Capital One Venture X Rewards Card - worth it?

[J.P. MoreGains]

Hello all - new to the travel miles credit card game and want to know what people think about my scenario.

I have had a Capital One Walmart Card but that is being cancelled and will no longer be available. I have liked this because I buy a lot at walmart and get 5% back on orders I make on the app plus other rewards.

With this being cancelled I have been looking for another option. My overall cost of living is really low and I'm on the frugal side... but I tend to travel fairly frequently and that is a big cost for me.

I chose the Capital One Venture X Rewards Card for the following reasons and I want to hear what people think about my decision.

- I just made a $1000 purchase for consulting to gain dual citizenship in the EU, this is a big purchase so I decided to put it on the card to get to $4000 spent in first 3 months to get the 75,000 bonus miles worth $750. I'll buy a flight and other purchases so I think I'll get to the 4k mark in time.

- 5% on flights, 10% on hotels through capital one - I think this is a good way to earn miles. 2% on everything else which will add up also

- $300 annual Capital One Travel Credit and 10,000 annual miles worth $100 I think this just basically negates the annual $395 fee

Overall

I feel like I had to make a quick call on a card. I'm bummed walmart card is going away but I think this is a good option for me.

My big reservation is the annual fee since I've never had a credit card with a fee. But given the benefits I feel like it ends up being more or less "free" if I use the miles and benefits.

I think I like that I can use this card and gain miles and use on different airlines and for different trips so it's flexible. I liked this more than the option of getting a card from a specific airline. So I think I like the flexibility.

I also think that this could have a decent impact on saving money on trips through earning miles. This could help me save a bunch since travel is my one big expense in year.

Questions

- Do you think the fee is too much and not worth it?

- If it's too much I can always cancel before year two and get all the benefits for year one right?

- Anyone have this card or a similar card and is it worth it?

Other issue for discussion

I've often thought recently that I should just give up on travel for the short term so I can travel more extensively when I'm FI. I look at my expenses and dropping 2k for a week long trip is really expensive. In the past I would go live in another country or travel for months and that ends up being cheaper per day since the big cost is the flight and fitting everything into a week.

Although travel is something I love I've thought about maybe next year taking a closer look at this and maybe postponing international travel until I'm closer to FI. This would let me focus more on work and I can have a lot of outdoorsy fun near where I live in the mountains doing hiking, skiing, etc.

In that case I could always cancel this card. But it's on my mind.

So just wondering what people think about travel cards and this topic.

[VanillaGorilla]

We have two Venture X cards, they're a good deal if you can meet the minimum spend and use the travel credit. You are correct, the high fee is offset by the travel credit, so as long as you use that, it's a good deal.

Lazy credit card churning is pretty simple: get a card, earn the bonus, cancel, get another card, etc.

I focus less on the 'rewards' - the signup bonuses are really the only thing that matters. It's trivial to get 1-2% back on a variety of cards, so it's hard to go wrong.

Chase has a bunch of good signup bonuses too, you can read the "churning" subreddit for some ideas. A lot of the OG FI bloggers have card recommendations/referrals too, I first found the Venture X card from Root of Good. Just set up autopay so you can't forget to pay off your balance.

[Dancin'Dog]

Venture X also includes a Priority Pass membership which gives you, and up to two guests, free access to airport lounges.  The food and beverages, including alcoholic, are free and unlimited.  It's a real treat compared to paying for expensive airport food. 


You can use the lounges at the departing airport before boarding, and at layovers, but not when you arrive at the destination airport since you'll be separated from the lounges by the security checkpoint.  Instead of dreading long layovers, you'll enjoy a few hours between flights. 

[seattlecyclone]

I had one of those cards to get the sign-up bonus which was quite lucrative at the time. The bonuses have a lot of overlap with the Chase Sapphire Reserve that I also have, and it didn't make sense to keep both in the long run. I like the Chase Sapphire Reserve because it has not only the travel benefits but also increases the value of the points I get from other Chase cards.

[J.P. MoreGains]

We have two Venture X cards, they're a good deal if you can meet the minimum spend and use the travel credit. You are correct, the high fee is offset by the travel credit, so as long as you use that, it's a good deal.

Lazy credit card churning is pretty simple: get a card, earn the bonus, cancel, get another card, etc.

I focus less on the 'rewards' - the signup bonuses are really the only thing that matters. It's trivial to get 1-2% back on a variety of cards, so it's hard to go wrong.

Good to know you like this card... and yes the $750 bonus is a big incentive. I've timed it right so I should be able to hit that 4k spend in the timeframe.

Like you say, the churning would be a good option to get the big bonus. Maybe I'll think about that in the future.

[J.P. MoreGains]

Venture X also includes a Priority Pass membership which gives you, and up to two guests, free access to airport lounges.  The food and beverages, including alcoholic, are free and unlimited.  It's a real treat compared to paying for expensive airport food. 

I saw this listed as a benefit but I didn't know about the free food! That's amazing... I've been known to bring food on long international flights so I have something to eat in some airport halfway across the world.

I also saw that Denver is one of the cities with a "Capital One" lounge so maybe that one is extra special. I saw only 3 in the US.

[J.P. MoreGains]

Thanks for the replies - feel good about my decision.

[Dancin'Dog]

Venture X also includes a Priority Pass membership which gives you, and up to two guests, free access to airport lounges.  The food and beverages, including alcoholic, are free and unlimited.  It's a real treat compared to paying for expensive airport food. 

I saw this listed as a benefit but I didn't know about the free food! That's amazing... I've been known to bring food on long international flights so I have something to eat in some airport halfway across the world.

I also saw that Denver is one of the cities with a "Capital One" lounge so maybe that one is extra special. I saw only 3 in the US.

The lounge in Munich also had showers available.  I just checked online to see if I'd forgotten anything else and noticed that the normal entry fee is 54 euros.  There was self-pour liquor right by the other beverages, and also a bar if you needed something fancier. 


I haven't been to one of the Capital One lounges yet.  I wonder if they might get crowded since Capital One is so popular in the US?  It probably depends on the time & the day that you're there. 


I don't know if some lounges are open 24 hours, but the ones I've been to are open from 5 am to 10 pm.  I think there was a 3-hour time limit per visit. 


Venture X benefit is they will reimburse you for a Global Entry card.  That allows you to skip the long line at security.  It costs $100 and is valid for 10 years.  (That frees up more time for the free food & drinks in the lounge.)

[J.P. MoreGains]

Wow a shower would be amazing. I would definitley do that.

Also think I'll do global entry. I would prefer that over the precheck anyway.

[Fomerly known as something]

Was just at the lounge in Denver for the first time on Friday.  They were at capacity so they take your name and a cell to text.  It was about a 5 minute wait after that to get in.  Food was good.  It was AM so I was more interested in coffee than other drinks.

[sonofsven]

If you want a lot of points in a hurry, this Chase card is offering 120,000 for $8k spend.
https://www.doctorofcredit.com/chase-ink-preferred-120000-points-offer-with-8000-spend-requirement-branch-only-until-july-3rd/

If you can't make that much spend, you can open some bank accounts and use the card for your opening deposit, some banks have very large inital deposit availability.
I just met $6500 of the required $7500 spend on a US Bank card (for a $900 SUB) by doing this.
I'm planning on referring my partner for this card from my Ink Cash card, and I'll get 40k points for the referral. Then they'll refer me for the Ink Preferred for a $40k referral bonus for them.
So 320,000 points for the two of us, if it all works.

[J.P. MoreGains]

Yeah I definitely want to try out the Denver lounge. 120,000 miles is a ton of miles!

[LifeHappens]

The Venture X is my current premium travel card. I have kept it for 4 years now because I think I get plenty of value for the fee. The $300 travel credit + annual bonus points basically negates the fee.

I've been to the Capitol One lounge in Dallas and it was pretty sweet. I wouldn't keep a card just for lounge access, but if you have the chance to use it, definitely worth doing.