Link: Apply now for the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card (Rates & Fees) or Chase Sapphire Reserve® Card
The Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card (review) is a great premium credit card, and is probably the top competitor to the uber-popular Chase Sapphire Reserve® Card (review). Since there’s a lot of overlap between these two cards, in this post I wanted to compare the two products, with the hopes of helping people decide which card makes more sense for them.
In this post:
Comparing the Venture X & Sapphire Reserve
Both the Capital One Venture X and Chase Sapphire Reserve are incredibly rewarding cards, so let’s compare them across a variety of factors — welcome bonuses, approval odds, annual fees, the ability to earn & redeem points, annual credits, lounge access, and more. Let’s get right into it…
Welcome bonuses: Venture X vs. Sapphire Reserve
The two cards are currently offering the following welcome bonuses:
- The Capital One Venture X is offering 75,000 Capital One miles after spending $4,000 within three months
- The Chase Sapphire Reserve is offering 60,000 Ultimate Rewards points after spending $4,000 within three months
For context, I value both Capital One miles and Chase Ultimate Rewards points at 1.7 cents each.
Winner: The Venture X is a big winner
Approval odds: Venture X vs. Sapphire Reserve
Both cards have rules when it comes to being approved:
- The Capital One Venture X doesn’t have any major approval restrictions; Capital One can be quirky when it comes to approving people, but that doesn’t seem to follow any specific rhyme or reason
- The Chase Sapphire Reserve is subjected to the 5/24 rule, and the card isn’t available to those who have a Sapphire card, or have received a new cardmember bonus on a Sapphire card in the past 48 months
Winner: It depends on your exact situation, especially given that Capital One can be strange about approvals sometimes, but I’d say a lot more people are eligible for the Capital One Venture X than the Chase Sapphire Reserve.
Annual fees: Venture X vs. Sapphire Reserve
When it comes to the annual fees of the two credit cards, there is a significant difference, both for the primary cardmember and for authorized users:
- The Capital One Venture X has a $395 annual fee (Rates & Fees), and you can add up to four authorized users at no extra cost (Rates & Fees)
- The Chase Sapphire Reserve has a $550 annual fee, and adding authorized users costs $75 per person
Winner: The Capital One Venture X wins by a long shot here, as the annual fee is much lower, and you can add authorized users at no extra cost.
Earning points: Venture X vs. Sapphire Reserve
The two cards have different rewards structures, with one card being great for everyday spending, and the other card being great for popular bonus categories:
- The Capital One Venture X earns 2x Capital One miles on all purchases; you can also earn bonus miles for travel booked through Capital One Travel, including 10x miles for hotels and rental cars and 5x miles for flights
- The Chase Sapphire Reserve earns 3x Ultimate Rewards points on dining and travel, and 1x Ultimate Rewards points on other purchases; you can also earn bonus points for travel booked through Chase Travel, including 10x points for hotels and rental cars and 5x points for flights
Winner: I’d say this is a “your mileage may vary” situation, so I don’t think there’s an obvious winner. If over half of your spending is on dining and travel, you’ll come out ahead with the Chase Sapphire Reserve, while if over half of your spending is in other categories, you’ll come out ahead with the Capital One Venture X. This doesn’t factor in the ability to build a portfolio of cards, which I’ll address below.
Redeeming points: Venture X vs. Sapphire Reserve
As I mentioned above, I value both Capital One miles and Chase Ultimate Rewards points at 1.7 cents each, but I wanted to expand a bit on redemption opportunities.
Points earned on the Capital One Venture X can be redeemed in the following ways:
- They can be redeemed for one cent each toward the cost of a travel purchase; what’s cool is that you can book travel however you’d like, and then retroactively reimburse yourself for those purchases with statement credits
- They can be transferred to Capital One airline and hotel partners, with a vast majority of transfers being at a 1:1 ratio
Capital One mileage partners include the following (along with transfer ratios and times):
Capital One Transfer Partner | Transfer Ratio | Transfer Time |
|---|---|---|
1000 : 500 | ~ 24 to 48 hours | |
Aeromexico Club Premier | 1000 : 1000 | Instant |
1000 : 1000 | Instant | |
1000 : 1000 | Instant | |
1000 : 1000 | Instant | |
1000 : 1000 | Instant | |
1000 : 1000 | ~ 3 to 5 days | |
1000 : 1000 | Instant | |
1000 : 1000 | Instant | |
1000 : 1000 | ~ 12 to 24 hours | |
1000 : 750 | ~ 24 to 48 hours | |
1000 : 1000 | Instant | |
1000 : 1000 | ~ 24 to 48 hours | |
1000 : 1000 | ~ 24 to 48 hours | |
1000 : 1000 | Instant | |
1000 : 1000 | ~ 24 to 48 hours | |
1000 : 1000 | Instant | |
1000 : 1000 | Instant |
Points earned on the Chase Sapphire Reserve can be redeemed in the following ways:
- They can be redeemed for 1.5 cents each toward the cost of a travel purchase through Chase Travel; this gets you a higher per-point value, but you are restricted to booking through the travel portal
- They can be transferred to Ultimate Rewards airline and hotel partners at a 1:1 ratio
Chase Ultimate Rewards partners include the following (along with transfer ratios and times):
Ultimate Rewards Transfer Partner | Transfer Ratio | Transfer Time |
|---|---|---|
1000 : 1000 | Instant | |
1000 : 1000 | Instant | |
1000 : 1000 | Instant | |
1000 : 1000 | Instant | |
1000 : 1000 | Instant | |
1000 : 1000 | Instant | |
1000 : 1000 | Instant | |
1000 : 1000 | ~ 1 to 7 days | |
1000 : 1000 | Instant | |
1000 : 1000 | Instant | |
1000 : 1000 | Instant | |
1000 : 1000 | Instant | |
1000 : 1000 | ~ 1 to 2 days | |
1000 : 1000 | Instant |
Winner: I’d say the Chase Sapphire Reserve has the slight edge here. I value the two points currencies the same, but if I had to choose, I think I slightly prefer the Chase Ultimate Rewards transfer partners (thanks to World of Hyatt), and the “cash-out” value when redeeming points toward travel is higher (though with the requirement to book through the portal, which is restrictive).
Annual credits & ongoing perks: Venture X vs. Sapphire Reserve
Both cards offer significant annual credits that largely help offset the annual fee:
- The Capital One Venture X offers a $300 annual credit, which can only be applied toward purchases with Capital One Travel, including of flights, hotels, and rental cars; on top of that, the card offers 10,000 bonus anniversary Capital One miles every year, redeemable for at least $100 worth of travel (or they can be transferred to airline partners)
- The Chase Sapphire Reserve offers a $300 annual travel credit, which has incredible flexibility since it can automatically be applied to any travel purchase you charge to the card, with no need to use Chase’s portal
The way I view it, the Sapphire Reserve really only “costs” you $250 per year after subtracting the $300 credit from the $550 annual fee. Meanwhile, I’d argue that the Capital One Venture X “costs” you nothing, really, after factoring in the minimum of $400 in value you’ll get from the annual travel credit and 10,000 bonus miles.
Winner: While the Chase Sapphire Reserve’s $300 credit is more flexible, the Capital One Venture X wins for offering both a $300 credit and 10,000 bonus anniversary miles, which more or less means the card “costs” you almost nothing to hold onto, if you’re maximizing things properly.
Lounge access: Venture X vs. Sapphire Reserve
One of the major reasons people consider picking up a premium credit card is for lounge access, and this is an area where both cards are pretty good:
- The Capital One Venture X offers a Priority Pass membership, access to Plaza Premium Lounges, and access to Capital One Lounges (currently there are lounges at DFW and IAD, and soon we’ll see the opening of the Capital One Landing concept)
- The Chase Sapphire Reserve offers a Priority Pass membership, and access to Chase Sapphire Lounges (currently there are lounges at BOS and HKG)
With both cards you can take two guests into Priority Pass lounges with you, and both the primary cardmember and authorized users receive these perks.
Winner: The Capital One Venture X wins here. Not only does the card have a lower annual fee, but you can also add authorized users for free, and they get a Priority Pass membership as well. Furthermore, the card also offers access to Plaza Premium Lounges plus access to Capital One Lounges.
Rental car perks: Venture X vs. Sapphire Reserve
Both cards are Visa Infinite products, which means they come with certain rental car perks, though there’s still a difference:
- The Capital One Venture X offers Hertz President’s Circle status, plus standard Visa Infinite rental car perks, which includes National Emerald Club Executive status, and discounts with Avis and Silvercar
- The Chase Sapphire Reserve offers standard Visa Infinite rental car perks, which includes National Emerald Club Executive status, and discounts with Avis and Silvercar
Winner: The Venture X wins, since it not only offers the standard Visa Infinite perks, but also top-tier status with Hertz.
Building a card portfolio: Venture X vs. Sapphire Reserve
It’s important to call out one competitive advantage of the Chase Sapphire Reserve, which is the ability to create an incredible portfolio of credit cards that helps maximize your rewards. Capital One’s mileage earning cards are all great for everyday spending, but opportunities to take advantage of bonus categories are a bit more limited than with Chase.
You can pool the points you earn on the Chase Sapphire Reserve with some other awesome Chase cards, most of which don’t have an annual fee:
- The Chase Freedom FlexSM (review) has no annual fee and offers 5x points in rotating quarterly categories, for up to $1,500 of spending per quarter, plus 3x points on dining and drugstores
- The Chase Freedom Unlimited® (review) has no annual fee and offers 1.5x points on all purchases, plus 3x points on dining and drugstores
- The Ink Business Cash® Credit Card (review) has no annual fee and offers 5x points on the first $25,000 of combined purchases per cardmember year on office supply stores, internet, cable TV, mobile phones, and landlines, and 2x points on the first $25,000 of combined purchases per cardmember year on restaurants and gas stations
- The Ink Business Unlimited® Credit Card (review) has no annual fee and offers a flat 1.5x points on all purchases
- The Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card (review) has a $95 annual fee and offers 3x points on the first $150,000 spent each cardmember year on travel, shipping purchases, internet, cable, phone services, and advertising purchases made with social media sites and search engines
As you can see, these cards are all great complements that can greatly increase the pace at which you earn Ultimate Rewards points. Of course, this assumes that you’re willing to get multiple cards, which some people don’t want to do.
In fairness, Capital One isn’t without pairing options either. The Capital One Savor Cash Rewards Credit Card (review) (Rates & Fees) offers 3% cash back on dining, grocery stores (excluding superstores like Walmart® and Target®), entertainment, and select streaming services, and the card has no annual fee and no foreign transaction fees. If you have the card in conjunction with the Capital One Venture X, then rewards can be converted into Capital One miles at the rate of one cent per mile.
Winner: The Chase Sapphire Reserve wins, as you can create a much more robust portfolio of credit cards to maximize your rewards with spending.
Which premium credit card is better?
Hopefully, the above is a fair rundown comparing various aspects of the cards. Based on the categories I compared (which are standard categories I use when comparing cards), the Capital One Venture X wins over the Chase Sapphire Reserve. Of course, there’s never a cut-and-dry answer as to which card is better, so let me try to provide some more specific advice.
Who should consider the Capital One Venture X, who should consider the Chase Sapphire Reserve, and is there a happy medium approach to take?
Who should get the Capital One Venture X?
I think the Capital One Venture X might just be the easiest to justify premium credit card ever. Not even factoring in the excellent welcome bonus:
- The card has a $395 annual fee (Rates & Fees), but offers a $300 annual travel credit and 10,000 anniversary bonus miles, so in the long run those two perks should more or less cover the annual fee
- You’re then getting a card that offers a Priority Pass membership, Plaza Premium Lounge access, and Capital One Lounge access, not just for the primary cardmember, but also for four authorized users
- Then you also have a card that has an unbeatable return on everyday spending, plus offers valuable purchase protection, ranging from rental car coverage, to cell phone protection, to travel coverage
- There’s not a better card for families, as you can add four family members to your card at no extra cost, and they get many of the same perks
I don’t think there’s a premium credit card out there that’s easier to justify.
Who should get the Chase Sapphire Reserve?
The Chase Sapphire Reserve continues to be a well-rounded card with an excellent welcome bonus. For those who spend a lot on dining and travel, being able to earn 3x Ultimate Rewards points on those purchases is great.
Furthermore, if you like booking travel through a portal, redeeming points for 1.5 cents each toward those purchases is also a good opportunity. Furthermore, if you’re a Hyatt loyalist, you can’t beat the ability to convert Chase Ultimate Rewards points into World of Hyatt points, as that’s not something that’s possible with Capital One miles.
I think the main reason to consider the Chase Sapphire Reserve is if you want to build a portfolio of Chase credit cards. That’s where Chase really shines.
A solid hybrid strategy I’d recommend
If you can’t decide between the Capital One Venture X (Rates & Fees) and Chase Sapphire Reserve, I think there’s an exciting other option you can consider. I think there’s something to be said for getting the $95 annual fee Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card (review) in conjunction with the Capital One Venture X, as it’s a nice compromise in terms of annual fees.
Personally, I think the combination of the Venture X and the Sapphire Preferred is hard to beat:
- You’ll pay a total of $490 in annual fees between the two cards, which is lower than the annual fee of just the Sapphire Reserve
- You’ll receive a $300 annual travel credit, plus 10,000 bonus Capital One miles on your anniversary every year, which should offset all of the Venture X annual fee
- This gives you the best of both worlds — a Priority Pass membership, Plaza Premium Lounge access, and Capital One Lounge access, for you and four authorized users, great travel protection, 3x points on dining and 2x points on everyday spending, access to both card ecosystems, rental car status, cell phone protection, and so much more
Bottom line
The Chase Sapphire Reserve has been the most popular premium travel credit card for a long time, though the Capital One Venture X has become quite the competitor. While there’s never a one-size-fits-all answer as to which card is best, I do think the Venture X is very competitive with the Sapphire Reserve, and will be a better option for many.
The Venture X annual fee is much easier to justify, given that it’s lower, and there are more annual credits and miles that help offset the fee. On top of that, the Venture X is better for authorized users, as you can earn add four at no cost (Rates & Fees), and they get most of the same great perks, including lounge access.
I think there’s an argument to be made here for the combination of the Venture X and Sapphire Preferred, as that really gives you the best of both worlds.
Where do OMAAT readers stand — do you prefer the Venture X or Sapphire Reserve? Or do you think it can make sense to have both?
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.
Which card is better if I have to transfer points to Air Canada? Seems like it would be the Venture X since you get 2x points on everything. Thoughts?
We are down to using Venture X for everything except Groceries and Dining which goes on AmEx Gold at 4X
For business almost everything on CapOne Spark although also have AmEx Plat for perks
Slight edge to reserve on redeeming points should actually be a landslide since the Chase transfer portal has not recently gone dark for two weeks without a single sentence of explanation. Capital one cannot be trusted in this regard until they issue a statement explaining exactly wtf happened and why we shouldn't expect it to happen again.
I understand you prefer not to say anything negative about a major source of income, but you still...
Slight edge to reserve on redeeming points should actually be a landslide since the Chase transfer portal has not recently gone dark for two weeks without a single sentence of explanation. Capital one cannot be trusted in this regard until they issue a statement explaining exactly wtf happened and why we shouldn't expect it to happen again.
I understand you prefer not to say anything negative about a major source of income, but you still have to be honest. Otherwise, you do your readers a huge disservice.
My 3 card portfolio would be the venture x, ink business preferred and the savor one. 3x dining, groceries, travel, priority pass for four and the additional cap one lounges for a $395 + $95 annual fee .. $300 portal travel credit (which does take a bit more work to use) + 10K cap one points from the 2nd year onward. If ok with the fourth card, throw in a freedom unlimited for the 3x dining / drug stores (US only). Ultimate in flexibility.
The Venture X is the superior card, but Capital One is trash.
I'd like to know how you feel about the Venture X now that they've turned off the transfer portal.
I'd like to learn more specifics about how to use the Capital One Portal for booking hotels and/or rental cars. I've never used a travel portal before but am considering getting the Venture X card and want to take advantage of the $300 credit. I'll always use my CSP to book flights because of the great insurance but would consider using Venture for hotels and cars. What kind of limitations are there? Can we book any hotel and car rental agency through their portal?
Chase is going to see this article. The marketing department will furiously work on developing a value-add strategy and they'll end up with some crappy limited-time $10/month Esty credit or something.
Won't change the value prop. They need to fix their AF or the earn rates.
I got rid of my CSR after the increased the annual fee and was able to then get the CSP when the 100,000 bonus was offered. I then got the COVX when the 100,000 bonus was offered. I have to say the Venture X is a bargain compared to the CSR- it has better lounge access, cell phone coverage, 2 point for all spending, and a much lower fee(free if you use the benefits). My...
I got rid of my CSR after the increased the annual fee and was able to then get the CSP when the 100,000 bonus was offered. I then got the COVX when the 100,000 bonus was offered. I have to say the Venture X is a bargain compared to the CSR- it has better lounge access, cell phone coverage, 2 point for all spending, and a much lower fee(free if you use the benefits). My first year I even used the Global entry reimbursement which put me $100 ahead! The only area where the CSR wins is for hotel point transfers. Chase need to work to make the CSR competitive again.
Just completed my Venture X spend and couldn't be happier.
Use the $300 travel benefit and the $100 annual free 10k points and its essentially a $0 annual fee card with full transfers and 5-10x portal points bonuses.
I used my citi $500 for $400 and 4th night free for my next trip, because it's 20-25% off and I have the points, but the X gives me 2x points/$ minimum and redeems at 1...
Just completed my Venture X spend and couldn't be happier.
Use the $300 travel benefit and the $100 annual free 10k points and its essentially a $0 annual fee card with full transfers and 5-10x portal points bonuses.
I used my citi $500 for $400 and 4th night free for my next trip, because it's 20-25% off and I have the points, but the X gives me 2x points/$ minimum and redeems at 1 cent/point, but using the portal gives me 5x-10x.
I've got all kinds of other cards I use Savor 4% entertainment, Prestige 5x dining, Amazon prime 5%, Wyndham 5x utilities and 8x gas, Freedom 5x groceries, InkCash cell phone 5x, but a good part of my spending won't fit in those categories and the Venture X is fantastic.
I did shop the C1 travel portal for our Puerto Vallarta vacation and found essentially the same listings and prices as citi and chase.
I booked the citi to use points and get the $500/$400 and 4/3 promotions, but all the sites looked similar for my limited search.
Travel evacuation insurance is the only feature keeping me with CSP. If either Venture X or CSP offered that, I would downgrade my CSR to CSP.
*typo: Travel evacuation insurance is the only feature keeping me with CSR.
Tcsael, could you briefly describe the CSR Travel Evacuation benefits
I don’t see a mention of the $60 DoorDash credit for the CSR? That lowers the annual fee from $250 net to $190 net.
That has ended, as far as I know (though they are introducing a $5 a month Doordash credit from April).
Darn, I didn’t realize that ended! I use DoorDash a decent amount and was looking forward to getting the credit again. Will DashPass continue? It’s nice to at least not have to pay a delivery fee.
Chase will continue the free DashPass benefit for CSR cardholders until the end of 2024. Starting in April CSR cardholders will also receive a $5 per month DoorDash credit. If not used, the credit will carryover to the following month for a maximum of three months (or $15).
$5 is worthless. CSR is approaching diners club premium status. Even Altitude Reserve smokes it.
I would like to get the C1 Venture X card for my wife. I have the CSR card. My problem is how to use the $300.00 travel credit. We use Hyatt and Marriott points and free night certificates for hotel stays. We have over 500,000 miles with our top 4 airlines for flying. That leaves car rentals. I usually rent cars through Costco. Do you know if the C1 website can match or come close...
I would like to get the C1 Venture X card for my wife. I have the CSR card. My problem is how to use the $300.00 travel credit. We use Hyatt and Marriott points and free night certificates for hotel stays. We have over 500,000 miles with our top 4 airlines for flying. That leaves car rentals. I usually rent cars through Costco. Do you know if the C1 website can match or come close to matching the Costco website? I use the $300.00 CSR travel credit to pay part of my timeshare maintenance fees.
Victor here:
Prefer Both, have Both. Venture X, hands down winner and a little easy to get thru ur link. Chase is BS with 5/24 rules which they NEVER update and instantly keep denying any New Cards. Shame on Chase
I received my Venture X card this past week with a hefty (for me) $20,000 limit. I am delighted that the $300 travel credit has already shown up in my account.
Be wary though of Capital One Travel which you have to use for the max bonuses. We just booked two Premium Economy tickets on Singapore Airlines which is one of 11 airlines working with Cap One Travel. I couldn't book it online since...
I received my Venture X card this past week with a hefty (for me) $20,000 limit. I am delighted that the $300 travel credit has already shown up in my account.
Be wary though of Capital One Travel which you have to use for the max bonuses. We just booked two Premium Economy tickets on Singapore Airlines which is one of 11 airlines working with Cap One Travel. I couldn't book it online since it only showed economy fares. I then called the C1T agent and they said they don't show Premium fares for Singapore Airlines. Seems kind of crazy when its a partner. So I didn't get a 5% bonus, only 2%.
The day after that i needed a hotel near Yosemite. It showed nothing available when every other booking site showed multiple hotels as available. So no 10x rebate, only 2x.
They have serious bugs to work out and it aint pretty right now.
Do you think that Chase is going to offer a Newer Card sometime soon perhaps one that requires monthly payoff? I am watching to see how Chase reacts to this move by Capital One as the Sapphire Reserve is Old and while it may only cost $250 a year after the $300 credit, the card needs a refresh. Capital one will wind up costing you Nothing while you still will pay $250 with the CSR. Chase are you listening??
Much of the value of each depends on use of their respective travel portals. I've had bad experiences - and know many others have too - with the Chase Ultimate Rewards travel portal. (It's Expedia, in the process of being converted.) What's the story on the Capital One portal??
I don’t follow how you value both cards points the same at 1.7 cents. The Capital One gives you 1 cent per point and the Chase 1.5 cent per point. How then can they have the same value?
Have you heard of transfer partners? Lucky probably only has about 68585 posts about them… that’s why he’s valuing them at par, because you transfer the points.
Venture X looks like a great card, the two niggles being lack of bonus categories and unusually high spend requirement for the signing bonus.
CSR provides primary car insurance - important perk for the rental section.
So does Venture X. They are both Visa Infinite cards from where the primary car insurance is redeemed.
Venture X is a no brainer keeper card. Just spend $300 on cap 1 travel portal and be done with it every year. No need to put any other spend on it year after year. CSR, I was mainly keeping for lounge access. With venture X, I can get it for free. So, time to downgrade to CSP and still keep the earn rate the same. The only thing I will miss is the ability to redeem the points for 1.5 cents but anyways, you will get more value from transfer partners.
Can an authorized User, at a later date open a new card for themselves and still receive the bonus.
@ Jeff -- Yep, they sure can.
I look at the travel partners. Being in the U.S. the big domestic airlines that I fly are on Chase, where if I traveled abroad a lot, then the X might be for me. But I am also heavily vested in the Chase echosphere.
Another great point about CSR is their security algorithms. My CSR card authorization never gets questioned with my messy travel patterns. One day I may use it in Europe two days later in Asia and week later in Africa and week later in US. Other cards frequently get alert and require confirmation of identity. CSR gets me through flawlessly.
You can create a mini portfolio with Capital One as well. Capital One Savor cards have useful bonused categories, and the cash back can be transferred to the Venture cards as points. It may not be as large a card portfolio as Chase, but I bet most people don't want to keep track of more than three credit cards on a daily basis anyway.
That the C1 card wins most of your categories during your numerous C1 promotional posts over the past week is surely pure coincidence and totally unbiased. The things we do for money…
@ Endre -- Do you disagree with any of the points I'm making, or you just want to make baseless claims?
Not sure if anyone has mentioned this…we just got the VentureX and are hoping to add a Savor Cap1 card 3X on groceries, and 4X on dining, streaming, entertainment…cash back can be turned into miles. Not a bad combo. I like this combo better than a Citi setup personally. I will still have my Amex and Chase trifecta too.
I don't understand capital one. Both my wife and I got declined for the venture x. Both of us have 800 + credit scores and no credit card debt. Most of our current cards have us with at least 20k to 40k limits. Chase likes me so much I have 47k, 33k, and 40k limits on my business ink cards. Another 80k of limits on personal chase cards. No new personal cards in a year....
I don't understand capital one. Both my wife and I got declined for the venture x. Both of us have 800 + credit scores and no credit card debt. Most of our current cards have us with at least 20k to 40k limits. Chase likes me so much I have 47k, 33k, and 40k limits on my business ink cards. Another 80k of limits on personal chase cards. No new personal cards in a year. We both have 2 capital one cards we have had for 8 years but don't run much spend through them. Maybe that is the reason we were declined..
That is correct. C1 only allows a person to own 2 c1 cards at a time
My wife got the X, I was turned down both 800 FICOs.
please explain 'booking thru the portal.' I go to the airline sites and pick the schedule and price. Am I supposed to call a Venture agent ? If so, will the price increase ?
@ Edward -- You'd need to book through the Capital One Travel portal, which is a website you'll find in your account. Generally you'll find that flights have identical pricing to what you'll see elsewhere.
Curious that you dont break out travel protection/insurance. When Citi gutted that on the Prestige, its when I cancelled.
Also, 10k spend is a much heavier lift than you make it out to be for the promo points.
@ James S -- I'll have a post about the travel protection soon, stay tuned!
I would add that Venture X + the no fee SavorOne card make a good combo. 3x dining , 3x grocery and 2x everywhere. Even P2 could have the SavorOne and transfer the points to the Venture X.
This was the biggest miss of the review to me.
The Savor One is a better add on card than either the CFU or CFF. Maybe not better than both, but its definitely not the wipeout Ben stated it was.
But the SavorOne card doesn't earn the same Venture Points so there's really no utility in pooling there...
It can pool to a venture card and be used for transfer partners.
That's super interesting. Definitely gives a Cap1 a leg up for those who are interested in staying with the Cap1 ecosystem, but in general, 3-4x points on dining can be found elsewhere and missing a travel bonus is definitely less than ideal.
When the CSR came out, it was truly innovative and we were all really excited. Yes this card is a good deal, and the lounge at DFW is a nice perk, but overall, it seems like pretty much a copy of the CSR for maybe a slightly lower price point.
I have a lot more faith in Chase from a customer service standpoint than I do for CapOne, and to me, that makes the CSR...
When the CSR came out, it was truly innovative and we were all really excited. Yes this card is a good deal, and the lounge at DFW is a nice perk, but overall, it seems like pretty much a copy of the CSR for maybe a slightly lower price point.
I have a lot more faith in Chase from a customer service standpoint than I do for CapOne, and to me, that makes the CSR more valuable. I'll probably snag this card at some point for the bonus, and maybe keep it if I really like the DFW lounge, but I don't imagine I'll ever put much spend on it.
Everybody is promoting the card, but no one is talking about the overcrowding at Priority Pass lounges. It was already an issue, which will now just get worse.
I got the Venture X essentially for the sign-up bonus and the ability to recoup the annual fee in the first year. Already have the CSR and get a lot of value out of it.
The biggest selling point for the CSR is the bonus spend on travel/dining with the 1.5-cent base redemption value. Chase dumping Expedia has made their travel portal infinitely better and given that I'm not brand loyal, I have no...
I got the Venture X essentially for the sign-up bonus and the ability to recoup the annual fee in the first year. Already have the CSR and get a lot of value out of it.
The biggest selling point for the CSR is the bonus spend on travel/dining with the 1.5-cent base redemption value. Chase dumping Expedia has made their travel portal infinitely better and given that I'm not brand loyal, I have no reason to book hotels direct with all other things (i.e. price/availability) being equal. Same goes for airlines especially when paying for routine domestic fares.
What about other insurance besides car rental? In my cursory overview, the CSR still has superior coverage on things like trip interruption and cancellation.
I have to believe that there will be major changes to the Cap1 card so I'm getting in while the getting is good. Which card I ultimately keep is going to be determined by what happens next year after the 100,000 point Cap1 bonus has been spent and what Chase chooses to do with the Reserve.
If one has the CSR/CFU combo, as I do, the Cap One VX card just gets in the way of accumulating more points at brisker pace, in that with the VX one would be earning points in yet another denomination and, at only 2x, not enough it be justified. I call it points currency dilution. Points that one earns with the VX would multiply faster if the same spend is used to earn UR points...
If one has the CSR/CFU combo, as I do, the Cap One VX card just gets in the way of accumulating more points at brisker pace, in that with the VX one would be earning points in yet another denomination and, at only 2x, not enough it be justified. I call it points currency dilution. Points that one earns with the VX would multiply faster if the same spend is used to earn UR points with the CFU at 1.5x, which can then be combined with points earned at 3x on very broadly defined categories of travel and dining with the CSR.
The CSR/CFU combo wins by a long mile...
"...not enough to be justified"
What about their travel benefits, travel insurance, etc? I mainly keep the reserve for that reason. On another note, what happens if we cancel a card like the reserve but have an upcoming trip-it seems that if paid by using the reserve that the insurance etc would still be in play, but I suspect that is not the case…? Same with the Venture X ?
I think it's more even; from a points generating perspective Chase may have a real advantage. You do get 10X using the UR portal (expedia) for hotel booking (and 5x on airfare, but not willing to use the portal). This racks up fast. Portal is obviously not ideal but if it's for boutique hotels in out of the way places, it adds up pretty quickly.
And then all those points get transferred to Hyatt lol.
Chase dropped Expedia for their old vendor (which Chase turned around and purchased). The Chase portal is already vastly improved.
Hotel bookings are still outsourced to Expedia though. On the payment page, there's a fine print about the Expedia doing the charge on your CC.
Hyatt. Chase wins right there.
Got to hand it to Cap 1 for effective use of their marketing dollars though. They've certainly purchased lots of blog coverage.
Great point. Cap One appears to have gotten the type advocacy that, like many dubious claims that go on to achieve dogma status, will reverberate in the travel blogophere echo chamber until what I consider a meh or average card for the purpose of earning points is turned into one that less critical readers would move mountains to get...
I assume you're meaning just on the basis to accumulate points and redeem to Hyatt? While I love Hyatt, I find it hard to say I would keep the CSR just to redeem at Hyatt when I could be accumulating at a much lower annual cost (incl auth users) on C1X for flight redemptions, and instead using a CSP/Hyatt card combo to accumulate Hyatt points. I think the losers here are Amex, Citi and CSR....
I assume you're meaning just on the basis to accumulate points and redeem to Hyatt? While I love Hyatt, I find it hard to say I would keep the CSR just to redeem at Hyatt when I could be accumulating at a much lower annual cost (incl auth users) on C1X for flight redemptions, and instead using a CSP/Hyatt card combo to accumulate Hyatt points. I think the losers here are Amex, Citi and CSR. And I think overall Chase loses for the average Joe who doesn't want / doesn't understand how to get the combinations of cards. Marketing and # of blog articles aside, C1X certainly has put a big stake in the ground. The real Q is whether C1 will stick with it or whether we'll see some dilution of benefits.
Redeeming hotel award stays in any program, including World of Hyatt, using a transferable points currency is such a waste of hard to earn points that it's close to heresy.
Let me know why you may believe otherwise...
It has value if I'm accumulating Hyatt points at Hyatt hotels on a Hyatt credit card. Other than that, not much
Maybe you meant to say something else because I am not sure what you referred to by "It has value". If you are "accumulating Hyatt points at Hyatt hotels on a Hyatt credit card", then you are not earning points in a transferable currency, you are earning Hyatt points directly, which the way it...
Maybe you meant to say something else because I am not sure what you referred to by "It has value". If you are "accumulating Hyatt points at Hyatt hotels on a Hyatt credit card", then you are not earning points in a transferable currency, you are earning Hyatt points directly, which the way it should be done.
Hotel points need to be earned by using co-branded hotel credit cards in situations where they earn what are usually large bonuses, and that is on each and every revenue stay (one earns 4x Hyatt points at Hyatt properties with the Chase World of Hyatt visa; whopping 14x with the AMEX HH Aspire at Hilton properties).
Transferable points currencies are best reserved for purchasing expensive premium airline tickets, especially those for long-haul flights.
In fact, redeeming Chase UR points for award stays at Hyatt properties hurts Hyatt's bottom line, in two respects:
(1) The UR points would usually not have been earned in conjunction with revenue stays at Hyatt properties, so Hyatt would not have gained anything from those activities.
(2) Using non-Hyatt points to redeem stays at Hyatt properties may interfere with the redemption of Hyatt points, which is desirable because that decreases the financial liability associated with awarded Hyatt points whose monetary value Hyatt cannot claim as revenue until after the points have been redeemed.
An extreme case of this dynamic was seen with SPG, but oin the other direction, as the starpoint became more valuable for redeeming for free airline tickets than award stays, so much so that folks were earning starpoints on all kinds of extraneous activities that did not involve setting foot in Starwood hotels. Well, SPG is no more...
Considering I transferred 250,000 points for a 10 day suite at Grand Hyatt Vail over Christmas break ($2k plus per night) it is Hyatt for me by a mile and for that matter CSR. Bonus on this card is worth the app
A terrible redemption, actually.as you could have had the 5th award night FREE and saved a bundle if you had not drunk too much of the "Hyatt or bust" kool-aid.
But YMMV, I guess...
Getting the best value for points doesn't actually make sense for most of the people. Not everyone needs or wants to do a long haul international travel. Even for those who do, even if economy costs 20,000 points and business class costs 40,000 pts, if you really want to stretch your points, you can get 2 economy tickets for the price of a single business class ticket. I agree that business class fares are sometimes...
Getting the best value for points doesn't actually make sense for most of the people. Not everyone needs or wants to do a long haul international travel. Even for those who do, even if economy costs 20,000 points and business class costs 40,000 pts, if you really want to stretch your points, you can get 2 economy tickets for the price of a single business class ticket. I agree that business class fares are sometimes 5 times the price of economy fares. But it all depends on how you wish to see and use your points. For me, redeeming UR points for an expensive stay in Maldives is worth more than spending those UR points for just 6-8 hours of luxurious business class travel. I'm gonna spend 5 nights in a place compared to just a few hours. So to each their own.
I think there is reason to own both. The chase trifecta is too good and i wont drop that. Only downside is the lack of lounge at big primary airports like DFW. I get $650 or whatever my platinum costs now in value just from lounge visits. Now with this capital one lounge and the signup this card makes more sense to replace the Platinum card not the saphire. I think the chase trifecta + the venture X is a solid combo.
I still like the CSR travel credit $300. The ease of use of just having any travel category spend automatically credited back. Don't forget it includes parking and tolls in some places. Rideshare like Uber & Lyft. And checked baggage fees.
Capital One and the portal only usage for their travel credit means I may not use all of it unless I purchase an actual trip on the card.
And let's not forget...
I still like the CSR travel credit $300. The ease of use of just having any travel category spend automatically credited back. Don't forget it includes parking and tolls in some places. Rideshare like Uber & Lyft. And checked baggage fees.
Capital One and the portal only usage for their travel credit means I may not use all of it unless I purchase an actual trip on the card.
And let's not forget that portals are hardly ever the cheapest price.
I think their transfer partners are fairly even. I do wish Chase brought back Korean Air or an equivalent. Neither has a premium Asian airline with easy booking of plentiful award seats. I flew Korean Business class 2-3x (on a A380 1x too) with Chase points back when Korean was still a partner.
Hyatt points being a chase partner is huge.
Also Ben, I'd really like to drop my Amex Plat for the Cap1VX. The 5x on flights is huge for me. In regards to the Cap1 travel portal, could you please expand on "On the flight front, in the event of schedule changes or wanting to cancel, it can be easier to do so if you book direct, especially in an era where airlines largely allow...
Hyatt points being a chase partner is huge.
Also Ben, I'd really like to drop my Amex Plat for the Cap1VX. The 5x on flights is huge for me. In regards to the Cap1 travel portal, could you please expand on "On the flight front, in the event of schedule changes or wanting to cancel, it can be easier to do so if you book direct, especially in an era where airlines largely allow free ticket changes"
A more detailed post on this would be much appreciated. Perhaps you could book a cheap AA flight on Cap1 and try to change/cancel the flight first-hand and report back?
Let’s keep it simple
1) As good as Venture X / Venture are, you still are only going to use it for unbonused spend. You need multipliers on dining, grocery, travel, other to really accumulate points quickly
2) For travel portal or PYB focused customers, CSR can still pencil, especially when paired with a Freedom Unlimited
3) But for the majority of customers, CSP has been a better option than CSR since the refreshes....
Let’s keep it simple
1) As good as Venture X / Venture are, you still are only going to use it for unbonused spend. You need multipliers on dining, grocery, travel, other to really accumulate points quickly
2) For travel portal or PYB focused customers, CSR can still pencil, especially when paired with a Freedom Unlimited
3) But for the majority of customers, CSP has been a better option than CSR since the refreshes. CSP gives you 3x dining, ability to transfer to Hyatt and United
4) For CapOne to really take it to the next level, add an exclusive high value transfer partner
@ Anthony -- Good analysis. Regarding your fourth point, that's an interesting one. The funny thing is that the only thing (in my opinion) giving Chase Ultimate Rewards any sort of an edge on transfer partners is World of Hyatt. If you took World of Hyatt out, I'd say Capital One's transfer partners are actually better. That does make me start to brainstorm about what partner Capital One could add to get that edge. I...
@ Anthony -- Good analysis. Regarding your fourth point, that's an interesting one. The funny thing is that the only thing (in my opinion) giving Chase Ultimate Rewards any sort of an edge on transfer partners is World of Hyatt. If you took World of Hyatt out, I'd say Capital One's transfer partners are actually better. That does make me start to brainstorm about what partner Capital One could add to get that edge. I doubt Alaska Mileage Plan is open to it, so what other programs are there really? Hmmm...
To me, Amex/Chase are still critical because of tight relationships high use, easy to understand US based partners (Delta, Hilton, Marriott, United, Hyatt, Southwest). Citi Thank You Points could get there if they actually added American, but I have de-emphasized TYP recently as I have a lot of American miles and have been focused on earning UR and MR (I’ve been burning hotel points recently).
All of the partners are tied up, so not sure...
To me, Amex/Chase are still critical because of tight relationships high use, easy to understand US based partners (Delta, Hilton, Marriott, United, Hyatt, Southwest). Citi Thank You Points could get there if they actually added American, but I have de-emphasized TYP recently as I have a lot of American miles and have been focused on earning UR and MR (I’ve been burning hotel points recently).
All of the partners are tied up, so not sure who CapOne could add that could make their program attractive. They already lost JetBlue. What they could do is add a bonus categories that earn more than 2x on spend, which is conspicuously absent here.
Amex has ANA and consistent transfer bonuses. This alone puts them on top for me still.
I'd like to see C1 add JAL and/or KAL as transfer partners. Chase dropping Korean was a blow. Hyatt is still a draw as I use it for expensive Park Hyatts. As a dark horse addition Lufthansa?
For the next six months, I’ll be sacrificing the extra point or two from other cards, and even paying fees to put some utilities and other bills on Venture X. For me at least, $10K in charges over 6 months is a bit of a stretch, and it’ll be worth some $10 fees to earn the $1000 in points.
Best way to meet the spend req is to pay tax using the card.
1) Do all authorized users get TSA/global entry on the venture?
2) You left out chase lounges which are arriving soon.
@ David -- The Global Entry and TSA Pre-Check credit is one per primary cardmember, so authorized users don't get an additional one. And I'll add a note to the post about Chase Lounges, but the reality is that there's not much concrete about them yet, and we also don't know what access requirements will look like. So all we can do is speculate as of now.
Card vs card I think Venture X wins:
2x on all > 3x travel 3x dining 1x everything else
All other benefits similar at 155 less AF, plies 10k anniversary bonus
CSR wins if you have a trifecta with you (CFF/CFU), for me especially because of CFU’s 1.5x on all + x1.5 redemption on Chase travel portal.
I also think I can use Chase’s travel partners easier than Cap1’s.
Either way, both are...
Card vs card I think Venture X wins:
2x on all > 3x travel 3x dining 1x everything else
All other benefits similar at 155 less AF, plies 10k anniversary bonus
CSR wins if you have a trifecta with you (CFF/CFU), for me especially because of CFU’s 1.5x on all + x1.5 redemption on Chase travel portal.
I also think I can use Chase’s travel partners easier than Cap1’s.
Either way, both are extremely good; I will have both and I think they can coexist. They are both superior to that other premium card which is a coupon book for overpriced brands.
Standalone the VX is better than the CSR. If you have the trifecta which you should otherwise it defeats the purpose of the CSR than its better than the VX.
Id like to see a writeup comparison on the VX vs the Platinum. Im not dropping my chase trifecta but id like to drop Platinum as im finally getting fatigued about all these frindge benefits that are rather worthless to me now. I pretty much...
Standalone the VX is better than the CSR. If you have the trifecta which you should otherwise it defeats the purpose of the CSR than its better than the VX.
Id like to see a writeup comparison on the VX vs the Platinum. Im not dropping my chase trifecta but id like to drop Platinum as im finally getting fatigued about all these frindge benefits that are rather worthless to me now. I pretty much only keep platinum for my local centurion lounge but my airport has a capital one lounge so probably a great time to drop the platinum or call them and see if they offer a big retention offer.
Did Capital One buy OMAAT? Just wondering since the blog became a Capital One Advertising Agency.
@ Santastico -- No, Capital One didn't but OMAAT, and I have no quota of posts I have to write (just to get out ahead of that as well). Rather I'm a) writing about the most interesting card launch we've seen in five years and b) answering a question several readers have asked (just go back and look at the comments from previous posts).
I totally understand this content won't interest everyone. That's fine, I...
@ Santastico -- No, Capital One didn't but OMAAT, and I have no quota of posts I have to write (just to get out ahead of that as well). Rather I'm a) writing about the most interesting card launch we've seen in five years and b) answering a question several readers have asked (just go back and look at the comments from previous posts).
I totally understand this content won't interest everyone. That's fine, I swear. This card launched three days ago, and it has been a slow news week otherwise, so I'm trying to provide as much useful info about this card as possible, while I have the time.
Props to you Ben, you handle the negativity much better than I would. That last part you mentioned with the CSP+Venture X is a great idea. CSR is definitely not worth $550 in its current state
I appreciate all the Capital One post and the level of detail provided. It is the biggest thing since the CSR rollout and as far as I'm concerned has changed the premium segment for the better. Amex Plat with its $695 fee literally went in the wrong direction. People that leverage the blog and then whine when the content provides no use for them are a special sort of ..........
Disregard the haters. CSR is a card that used to be great which frankly sucks except for churners and ultimate maximizers.
Venture and Altitude Reserve combo is basic and easy to use and more effective. Hate the rotating categories and games you have to play with Amex Platinum and chase.
I like easy and then I churn tons of cards.
It’s the biggest credit card since CSR in 2016, and it deserves the hype. I am hoping we are back to normal here next week but I like to see the breakdown of Venture X
@ Jan -- Thanks. And yep, of course things will be back to normal shortly. I'm trying to cover all the major details of the card, and that's the extent of it. There are only a few more topics to cover.
Please dont listen to the trolls. Anyone with half a brain can understand why their is a ton of capital one content this week. Most readers especially every day readers just want more content, more reviews and if we think something is overkill we simply dont read it but i think i speak for most people in that i would rather have more articles that i choose not to read than a lack of updates or things to click and read.
@Ben
Agree completely. Don't let the trolls get you down. Sad I didn't get approved, but it's all appropriate content. At least you're not blocking comments like some blogs...
Just rented!