cancelled, etc. Plus, I typically get better rates (AAA, AARP, etc.) on hotels booking direct and use corporate rate for cars.
The 10%/5% cashback on travel expenses sounds delicious except for the need to use their travel portal which would make me a bit nervous since I’ve never used it and haven’t read anything about it yet. Now the double-dipping $300 statement credit could make up for it but if their travel portal is overpriced vs third parties, the high cashback won’t be worth it.
Vrbo is decent and so is Airbnb if you use them anyway for rentals. Could definitely be worth doing a weekend rental if you’re gonna save $200 on it.
Lounge access for you and 2 guests at 1300 locations sounds like a really nice perk though.
I’ve never used it, but according to the website they offer a price drop protection for airfare and a price match on hotels (24 hours).
As far as problems with booking using 3rd party… I recall having problems with booking through Expedia and Chase. Expedia was a huge pain to deal with and Chase was awesome. I believe excellent customer service is expected if you’re paying $395 AF (never mind that it isn’t the actual cost), so I’d expect CapOne to be just fine.
The portal is run by Hopper, and I suspect you’d get the same prices that are available through any OTA (Expedia, etc.).
Lounge access is the same Priority Pass network you can get through other premium travel cards and my experience has been mixed. These lounges are often packed, open at weird times, or closed when full. On the other hand, it does provide credits at Priority Pass restaurants (according to this article), which are awesome but which Amex cut from their premium cards a few years ago. It may also be great if you frequently use an airport where CapOne is opening their own lounges.
It’s ok, but honestly, not that great compared to other booking options. Going through Rakuten or another cash back site on a third party portal like Expedia, Booking, or Priceline will often yield 5% cash back or more on hotels and car rentals. Add a stackable 10% off coupon and a 2.5% cash back card to process the transaction and you can do a lot better than the Capital One portal.
Priority pass is very hit or miss. I have it on two cards and have used it for a few years now, and I find it useful only in airports with “The Club at XXX” chain locations. And, even then, the food at these locations is never very good, booze is inferior, and they are often crowded. I would rather pay $25 for an Alaska Lounge pass at SEA on the AS credit card and reap the perks there rather than get a free pass at The Club.
I’d go for this card if you want the sign-up bonuses, which are very good… but I don’t see this as a keeper card unless you have an aversion to Chase or absolutely want a card that gives authorized users free access to Priority Pass lounges. Chase offers many of the same fringe benefits (like primary rental car coverage) while also offering a much better ecosystem with UR points.
It’s a poor man’s CSR!
without the barrier of having to earn enough rewards in Chase ecosystem to make the $250 net fee of the CSR worthwhile. It’s a net negative AF if you can use the credits vs the $250 on CSR.
Going over the benefits packages (car rental insurance), there are minor differences / shortfalls vs CSR. Similarly with the other travel and insurance coverages. They have lower limits, more exclusions, and less offered features (like missing evacuation insurance, for example), with some of the other term-defined things also slightly more narrowly defined.
It still seems like the benefits are next-best behind CSR from my quick comparison.
It’s a CSR for people that carry a balance. Which, to some extent, makes it a “poor man’s CSR” I guess.
For those not familiar with Capital One, they will often deny excellent applicants if they don’t regularly carry a balance. This is not the card to apply for if you follow Argyll’s Rule. The good Doctor (of Credit) says the approval rate is hovering around 50% for this one which is a little better than most CapOne cards.
I keep reading this and thinking I must be a unicorn, since I don’t carry a balance (unless it’s at 0% APR, but even then rarely) and I follow the pre-pay rule so my utilization is close to 0%, yet I’ve never been denied a CapOne card. I’ve kept my first card (haven’t used it much latetly, mostly for small balance credits) and slowly churned a few (~4) other cards over the years.
The “do you carry a balance” question on the application is optional. I usually don’t answer optional questions. I make exception to the question about balance transfer / cash advance checks – do not want those (there was a time and a place, now is not it).
The data points on DoC are all over the map on this one. Several 800+ credit score applicants, some well under the Chase 5/24 bar, are getting rejected. Others are getting approved despite low/no utilization. Still others with mid-700 scores and fairly average income are getting approved. Many of the rejections do have lots of recent inquiries and/or new accounts.
I’m going to guess the previous relationship in your case helps your odds with them. I’m content to stick with Chase for now until a devaluation hits or they begin to chip away at benefits.
I’m generally wary of cards that the blogs hype this much. It does sound good, but these guys must also be making a fortune. I don’t know if anyone reads One Mile at a Time here, but that guy has posted such minutiae that it’s getting crazy. Soon he’ll post about the composition of the “activate” sticker on the front of the card. Anything to get a post with a link up, I suppose.
