Link: Apply now for the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card
In late 2021 we saw the introduction of the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card, which is Capital One’s ultra-premium credit card. This card builds on the basics of the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card (review), which has long been Capital One’s flagship travel credit card.
Understandably, a lot of Capital One Venture cardmembers have been trying to make sense of the Capital One Venture X — which card is better, are you eligible for the Venture X if you have the Venture, etc.? I wanted to specifically address that topic in this post.
In this post:
Why the Venture X is better than the Venture
I’d argue that under almost all circumstances, the Capital One Venture X is a more compelling card than the Capital One Venture. Let’s start with the main things that the cards have in common:
- They both offer 2x Venture miles per dollar spent with no foreign transaction fees, making these the best cards for everyday spending
- They both offer a TSA PreCheck or Global Entry fee credit once every four years
Why do I think the Venture X is such a no-brainer over the Venture? The card’s annual fee is $300 higher ($395 vs. $95), but for that you’re getting:
- A welcome bonus of 75,000 Venture miles after spending $4,000 within three months. Currently, the bonuses match with Venture and Venture X.
- A $300 credit valid through Capital One Travel every cardmember year, which you can apply toward flights, hotels, and rental cars
- 10,000 Venture bonus miles on your account anniversary every year, which you can transfer to Capital One’s airline and hotel partners, or can be redeemed for one cent each toward a travel purchase
- A Priority Pass membership plus Capital One Lounge access (the DFW lounge is amazing); these benefits apply not only to the primary cardmembers, but also to up to four authorized users, which you can add to your card at no cost
- Hertz President’s Circle status, which will score you upgrades and more when renting with Hertz
- A variety of protection benefits on account of this being a Visa Infinite Card, including cell phone protection
- 10x miles on hotel and rental car purchases through Capital One Travel, and 5x miles on flight purchases through Capital One Travel
The math simply works out very favorably here. For the Venture X you’re paying an extra $300 per year over the Venture, and the $300 Capital One Travel credit should cover that. Then you’re receiving endless incremental perks, like the anniversary bonus miles, lounge access for you and up to four authorized users, and so much more.
How should you acquire the Venture X if you have the Venture?
Say you have the Capital One Venture, and you decide that you want to pick up the Capital One Venture X. What’s the best way to go about it? You have two options — you can either apply outright, or you can potentially upgrade your card. Let’s go over the details, as well as the pros and cons, of each of these options.
Apply outright for the Venture X and receive the bonus
Even if you have the Capital One Venture, you can still apply for the Capital One Venture X, and be eligible for the welcome bonus. This is no doubt the most lucrative path to getting the card:
- You’d be eligible for the welcome bonus of 75,000 Venture miles after spending $4,000 within the first three months
- You don’t have to pick up the phone, as you can apply for the card directly online
- The downside to this method is that this would be like any other credit card application, so your credit would be pulled, and you’d have to be approved for the card; that being said, there are lots of reports of instant approvals on the card, and you may even end up with a significantly higher credit line than you have on the Venture
Product change & upgrade to the Venture X
Most credit card issuers will let you product change between cards in the same “family,” assuming you’ve had a card for at least 12 months (generally, product changing isn’t possible within the first year). This will be an option for many but generally isn’t as lucrative:
- You don’t receive the welcome bonus if you product change or upgrade from the Venture to the Venture X
- Some cardmembers may be targeted for an upgrade offer if upgrading from the Venture to the Venture X; however, this is targeted (so check your email or online account), and for that matter, the bonus won’t be nearly as good as the bonus for new cardmembers
- The benefit of this option is that there’s generally no credit pull when product changing (though you’ll want to officially verify when you make the request, based on your situation); so this could be useful if you don’t think you’d be approved, or if you’re trying to stay under Chase’s 5/24 limit
The strategy I’d take for acquiring the Venture X
If it were me, I’d try to apply outright for the Capital One Venture X, given the solid welcome bonus being offered. Unless you have a specific reason that this would be problematic, that seems like the best bet. Personally I value Capital One miles at 1.7 cents each, so that welcome bonus is worth around $1,275 to me, which is excellent.
So I would apply outright, even if I had the Venture Card. However, in the event that you get denied or have issues with approval, you can always later try to product change from the Venture to the Venture X. Even if you get rejected for the application, that shouldn’t impact your odds of being able to product change to the card in the future.
Bottom line
The Capital One Venture X is incredibly lucrative. In my opinion, it’s a no-brainer to get this card over the Capital One Venture. While the annual fee is $300 higher, there are so many incremental perks that should prove worthwhile for anyone who travels with any frequency.
For those who already have the Venture, there are a couple of ways you could acquire the Venture X. You could apply outright, which is what I would do since you’re eligible for the massive bonus on the card. Alternatively, you may also be able to product change. The catch is that you won’t be eligible for the full bonus — you may be targeted for an upgrade offer, but it won’t be nearly as big.
If you have the Capital One Venture, are you getting the Capital One Venture X? If so, what approach are you taking?
My wife got the Venture the month before the VentureX came out. I got the VentureX when it came out. Can anyone give a reason why We should not cancel her Venture after one year and just add her as authorized user on VentureX?
Sharing my wife’s and my experience applying for this card in case anyone can offer insight. We both always have had credit scores of around 820, good income, utilization consistently under 1%, no issues, no debt for the last five years, and have never been denied credit. We also have joint savings and checking accounts with Cap One, and I’ve held the Venture card for 2.5 years. But the same thing happened to each of...
Sharing my wife’s and my experience applying for this card in case anyone can offer insight. We both always have had credit scores of around 820, good income, utilization consistently under 1%, no issues, no debt for the last five years, and have never been denied credit. We also have joint savings and checking accounts with Cap One, and I’ve held the Venture card for 2.5 years. But the same thing happened to each of when we applied: They requested ID documentation including copies of our social security cards. No one, anywhere has ever before requested this and we haven’t even seen our cards in 30 years or so. Everything I’ve read (including the SSA website) says not to give the card to anyone bc your number alone suffices. I called and they wouldn’t budge from this requirement and couldn’t say why they needed it.
Is this unreasonable request a way to deter qualified applicants or part of a new trend? We told them to withdraw our applications. Kind of a shame because we really wanted the X for the benefits and points (and because they pulled credit reports from all three bureaus). Thoughts?
“A welcome bonus of 100,000 Venture miles plus a $200 vacation rental credit upon completing minimum spending”
The $200 credit can be had without first meeting the $10k spend
I was denied for the Venture X multiple times, so I figured I was somehow flagged in Capital One's system and would likely never get approved for an outright application (only have one Capital One card). However, today I called and was able to upgrade my Venture to Venture X. Even without the SUB, I felt it was worth upgrading.
If you apply for Venture X outright, get it, then cancel your Venture card right away, do you lose your (old) Venture points? It seems like the answer is that you would keep them. I'm asking because I want the signup bonus, but my (old) Venture annual fee is coming up late next month; I would like to avoid that so I don't have to pay two annual fees back to back for essentially one card, while keeping all my accrued miles
@ Don -- You can transfer Venture miles between accounts. You can read more about that process in this post:
https://onemileatatime.com/guides/transfer-combine-share-capital-one-miles/
Let me know if you have any other questions!
I was in the same situation, so I called & asked for a fee waiver on my Venture which they did.
Does anyone know if points are transferable from venture to X?
@ rolph -- Yep, they sure are! You can read more about that here:
https://onemileatatime.com/guides/transfer-combine-share-capital-one-miles/
I have the Venture and still applied for, and received, the Venture X. Planned on product changing my old Venture to the no annual fee SavorOne, but today was told by 2 CRS's that it isn't possible to product change to any of the Savor. Any one else able to?
@ classcair -- There seem to be mixed reports on product changing between Venture and Savor cards. The only thing that seems to consistently be possible is product changing within the Venture or Savor families (assuming you've had a card for 12 months), but not between them. I'm curious if any other readers have had luck product changing between Venture and Savor cards recently.
@Ben- thanks. Have had the old Venture for 2 years. Offered to product change to another Venture or Quicksilver. Opted the no annual fee Venture One since I already have Quicksilver in the sock drawer. (Asked to product change that to Savor as well, but not an option)
Funny thing even though capital one has a partnership with Hertz when I tried booking a rental car at LAX through the portal no can-do,
Was approved immediately last week with a huge credit line. Already have my card and am spending on it.
For those that can’t spend $10k on the signup bonus I would wait it out to see if the venture x card drops the high spend requirement
I got the Venture X, then cancelled the Venture card. Thinking about getting the no AF Savor card next to allow for better points earning rates.
This was helpful, I'm going to do the same thing so I don't have to pay my venture annual fee next month
Slightly off topic but I paid rent with V X and got the $200 "vacation rental" credit.
On topic, 100k bonus and said $200 credit is too good to pass up. Even if I had a Venture I would still try to apply for a V X and cancel the former some time later.
Which platform do you use to pay rent? Thanks