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Capital One Venture X or Chase Sapphire Reserve?

Capital One dropped a sledgehammer on the foundation of the premium card market when they Introduced the Capital One Venture X.  I applied the day it came out, was instantly approved, and even started spending on a virtual card number before I even received the physical version. I don’t think it’s any surprise who Cap1 was aiming at:  Chase Sapphire Reserve.

One of the biggest questions I get on TikTok is which is better? The Capital One Venture X or the Chase Sapphire Reserve?

Let’s put them side by side so you can make the best decision between the two cards.

*Note, I can see a lot of use cases to carrying a Chase Sapphire Preferred and a Capital One Venture X at the same time – namely that the Preferred would give you 3x dining and 3x online groceries for just $95 a year and you’d get a $50 hotel credit.  You could put all of your other spend on the Capital One Venture X and earn a boatload of two very valuable currencies.

Here is an overall look at the two Uber Premium Credit Cards

 

Capital One Venture X

Chase Sapphire Reserve

Benefit Overview 75k welcome offer after $4k spend in 3 months $395 Annual Fee $300 Annual Travel Credit within Capital One Travel Portal 2x on every single purchase without limit 10x hotels and rentals cars in Capital One Travel Portal 5x flights in Capital One Travel Portal 10k bonus miles after each anniversary 17 transfer partners – 15 are 1:1 Capital One Lounge Access 2 guests allowed and $45 for every guest after that Authorized Users get access as well Priority Pass Select access with 2 guests Restaurants included Authorized users have access Primary Rental Car Coverage $100 TSA PreCheck or Global Entry credit 4 Authorized Users without a fee Complimentary Cell Phone Insurance Hertz President’s Circle Status Learn More

Benefit Overview 50k Welcome Offer after $4k spend in 3 months $550 Annual Fee $300 Travel Credit 3x on dining and travel 10x on hotels and car rentals purchased via Chase Travel 5x Airfare purchased via Chase Travel 14 transfer partners – all 1:1 Priority Pass membership with restaurant access 2 Guests Authorized Users get access as well Get Primary Auto Collision Coverage Trip Cancellation and interruption insurance 24/7 Customer Service $100 TSA PreCheck or Global Entry credit $75 Authorized User fee       Learn More

Are you eligible?

Chase and Capital One both have strict eligibility rules when it comes to qualifying for welcome offers.

Capital One Venture X

Chase Sapphire Reserve

Usually these are the Capital One eligibility rules; however, it seems for many people Capital One is making an exception on enforcement for this card   Capital One will only process one credit card per 6 months…so if you’ve already applied for one in that time frame, you’re going to have to wait. This means both business and personal. For instance, if you recently picked up the Capital One Spark Cash Plus – you’ll need to wait until it’s been more than 6 months. Current Venture Cardholders are eligible

5/24 Almost all of Chase’s cards are a part of their 5/24 rule. This means that you can not sign up if you have opened more than 5 credit cards in the last 24 months. 1/48 Specific to the Chase Sapphire Preferred and Reserve, you can not receive a welcome bonus if you have received one on either the Chase Sapphire Preferred or Chase Sapphire Reserve. Only one Chase Sapphire Premium product If you currently hold a Chase Sapphire Preferred or Reserve you cannot sign up for the card. Those who currently hold both can be grandfathered into holding both, but if you only have one, you’re restricted from another.

You your points from either to fly on Air France’s business class – a transfer partner of both

Where are they the same?

Both cards come with the best Priority Pass membership out there including restaurant access whereby you get a dining credit per visit for you and 2 guests. It’s phenom and much better than what Amex offers. You’ll also get primary rental car coverage, a Global or TSAPre credit every 4 years, and Visa Infinite benefits

Capital One Venture X	Chase Sapphire Reserve
Priority Pass Select access with 2 guests Restaurants included Authorized users have access Primary Rental Car Coverage $100 TSA PreCheck or Global Entry credit Visa Infinite benefits	Priority Pass membership with restaurant access 2 Guests Authorized Users get access as well Get Primary Auto Collision Coverage $100 TSA PreCheck or Global Entry credit Visa Infinite benefits

Priority Pass restaurants are an incredible benefits of the program and I extract $100s of dollars of benefit every year from using them – Yankee Pier at SFO is a great example

Earn Rates:

In terms of travel earn rates, if you’re purchasing via either card’s portal you’ll earn the same rates. The biggest differences are on base rates where the Capital One Venture X earns 2 points for every dollar vs the Chase Sapphire Reserve earns just 1. Chase Sapphire Reserve does earn 3x on dining and general travel. For another comparison, the Chase Sapphire Preferred earns 3x dining and online groceries, 2x general travel, and carries just a $95 annual fee. This is why I think holding a Chase Sapphire Preferred alongside a Capital One Venture X could be a good use of annual fee spend.

Capital One Venture X	Chase Sapphire Reserve	Chase Sapphire Preferred
2x on every single purchase without limit 10x hotels and rentals cars in Capital One Travel Portal 5x flights in Capital One Travel Portal	3x on dining and travel 10x on hotels and car rentals purchased via Chase Travel 5x Airfare purchased via Chase Travel	5x on all travel purchased through Chase Ultimate Rewards – Chase Travel Portal 3x on dining, including eligible delivery services for takeout & dining out 3x on select streaming services 3x on online grocery purchases (excluding Target, Walmart and wholesale clubs)

Earn a huge multiplier on bookings made in portal – this could be a great way to earn bonus points on hotels that don’t have reward programs like the Peninsula.

Welcome Offer + Annual Fee:

Chase made a massive splash, and the internet went crazy, when it dropped the Chase Sapphire Reserve 100k offer in 2016. It’s been a long time since we’ve seen that….it’s currently much, much less. I think Capital One has gone for a different approach and made the offer tied to a longer, higher spend threshold, and dangles an anniversary bonus to retain membership. If you add up the credits that each card yields the Capital One Venture X ends up giving customers $500 of credit on a $395 annual fee for the first year, and $400 a year on a $395 fee every year after. You’re ahead $105 if you use up those credits in the first year and $5 every year after that. It’s basically a free card if you use the credits.

The Chase Sapphire Reserve on the other hand gives a $300 travel credit ( which is much easier to use than Capital One Venture X since it isn’t tied to the portal ) on a $550 annual fee. You’re paying out of pocket $250 for the card.

Also…the Capital One Venture X includes 4 authorized users free of charge whereas the Chase Sapphire Reserve charges $75 per AU.

 

Capital One Venture X	Chase Sapphire Reserve
75k welcome offer after $4k spend in 3 months	50k Welcome Offer after $4k spend in 3 months
$395 Annual Fee $0 for up to 4 Authorized Users	$550 Annual Fee $75 per authorized user
$300 Annual Travel Credit within Capital One Travel Portal	$300 Travel Credit This is a very broad travel category
$100 or 10,000 Capital One Rewards on every cardmember anniversary

Transfer Partners

A look at the transfer partners of Capital One and Chase. Note that Capital One is a 1:1 partner on all but Accor and EVA – Chase is 1:1 across the board. Chase has more domestic partners than Capital One, but Capital One’s list is really great. If you want more in depth uses of each one check out these posts:

• Best uses of Capital One Miles
• Best uses of Chase Ultimate Rewards

In portal redemptions:

• Capital One Venture X = 1 penny per point
• Chase Sapphire Reserve = 1.5 pennies per point

Capital One Venture X	Chase Sapphire Reserve
Aeromexico Club Premier	Aer Lingus AerClub
Air Canada Aeroplan	Air Canada Aeroplan
Avianca LifeMiles	Air France KLM Flying Blue
Air France Flying Blue	British Airways Executive Club
British Airways Executive Club	Emirates Skywards
Cathay Pacific Asia Miles	Iberia Plus
Choice Privileges	JetBlue TrueBlue
Etihad Guest	Southwest Airlines
Emirates	Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer
Finnair Plus	Virgin Atlantic Flying Club
Qantas Frequent Flyer	United Mileage Plus
Singapore Airlines	IHG Rewards
TAP Air Portugal Miles&Go	Marriott Bonvoy
Turkish Airlines Miles and Smiles	World of Hyatt
Wyndham Rewards
Accor transfer 2:1
EVA transfers 2:1.5

Other bennies:

These are a toss up depending on where you spend most.

	Chase Sapphire Reserve
Hertz President’s Status Cell phone insurance	Complimentary DashPass ( activate by 3/31/22 ) 10x on Lyft Rides through March 2022 10x on Chase dining ( must book via Chase portal )

Overall:

If you spend $400 a year on travel in the Capital One portal with your Capital One Venture X you’re getting every thing else the card provides free of charge since it gives an annual $300 travel credit and 10k Miles on your account anniversary. That completely offsets the $395 fee. The Chase Sapphire Reserve as a comparison would offset $300 worth of travel, but charge $550 every year. That leaves you spending $250 to keep the card in your wallet…personally I’d use that $250 to add either a Chase Sapphire Preferred or an Amex Gold to my wallet.