We may receive a commission when you use our links. Monkey Miles has partnered with CardRatings for our coverage of credit card products. Monkey Miles and CardRatings may receive a commission from card issuers. Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities. We appreciate you using our links!!!

---

Capital One Venture X

The Capital One Venture X just delivered a death blow to the Chase Sapphire Reserve. It’s been a long time coming, and instead of following Chase and Amex down the rabbit hole of more is better, they focused on simplicity and ease.

Over the past few years, Capital One has quietly been gaining traction on Chase and Amex. Not only do they have an incredible list of transfer partners, which puts them in the ring with the heavyweights, but they landed some serious body blows earlier this year when they dramatically improved their transfer ratio – the program is nearly all 1:1 now. They also announced and debuted their first premium lounge. So, naturally, they took aim for the premium card market.

I have to say…I think the Capital One Venture X may ultimately prove to be the best premium card on the market for most people.

Why?

The annual fee is $395, it comes with a $300 travel credit ( within the Cap1 travel portal ) and an anniversary bonus of 10k miles worth another $100.

Every year, it’s plain and simple to see how you can earn your $395 annual fee back.

That’s without even taking into account the 2x miles, lounge access, 100k welcome bonus, etc. Let’s take a deep dive, but Capital One hit an absolute homerun.

Capital One Venture X benefits

The current offer:

• 100k welcome offer after spending $10k in 6 months
• Limited Time $200 Credit
  • Good towards vacation rental purchases at Airbnb and VRBO

Benefits and fee:

• $395 Annual Fee
• 2x on every single purchase without limit
  • 10x hotels and rentals cars in Capital One Travel Portal
  • 5x flights in Capital One Travel Portal
• $300 Annual Travel Credit within the Capital One Travel Portal
• 10k bonus miles after each anniversary
• Lounge Access
  • Capital One Lounge Access
    • 2 guests allowed and $45 for every guest after that
    • Authorized Users get access as well
  • Priority Pass Select access
• $100 TSA PreCheck or Global Entry credit
• Complimentary Cell Phone Insurance
• Hertz President’s Circle Status
• No fee for up to 4 authorized users

100k Miles after $10k spend in 6 months

How can you use 100k Miles?

• $1000 within Capital One Travel
• Offset any travel purchase at 1 penny per point
• Transfer to partners

6 months offers plenty of time to hit that min spend + you’re earning a minimum of 2x on every single purchase. At the very least you’ll walk away with 120k Capital One Miles which you could use in Cap1 travel for a minimum of $1200. You know I’m a transfer freak, so this isn’t where I’d throw them, but that’s the bare minimum value.

You could transfer Cap1 Miles into the following partners to fly Lufthansa First Class

• Avianca LifeMiles – 87 Miles
• Aeroplan – 100k Miles
• Singapore – 107k Miles

Capital One Venture X

Learn More

Limited Time $200 statement credit for Airbnb and VRBO

As part of the launch of the Capital One Venture X you can get up to a $200 statement credit good towards vacation rentals on sites like Airbnb and VRBO.

Capital One lounge Access + Priority Pass with restaurant access

Not only do you get lounge access at the brand spanking new Capital One lounge network ( currently at DFW and in 2022 Washington D.C. Dulles and Denver ) but you can bring in 2 guests AND add 4 Authorized Users who all get the access as well.

Priority Pass

• Cardholder or Authorized User + 2 guests
• At restaurants $28 per person

It doesn’t stop there. You also get a Priority Pass membership that includes restaurant access. This is similar to the priority pass that Chase and Citi offer with the Reserve and Prestige, but they both charge for authorized users. Typically, you get $28 per person credit when visiting a Priority Pass member restaurant, since the card allows two guests, you could have 3 people spend up to $84 and not pay a penny. Just make sure you tip your server.

Unlimited 2x on every single purchase you make

This is where Capital One X really stands out in comparison to other premium cards. You will earn 2x points, without limit, on every single purchase you make.

$100 Global Entry or TSAPre credit

You can receive up to a $100 credit, every 4 years, to put towards membership in either program. Quick tip, membership in Global Entry gets you TSAPre as a part of the program, so you’re better off going that route since its a 2 for 1.

$300 Travel Credit and up to 10x with Capital One Travel Portal Bonus Categories

As long as you book your travel through the Cap1 travel portal, you’ll earn a $300 travel credit every year you keep the card. You’ll also get big time bonuses on the following categories

• 10x on hotels + rental cars
• 5x on airlines

Capital One Venture X

Learn More

10k Miles every year

Starting in year two, you’ll get an 10k Venture Miles each year you keep the card as an anniversary bonus.  Those 10k miles can be redeemed for $100 towards travel or transfer into partners…which is how I’d go about using them.

Capital One Transfer Partners got really valuable in 2021

A couple of years ago, Capital One decided to lace up their gloves and start throwing punches in the transferrable rewards ring. Some punches landed, but the program was too confusing with 4:3 transfer ratios and people just didn’t get it. That all changed this year. Bit by bit, Cap1 made nearly all of their partners 1:1. Meaning, you no longer need a calculator to understand how many Cap1 miles you’ll use for a redemption.

• The following partners are now 1:1
  • Aeromexico Club Premier
  • Air Canada Aeroplan
  • Avianca LifeMiles
  • Air France Flying Blue
  • British Airways Executive Club
  • Cathay Pacific Asia Miles
  • Choice Privileges
  • Etihad Guest
  • Emirates
  • Finnair Plus
  • Qantas Frequent Flyer
  • Singapore Airlines
  • TAP Air Portugal Miles&Go
  • Turkish Airlines Miles and Smiles
  • Wyndham Rewards
• Accor transfer 2:1
• EVA transfers 2:1.5

How does the $395 annual fee compare to other premium cards?

Let’s just quickly compare the face value on Annual Fees to other bank’s premium cards and the credits that they offer. What you’ll see is that the Capital One $300 annual travel credit is very straight forward. Spend $300 in the Capital One travel portal and you’ll get credit for it. While Amex has the most credits to offset the fee, its also the most complicated and specific on the fees. Chase Sapphire Reserve and Citi Thank You Prestige offer straight forward travel credits, but leave you paying a higher annual fee as well.

• $695 American Express Platinum (Rates and Fees).
  • $200 Airline Incidental Credit
  • $200 Hotel Credit ( Pre-paid Fine Hotels and Resorts or The Hotel Collection )
  • $200 Uber Credit
  • $179 Clear Credit
  • Other credits – $300 Soul Cycle, $200 Equinox, $240 Digital entertainment
• $550 Chase Sapphire Reserve
  • $300 Travel Credit
• $495 Citi Thank You Prestige
  • $250 Travel Credit
• $395 Capital One Venture X
  • $300 Travel Credit to be used in Capital One Travel Portal
  • 10k miles anniversary bonus starting in year 2, worth $100 in Capital One Travel or transferred out

Approval tips

• 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 their Spark Miles for Business card – you’ll need to wait until it’s been more than 6 months.
• Current Venture Cardholders are eligible

Can you combine your miles with other Capital One accounts? This is incredible.

Yes, you can combine your points into one account. This applies to accounts under your name, and also to ANYONE else that has a Venture or Spark account. Pretty awesome.

Earn points from referrals? You betcha, up to 100k every year.

Capital One will allow you to earn up to 100k points per year referring the card, 25k per referral. As soon as this becomes possible I will create a referral page where you can leave your links. I gotchuuuuuuu

• 100k Max
• 25k per referral

Overall:

I think Capital One absolutely NAILED the drop of their new premium card.

---

What are some great uses of Capital One Miles?

Let’s take a look at some great ways you could transfer your Capital One Miles into transfer partners to get outsized value

Aeroplan

• US to Europe for 70k miles in business class,
  • 100k in first class.

Earlier this year, they added the ability to incorporate a stopover for 5k miles and all but eliminated surcharges. They used to be massive and now they are quite modest.

You can see below an example of Swiss business class in the “throne.”  Let’s say you planned a trip to Athens, you could add in 5k miles to stop in Zurich for a while before heading on to Greece to complete your holiday.

Avianca

• US to Europe or South America 63k in business
  • 87k for First Class

Avianca Lifemiles are one of the most underutilized currencies in points and miles.  They’ve gotten a bad wrap in the past for a bad website but in 2019 they made updates and as a result redemptions are much easier. While it isn’t fool proof, it’s much improved.

Lufthansa First Class in the nose of the 747 – just 87k Lifemiles

Pro tip: If you are seeing Star Alliance partner award space populate on United, but not on Avianca, you can email Avianca to manually pull the space. I’ve had to do this in the past and typically it’s resolved within 24-48 hours. Don’t forget that Avianca periodically has point sales, so if you’re short on Amex points, you may have the opportunity to fly

Singapore Airlines

• 72k US to Europe in Business Class
• 86k in Singapore First JFK to FRA
• 107k  US to Europe in Partner First

One of the coolest flights in the world is Singapore Airlines first class. Many don’t realize you can fly this from the US to Europe for just 86k miles. The catch? It has to be on the JFK to Frankfurt route. Keep an eye on availability, it comes and goes, but last I checked there was plenty in the fall of 2022.

 

Another really cool redemption is flying to England on the Houston to Manchester route. It’ll cost you 72k miles and fly you on one of their latest A350s. Make sure you reserve a bulkhead seat so you get a wider bench to rest your feet in bed mode.

Cathay Pacific Asia Miles

• US to Asia in business class
  • East Coast 85k miles
  • West Coast 70k Miles
• US to Asia in First Class
  • East Coast 110k miles
  • West Coast 125k miles

The big advantage to this program is using it on their airline. Cathay reserves a certain amount of award inventory for their own loyalists and this is where you could score seats before everyone else.

Get better access to Cathay Pacific First and business class

These rates are the lowest you’ll find for flights on Cathay’s own planes and they’re really pretty competitive.

You can have access to more award space and lock in business class to Asia from Anywhere in America for 85k miles. If you’re sites are set on Hong Kong and you live west coast…you’ll need just 70k. That’s an amazing price for one of the best rides in business

The list goes on and on