[0:00] So, the Capital 1 Venture X is commonly
[0:02] thought of as the best premium travel
[0:03] credit card on the market, and that's
[0:04] mostly because it's known for having
[0:06] valuable features, a lower annual fee
[0:08] compared to its competition, plus only a
[0:10] couple of credits to manage that are
[0:11] super easy to use and can fully offset
[0:13] that annual fee. However, after Capital
[0:15] 1 recently implemented a massive
[0:17] devaluation to the airport lounge access
[0:18] and the Venture X, we started to see a
[0:20] lot of people now question whether this
[0:22] $395 per year credit card is still worth
[0:24] it in 2026. So, in this video, I want to
[0:27] give you guys my updated review on the
[0:29] Capital 1 Venture X, including two
[0:31] controversial opinions I have about it
[0:32] that could impact the way people view
[0:34] this card within the overall credit card
[0:35] landscape moving forward. But, as
[0:37] always, let's go ahead and just jump
[0:38] right into things by first taking a look
[0:40] at the value of the welcome offer on the
[0:41] Venture X before we get into everything
[0:43] else I want to talk about here. So, the
[0:44] offer that Capital 1's been running for
[0:46] this card over the years has typically
[0:48] been for 75,000 mi, and that's after
[0:50] spending $4,000 within the first 3
[0:52] months from account opening. Now, those
[0:53] 75,000 miles are going to have a minimum
[0:55] value of 1 cent per mile each when
[0:57] redeemed for certain stuff like travel
[0:59] book through Capital 1 or a few other
[1:00] things. So, that would make a welcome
[1:02] offer like this worth at least 750
[1:04] bucks. But, if you're like me and you
[1:05] know how to find award availability with
[1:07] a hotel and airline partners on this
[1:09] card, then transferring those miles can
[1:10] get you upwards of 2 cents per mile or
[1:12] higher for closer to around $1,500 in
[1:14] value. Now, in late 2025, we actually
[1:16] saw Capital 1 launch a limited time
[1:18] 100,000 point offer on the Venture X.
[1:20] and we hadn't seen an offer for that
[1:22] many points since the card launched over
[1:23] four years earlier in 2021. But because
[1:26] elevated offers like this are just so
[1:27] rare on the Venture X, I don't think you
[1:29] can reliably predict that another 100K
[1:31] offer is going to come around again soon
[1:32] if you're still waiting to apply. So
[1:34] honestly, even if you end up taking
[1:35] advantage of something like that
[1:36] standard 75K offer, that's still a
[1:38] pretty good deal because the value from
[1:40] that bonus in year 1 is going to easily
[1:41] help to offset the 395 annual fee. And
[1:44] if you ever want to learn more about
[1:45] this card to see what offers are
[1:46] currently available for it, then I'll go
[1:48] ahead and leave a link down below where
[1:49] you can see all that stuff. Now, on top
[1:51] of the welcome bonus, the other benefit
[1:52] you're going to start getting in your
[1:53] first year with the Venture X comes in
[1:55] the form of a $300 annual travel credit
[1:57] for bookings made through Capital 1
[1:59] Travel. So, between earning 75,000 miles
[2:01] that are worth at least 750 bucks and
[2:03] that $300 travel credit, that's $1,50 of
[2:06] year 1 value. Subtracting that from the
[2:08] 3.95 annual fee gets you an effective
[2:11] annual fee or a net out-of- pocket cost
[2:12] in year 1 of minus $655. So, just like
[2:16] pretty much any other premium credit
[2:17] card out there, it can make sense to try
[2:19] out a card like this for at least one
[2:20] year simply because of the way the
[2:22] initial numbers work. Now, a couple of
[2:23] things to be aware of with that $300
[2:25] travel credit. So, first, that credit is
[2:27] going to be applied to travel purchases
[2:28] at checkout through Capital 1's portal,
[2:30] like you can see here. So, not as a
[2:32] statement credit after your purchase.
[2:33] And second, according to the terms, it
[2:35] can be used in whole for a single
[2:37] purchase or in part over multiple
[2:38] purchases. Just keep in mind though that
[2:40] this is not going to be a calendar year
[2:42] type of credit that's active from
[2:43] January through December because the
[2:44] timeline is based on your card member
[2:46] year. So, don't forget to use the full
[2:48] $300 of this travel credit before your
[2:50] next account open date anniversary
[2:51] because that's when this credit resets.
[2:53] Also, the one thing that people always
[2:55] bring up about this credit is the fact
[2:56] that it can't be used when booking
[2:57] travel directly on something like a
[2:59] hotel or airlines website because again,
[3:01] it has to be used when booking through
[3:02] Capital 1. And normally, I'm not a fan
[3:04] of being forced to book through travel
[3:06] portals. But Capital 1's portal is a bit
[3:08] of an exception in my opinion. That's
[3:09] because Capital 1 Travel offers features
[3:11] that many other credit card issuer
[3:13] portals just don't give you, like price
[3:14] drop protection. So, if you book a
[3:16] flight that Capital 1 recommends and
[3:17] then the price drops within 10 days,
[3:19] you're going to be able to get up to $50
[3:21] in travel credits for that difference.
[3:22] Capital 1 also offers price matching
[3:24] where if you find a better price outside
[3:26] of Capital 1 Travel and then you let
[3:27] them know within 24 hours of booking an
[3:29] eligible flight, hotel, or rental car,
[3:31] then they're going to give you a travel
[3:32] credit for the difference on that as
[3:34] well. And I've actually used both of
[3:35] these features in the past with the
[3:36] Venture X that my wife has in our
[3:38] two-player credit card setup. What I
[3:39] honestly recommend here is to shop
[3:41] around on multiple websites for the best
[3:42] price anytime you're trying to book
[3:44] something like a flight or hotel stay.
[3:46] And then if you find something that's
[3:47] cheaper elsewhere, but you want to book
[3:48] it through Capital 1, then just book it
[3:50] through Capital 1, but document that
[3:51] other cheaper price you found, then go
[3:53] ahead and give Capital 1 a call
[3:54] immediately. So that way they can take a
[3:56] look at this and give you that travel
[3:57] credit for the difference if you're
[3:58] eligible. Now, Capital 1's travel portal
[4:00] is by no means perfect. So, for example,
[4:02] if you want to book a hotel through
[4:03] their portal, then there's going to be a
[4:04] good chance that status benefits won't
[4:06] apply at the moment if you have that
[4:07] with a certain hotel program because
[4:09] this is technically a third-party
[4:10] booking. But in many situations, Capital
[4:12] 1 Travel definitely does have enough
[4:14] features to be worth using, including
[4:16] some nice elevated multipliers that
[4:17] could allow you to earn a lot of Capital
[4:19] 1 miles. We'll get to those multipliers
[4:21] next here in just a minute. But one
[4:22] other benefit you're going to get on the
[4:23] Venture X that can also help to easily
[4:25] offset the annual fee is going to be a
[4:27] 10,000 mi anniversary bonus. Now, these
[4:29] 10,000 mi also have a value of at least
[4:31] 1 cent per mile for $100 towards travel
[4:34] or again potentially more if you know
[4:35] how to transfer them. And the important
[4:36] thing to understand with this benefit is
[4:38] that you're going to get these 10,000 mi
[4:40] every year. But that's starting on your
[4:41] first account anniversary. That means
[4:43] we're not going to factor in the value
[4:44] from this anniversary bonus in year 1.
[4:46] But we will factor it in once we hit
[4:47] year 2 with Venture X. So in year 2 and
[4:49] beyond, we're getting $400 of annual
[4:51] value from the combination of the $300
[4:53] travel credit with the 10,000 mi
[4:55] anniversary bonus that's worth at least
[4:56] 100 bucks. So subtracting that from the
[4:58] 395 annual fee gets us an effective
[5:00] annual fee of minus $5. Now, this is
[5:03] where you hear most people say the
[5:04] cliche thing that Capital 1 is basically
[5:06] paying you $5 every year that you have
[5:08] the Venture X. That's one way to look at
[5:10] things, but the way that I look at it is
[5:11] that these two main credits here on this
[5:13] card are going to fully offset the
[5:14] annual fee pretty easily for most
[5:16] people. So, to me, that means all the
[5:17] other features on the Venture X are
[5:19] essentially pure value profit. There's
[5:21] no long list of credits that I've got to
[5:23] keep track of that would otherwise make
[5:24] the Venture X feel like a coupon book,
[5:26] at least for now. And that's what's been
[5:27] helping this card look a lot more
[5:29] favorable in recent years compared to
[5:30] other top tier travel cards from issuers
[5:32] like Chase or American Express because
[5:34] they did go down that dark side path of
[5:36] adding countless credits that have to be
[5:38] used in very specific ways. All right,
[5:40] so now that the annual fee is easily
[5:41] offset for most of you watching this,
[5:43] that's going to bring me to the next
[5:44] major thing that's going to put value
[5:45] back in your pocket every time this
[5:46] card's used, and that would be the
[5:48] spending multipliers. So, with the
[5:49] Capital 1 Venture X, you're going to be
[5:51] able to earn 10x miles on hotels and
[5:53] rental cars booked through Capital 1
[5:55] Travel, 5x miles on flights and vacation
[5:57] rentals booked through Capital 1 Travel,
[5:59] and 2x miles on all other purchases.
[6:01] Now, obviously, those travel multipliers
[6:03] sound really good on the surface, but
[6:04] again, there is that limitation of only
[6:06] getting 10x or 5x miles on travel booked
[6:08] through Capital 1 instead of getting
[6:10] that on stuff booked directly on other
[6:11] websites. However, for a lot of card
[6:13] holders, those elevated earning rates
[6:15] combined with the stuff we talked about
[6:16] before, like price drop protection and
[6:18] price matching from Capital 1 Travel.
[6:20] All of those benefits together can be
[6:21] enough in many situations to make
[6:23] booking in this portal pretty appealing.
[6:24] It all depends on your own personal
[6:26] situation, though. So, as always, your
[6:28] mileage may vary with just how valuable
[6:30] or how limiting it can feel when being
[6:31] forced to use Capital 1 Travel. But even
[6:33] if you set aside those travel
[6:34] multipliers, the reality is that many
[6:36] people end up getting the Venture X
[6:38] simply because it's one of the best
[6:39] catch-all credit cards in the game.
[6:41] Earning 2x miles per dollar on any
[6:42] miscellaneous spend is really valuable
[6:44] to have in your credit card strategy.
[6:46] And to make things even better, the
[6:47] Venture X is a Visa Infinite card that's
[6:49] going to be widely accepted around the
[6:50] world, and it's also got no foreign
[6:52] transaction fees, which also makes it a
[6:54] good option to use outside the US. Now,
[6:56] next here I want to talk about some of
[6:57] the additional benefits that come with
[6:58] this credit card, including airport
[7:00] lounge access, which again was just
[7:02] recently devalued. But before we get to
[7:03] that, let's go ahead and touch on some
[7:05] other stuff first. So, with the Venture
[7:06] X, you can also receive up to a $120
[7:09] credit to cover the cost of either
[7:10] Global Entry or TSA PreCheck. And a lot
[7:12] of other top tier travel cards already
[7:14] have credits like this as well. But if
[7:16] this is your first or only major travel
[7:17] card, then this is still a very useful
[7:19] credit to take advantage of. Now, one of
[7:21] the less talked about benefits on the
[7:22] Venture X is that this card allows you
[7:24] to book hotels and other properties that
[7:25] are part of two programs that Capital 1
[7:27] has. And those are the Premier
[7:29] Collection and the Lifestyle Collection.
[7:30] The Premier Collection is Capital 1's
[7:32] version of a luxury hotel program,
[7:34] similar to fine hotels and resorts
[7:35] through AMX or the edit through Chase.
[7:37] And then the lifestyle collection from
[7:38] Capital 1 is like the younger sibling to
[7:40] the Premier Collection with some nice
[7:42] properties that are just a step down
[7:43] from high-end luxury. Now, for Ventrax
[7:45] card holders, booking through Capital 1
[7:47] with the Premier Collection is going to
[7:48] get you benefits like 10x miles earned
[7:50] on your stay, a $100 experience credit
[7:52] that varies by property, as well as a
[7:54] room upgrade when available. Plus, you
[7:56] can also get early check-in and late
[7:57] checkout when available, free daily
[7:59] breakfast for two people, and
[8:00] complimentary Wi-Fi. The lifestyle
[8:02] collection is similar, but does not
[8:03] typically come with free breakfast, and
[8:05] you're only getting a $50 experience
[8:06] credit. But both of these collections
[8:08] could give you some nice additional
[8:09] value on some handpicked properties from
[8:11] Capital 1. The Venture X offers some
[8:13] nice car rental benefits as well,
[8:14] including Hertz President Circle Status,
[8:16] which I personally use all the time
[8:18] because I can easily get upgrades as
[8:20] well as super fast pickup and drop off
[8:21] service. And then you also get primary
[8:23] auto rental coverage here. Primary
[8:24] coverage is often better than secondary
[8:26] coverage because it means that if there
[8:27] was ever a claim, then you would go
[8:29] through the insurance provided by the
[8:30] Venture X first instead of your own
[8:32] insurance. And reading the terms here,
[8:33] this primary coverage is going to cover
[8:35] you for theft, damage, and valid loss of
[8:37] use charges as long as your card is used
[8:39] to initiate and complete your entire car
[8:41] rental. and as long as you decline the
[8:42] rental company's collision damage
[8:44] waiver. As always though, make sure that
[8:45] you do your own research and understand
[8:47] your own insurance needs for what is and
[8:48] is not covered here. But honestly, I
[8:50] only ever use credit cards that have
[8:52] primary coverage whenever I'm renting
[8:53] cars because it does save me money
[8:55] versus what the rental car companies
[8:56] would charge me for similar coverage.
[8:58] Now, the Capital 1 Venture X comes with
[8:59] a bunch of other insurance benefits and
[9:01] protections as well. So, that's going to
[9:02] include things like trip cancellation
[9:04] and interruption insurance, trip delay
[9:06] reimbursement, common carrier travel
[9:08] accident, lost luggage reimbursement,
[9:10] and more. There's also a cell phone
[9:11] protection benefit here where if you pay
[9:13] your phone bill with your Venture X,
[9:14] then if your phone is stolen or damaged,
[9:16] you can get reimbursed for up to $800
[9:18] per claim after a $50 deductible. Again
[9:20] though, there's always details within
[9:22] the terms to this stuff. So, I'm not
[9:23] going to bore you with all those
[9:24] details. But like I said before, you can
[9:26] go ahead and learn more about this card
[9:27] or any of its benefits with the link
[9:28] down below. Now, that is going to bring
[9:30] me to the airport lounge access on the
[9:31] Ventra X, which again just went through
[9:33] a significant devaluation here at the
[9:35] start of 2026. And because of that
[9:37] devaluation, the Venture X just went
[9:38] from being a card that offered a ton of
[9:40] free guest lounge access to a card that
[9:42] basically offers zero free guest access.
[9:44] So under the old airport lounge access
[9:46] policy on the Venture X, primary card
[9:48] holders had unlimited access to Capital
[9:50] 1 lounges and Priority Pass lounges. And
[9:52] those primary card holders could also
[9:53] bring up to two free guests with them.
[9:55] However, an additional trick that people
[9:57] learned about was that Capital 1 allowed
[9:58] authorized users on someone else's
[10:00] Venture X account to also have unlimited
[10:02] access to those lounges where they could
[10:04] also bring up to two free guests. And
[10:05] since you can add up to four free
[10:07] authorized users on the Ventra X, that
[10:09] basically allowed one primary card
[10:10] holder to effectively start a chain
[10:12] where they could bring up to 15 guests
[10:14] into [clears throat] lounges for $0 if
[10:15] they position their authorized users and
[10:17] their guests properly. That obviously
[10:19] led to a lot of overcrowding at these
[10:20] lounges with long wait times. And that's
[10:22] just not a good look when airport lounge
[10:24] access is one of the main selling points
[10:25] that people get excited about when they
[10:27] sign up for a card like the Venture X.
[10:28] So Capital 1 knew they had to eventually
[10:30] make some changes. Now, personally, I
[10:32] think they should have never been that
[10:33] generous with the lounge guest policies
[10:34] in the first place, but as of February
[10:36] 1st, 2026, those policies have now
[10:38] officially been updated. So, here's what
[10:40] guest access is going to look like
[10:42] moving forward. So, now primary Venture
[10:44] X card holders can bring zero free
[10:45] guests into lounges, but there are three
[10:47] new options for obtaining guest access
[10:49] at a cost. So, first, Venture X card
[10:51] holders can now receive a discounted
[10:52] pricing of $45 per visit per guest 18
[10:55] and older, or $25 per visit per guest 17
[10:58] and under. and then children under two
[11:00] can still enter for free. Second,
[11:01] Venture X authorized users can still be
[11:03] added for free for up to four additional
[11:05] card holders, but the guest lounge
[11:06] access is no longer free because instead
[11:08] now you're going to have to pay an
[11:10] additional airport lounge access fee of
[11:11] $125 per additional card holder per
[11:14] year. Paying that fee is going to grant
[11:16] that additional card holder unlimited
[11:17] access to Capital 1 lounges, Capital 1
[11:19] landings, and participating Priority
[11:21] Pass lounges. But to me, paying that
[11:23] $125 per year for this privilege is
[11:25] probably not worth it unless you're
[11:26] going to be going to these lounges a
[11:27] lot. But then the third option is that
[11:29] you can also spend $75,000 on your
[11:31] Venture X account per calendar year to
[11:33] unlock the ability to bring up to two
[11:35] free guests to Capital One lounges or up
[11:37] to one free guest to Capital One landing
[11:39] locations. However, even if you hit that
[11:41] high level of spend, you can still no
[11:42] longer get free guest access with the
[11:44] Priority Pass membership on this card.
[11:46] So, that's a lot of stuff to keep in
[11:48] mind there. And this is definitely a
[11:49] major devaluation for the Venture X
[11:51] since a lot of people got this card
[11:52] because of how friendly the lounge guest
[11:54] policies were. But if there's going to
[11:56] be a silver lining here to this
[11:57] devaluation, it's that hopefully it'll
[11:59] help with the overcrowding and wait
[12:00] times. Solo travelers who are Venture X
[12:02] card holders are honestly going to be
[12:04] the biggest winners from these updates.
[12:05] And then couples or families who relied
[12:07] on guest lounge access are going to have
[12:08] to make a decision on paying these new
[12:10] fees or not paying any of these new fees
[12:12] based on how often they might want to
[12:13] visit these lounges. Now, this recent
[12:15] devaluation is actually going to bring
[12:16] me to my two controversial opinions on
[12:18] the Venture X that I think could impact
[12:20] the way people view this card moving
[12:21] forward. So, my first controversial
[12:23] opinion here is that Capital 1 will
[12:24] likely make some more updates to this
[12:26] card sometime soon. That's because the
[12:28] reality for many premium credit cards is
[12:30] that they have this sort of life cycle
[12:31] where every four to 5 years or so, they
[12:33] just get updated with higher annual fees
[12:35] and different credits or benefits to
[12:36] help justify those increased fees. We've
[12:38] seen this happen to a number of credit
[12:40] cards over the past couple of years. And
[12:42] since the Venture X has been unchanged
[12:43] for the most part since it launched in
[12:45] 2021, I think this recent update to
[12:47] Lounge Access could be a sign of more
[12:48] changes to come because we're kind of
[12:50] right in the middle of that 4 to 5year
[12:52] window since that launch. To me, the
[12:53] Veterx seems like a prime candidate for
[12:55] a refresh of some kind because it really
[12:57] is a card that's felt too good to be
[12:58] true for a long time. And unfortunately,
[13:00] in the credit card game, one rule that
[13:02] I've come to understand over the past
[13:03] decade is that cards typically don't
[13:05] stay too good for too long. At the end
[13:06] of the day, the credit card companies
[13:08] are here to make money. And I'm not
[13:09] saying that the Venture X is losing
[13:10] money for Capital 1 because I don't know
[13:12] what the situation is. But when you look
[13:13] at how easy they make things with just
[13:15] those two credits that can fully offset
[13:17] a 395 annual fee every year, I just
[13:19] think we're going to see some sort of an
[13:20] update at some point in 2026 or maybe
[13:23] 2027 at the latest. Still though, I've
[13:25] got no proof of that happening. So, I'm
[13:26] just purely speculating here. So, maybe
[13:28] Capital 1 is going to prove me wrong and
[13:30] they'll keep the card the way it is, or
[13:31] at least keep the 395 annual fee. Or
[13:33] maybe right now they're focusing on
[13:34] other products first because there's
[13:36] also been some rumors for some kind of a
[13:37] Saver X card to be released sometime
[13:39] soon. We'll just have to wait and see
[13:41] how the rest of this year plays out. But
[13:42] that is going to lead me to my second
[13:44] controversial opinion here, which is
[13:45] that as 2026 goes on, we're going to see
[13:47] the Venture X battle with an unexpected
[13:49] new competitor in the Built Palladium
[13:51] card. So, the Built Palladium is one of
[13:53] three new credit cards that launched
[13:54] with the major Built 2.0 update at the
[13:56] start of February 2026. And as soon as
[13:58] you look at the Palladium card next to
[14:00] the Venture X, it's easy to see that
[14:01] there's a clear comparison that can be
[14:03] made. They both earn 2x points or miles
[14:05] per dollar on everything as a catch-all
[14:07] card. They both have an annual fee of
[14:08] under $500, and they both have credits
[14:10] that can be used in the respective
[14:12] travel portal to help offset their
[14:13] annual fees. However, there's going to
[14:15] be pros and cons to each that can push
[14:16] or pull certain people to one side or
[14:18] the other. So, the Venture X has a much
[14:20] simpler structure in terms of how the
[14:22] $300 travel credit and the 10,000mi
[14:24] anniversary bonus work to justify the
[14:26] cheaper $3.95 annual fee, whereas the
[14:28] Built Palladium card has up to $400 in
[14:30] built travel hotel credits, but those
[14:32] are going to be split up into two
[14:33] semianual $200 credits to keep track of,
[14:36] and they can only be used on stays that
[14:37] have a twoight minimum. So, the
[14:39] advantage goes to Capital 1 in terms of
[14:40] simplicity and how easy it is to offset
[14:42] the annual fee. But built offers the
[14:44] ability to turn any of the 2x everyday
[14:46] spend you put on the Platium card into
[14:48] additional points unlocked on your rent
[14:50] or mortgage. It's kind of confusing to
[14:51] understand exactly how it works, but it
[14:53] does mean that people could technically
[14:55] earn above 2x points per each dollar
[14:57] spent with built on that Palladium card.
[14:59] So, my opinion here is that we're going
[15:00] to see a lot of people get value from
[15:02] the built paladium this year despite how
[15:04] messy of a roll out built 2.0 was. And
[15:06] Capital 1 is going to have to be very
[15:08] careful with any updates they might
[15:09] decide to make to the Venture X if that
[15:11] is something they're working on behind
[15:12] the scenes. I think the average person
[15:14] is still more likely to view the Venture
[15:15] X as being the better choice right now
[15:17] over the built Padium purely because of
[15:19] simplicity. Even though the Palladium
[15:20] card is potentially the more valuable
[15:22] option in 2026 for people like myself
[15:24] because there's also a 50k signup bonus
[15:26] that's attached to it. But it is going
[15:28] to be very interesting to see where
[15:29] things end up once we reach the end of
[15:30] this year and start heading into 2027
[15:33] between these two competing credit
[15:34] cards. Now, if you're considering the
[15:35] Capital 1 Venture X, but you still kind
[15:37] of want to understand how it might
[15:39] compare to Bill 2.0 know and that
[15:40] palladium card when it comes to earning
[15:42] points on your rent or mortgage, then
[15:43] make sure to go ahead and check out this
[15:44] video over here on the screen next. That
[15:46] video dives into the math of how
[15:48] everything works and I tried to break it
[15:49] down in a way that I think is a bit
[15:51] easier to understand. But let me know
[15:52] what you guys think about the Venture X
[15:54] in 2026. Is it still worth it after
[15:56] these lounge access changes? And are you
[15:58] going to be using it as a catch all card
[16:00] yourself? Let me know down below in the
[16:01] comments section. But as always, thanks
[16:03] so much for watching.