How The Capital One Venture X Priority Pass Membership Works

Link: Apply now for the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card

One of the most popular perks of premium credit cards is airport lounge access. That’s an area where the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card shines, as it offers the most lucrative path to a Priority Pass membership of any premium credit card, in my opinion.

That’s only one of the many great perks of the card, as it also offers a great welcome bonus, $300 annual travel credit, 10K anniversary bonus miles, access to Capital One Lounges, access to Plaza Premium Lounges, Hertz President’s Circle elite status, primary rental car coverage, cell phone protection, unrivaled authorized user perks, and more. 

I applied for this card and was instantly approved, and I know many OMAAT readers are in the same boat.

There have been a lot of questions about how the Priority Pass membership on the Capital One Venture X works, so I wanted to provide an updated look at that.

How the Capital One Venture X Priority Pass perk works

The Capital One Venture X offers a Priority Pass membership for the primary cardmember and authorized users, providing access to airport lounges around the world. Cardmembers can access lounges an unlimited number of times, and can bring up to two guests with them with each visit. This is offered as part of the card’s Visa Infinite benefits.

Let’s go over the details of the Priority Pass membership in a bit more detail…

What is Priority Pass?

Priority Pass is the world’s largest network of independent airport lounges, with 1,300+ lounges around the world. Priority Pass as such doesn’t operate lounges, but rather it’s a program that pays third party lounges to admit its members. While you can buy a Priority Pass membership directly, this is also offered as a perk on many premium credit cards.

How do you sign-up for your Priority Pass membership?

Capital One states that you’ll be eligible to enroll in Priority Pass about one week after you’re approved for the Capital One Venture X. However, based on my experience, it’s faster than that — I received my credit card in the mail two days after being approved, and was immediately able to register for my Priority Pass membership.

Cardmembers can enroll at prioritypass.com/capitalone. At the link you’ll have to enter your 16-digit Capital One Venture X card number.

You’ll then have to go through the enrollment process, which starts by selecting your country of residence.

The next page will confirm that the Priority Pass membership won’t cost you anything.

You’ll then have to go through the process of registering your account, which includes five different pages. You’ll have to share some personal details, including your billing and mailing address, and your card number (the card won’t be charged, but rather this is just to verify that you’re supposed to get a complimentary membership).

After enrollment, cardholders get instant access to their digital Priority Pass card, and will then be mailed a physical card.

In my case it took about two weeks for my physical card to arrive in the mail. For what it’s worth, my Priority Pass card number has 11 digits, and at least my card number starts with “104.”

I mention this because people with multiple Priority Pass cards can often get confused about which card was issued with which credit card, so this can be worth knowing in terms of guesting privileges, accessing Priority Pass restaurants, etc.

What’s fantastic is that you can now even use your Capital One Venture X directly to access Priority Pass locations — it’s my understanding that this is the only card that offers this perk, as an alternative to a physical Priority Pass card or digital membership.

Do authorized users get a Priority Pass membership?

You can add up to four authorized users to the Capital One Venture X at no extra cost, and they each receive a Priority Pass membership as well. That’s a phenomenal feature, since there aren’t many cards that offer Priority Pass memberships for authorized users at no cost.

Which lounges can you visit with Priority Pass?

You can check Priority Pass’ website or mobile app to see which lounges you can access. It’s usually easiest to search by airport. When you check out the page for a particular lounge, make sure you review the entry restrictions. For example, some lounges only admit Priority Pass members certain times of the day, some have limits on how long you can stay in the lounge, etc.

How often can you access lounges?

The Priority Pass membership offered through the Capital One Venture X offers unlimited lounge visits. Not only can you visit multiple lounges at a particular airport, but can you visit lounges as many days as you’d like. As long as you’re traveling the same day, there are no limits on how often you can access airport lounges.

How many guests can you bring into lounges?

The Priority Pass membership issued with the Capital One Venture X allows you to take up to two guests with you into lounges on a complimentary basis. The guests must be accompanying you, so they may have to present their same day boarding pass. But yes, you can take two guests with you (for a total of three people) into Priority Pass lounges an unlimited number of times.

In some cases lounges may have capacity limits and might not allow two guests, so you’ll want to consult Priority Pass’ website for all the details.

Can you get credits at Priority Pass restaurants?

Nowadays there are plenty of Priority Pass restaurants. With this, Priority Pass has partnered with select airport restaurants, where cardmembers can receive a credit toward food & drinks in lieu of access to a lounge.

Unfortunately as of 2023, Priority Pass memberships issued through Capital One are no longer eligible for credits at Priority Pass restaurants. This puts the card’s policy in line with The Platinum Card® from American Express (review), but doesn’t make it as good as the policy of the Chase Sapphire Reserve® Card (review).

Can you access Capital One Lounges with Priority Pass?

There are new Capital One Lounges that are opening at select airports (the first lounge opened at DFW — read my review here). These can be accessed by those with the Capital One Venture X, though you’d access them directly with your credit card, rather than with your Priority Pass membership.

The Priority Pass membership as such doesn’t get you access to Capital One Lounges (after all, others get a Priority Pass membership through something other than a Capital One credit card).

So you don’t have to pay to visit Priority Pass lounges?!

I’ve had a couple of people point out that Priority Pass’ website lists membership costs that range from $99 to $429 annually. Indeed, that’s the cost of a membership if you bought it directly from Priority Pass, but you’re getting that membership included with your credit card.

Priority Pass has two revenue streams — it sells memberships directly to consumers, and sells memberships to credit card companies, which offer them as perks to cardmembers. The Priority Pass membership you get through your Capital One Venture X won’t cost you anything extra. It won’t cost you extra to get the membership, and it won’t cost you extra to actually visit lounges.

For what it’s worth, the membership you’re getting with the Capital One Venture X is closest to the $429 “Prestige” membership, in terms of the perks being offered. Yep, that’s pretty incredible, because that’s higher than the annual fee on the Venture X.

Why the Capital One Venture X is the best card for Priority Pass

There are several premium credit cards that offer Priority Pass memberships, but I’d argue that no card is more rewarding in that way than the Capital One Venture X:

• The Venture X has among the lowest annual fees ($395) of any card offering a Priority Pass membership
• Not only that, but a vast majority of cardmembers should be able to recoup most or all of the annual fee from the $300 annual travel credit and 10,000 anniversary bonus miles every year (personally I think those two perks alone are worth more than the annual fee)
• On top of that, you can add up to four authorized users to the Venture X, and they each get a Priority Pass membership at no additional cost, with identical privileges

There’s not another credit card that’s this lucrative that offers a Priority Pass membership, including for authorized users. This card is in a league of its own for people looking for Priority Pass memberships not only for themselves, but also for friends and family.

Bottom line

The Capital One Venture X offers lots of awesome perks. Many people will appreciate the Priority Pass membership issued by the card. This offers access to 1,300+ lounges around the world, with unlimited visits, and the ability to take two guests with you.

I’d argue that this is the all around most lucrative credit card out there for getting a Priority Pass membership, in terms of the card’s annual fee, how much of that you an recoup with ongoing perks, and the ability to get Priority Pass memberships for your (free) authorized users as well.

What do you make of the Capital One Venture X’s Priority Pass perk?

Upon enrollment, accessible through the Capital One website or mobile app, eligible cardholders will remain at upgraded status level through December 31, 2024. Please note, enrolling through the normal Hertz Gold Plus Rewards enrollment process (e.g. at Hertz.com) will not automatically detect a cardholder as being eligible for the program and cardholders will not be automatically upgraded to the applicable status tier. Additional terms apply.

For Capital One products listed on this page, some of the above benefits are provided by Visa® or Mastercard® and may vary by product. See the respective Guide to Benefits for details, as terms and exclusions apply.