Your wallet doesn’t have to be full of credit cards to maximize your rewards travel strategy.
In fact, you can pair two of my favorite cards to get a host of benefits, rewards, and statement points: American Express® Gold Card and the Capital One Ventures X Rewards Credit Card.
The two cards combine to form a simple yet powerful setup, from collecting points and miles to redeeming rewards.
Whether you’re in the market for a dual card to enhance your dream vacation or already own one of these cards, here are four reasons why I believe Amex Gold and Venture X work better together.
Combine Amex Gold’s reward categories with Venture X’s flat-rate rewards
this American Express Gold Card and Venture
The American Express Gold Card earns Membership Rewards points at extremely high rates across several popular rewards categories—especially if you spend a lot of money on dining and groceries (like me). What you will get:
- Earn 4 points per $1 spent when dining at restaurants worldwide* and shopping at U.S. supermarkets**
- Earn 3 points per $1 spent on flights booked directly with the airline or through amextravel.com
- Earn 2 points per $1 spent on prepaid hotels and other qualifying purchases made through amextravel.com
- Earn 1 point per $1 spent on all other qualifying purchases
*Earn 1 point for every $1 spent on purchases up to $50,000 per calendar year
**Earn 1 point for every $1 spent on purchases up to $25,000 per calendar year
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Venture X complements this structure well, earning Capital One miles at a flat rate on most purchases.
If you’re already a Venture X cardholder, you know that the card earns 2 miles per $1 spent on most purchases. You’ll also earn 10 miles per $1 spent on hotel and rental car bookings with Capital One Travel, and 5 miles per $1 spent on flight and vacation rental bookings with Capital One Travel.
I like to keep this card in my wallet as a catch-all for everyday purchases outside of the rewards categories.
When you combine the power of these two cards, you can earn more than 1 point or mile for every dollar spent.
Related: How credit card issuers classify travel and dining purchases
Maximize Venture X travel benefits and Amex Gold dining benefits
this American Express Gold Card and Venture X occupy a unique position in the rewards card market. You won’t find multiple overlapping benefits here.
Instead, pairing these two cards offers comprehensive benefits that can be used in multiple aspects of travel and daily life.
For one, Amex Gold uses its statement points primarily toward dining purchases and some travel-related benefits in exchange for a $325 annual fee (see Rates and Fees). These include:
- Annual dining credits up to $120 per calendar year: Earn up to $10 in monthly statement points when you pay with Amex Gold at participating dining partners.
- Up to $120 in Uber Cash per calendar year per year: In the U.S., earn up to $10 in Uber Cash per month with Uber Eats and Uber rides. When you add Amex Gold as a payment method and redeem using any Amex card, Uber Cash will only be credited to one Uber account.
- Earn up to $100 in Resy Points per year per calendar year: Earn up to $100 in Resy bill points each calendar year. The credit is divided into two statement credits of up to $50 each half-year. To use the points, all you have to do is dine at a participating U.S. Resy restaurant (or make other eligible Resy purchases) and pay with Amex Gold. No appointment required.
- Earn up to $100 in hotel points per calendar year: Cardmembers who use their card to book a stay of two nights or more through Amex’s The Hotel Collection will receive up to $100 in on-site credit toward qualifying events. Depending on the hotel, this may include dining, spa treatments or other activities.
Certain benefits require registration.
Most of the American Express Gold Card’s benefits are focused on food, although monthly Uber Cash and Hotel Series statement points offer some travel perks.
As a frequent traveler, I appreciate the American Express Gold Card’s perks that help me save on purchases while on the go. However, I still wanted more from my card setup, especially in terms of travel benefits like airport lounge access.
This is where Venture X comes in. First, the card’s two travel benefits essentially offset the $395 annual fee.
The $300 annual Capital One travel credit can be used on any travel booking in the issuer portal and reduces the effective annual fee for Venture X to $95.
The card receives a 10,000-mile bonus on every account anniversary; TPG’s January 2026 valuation puts the value of those miles at $185.
When you combine these two benefits, you get $485 in annual travel benefits—a can’t-miss value that offers travel-related benefits that Amex Gold lacks.
I previously used Venture X travel portal points to stay at the Conrad Las Vegas at Resorts World for three nights and saved $300. If I hadn’t applied for points, this room would have cost me nearly $1,000.
Finally, Venture X offers airport lounge access to five Capital One lounges and one Capital One landing for the primary cardholder and up to two guests. Primary cardholders also receive Priority Pass membership, which provides access to more than 1,300 lounges around the world. (Capital One’s lounge access rules will become stricter starting February 1, 2026.)
The American Express Gold Card doesn’t come with lounge privileges, so this perk is another complementary benefit that adds even more value to your setup.
RELATED: Why I’m Happy to Hold My Capital One Venture X Rewards Card for a Third Year
Earn a pair of valuable welcome bonuses
If you haven’t added it yet American Express Gold Card Or Venture X, there are two great welcome offers for you to collect tons of points and miles.
New American Express Gold members can learn about their offers and see if they are eligible to earn up to 100,000 bonus points after spending $6,000 in purchases within the first six months of membership. Welcome offers vary and you may not qualify for one.
Taking into account TPG’s January 2026 valuation, this bonus could be as high as $2,000.
Meanwhile, Venture This is the highest public offer for the card in four years.
According to TPG’s valuation, this offer is worth $1,388 when you leverage Capital One’s transfer partners. If you decide to redeem these miles for a fixed value, the bonus is worth up to $750.
If your goal is to get the best Amex Gold offer and maximize your Capital One miles to get the full value of the TPG valuation, both offers are worth a whopping $3,388 combined.
Related: The Best Credit Card Welcome Bonuses This Month
Unlock more redemption options with 2 sets of transfer partners
More choices are always better. When your Membership Rewards point balance is high American Express Gold Card and the capital is one mile from VintUr X, since each issuer has a unique set of transfer partners, you will have more redemption options.
For example, Capital One miles can only be transferred to one U.S. airline’s loyalty program (JetBlue TrueBlue), but Membership Rewards points can be transferred to Delta SkyMiles.
At the same time, you cannot transfer Membership Rewards points to Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles, but you can transfer Capital One miles to the loyalty program.
There are multiple overlapping partners between the two, such as Air Canada Aeroplan and Air France-KLM Flying Blue. I like to use Flying Blue with partners like Delta to book SkyTeam award seats.
For example, I transferred 15,000 Capital One miles to Air France KLM Flying Blue to book two one-way domestic flights on Delta to attend a wedding.
Finally, when you own both currencies, you can take advantage of transfer bonuses when they arise, which increases your ability to get even more value for your hard-earned rewards.
Related: Why you should master some credit card transfer partners and (most likely) keep the rest
bottom line
this American Express Gold Card We have teamed up with Venture
Holding both cards unlocks a solid rewards strategy, making this pairing an easy and effective choice for many types of travelers.
To learn more, read our full review of Amex Gold and Venture X.
Apply here: American Express Gold Card
Learn more: Capital One Ventures X Rewards Credit Card
For American Express Gold Card rates and fees, click here.
For the Capital One products listed on this page, some offers may be provided by Visa® or Mastercard® and may vary by product. Please see the appropriate benefits guide for details as terms and exclusions apply.
