Why We Decided To Open the CapitalOne Venture X Credit Card

Hello from Kansas City! While we are official residents of Alicante, Spain, now, we came home to KC for about seven weeks for my sister’s college graduation, a plethora of family birthdays, and to work on some wedding preparation stuff. During the first week at home, our car’s alternator died during the drive to Wichita for the aforementioned graduation, leaving us stranded on the side of the road for four hours. During the second week, our air conditioning/furnace died. As we stared down the $10,088 bill for replacement, we made a decision: to open a new credit card — specifically, the CapitalOne Venture X credit card.

This is not a sponsored post (though it does contain referral links) and if you’ve followed me for any length of time, you know this isn’t really a “credit card points and luxury travel” blog. In fact, I just took my first dive into the world of travel credit cards about two years ago, opting for the Chase Sapphire Preferred credit card, which has a fairly low annual fee of $95. However, Matt and I had been talking about opening a “premium” travel credit card at some point, and we also decided we wanted to change how we handle our joint finances, so it was finally the right time.

When To Open the CapitalOne Venture X credit card

Why was it the right time? Oh, because you get a 75,000 mile/point bonus when you spent $4,000 in the first three months after opening. I think you should get an extra bonus if you spend $10,088 in the first day. 🙃

Those 75,000 miles should be worth at least $750, and they could be worth even more if you transfer those miles to CapitalOne’s partners. Also, we ended up getting an extra 20,000 miles on the purchase of the new furnace itself — apparently “professional services” earn 2 miles per dollar spent.

If you’ve been thinking about opening the CapitalOne Venture X card, or any of those travel credit cards that have a bonus if you spend x amount in the first three months, I highly recommend waiting until you know you have a big purchase coming up. Otherwise, look at your monthly average spending and ensure you would be able to hit the amount needed for the bonus. The rewards you get are often more than the annual fee for the credit card itself.

What Is the CapitalOne Venture X credit card’s annual fee?

Speaking of the annual fee, the Venture X’s annual fee is $395. It sounds like a lot, and it was enough to make us decide to initially choose a credit card with a lower annual fee as we waded into the world of travel credit cards. However, the CapitalOne Venture X credit card’s annual fee quite literally pays for itself.

Here’s how: First, you get an annual $300 in travel credit for trips you book through the CapitalOne travel portal. When booking travel through their portal, you’ll have the option to use the travel credit at checkout. You can either use it all in one transaction, or split it up between multiple purchases, until it’s used up.

Second, you get a 10,000 mile bonus each year on your card-opening anniversary. Which translates to about $100 for travel. So that’s how the card pays for itself. You spend $395, you get $400.

But wait, there’s more!

You can also receive an additional $100 credit that goes toward the fee for Global Entry and/or TSA Precheck. Matt and I have been using TSA Precheck since our traveling tech consultant days, and we invested in Global Entry a few years ago. (Totally worth it when you travel internationally as much as we do.)

TSA Precheck is $85 every five years, and Precheck + Global Entry is $100 every five years. While I have Precheck and GE until 2026, it’s great to know that the Venture X card will reimburse me for the cost next time.

(Also, don’t forget that if you get the 75,000 miles opening bonus, that’s another $750.)

Does the Venture X card offer airport lounge access?

Matt and I decided to only open one credit card account, with me as the primary account holder, and him as an authorized user. Which means we only have to pay one annual fee, but a lot of the benefits will be for both of us. For example… Priority Pass Lounge Access!

Airport lounge access is a perk that both of us have been wanting for a while. Back when we were consultants, we had a Diner’s Club credit card for work that we could use to get into some airports lounges, but in the years since, we’ve had to tough it out with the general public while paying $15 for a Caesar salad.

But now, with at least two round-trip flights between the U.S. and Spain per year, we decided it was time to get lounge access. Technically, it’s for me and two guests, so if we ever have a friend traveling with us, they can come in the lounge, too.

Other Benefits of the CapitalOne Venture X credit card

Besides the airport lounge perk, here are some of the other benefits we’re excited about with the Venture X card:

No Foreign Transaction Fees

Living in Spain, this was a non-negotiable for us because we try to pay for everything with a credit card, if we can.

Cell Phone Protection

When you pay your phone bill with your Venture X card, apparently you get reimbursed up to $800 if your phone gets stolen or damaged. That’s something I haven’t really seen from other credit cards.

Double Miles on Every Purchase, and More on Travel

For every dollar you spend, you’ll get at least 2x miles. And if you book travel through the CapitalOne portal, you’ll get 5x miles on flights and 10x miles on hotels and rental cars.

Miles Never Expire

With some rewards programs, you have to use your points or miles before a certain date — or else you lose them. Luckily, that isn’t the case with the Venture X card.

Hertz Rental Cars President’s Circle Status

I used to get to rent with Hertz for my old job, and with status, you could skip all the hoops of going to the counter and picking up your keys. It was so fast and easy. But as a regular person without status for the last few years, especially on road trips in Europe, the car rental process can be soooo long. With the Venture X card, you automatically get President’s Circle Status, which means you can skip the rental car counter and even be eligible for upgrades!

Rental Car Protection

When you book your rental car with your Venture X card, you’ll automatically receive some of the best rental car insurance available. Don’t let the rental car attendants scare you — just decline the collision damage waiver (CDW) and loss damage waiver (LDW) and your credit card will do the rest.

Here’s the full list of CapitalOne Venture X card benefits.

About the CapitalOne Travel Portal

Having used the Chase Travel Portal for the past couple of years, my first impression of the CapitalOne travel portal is that it’s better. (Though Chase is starting to make some good changes, it’s not as user-friendly as it could be.)

Here’s what it looks like when you first go to the travel portal page. You can select from flights, hotels, rental cars, and premium stays.

For this example, let’s say I wanted to look at hotels for us in Barcelona for the few days after our wedding. I really liked that, when I pulled up the date selector, it showed me a calendar with whether prices were lowest, low, medium, or high.

Then, when I searched, there were a variety of filters and options for me to choose from.

When I went through to the booking page, you’ll see that it is giving me the option to apply my $300 travel credit — as much or as little of it as I want. I could also choose to use however many points I wanted, to potentially reduce the overall cost.

And finally, at the bottom, I noticed something interesting: “2 trees will be planted for this booking!” When I clicked on the information icon, here’s what it said: “Tree Planting Efforts: Capital One, together with its partners, will donate to GlobalGiving’s fund for EarthLungs’ Reforestation Project enough to plant two (2) trees, $0.25, for every completed flight, hotel booking, car rental, or vacation rental booking made through Capital One Travel.”

It’s not much, but it’s something.

A Note About Smart Credit Card Usage

Everything that I’ve mentioned above, all the benefits you stand to gain from using the CapitalOne Venture X — this all only applies if credit cards are going to be a positive force in your life.

Credit cards can be a tricky subject. I feel like millennials have been extensively warned against them, and with good reason… for the most part. Misuse of credit cards can definitely put you in a terrible financial position. But when you use them responsibly — ideally paying them off in full each month — they can be a great tool.

If you’re thinking about opening a new credit card, no matter what type, please keep your financial situation and habits in mind. You know what makes traveling a lot more difficult? Being in crippling credit card debt. And I say, always make the choices that allow you to travel as much as possible!

 

Have you ever used travel credit cards? If so, which are your favorites? Let me know in the comments.

(Also, if you happen to sign up for the CapitalOne Venture X with my referral link, I’ll love you forever. Even more than I already do. 😘)

-Cathy

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