The good news is that most existing cardmembers seem to be spared, at least for now…
Venture X Business cuts some Priority Pass access
The Capital One Venture X Business (review) is a popular small business premium travel rewards card, which launched in 2023. While the card has a $395 annual fee, there are so many reasons to get this card, from the excellent welcome bonus, to ongoing perks like a $300 annual travel credit, 10,000 anniversary bonus miles, and much more.
The Capital One Venture X Business also offers valuable lounge access, including a Priority Pass™ membership valid at participating lounges and access to Capital One Lounge and Landing locations. It appears that effective immediately, an aspect of the card’s Priority Pass™ membership has changed — newly issued Capital One Venture X Business cards are no longer offering credits or experiences at Priority Pass’ non-lounge airport locations, including Priority Pass restaurants, spa discounts, and more.
Interestingly this doesn’t yet apply to most existing cardmembers, as flagged by MilesTalk. It appears that what’s going on here is that in April 2024, the card switched from being a Mastercard to being a Visa. Along with that transition, the Priority Pass restaurant benefit has changed, as these perks are often associated with what type of a Mastercard or Visa a particular product is.
The good news is that for existing cardmembers who had the card issued as a Mastercard, the Priority Pass benefit remains unchanged. We’ll see for how long that lasts, and if the card is eventually transitioned over from a Mastercard to a Visa.
My take on this Capital One Venture X Business perk change
It goes without saying that this is a negative change, and I’m sad to see this. At this point we’ve seen most of the popular cards that are now open to applicants lose credits at Priority Pass restaurants.
This is an area where American Express Platinum Card® (review) was first. Then the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card (review) made a similar change as of 2023, and in July 2024, the Chase Sapphire Reserve® Card (review) lost Priority Pass restaurant credits.
A couple of thoughts. First of all, the lack of any formal announcement here is frustrating on the surface. I think the thing to keep in mind is that publicly, Capital One never promised Priority Pass restaurant credits on the card, but it’s only unofficially that we’ve known that this has been possible. Furthermore, for existing cardmembers, this benefit remains in place, at least for now.
Unfortunately we’ve now seen restaurants go from being a standard inclusion with a Priority Pass™ membership, to being something uncommon. So Capital One is just following the industry trend here, sadly.
While this is of course disappointing, to me it doesn’t fundamentally change the value proposition of the Capital One Venture X Business. The way I view it, the card’s $395 annual fee is still more than covered by the $300 annual Capital One Travel credit plus the 10,000 anniversary bonus miles. Everything else is the icing on the cake, and this remains a compelling business card.
Bottom line
The Capital One Venture X Business seems to have quietly cut Priority Pass restaurant credits for new cardmembers. The timing of this seems to coincide with the card transitioning from a Mastercard to a Visa in recent weeks. Fortunately at least for the time being, those who had the card issued as a Mastercard haven’t seen a change to their benefits.
What do you make of this Capital One Venture X Business card benefit change?
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