Capital One Venture X - Still The Best Travel Card in 2026?

[00:00] So, the Capital 1 Venture X is commonly

[00:02] thought of as the best premium travel

[00:03] credit card on the market, and that's

[00:04] mostly because it's known for having

[00:06] valuable features, a lower annual fee

[00:08] compared to its competition, plus only a

[00:10] couple of credits to manage that are

[00:11] super easy to use and can fully offset

[00:13] that annual fee. However, after Capital

[00:15] 1 recently implemented a massive

[00:17] devaluation to the airport lounge access

[00:18] and the Venture X, we started to see a

[00:20] lot of people now question whether this

[00:22] $395 per year credit card is still worth

[00:24] it in 2026. So, in this video, I want to

[00:27] give you guys my updated review on the

[00:29] Capital 1 Venture X, including two

[00:31] controversial opinions I have about it

[00:32] that could impact the way people view

[00:34] this card within the overall credit card

[00:35] landscape moving forward. But, as

[00:37] always, let's go ahead and just jump

[00:38] right into things by first taking a look

[00:40] at the value of the welcome offer on the

[00:41] Venture X before we get into everything

[00:43] else I want to talk about here. So, the

[00:44] offer that Capital 1's been running for

[00:46] this card over the years has typically

[00:48] been for 75,000 mi, and that's after

[00:50] spending $4,000 within the first 3

[00:52] months from account opening. Now, those

[00:53] 75,000 miles are going to have a minimum

[00:55] value of 1 cent per mile each when

[00:57] redeemed for certain stuff like travel

[00:59] book through Capital 1 or a few other

[01:00] things. So, that would make a welcome

[01:02] offer like this worth at least 750

[01:04] bucks. But, if you're like me and you

[01:05] know how to find award availability with

[01:07] a hotel and airline partners on this

[01:09] card, then transferring those miles can

[01:10] get you upwards of 2 cents per mile or

[01:12] higher for closer to around $1,500 in

[01:14] value. Now, in late 2025, we actually

[01:16] saw Capital 1 launch a limited time

[01:18] 100,000 point offer on the Venture X.

[01:20] and we hadn't seen an offer for that

[01:22] many points since the card launched over

[01:23] four years earlier in 2021. But because

[01:26] elevated offers like this are just so

[01:27] rare on the Venture X, I don't think you

[01:29] can reliably predict that another 100K

[01:31] offer is going to come around again soon

[01:32] if you're still waiting to apply. So

[01:34] honestly, even if you end up taking

[01:35] advantage of something like that

[01:36] standard 75K offer, that's still a

[01:38] pretty good deal because the value from

[01:40] that bonus in year 1 is going to easily

[01:41] help to offset the 395 annual fee. And

[01:44] if you ever want to learn more about

[01:45] this card to see what offers are

[01:46] currently available for it, then I'll go

[01:48] ahead and leave a link down below where

[01:49] you can see all that stuff. Now, on top

[01:51] of the welcome bonus, the other benefit

[01:52] you're going to start getting in your

[01:53] first year with the Venture X comes in

[01:55] the form of a $300 annual travel credit

[01:57] for bookings made through Capital 1

[01:59] Travel. So, between earning 75,000 miles

[02:01] that are worth at least 750 bucks and

[02:03] that $300 travel credit, that's $1,50 of

[02:06] year 1 value. Subtracting that from the

[02:08] 3.95 annual fee gets you an effective

[02:11] annual fee or a net out-of- pocket cost

[02:12] in year 1 of minus $655. So, just like

[02:16] pretty much any other premium credit

[02:17] card out there, it can make sense to try

[02:19] out a card like this for at least one

[02:20] year simply because of the way the

[02:22] initial numbers work. Now, a couple of

[02:23] things to be aware of with that $300

[02:25] travel credit. So, first, that credit is

[02:27] going to be applied to travel purchases

[02:28] at checkout through Capital 1's portal,

[02:30] like you can see here. So, not as a

[02:32] statement credit after your purchase.

[02:33] And second, according to the terms, it

[02:35] can be used in whole for a single

[02:37] purchase or in part over multiple

[02:38] purchases. Just keep in mind though that

[02:40] this is not going to be a calendar year

[02:42] type of credit that's active from

[02:43] January through December because the

[02:44] timeline is based on your card member

[02:46] year. So, don't forget to use the full

[02:48] $300 of this travel credit before your

[02:50] next account open date anniversary

[02:51] because that's when this credit resets.

[02:53] Also, the one thing that people always

[02:55] bring up about this credit is the fact

[02:56] that it can't be used when booking

[02:57] travel directly on something like a

[02:59] hotel or airlines website because again,

[03:01] it has to be used when booking through

[03:02] Capital 1. And normally, I'm not a fan

[03:04] of being forced to book through travel

[03:06] portals. But Capital 1's portal is a bit

[03:08] of an exception in my opinion. That's

[03:09] because Capital 1 Travel offers features

[03:11] that many other credit card issuer

[03:13] portals just don't give you, like price

[03:14] drop protection. So, if you book a

[03:16] flight that Capital 1 recommends and

[03:17] then the price drops within 10 days,

[03:19] you're going to be able to get up to $50

[03:21] in travel credits for that difference.

[03:22] Capital 1 also offers price matching

[03:24] where if you find a better price outside

[03:26] of Capital 1 Travel and then you let

[03:27] them know within 24 hours of booking an

[03:29] eligible flight, hotel, or rental car,

[03:31] then they're going to give you a travel

[03:32] credit for the difference on that as

[03:34] well. And I've actually used both of

[03:35] these features in the past with the

[03:36] Venture X that my wife has in our

[03:38] two-player credit card setup. What I

[03:39] honestly recommend here is to shop

[03:41] around on multiple websites for the best

[03:42] price anytime you're trying to book

[03:44] something like a flight or hotel stay.

[03:46] And then if you find something that's

[03:47] cheaper elsewhere, but you want to book

[03:48] it through Capital 1, then just book it

[03:50] through Capital 1, but document that

[03:51] other cheaper price you found, then go

[03:53] ahead and give Capital 1 a call

[03:54] immediately. So that way they can take a

[03:56] look at this and give you that travel

[03:57] credit for the difference if you're

[03:58] eligible. Now, Capital 1's travel portal

[04:00] is by no means perfect. So, for example,

[04:02] if you want to book a hotel through

[04:03] their portal, then there's going to be a

[04:04] good chance that status benefits won't

[04:06] apply at the moment if you have that

[04:07] with a certain hotel program because

[04:09] this is technically a third-party

[04:10] booking. But in many situations, Capital

[04:12] 1 Travel definitely does have enough

[04:14] features to be worth using, including

[04:16] some nice elevated multipliers that

[04:17] could allow you to earn a lot of Capital

[04:19] 1 miles. We'll get to those multipliers

[04:21] next here in just a minute. But one

[04:22] other benefit you're going to get on the

[04:23] Venture X that can also help to easily

[04:25] offset the annual fee is going to be a

[04:27] 10,000 mi anniversary bonus. Now, these

[04:29] 10,000 mi also have a value of at least

[04:31] 1 cent per mile for $100 towards travel

[04:34] or again potentially more if you know

[04:35] how to transfer them. And the important

[04:36] thing to understand with this benefit is

[04:38] that you're going to get these 10,000 mi

[04:40] every year. But that's starting on your

[04:41] first account anniversary. That means

[04:43] we're not going to factor in the value

[04:44] from this anniversary bonus in year 1.

[04:46] But we will factor it in once we hit

[04:47] year 2 with Venture X. So in year 2 and

[04:49] beyond, we're getting $400 of annual

[04:51] value from the combination of the $300

[04:53] travel credit with the 10,000 mi

[04:55] anniversary bonus that's worth at least

[04:56] 100 bucks. So subtracting that from the

[04:58] 395 annual fee gets us an effective

[05:00] annual fee of minus $5. Now, this is

[05:03] where you hear most people say the

[05:04] cliche thing that Capital 1 is basically

[05:06] paying you $5 every year that you have

[05:08] the Venture X. That's one way to look at

[05:10] things, but the way that I look at it is

[05:11] that these two main credits here on this

[05:13] card are going to fully offset the

[05:14] annual fee pretty easily for most

[05:16] people. So, to me, that means all the

[05:17] other features on the Venture X are

[05:19] essentially pure value profit. There's

[05:21] no long list of credits that I've got to

[05:23] keep track of that would otherwise make

[05:24] the Venture X feel like a coupon book,

[05:26] at least for now. And that's what's been

[05:27] helping this card look a lot more

[05:29] favorable in recent years compared to

[05:30] other top tier travel cards from issuers

[05:32] like Chase or American Express because

[05:34] they did go down that dark side path of

[05:36] adding countless credits that have to be

[05:38] used in very specific ways. All right,

[05:40] so now that the annual fee is easily

[05:41] offset for most of you watching this,

[05:43] that's going to bring me to the next

[05:44] major thing that's going to put value

[05:45] back in your pocket every time this

[05:46] card's used, and that would be the

[05:48] spending multipliers. So, with the

[05:49] Capital 1 Venture X, you're going to be

[05:51] able to earn 10x miles on hotels and

[05:53] rental cars booked through Capital 1

[05:55] Travel, 5x miles on flights and vacation

[05:57] rentals booked through Capital 1 Travel,

[05:59] and 2x miles on all other purchases.

[06:01] Now, obviously, those travel multipliers

[06:03] sound really good on the surface, but

[06:04] again, there is that limitation of only

[06:06] getting 10x or 5x miles on travel booked

[06:08] through Capital 1 instead of getting

[06:10] that on stuff booked directly on other

[06:11] websites. However, for a lot of card

[06:13] holders, those elevated earning rates

[06:15] combined with the stuff we talked about

[06:16] before, like price drop protection and

[06:18] price matching from Capital 1 Travel.

[06:20] All of those benefits together can be

[06:21] enough in many situations to make

[06:23] booking in this portal pretty appealing.

[06:24] It all depends on your own personal

[06:26] situation, though. So, as always, your

[06:28] mileage may vary with just how valuable

[06:30] or how limiting it can feel when being

[06:31] forced to use Capital 1 Travel. But even

[06:33] if you set aside those travel

[06:34] multipliers, the reality is that many

[06:36] people end up getting the Venture X

[06:38] simply because it's one of the best

[06:39] catch-all credit cards in the game.

[06:41] Earning 2x miles per dollar on any

[06:42] miscellaneous spend is really valuable

[06:44] to have in your credit card strategy.

[06:46] And to make things even better, the

[06:47] Venture X is a Visa Infinite card that's

[06:49] going to be widely accepted around the

[06:50] world, and it's also got no foreign

[06:52] transaction fees, which also makes it a

[06:54] good option to use outside the US. Now,

[06:56] next here I want to talk about some of

[06:57] the additional benefits that come with

[06:58] this credit card, including airport

[07:00] lounge access, which again was just

[07:02] recently devalued. But before we get to

[07:03] that, let's go ahead and touch on some

[07:05] other stuff first. So, with the Venture

[07:06] X, you can also receive up to a $120

[07:09] credit to cover the cost of either

[07:10] Global Entry or TSA PreCheck. And a lot

[07:12] of other top tier travel cards already

[07:14] have credits like this as well. But if

[07:16] this is your first or only major travel

[07:17] card, then this is still a very useful

[07:19] credit to take advantage of. Now, one of

[07:21] the less talked about benefits on the

[07:22] Venture X is that this card allows you

[07:24] to book hotels and other properties that

[07:25] are part of two programs that Capital 1

[07:27] has. And those are the Premier

[07:29] Collection and the Lifestyle Collection.

[07:30] The Premier Collection is Capital 1's

[07:32] version of a luxury hotel program,

[07:34] similar to fine hotels and resorts

[07:35] through AMX or the edit through Chase.

[07:37] And then the lifestyle collection from

[07:38] Capital 1 is like the younger sibling to

[07:40] the Premier Collection with some nice

[07:42] properties that are just a step down

[07:43] from high-end luxury. Now, for Ventrax

[07:45] card holders, booking through Capital 1

[07:47] with the Premier Collection is going to

[07:48] get you benefits like 10x miles earned

[07:50] on your stay, a $100 experience credit

[07:52] that varies by property, as well as a

[07:54] room upgrade when available. Plus, you

[07:56] can also get early check-in and late

[07:57] checkout when available, free daily

[07:59] breakfast for two people, and

[08:00] complimentary Wi-Fi. The lifestyle

[08:02] collection is similar, but does not

[08:03] typically come with free breakfast, and

[08:05] you're only getting a $50 experience

[08:06] credit. But both of these collections

[08:08] could give you some nice additional

[08:09] value on some handpicked properties from

[08:11] Capital 1. The Venture X offers some

[08:13] nice car rental benefits as well,

[08:14] including Hertz President Circle Status,

[08:16] which I personally use all the time

[08:18] because I can easily get upgrades as

[08:20] well as super fast pickup and drop off

[08:21] service. And then you also get primary

[08:23] auto rental coverage here. Primary

[08:24] coverage is often better than secondary

[08:26] coverage because it means that if there

[08:27] was ever a claim, then you would go

[08:29] through the insurance provided by the

[08:30] Venture X first instead of your own

[08:32] insurance. And reading the terms here,

[08:33] this primary coverage is going to cover

[08:35] you for theft, damage, and valid loss of

[08:37] use charges as long as your card is used

[08:39] to initiate and complete your entire car

[08:41] rental. and as long as you decline the

[08:42] rental company's collision damage

[08:44] waiver. As always though, make sure that

[08:45] you do your own research and understand

[08:47] your own insurance needs for what is and

[08:48] is not covered here. But honestly, I

[08:50] only ever use credit cards that have

[08:52] primary coverage whenever I'm renting

[08:53] cars because it does save me money

[08:55] versus what the rental car companies

[08:56] would charge me for similar coverage.

[08:58] Now, the Capital 1 Venture X comes with

[08:59] a bunch of other insurance benefits and

[09:01] protections as well. So, that's going to

[09:02] include things like trip cancellation

[09:04] and interruption insurance, trip delay

[09:06] reimbursement, common carrier travel

[09:08] accident, lost luggage reimbursement,

[09:10] and more. There's also a cell phone

[09:11] protection benefit here where if you pay

[09:13] your phone bill with your Venture X,

[09:14] then if your phone is stolen or damaged,

[09:16] you can get reimbursed for up to $800

[09:18] per claim after a $50 deductible. Again

[09:20] though, there's always details within

[09:22] the terms to this stuff. So, I'm not

[09:23] going to bore you with all those

[09:24] details. But like I said before, you can

[09:26] go ahead and learn more about this card

[09:27] or any of its benefits with the link

[09:28] down below. Now, that is going to bring

[09:30] me to the airport lounge access on the

[09:31] Ventra X, which again just went through

[09:33] a significant devaluation here at the

[09:35] start of 2026. And because of that

[09:37] devaluation, the Venture X just went

[09:38] from being a card that offered a ton of

[09:40] free guest lounge access to a card that

[09:42] basically offers zero free guest access.

[09:44] So under the old airport lounge access

[09:46] policy on the Venture X, primary card

[09:48] holders had unlimited access to Capital

[09:50] 1 lounges and Priority Pass lounges. And

[09:52] those primary card holders could also

[09:53] bring up to two free guests with them.

[09:55] However, an additional trick that people

[09:57] learned about was that Capital 1 allowed

[09:58] 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.