How to Maximize the Venture X Card

Capital One’s premium credit card offering made waves when it launched because of its competitively low annual fee and its best-in-class perks for cardholders — and their authorized users.

Let’s take a look at these benefits as well as how to maximize the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card.

1. Earn the welcome bonus

Sign-up bonuses can play a large role in the value of a credit card, especially when they’re high. The Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card features one of the largest welcome offers on the market: Earn 75,000 bonus miles when you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening, equal to $750 in travel.

NerdWallet, however, values Capital One Miles at 1.2 cents each, which makes this bonus worth at least $1,050 by our metrics.

2. Speed through security

The Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card partners with Global Entry and TSA PreCheck, and reimburses membership towards either as a statement credit. Once enrolled, these services offer the ability to speed through lines at the airport.

TSA PreCheck affords you special treatment at airport security, while Global Entry provides a fast-track entrance to the U.S.

The Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card will grant you this statement credit once every four years. Both Global Entry and TSA PreCheck are valid for five years after enrollment. Members become eligible to renew their membership one year before program expiration

» Learn more: What is Global Entry and how do I get it?

3. Use its airport lounge access perks

The Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card may cost less than some other top-tier travel credit cards, but it still provides solid value for its members in terms of benefits.

A favorite among frequent travelers, the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card offers a complimentary Priority Pass Select membership that will grant you access to more than 1,300 airport lounges across the globe.

In addition to Priority Pass, Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card holders have access to Capital One airport lounges. Capital One's lounge network is relatively small, with locations including Dallas-Fort Worth, Denver and Washington-Dulles.

Lounges feature fun amenities and local touches. There's a Peloton room at the Dallas-Fort Worth lounge. Meanwhile, the Denver Capital One Lounge serves beers from local breweries.

Cardholders also get access to more than 100 Plaza Premium lounges.

4. Take advantage of rental car benefits

The highest level of elite status that Hertz offers is available complimentary to Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card holders.*

President’s Circle elite status includes a free one-category upgrade on rentals, a free additional driver, 50% more bonus points and guaranteed vehicle availability on all your rentals.

5. Spend your annual travel credit

The Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card comes with a $300 annual travel credit usable via Capital One’s Travel portal. Flights, hotels and rental cars can all be booked using the travel portal, which makes redeeming this credit simple.

Book the travel you desire and the $300 will be reimbursed to you as a statement credit.

Although the card's $300 annual credit is somewhat limited due to its applicability only within the Capital One Travel portal, it makes more than a little dent in the card’s $395 annual fee. Get more tips on how to use the $300 annual travel credit.

» Learn more: Is the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card worth its annual fee?

6. Add authorized users

Adding an authorized user to your credit cards can be a good idea for a number of reasons. Authorized users on cards will build credit just like primary cardholders, and some credit cards — including the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card — extend benefits to these users.

This card offers best-in-class perks for authorized users: Each authorized user gains a Priority Pass Select membership, the ability to use Capital One lounges, Hertz President’s Circle elite status and all the purchase protections that the card offers. (Benefits may change over time.)

» Learn more: What you need to know about credit card authorized users

7. Be smart with your miles strategy

What’s a reward credit card without points and miles? The Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card earns Capital One Miles, which can be used to great effect due to its robust lineup of transfer partners.

Earning Capital One miles

If you aren’t committed to any single brand, you’ll find that your best bet is booking travel via the Capital One Travel portal. This is because the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card will reward you with 10 points per dollar spent on rental cars and hotels booked through its portal, which matches that offered by Chase’s competing Chase Sapphire Reserve®.

You’ll also receive 5 points per dollar spent on flights booked via the portal and 2 points per dollar on all other purchases, making it easy to rack up those miles.

Redeeming Capital One miles

Capital One will allow you to redeem your miles through its travel portal at a value of 1 cent per mile. This can be a decent and straightforward option, but much better choices are available.

Capital One Miles is a transferable point currency. This means that the miles you earn can be transferred over to many different partners for redemptions. The program has 16 transfer partners, including 14 airlines and two hotel chains. You can transfer your miles to most of these partners at a 1:1 ratio, which means one Capital One Mile becomes one hotel/airline point.

Among Capital One’s transfer partners is Turkish Airlines, with whom you can redeem 7,500 points for flights to Hawaii.

The only exceptions for the 1:1 transfer ratio are Accor Live Limitless, which transfers at a 2:1 ratio, and EVA Airlines, which transfers at a 2:1.5 ratio.

Using transfer partners unlocks the ability to redeem your miles for far more than the 1 cent per mile value offered by the Capital One Travel portal — this is one reason why we value Capital One Miles at 1.2 cents each.

» Learn more: When to use credit card points and when to transfer them to airlines

If you’re trying to maximize the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card

The Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card is a great option for a variety of travelers because of its competitively low annual fee and the suite of benefits that it provides, even to its authorized users.

Be sure to maximize your value in the card by earning the sign-up bonus, enrolling in its perks and taking advantage of its miles’ best transfer partner redemptions.