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Capital One Venture X vs American Express Platinum

I recently named the Capital One Venture X the best premium card for most people. To be clear, I’m specifically talking about deluxe, ultra, up-scale, high-end premium cards that come with high annual fees and a bevy of benefits.

This excludes cards like the Chase Sapphire Preferred, Citi Thank You Premier, and American Express Gold card which I would consider entry level or mid-tier premium cards – all of which are excellent choices at their given price points.

I did a break down on the Capital One Venture X vs The Chase Sapphire Reserve and gave the Venture X a clear victory. Now, it’s time to do a head to head with the American Express Platinum Card.

If you want a long story short… I still think the Capital One Venture X is the best premium card for most people, but if you want the prestige an Amex Platinum carries, you qualify for the current incredible offers, and could make use of the litany of credits… it makes sense as well.

Capital One Venture X

American Express Platinum

Current Welcome Offers and Annual Fee

Both cards have a high annual fee, but the Capital One Venture X is the cheapest ultra premium card on the market. It rings in at $395 a year vs the $695 that American Express Platinum charges. It gets a little trickier when you take into account the welcome offers since both are offering in excess of 100k points, but Amex Platinum has a mega accelerator attached to restaurants worldwide and shop small for 6 months.

Personally, I think the Amex Platinum offer is just too good to be true and opens up the door to earn between 350k and 500k if you were to maximize the deal. How on earth do you compete with that? Even with a $695 fee that is some monster earning potential.

Capital One Venture X	American Express Platinum
100k Miles after $10k spend in 6 months	100k to 125k after $6k spend in 6 months
$200 Vacation Rental Credit ( Airbnb/VRBO )	10x to 15x on restaurants worldwide + shop small, capped at $25k, for 6 months
$395	$695 (Rates and Fees)

Earn Rates

Capital One makes it very straight forward again… get unlimited 2x on every dollar you spend. If you want to buy travel within their portal, you’ll get a hefty bonus for doing so, otherwise, you’ll get 2x.

The American Express Platinum card gets 1x per dollar on every single purchase you make. If you purchase a flight directly form the airline or within Amex Travel you’ll get 5x.

It should be noted that often times purchasing travel originating from portals don’t permit the ability to earn elite nights, credits, miles, etc that help you gain airline or hotel status.

I’d go with Cap1 as the victor here

Capital One Venture X	American Express Platinum
2x on every single purchase without limit	1x on everything
Purchases in the Capital One Travel Portal 10x on hotels and car rentals 5x on flights	5x on airfare booked directly with the airline or Amex Travel

Annual Credits 

This is a category in which things get far trickier and personal in terms of distinguishing a winner.

The Capital One Venture X Is a straight forward card that is clear and simple. Each year you get a $300 travel credit in the Capital One travel portal and every year you keep the card you get 10k miles, worth minimum $100, on your anniversary. That means, if you spend more than $400 a year on travel, you’ll get the Capital One Venture X free of charge.

The American Express Platinum comes with a bevy of statement credits that someone like me is willing to take advantage of, but I question as to whether most people will be able to extract face value for most of credits to offset the $695 annual fee.(Rates and Fees) Another thing to consider with the Amex Platinum is that most of the credits require you to enroll, a split month to month or semi-annual, and add complexity to their redemption.

Amex isn’t as straight forward, but if you’re like me, could end up giving you more back than you’d spend on the fee…if you max the credits. For most people, I think Cap1 is much easier to see a path towards cash positive

Capital One Venture X	American Express Platinum
$300 Annual Travel Credit within the Capital One Travel Portal	$200 Hotel credit You must pre-book via Amex FHR or The Hotel Collection via Amex Travel
10k bonus miles after each anniversary Worth $100 within Capital One Travel or can be transferred out to partners	$200 Uber Cash yearly credit  (enrollment required ) $15 a month towards Uber, $35 in December, must link your account
$100 TSA PreCheck or Global Entry credit	$200 airline incidental credit (enrollment required )
	$179 Clear credit (enrollment required )
	$300 Equinox credit (enrollment required ) $25 per month when you pay your dues with an Amex Platinum
	$240 Digital Entertainment Credit (enrollment required Get up to $20 per month at Peacock, The New York Times, Audible, or Sirius XM
	$100 global entry or $85 TSA Pre credit (enrollment required )
	$12.95 + tax / month Walmart+ membership Walmart+ members receive unlimited free shipping with no order minimum on items shipped by Walmart.com, free delivery from stores, as well as mobile and contactless check-out to make shopping faster.
	$25 Soul Cycle monthly credit Platinum Card Members will receive a $300 statement credit every time they purchase a SoulCycle At-Home Bike, up to 15x per calendar year. An Equinox+ membership is required to purchase a SoulCycle at-home bike and access SoulCycle content. Must charge full price of bike in one transaction. Shipping available in the contiguous U.S. only. This stacks on top of the $25/month Equinox+ statement credit.

Using Points via Transfer Partners + Portal

Capital One offers two ways to using your points on travel

• Travel Eraser
  • Any charge you have on your card that categorizes as travel can be wiped off your bill at a penny a point
• Capital One Travel Portal
  • Redeem your points at a penny a point here as well – the rates may be more advantageous than using the eraser feature

American Express allows redemptions via Amex Travel

• Rates range from under a penny a point, to sometimes more if you’re redeeming on your airline of choice

Both programs offer transferrable points

This is really where I’d recommend using your points.

• Capital One Venture X rings in 17 transfer partners of which 15 are 1:1
• Amex rings in 21 transfer partners of which 20 are 1:1 and only JetBlue is 5:4.
• Read the Best Uses of Capital One Miles here
• Read the Best Uses of American Express Membership Rewards here

Either program opens to door to an incredible list of transfer partners. If you’re keen on finding out what the best uses of either programs points are – I’d recommend reading out best of guides linked above.

The biggest difference comes from Amex having Marriott, Hilton, and Delta as partners. For the average person this may open up an easier route for redemption; however, these programs offer some of the worse valuations for points. The ideal redemption is to save up and throw them at an international trip in business or first class. Either program provides a great list of partners to find award space on across multiple programs.

 

Capital One Venture X	American Express Platinum
Aeromexico Club Premier	AeroMexico
Air Canada Aeroplan	Aer Lingus AerClub
Avianca LifeMiles	Air Canada Aeroplan
Air France Flying Blue	Air France KLM Flying Blue
British Airways Executive Club	Alitalia MileMiglia
Cathay Pacific Asia Miles	ANA
Choice Privileges	Avianca LifeMiles
Etihad Guest	British Airways Executive Club
Emirates	Cathay Pacific Asia Miles

Finnair Plus	Delta SkyMiles
Qantas Frequent Flyer	Emirates Skywards
Singapore Airlines	Etihad Guest
TAP Air Portugal Miles&Go	Hawaiian Airlines
Turkish Airlines Miles and Smiles	Iberia Plus
Wyndham Rewards	JetBlue TrueBlue
Accor transfer 2:1	Qantas Frequent Flyer
EVA transfers 2:1.5	Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer
	Virgin Atlantic Flying Club
	Choice Privilege

	Marriott Bonvoy
	Hilton Honors

Lounge Access

Both the Capital One Venture X and American Express Platinum card come with access to their own branded lounges and Priority Pass Select memberships. There are some big differences so let’s dig in.

Capital One just dropped their very first lounge in Dallas and plan on expanding two more lounges in Denver and D.C. ( IAD ) next year. Everyone has raved at how nice it is and even has food to go. The Capital One Venture X has access for 2 guests, and if you add authorized users, they’ll gain access as well. The Venture X also comes with a Priority Pass membership that grants full restaurant benefits that equate to $28 in food and beverage for the cardholder and 2 guests.

American Express set the bar when they created Centurion Lounges. The program has built out to over 40 lounges, but they were too good to be true, quickly became crowded, and the food/drink quality was downgraded. Starting in Feb of 2023, Amex will only permit the cardholder to enter the lounge and any guest with be charged $50 – one caveat is if you spend $75k a year, you’ll be able to bring in 2 guests.

Amex comes with a Priority Pass membership as well that includes 2 guest access, but its limited to the lounges only. They stripped the restaurant access a couple years ago. One thing to also consider, and I recently used was the Delta Lounge access Amex Plat cardholders get when they’re flying Delta. If you’re based in a Delta hub this could be quit valuable to you.

Capital One Venture X	American Express Platinum
Capital One Lounge Access 1 location currently and 2 more scheduled for 2022 2 guests allowed and $45 for every guest after that Authorized Users get access as well Add 4 Authorized Users free of charge	Centurion lounge access 40+ locations worldwide Cardholder + 2 guests…until 2/1/23 After 2/1/23 U.S. Platinum Card® and U.S. Business Platinum Card® Members will be charged a $50 USD fee for each guest (or $30 for children aged 2 through 17, with proof of age). U.S. Platinum Card® and U.S. Business Platinum Card® Members will qualify for Complimentary Guest Access for up to two guests per visit after spending $75,000 in eligible purchases on their Card between January 1, 2022 and December 31, 2022 and in each calendar year thereafter.
Priority Pass Select access Restaurant access is a part of this membership and gives $28 per person, up to cardholder + 2 guests.	Priority Pass select membership (enrollment required ) No restaurant access Delta Lounge access when traveling on a Delta ticketed flight

Other Benefits

Both cards come with complimentary cell phone insurance, but where Cap1 stands out is the primary rental car status and insurance. Insurance has been a reason why I have continued to keep a Chase Sapphire Preferred in my wallet, but now…I could downgrade that car and rent via my Cap1Vx.

Amex falls short on Hertz status and rental car coverage, but does offer both Marriott and Hilton Gold status. If you’re looking to redeem Hilton points this could be advantageous since it Hilton elite members get a 5th night free with points. Otherwise, Marriott and Gold status doesn’t offer a ton of bang for your buck, you may get occasion club level access, upgrade, or even a breakfast credit, but it isn’t always guaranteed and with the easy pathways to top tier status we’ve seen the past couple of years, you’ll be quickly out ranked.

Looking at the Amex Fine Hotels and Resorts access. Most of these properties can be booked with VIP benefits at no additional charge here – in fact, you may be better off booking via Virtuoso

Capital One Venture X	American Express Platinum
Hertz President’s Circle Status	Hertz Gold Status
Primary Rental Car coverage ( CDW )	Secondary Rental Car Coverage
Complimentary Cell Insurance Up to $800, $50 deductible	Complimentary Cell Insurance Up to $800, $50 deductible
No fee for up to 4 Authorized Users	Hilton Gold Status Marriott Gold Status
Referrals – up to 100k a year	$175 for up to 3 Authorized Users
	Access to Amex Fine Hotels and Resorts + Hotel Collection
	Refer a Friend – up to 55k a year

Overall

Currently, both cards are offering incredible incentives to sign up. You can’t go wrong with either in your first year. But, after you’re tried out each card, which would you keep long term?

The Amex Platinum has an extremely rich welcome offer and opens a lot of value if you are able to use up the credits the card offers. Plus… nothing screams status, other than a black card, like an Amex Platinum. That status carries a lot of weight for many people.

The Capital One Venture X has a very competitive offer as well, but makes the case that if you spend $400 a year on travel, which I’d guess most anyone reading this blog does, they will give you all the other benefits of the card free of charge.

I mean How do you beat that deal?

I keep both cards in my wallet because I’m able to extract more value from the cards than I pay in annual fees. I think I’m in a very small minority of people who would truly make use of these credits on an ongoing basis and care to take the time to do so.

Which card would you choose?