Capital One VentureOne vs. Venture vs. Venture X—Don’t Make My Mistake!

Disclaimer: the author is not paid or sponsored by Capital One in any way—I write these just to help others learn more about credit cards!

Capital One VentureOne vs. Venture vs. Venture X: Which is Best?

Capital One offers three main travel rewards credit cards in the Venture series: the VentureOne, the Venture, and the Venture X. All three cards offer generous rewards on a variety of purchases and carry no foreign transaction fees (making them good for travel), but they have different annual fees and benefits. Given that it doesn’t make much sense to have multiple of these cards (as we’ll discuss later), let’s see which card in the Venture series is right for you!

First, let’s start with a summary of each of the three cards:

Capital One VentureRewards

The Capital One VentureRewards Credit Card is by far the most basic of the three cards. With the VentureRewards, you’re not getting much back, returning only get 1.25 miles per dollar spent on all purchases plus 5 miles per dollar on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel. While this flexibility is nice and there’s no annual fee, there are better general spend cards out there that also don’t have an annual fee (check out the Chase Freedom Unlimited). Surprisingly, the sign-on bonus is actually pretty decent for this card, giving 40k Capital One points after spending $1000 in the first 3 months. The other plus to the VentureOne is that they have multiple versions for a range of credit scores, meaning that this card can be a good introduction to the Capital One system even if you don’t have the best credit.

Capital One Venture

The Capital One Venture is the mid-tier card in the Venture set. It has a $95 annual fee, but offers an improved 2 miles per dollar spent on all purchases, plus 5 miles per dollar on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel. The Venture card comes with all of the same benefits as the VentureOne Credit Card, plus a few additional perks, such as 2 free lounge visits per year, a Global Entry/TSA Pre-check credit, and automatic Hertz 5-star status. The Venture also has a bigger sign-on bonus than the VentureOne, giving 75k points after spending $4000 in the first 3 months. Plus, the card is metal (for the card purists of you out there).

Capital One Venture X

The Capital One Venture X is the flagship premium travel rewards card from Capital One. It has a much bigger $395 annual fee and offers the same 2 miles per dollar spent on all purchases as the Venture. Interestingly, it also has the same sign-on bonus as the Venture, netting 75k points after spending $4000 in the first 3 months. However, there are some key differences: first, you earn unlimited 10X miles on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel and 5X miles on flights booked through Capital One Travel. The Venture X card comes with all of the same benefits as the Venture card, plus a $300 annual travel credit (for travel booked through the Capital One travel portal), complimentary access to Priority Pass lounges, a $100 Global Entry or TSA PreCheck application fee credit, and a Capital One Lounge membership for you and up to two guests. IF you use the $300 travel credit, the annual fee nets to $95 at most (the same as the Venture)!

So, which card is right for you? VentureOne vs. Venture vs. Venture X

Now that we have the breakdown of the cards out of the way, here is which card you should get depending on your background:

• Capital One VentureOne Credit Card: Given that there are better no-annual-fee cards out there, realistically the ONLY reason to get this card is if you have a lower credit score and want to break into the Capital One points system.

• Capital One Venture: While this card may seem like an attractive middle option, with the Venture X’s travel credit reducing the annual fee to the same as the Venture, it drastically reduces the attractiveness of this card. Bottom line, the only reasons for you to get the Venture over the Venture X are if you:

  • Refuse to use travel portals to book travel

  • Don’t travel (and if this is true, why are you getting a travel card in the first place?)

  In every other case, the Venture X is going to give you more value.

• Capital One Venture X: If you can’t already tell, I think this card is an amazing option for anyone who wants to earn Capital One miles. While the $395 annual fee is the highest of the three cards, the travel credit and sign-on bonus mean that almost everyone will come out ahead. While Capital One doesn’t have the best transfer partners of the banks out there, there are still many great ways to get value out of their points (such as 1:1 point-to-cent travel redemptions).

On a personal note, as someone who used to hate travel portals, I made the mistake of getting the Venture over the Venture X and I regret it. For most people, the Venture X is one of the best travel credit cards on the market.

Make sure to also check out our comparison of the Venture X vs. the Bilt Rewards card! And if you’re interested in hotel cards, make sure to check out our review of the World of Hyatt credit card!