As stated in a previous post, one of the many ways that you can get lots of points and miles is through credit cards. I’ve probably had close to 50 credit cards over the course of my life. As you’ll see on Thursday, I still don’t have a lot of them, because, after the sign-up bonus, I want to make sure that I’m getting value out of them.
I recently had the annual fee of my Capital One Venture X hit for the year, so I thought that I would go over my thought process over whether to keep it or cancel it.
To do this, I’ll first go over the basic ways you earn points with the card and overview of the annual fee. I’ll then go over the benefits and how I value each of them as I calculate whether or not all of the benefits combined are worth the annual fee.
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Link to my referral: Capital One Venture X Application
Capital One Venture X Basics for January 2024
Venture X Welcome Bonus Offer
As of right now, the Capital One Venture X card offers 75,000 bonus points after $4,000 in spend in 3 months. Given that each point is valued at 1 cent in the form of a travel statement credit (although you can get substantially more value by transferring to partners), I value this bonus at a minimum of $750. That’s equal to, at a minimum, a bit over 18% return on your spend over the course of the 3 months.
Earning Points with the Venture X
I really like the earning structure of the Venture X, as you get 2 points per every dollar spent. Spend $100, get 200 points. That’s it. That’s how you earn points. At a minimum, each dollar spent is worth $.02 each (although you can get much more value out of transferring points to transfer partners).
Given that this is a travel card, you do get 10 points per dollar spent on hotels & car rentals when purchasing them through the Capital One travel portal, and you get 5 points per dollar spent on airfare when purchasing them through the Capital One travel portal. However, if something goes wrong with your flights, instead of going directly through the airline, you have to work with Capital One. I’ve had to do this once, and it was actually a lot less painless than having to go through the Chase portal or some other online travel site like Expedia, etc.
Venture X Card Annual Fee
The Capital One Venture X has a $395 annual fee, which is charged on your card anniversary date. I have never cancelled a Capital One card, but, according to Doctor of Credit, they do refund the annual fee if you cancel with 30 days of your annual fee being charged to your card.
Venture X Benefits
The Capital One Venture X card has a ton of benefits that may make it worth it for you personally. Let’s go over them in detail and how much I value them.
$300 Annual Travel Credit
This is quite easy to understand. Every year, you get $300 to use on any flight, hotel, or rental car through the Capital One travel portal.
I value this at $250. Why? Cash is better than a travel credit. You only have a year to use it (use it or lose it). Finally, you have to use it through the Capital One travel portal, so your bound by their prices and hotels with which they work with (which is probably 99% of hotels, but still). I’ll have no problem using it, but it’s still something to keep in mind.
10,000 Anniversary Miles
This one is quite easy to understand as well. Every year, you get 10,000 miles added to your rewards balance after paying your annual fee. This is worth $100 in travel statement credits or can be transferred to a variety of partners.
I value this at $75. Why? Again, cash is better than points. I’ll have no problem using them, but, again, something to keep in mind.
Easy Miles Redemption or Access to Transfer Partners
One way to use these points is by making a travel purchase with your card and then “erasing” the purchase from your card at a value of 1 cent per point. I’ve done this quite often for trains and busses in the UK, as well as train fare on Amtrak for family who was in a pickle with Southwest, as there’s no minimum for what you can erase, which is nice.
You also have the ability to transfer your rewards to airline miles. I’ve transferred these miles to Air Canada Aeroplan, Air France Flying Blue, and British Airways Avios, which are my main ways of getting business class flights across the Atlantic. While I haven’t done this, you can also transfer to Cathay Pacific, Singapore, and Emirates to get better access to their first class award space, as well as to Avianca and Turkish to get better prices on Star Alliance flights or cheap United domestic flights (although, I’ve heard they can be hard to use).
I value these at $50, as the variety of transfer partners helps me use less miles than I would if I were to just pay cash. I also appreciate the flexibility of using them for trains and busses.
$100 Global Entry Reimbursement
This benefit is really a dime a dozen on a lot of cards. You only get this statement credit every few years, so I value it at $20 (which is the $100 fee divided by the 5 year membership). If you have a credits from other cards along with this one, you can use it for friends and family, which is always nice as well, which is always a nice gift.
Access to Capital One Lounges
Capital One has started building out a network of lounges throughout the US. They currently have lounges in Dallas-Forth Worth (DFW), Denver (DEN), and Washington Dulles (IAD) right outside of Washington, D.C. You get full access for the primary cardholder along with 2 guests. Each of your authorized users also gets full access, which is really great as well.
They are quite nice lounges, as you get access to a quality full buffet, a full bar, a coffee bar staffed with a barista, and access to grab-n-go snacks and beverages (I always grab a few waters when I leave). Both DFW and DEN have relaxation rooms and shower suites, and DFW even has a cycle room with 2 Pelotons overlooking the runway. There’s also some kind of Capital One X Jose Andres concept opening at Reagan National, which is the primary airport close to DC proper that’s supposed to open this year…but I know nothing more than that about it, so I won’t put a value on it.
Living in the DC area, at a minimum, I fly out of Dulles 4 times a year, primarily for international travel. While I may get access to some other lounges due to my status or the ticket I hold (such as to the British Airways lounge or the Turkish Airlines lounge), I’ve found that Capital One lounge is even nicer than those lounges. I value each lounge access at $30 due to the top notch food, a relaxing cocktail, to-go waters and a cappuccino, and space to just relax, so I value this at $120.
Priority Pass & Plaza Premium Access
Priority Pass is a collection of over 1,200 independent lounges around the world. I’m going to be honest, I really don’t use these accept to grab a few bottles of water, because they’ve become so overrun due to how many people are able to get premium credit cards. There are a few lounges you can access that are great (the lounge in Quebec City has great views and isn’t overcrowded), but lounges at most major airports that people go to (whether in America or the major European hubs) have lines and are often standing room only.
I’ll use them to grab a few bottles of water or cans of coke quickly, but I generally would rather people watch in the terminal or go look at all of the cool airplanes. I value this benefit at $75, due to the value of the waters and some quick grab-n-go snacks I get over the course of the year.
No Foreign Transaction Fees
This is pretty table stakes, but when charged in the local currency, you don’t have to pay any foreign transaction fees.
Assuming I spend $1000 per year internationally on this card, and transaction fees are usually about 2.5-3% on other cards, I’ll conservatively value this at $25.
Hertz President’s Circle Status
This goes away at the end of 2024, but this has the potential to be a quite valuable benefit if you rent cars often. The main reason to have this are two fold:
- When you reserve a car in advance, you get to go straight to the lot and just pick a car from the lane they tell you to pick one out from. That can save you hours of your life.
- When there are issues or they are low on cars, you get priority access. This saved my butt in Atlanta last year. I wouldn’t have gotten a car without it.
I value this at $25 (but because it’s going away, I won’t calculate this into my cost analysis), because I generally prefer to rent from Avis. I find Avis’s customer service and experience just better overall, but Hertz does get me out of a pickle every once in a while (shocker).
Primary Auto Rental Collision Coverage
If you rent at all, this can be a real game-changer. Basically, instead of using your own insurance or insurance provided by the rental car company (at a cost to you), charge the full amount of your rental to your card, and if there are any issues, the credit card company will take care of it. There are some exclusion (like exotic cars), and it won’t cover if someone else’s car if you hit them, but if you run over a curb, it’ll pay for all those damages to the car that you’re renting.
I value this at $30 per use purely for the peace of mind. Since I rent cars about twice a year, I’ll value this at $60.
Free Additional Cardholders
I don’t have a value to peg to this, but this is just a good to know: you can add anyone as an authorized user, and they get full access to the Capital One lounges, and they can even get a Priority Pass.
I have no use for it, but it’s more of a “good to know.” Note that they can charge anything they want to it, and you’ll be responsible for their charges, but this could make a great “hub” for a family that likes simplicity and wants all of the expenses on what credit card. That way, you can have all of the benefits in case a family needs to travel separately, have multiple kids to bring in to a lounge, etc., but keep it simple at no extra charge.
Keep or Cancel?
Based upon the valuations that I have given to each of the benefits, this is a card that I will definitely KEEP. The annual fee of the Capital One Venture X is $395, while I value the benefits at $675. This is a no-brainer, and one that I plan on keeping in my wallet for many years to come.
| Benefit | Value |
| Annual Travel Credit | $250 |
| Anniversary Miles | $75 |
| Access to Transfer Partners | $50 |
| Global Entry | $20 |
| Capital One Lounges | $120 |
| Priority Pass | $75 |
| No Foreign Transaction Fees | $25 |
| Primary Auto Rental Collision Coverage | $60 |
| Total | $675 |
Link to my referral: Capital One Venture X Application
What do you think about the Capital One Venture X card? Is this something that you think you might get in the future? If you already have it, what’s your favorite feature?
Hiya, can an additional card member get the priority pass and lounge access benefits?
Hi Isabelle!
That’s a great question. Additional card members get their own Priority Pass membership (which is huge), as well as full access to the Capital One Lounges and Plaza Premium lounges using their authorized user card!