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In November 2021, Capital One launched its highest-end credit card product to date, the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card. Since then, the company has set out to prove Venture X’s worth in the highest of credit card spaces, a viable competitor to the likes of the Platinum Card® from American Express and Chase Sapphire Reserve®.
Well, the card’s latest plot points indicate that this mission is well on track. In January 2023, Capital One Travel’s Premier Collection launched, a highly curated selection of top hotels and resorts globally, where Venture X cardholders are privy to perks aplenty. In addition, following a groundswell of rave reviews on an inaugural branded lounge at Dallas–Fort Worth International Airport (DFW), Capital One has revealed plans to open full-scale lounges at Denver International Airport (DEN) and Washington Dulles International Airport (IAD) in 2023. Furthermore, it will debut two Capital One Landings, culinary-focused lounge alternatives for members backed by the award-winning José Andrés Group, one at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA), the other at LaGuardia Airport’s Terminal B (LGA) in New York City.
Here is all the buzz around the Venture X card as Capital One goes all-in on its quest for a top-of-the-line travel credit card.
Properties exclusive to Capital One’s Premier Collection include the Ned NoMad in New York City.
Courtesy of Capital One
Capital One Travel’s Premier Collection
Similar to Fine Hotels & Resorts and the Hotel Collection from American Express and Luxury Hotel & Resort Collection from Chase, Capital One Travel’s new Premier Collection allows Venture X cardholders to receive additional benefits by booking through the card’s designated travel platform. Complimentary room upgrades, lavish breakfasts, experience credits, and late checkouts are some of the perks to enjoy.
According to Jenn Scheurich, vice president and head of Capital One Travel & Lounges, the Premier Collection sets itself apart from other programs in that “it goes beyond the obvious to include more one-of-a-kind luxury hotels and resorts” with local and authentic slants. In fact, there are multiple big-deal properties exclusive to the Premier Collection, including the Ned NoMad in New York City, Rock House in Turks & Caicos, Como Uma Canggu in Bali, and the Carlin Hotel in New Zealand.
When booking through the dedicated Premier Collection site or Capital One Travel, Venture X cardholders will receive the following at properties in the Premier portfolio:
- 10x miles earned per dollar spent on booking
- $100 experience credit (or the local equivalent) toward on-property food, beverage, spa, or other activities
- Daily breakfast for two
- Complimentary Wi-Fi
- Room upgrade on arrival, when available
- Early check in, when available
- Late checkout, when available
The Capital One Lounge at DFW offers craft cocktails on tap, a grab-and-go deli, multiple hot and cold food offerings, and even a fitness center.
Courtesy of Capital One
Capital One Lounges and Landings
Similar to most top-tier travel cards, the Venture X provides Priority Pass Select membership that allows unlimited access to more than 1,300 airport lounges in the Priority Pass network globally. But to compete with the Platinum Card from American Express and Amex’s wildly popular Centurion Lounges, Capital One has expanded into the airport lounge business with its own Capital One Lounges and chef-driven Capital One Landings.
The first Capital One Lounge opened at Dallas–Fort Worth in November 2021. Two more are expected to open in 2023, Denver and Washington Dulles, followed by others. With craft cocktails on tap (hello: butter pecan old-fashioned), a gourmet grab-and-go deli, multiple hot and cold food presentations, and even a fitness center, the Capital One Lounge at DFW blows other U.S. airport lounges out of the water.
“We wanted to create a hospitality experience you could encounter in a cosmopolitan city,” says Scheurich, inclusive of excellent design, food, and beverage. “Whether you have 20 minutes or two hours, you can enjoy your moment of respite,” she continues. “You can take time to experience all the amenities or simply select from our ‘to-go’ area to have something to eat on the plane.”
The lounges also create a true sense of place by sourcing locally. In Dallas, for example, walls feature colorful works by local artists, and the signature colossal sugar cookies are made by Texas-based the Cookie Society. As someone who holds both the Amex Platinum and the Venture X, this writer chooses Capital One’s Dallas lounge over the airport’s Centurion Lounge any day.
Besides full-scale Capital One Lounges, the brand is also launching Capital One Landings in metropolitan locations where shorter stays are the norm. Currently, there are two upcoming planned openings: Reagan Washington and New York’s LaGuardia. Landings will have a strong culinary focus with authentic, Spanish-style tapas from José Andrés yet forgo amenities like the fitness center and showers.
Finally, bucking the trend we’ve been seeing across global lounges to scale back on complimentary guest entry, Venture X cardholders can always bring two guests free of charge into branded lounges and landings. That’s refreshing in a time when accessing airport lounges is getting increasingly harder.
Does this news make the Venture X worthwhile?
Even prior to launching the Premier Collection and opening branded lounges, we deemed the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card a solid travel credit card that pays for itself through credits, benefits, implicit travel insurances, and a rewarding earnings structure while also offering flexibility in redeeming points. Now, with Capital One rolling out its own collection of airport lounges for cardholders and the new Premier Collection, granting special perks at hundreds of hotels globally, the card is more attractive than ever.
The card’s $395 annual fee is quickly offset by an annual $300 travel credit for any purchase on Capital One Travel, through the Premier Collection or otherwise. An annual 10,000 bonus miles after your account anniversary takes care of the rest. Even better is that up to four additional cardholders can be added at no cost, each getting his or her own Priority Pass lounge membership, access to Capital One airport lounges, and access to the Premier Collection and its benefits. To give that extra push to entice new cardholders, the card currently carries an amazing welcome offer: Earn 75,000 bonus miles after spending $4,000 on purchases within the first three months from account opening. Suffice to say, even if you already have other premium cards, the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card is a valuable addition to your travel credit card portfolio.
While the offers mentioned above are accurate at the time of publication, they are subject to change at any time, and may have changed or may no longer be available.
