I’m a big fan of a good travel rewards card. I’ve collected a handful of these over the years – not because I enjoy dealing with annual fees, but because the right card can save you a lot of Money for flights, hotels, and travel benefits that you would otherwise have to pay out of pocket.
Not only do I have a bunch of money for personal expenses, but I also have some money for this business. One of my favorite business credit cards is the Capital One Venture X Business Credit Card. It is Capital One’s top-tier business product. I love it because it offers a ton of welcome benefits, lounge access to more than 1,300 airport lounges, annual travel points, and a simple 2x bonus on all purchases (which ensures you’ll always earn multiple miles per dollar spent).
To help you decide if this card is right for you, here’s my full review of the card and why I like it so much:
What is the Capital One Ventures X Business Card?
The Capital One Venture X Business Credit Card is a travel rewards card issued by Capital One. Its annual fee is $395, which is much lower than other premium business cards. I think you can easily get more value than the annual fee. Here’s a quick look at the main benefits:
- 150,000 miles after spending $30,000 in the first 3 months
- Earn 2 miles per $1 on all purchases, no category restrictions
- Earn 5× miles on flights booked with Capital One Travel
- Earn 10× miles when booking hotels and rental cars with Capital One Travel
- $300 annual travel credit (via Capital One Business Travel)
- Each year, you’ll earn 10,000 bonus miles after your account anniversary.
- Sign up to gain access to more than 1,300 airport lounges around the world, including Capital One lounges and Priority Pass™ lounges
- Up to $120 bill credit for TSA Pre-Check or Global Entry
- No foreign transaction fees
Use your capital a mile
Capital One miles can be redeemed in a variety of ways. One is to book travel directly through Capital One’s portal. While I generally don’t recommend booking through credit card portals, to fully benefit from Venture X’s travel points (and get the 5x and 10x mile savings), you need to use their portal.
Another option is to use your miles to reimburse any travel purchases. You may be reimbursed at a redemption rate of 1 cent per mile within 90 days of purchase. After 90 days, you can use miles as cash back on all other purchases at a redemption rate of 0.5 cents per mile (but avoid doing this as it’s not cost-effective).
You can also use Capital One Miles in the Capital One Entertainment Portal to book tickets to concerts, sporting events, and more. From time to time, Capital One also offers cardholder-only events and presale opportunities. While you’re only paying 0.8 cents per mile for admission (not the best deal), it’s still a fun and unique way to redeem miles.
However, you can make the most of your miles by transferring them to Capital One’s more than 15 airline and hotel partners. While actual values vary depending on what you book, you can often find airline and hotel redemptions for much more than the one cent per mile mentioned above. (This process is easy and can be done through your Capital One account.)
Here are Capital One’s current travel partners:
- AccorLife Unlimited
- Mexican Aero Club Premier
- Air Canada Aeroplan
- Air France/KLM Flying Blue
- Avianca Life Miles
- British Airways Executive Club
- Cathay Pacific Asia Miles
- Select privileges
- Emirates Skywards
- Etihad Airways Frequent Flyer
- EVA Air Unlimited Miles Travel
- Finnair Plus
- I prefer hotel rewards
- Japan Airlines Mileage Banking Club
- Qantas Frequent Flyer
- Qatar Airways Frequent Flyer Club
- Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer
- TAP Portugal Miles&Go
- Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles
- virgin red
- Wyndham Rewards
Advantages of Venture X Business Card
As someone who travels frequently for work, I’m always looking for ways to earn miles faster and make airport life a little less miserable. I love this card because it simply gives you 2 miles on everything. I use a lot of other cards that let you get 3 or 4x back on certain categories, like advertising or non-portal travel spend (like flights and hotels). But when it comes to dining, museums, transportation, and more, there aren’t many ways to spend more than 2x every $1 on your business card. So, I use this Venture X for anything I can’t get more than 2x for a dollar.
Here’s a closer look at some of the key benefits:
$300 travel credit
Earn $300 in points each year on every booking (flight, hotel or car rental) you make with Capital One Business Travel. If you’re already booking travel regularly, this credit is essentially free – it’ll give you an immediate valid Annual fees range from $395 to $95.
What’s the gain? You must book through Capital One’s travel portal. It’s powered by Hopper, so the interface is clean and the price is generally competitive. I found some great deals there.
Use the lounge
You have access to Capital One Lounges and Priority Pass Lounges. Capital One’s own lounges are actually great – spacious, modern, great food – although their locations are still limited. But they are expanding their number of lounges and I personally think they are much better than other lounges at competing banks. You also get priority passes to more than 1,300 lounges around the world, which is a common but great perk.
anniversary bonus
Each year on your account anniversary, you’ll earn 10,000 bonus miles (worth approximately $100 for travel). It’s a nice “thank you” and helps further offset the annual fee.
Should you get this card?
The Capital One Venture
Overall, I think the Capital One Venture X Business is one of the most valuable premium business cards out there. It’s not as perks-rich or flashy as the American Express Business Platinum or Chase Sapphire Reserve, but it’s easier to use, has a cheaper annual fee, lounge access, and an easy-to-understand earnings structure.
This is one of the cards I use most in business. I highly recommend purchasing it.
Stop paying full price to travel!
Download my free Points and Miles Guide to learn how to use points and miles to travel for free! This is how all professionals travel on a regular basis! In this guide I’ll show you:
- How to choose a credit card
- How to earn up to 10x miles on purchases
- How to redeem points
- There are tons of other money-saving tips!
Booking your trip: Logistical tips and tricks
Book a flight
Find cheap flights with Skyscanner. This is my favorite search engine because it searches websites and airlines all over the world, so you always know no stone will be left unturned.
Book accommodation
You can book hostels through Hostelworld. If you want to stay somewhere other than a hotel, use Booking.com as it always offers the cheapest hotel and hotel prices.
Don’t forget travel insurance
Travel insurance will protect you against illness, injury, theft and cancellation. It provides complete protection in case any issues arise. I wouldn’t travel without it as I have used it many times in the past. My favorite companies that offer the best service and value are:
Want to travel for free?
Travel credit cards allow you to earn points that can be redeemed for free flights and accommodation without any additional spending. Check out my guide to choosing the right card and my current favorites to get started and see the latest and best deals.
Need to rent a car?
Discover Cars is an affordable international car rental website. No matter where you’re headed, they can find the best and cheapest rentals for your trip!
Need help finding activities for your trip?
Get Your Guide is a huge online marketplace where you can find cool hikes, fun excursions, skip-the-line tickets, private guided tours, and more.
Ready to book your trip?
Check out my resources page for the best companies to use when traveling. I made a list of all the tools I use when I travel. They are the best of their kind and you can’t go wrong using them on the go.
