AwardWallet receives compensation from advertising partners for links on the blog. Terms Apply to the offers listed on this page. The opinions expressed here are our own and have not been reviewed, provided, or approved by any bank advertiser. Here's our complete list of Advertisers.
Offers for The Ritz-Carlton™ Credit Card are not available through this site. All information has been independently collected by AwardWallet and has not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer. Some offers may have expired. Please see our card marketplace for available offers.
$200 hotel credit offered with The Platinum Card® from American Express applies to prepaid Fine Hotels + Resorts® or The Hotel Collection bookings made via Amex Travel. The Hotel Collection requires a minimum two-night stay.
One of the key features of the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card is its $300 annual travel credit. Used wisely, this can offset a large majority of the card's annual fee. In this guide, we'll look at what the perk is, how to use it, and answer some questions you may have about this perk as you decide whether or not this card is right for you.
Page Contents
Key Features of the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card
As the title implies, this article is going to focus specifically on one cardmember perk only: the annual $300 travel credit. However, the Capital One Venture X offers tons of other perks, so we don't want it to sound like this is the only perk the card offers.
Key perks include:
- Excellent welcome offer of 75,000 Capital One miles when you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening
- Up to four authorized user cards with no additional annual fee.
- Free entry + two guests at Capital One Lounges and Plaza Premium Lounges. Authorized users also receive their own entrance and guest privileges.
- Annual Priority Pass lounge membership including two guests. Authorized users also get their own Priority Pass membership plus two guests.
- 10,000 bonus miles on each card anniversary.
- TSA PreCheck or Global Entry application fee reimbursement once every four years.
- Hertz President's Circle top-tier status through December 31, 2024.
- National Emerald Club Executive status
- Car rental savings with Audi on demand (formerly Silvercar) and with Avis
- Primary rental car insurance coverage
- Cell phone protection
- Trip delay reimbursement
- Lost luggage reimbursement
- and $300 in annual travel credits
- 2 miles per dollar on all eligible purchases
- 5 miles per dollar on flights when booking via Capital One Travel
- 10 miles per dollar on hotels and rental cars when booking via Capital One Travel
The Capital One Venture X $300 Annual Travel Credit
The main focus today is on this perk, because using it is the most direct way to offset the card's $395 annual fee. Capital One recently updated this benefit, changing the redemption method from a statement credit — which was automatically applied on eligible purchases — to a discount you apply during the checkout process. While this may appear to be a relatively small change, cardholders no longer earn miles on the travel credit portion of the booking, meaning you earn up to 3,000 fewer miles annually compared to the old way of using this credit
Here are the major details you should know, in order to maximize this benefit:
- It's based on cardmember year. This benefit is tied to your card anniversary (meaning the day you opened the card and each year on that date), instead of the calendar year. You get up to $300 in annual travel credits, used as a discount applied during the checkout process.
- You don't have to use it all at once. The $300 in credits can be spread across multiple transactions.
- If you cancel a trip that had travel credits applied to it, the credits will be put back into your account. You can use them again later, or they will apply to other qualifying purchases you made in the meantime.
- You don't need to register to use the benefit.
- The maximum credit is $300, but only if you spend that amount (or more). The discount applies to actual bookings; you won't receive a lump sum or credits in excess of your actual spending in the portal.
- The credits apply only to travel booked through Capital One Travel.
Note that the Capital One Venture X Business also offers the same $300 annual travel credit. It functions the same way. If you have this card, read on for how to use this important benefit.
The Capital One Travel portal
Capital One Travel is a travel portal similar to what Chase, American Express, and Citi have. You can access Capital One's portal here.
People tend to have strong feelings about booking through travel portals, rather than directly with the hotel, airline, or rental car company. There are some positives and negatives, which a fair assessment should point out.
Positives:
- Using the Capital One Travel portal allows you to use the $300 in annual travel credits.
- Wide range of booking options to consider.
- Earn 10x miles on your Capital One Venture X and Venture X Business for hotels and rental cars booked in the portal.
- Earn 5x miles on your Capital One Venture X and Venture X Business for flights booked in the portal.
Negatives:
- You won't earn miles on the $300 travel credit portion of the booking, as it is applied as a discount during the checkout process.
- Booking directly with the airline makes it much simpler when there's a flight schedule change.
- Hotels typically don't give you stay credits toward elite status or elite status perks if you didn't book directly with them.
- Most rental car agencies require you to book directly to add your loyalty number for things like “skip the line, go straight to the car” privileges.
In addition, there's one quirk particular to Capital One Travel:
- You can add your Hertz loyalty number to enjoy your status, but you can't add loyalty numbers when booking with other programs.
What the Capital One Travel portal offers
That being said, the Capital One Travel portal is worth using in a few instances, such as a flight where the price is the same as booking directly or a hotel not affiliated with your favorite loyalty program. And if you're renting a car at a place where the line isn't likely to be long, then booking through the portal and having to pick up the keys at the rental car counter can be worthwhile.
Capital One Travel offers bookings for flights, hotels, and car rentals. Across the top, you can see those options and click on what type of search you want to perform. When testing out Capital One Travel, it worked as expected, and it returned results that I saw elsewhere with competitive pricing.
There is also a pricing calendar when searching for flights. This can help you find the cheapest dates for your itinerary. You'll also see options for “Watch this trip” to get alerts for changes in the price and “Freeze price” to lock in the fare while you think about it more. Note that this is a paid service with varying costs depending on what you're booking.
Once you choose your date(s), filters like number of stops, price, preferred airline, and even time/flight number specifics are available to help you narrow down the results. On my sample search, I even received a notice that this is an especially cheap date, recommending that I book now. And if you notice the details above the slider, you'll see that Capital One Travel offers free price drop protection. If the fare goes down within 10 days of booking, you'll get up to $50 as a future travel credit.
Use your $300 travel credit as a discount during checkout
If you book through Capital One Travel and pay with your Capital One Venture X or Venture X Business, you can choose to apply your travel credit during the checkout process as a discount on the total purchase price.
Provided you have some of the travel credit remaining, you will have the option to apply the remainder of the credit to your booking. Notice that you can edit the amount if you would prefer to only use a portion of your credit.
Once you've selected to use your credit, complete the booking process as normal. You'll see the credit applied like a discount or coupon as you confirm your booking.
Remember, you will no longer earn additional miles on the travel credit portion of the booking, as the travel credit is now applied as a discount during the checkout process. You'll only earn miles on the amount you paid after the discount was applied.
Related: Why You Should Never Redeem Capital One Miles Through Capital One Travel
Tracking Your Travel Credit
Thankfully, Capital One makes it very easy to keep track of your travel credit each year. You can see how much you have left, plus see the transaction history of any bookings that have used portions of it.
First, log into your Capital One account then select Travel. You will see a banner near the top that shows your travel credit. From here, select View Details.
After this, you'll get a pop-up that shows how much you have left. If you'd like further details, select View Activity.
This shows you any transactions that have used some or all of your credit, plus the amount you have left.
Compare to Travel Credits From Other Issuers
There are other cards with travel credits, obviously. These include:
- Chase Sapphire Reserve®: $300 in annual travel credits that apply automatically to anything that codes as travel on your card. There are no restrictions on how you book.
- The Ritz-Carlton™ Credit Card: $300 in annual travel credits on a select list of qualifying purchases, and you must contact Chase to ask for credit after spending.
- The Platinum Card® from American Express: Up to $200 in annual hotel credits and up to $200 in annual airline incidental credits. Enrollment is required in advance for both of these. The hotel credits only apply to certain prepaid bookings through Amex Travel, and The Hotel Collection bookings require a two-night minimum stay. The airline incidental credits can be tricky to use sometimes. Enrollment is required for select Amex benefits.
The Capital One Venture X and Venture X Business fall somewhere in the middle of these. Capital One requires booking through a portal and does not apply the $300 travel credit to “anything travel” — only to what's available in the portal. You can't use this perk for things like bus or train tickets, subway passes, or Disney park tickets. However, the Capital One Venture X and Venture X Business have the lowest annual fees of any of these cards.
Related: Best Credit Cards with Travel Credits and Airline Incidental Credits
Our Take
The Capital One Venture X offers a huge array of perks, the chief of which is the $300 annual travel credit. While Capital One does require booking through a portal to use it, there's no enrollment required. Between this and the slew of other perks, many travelers should be able to justify the $395 annual fee on this card.
If you're interested in applying, make sure to first consult the application rules to determine your eligibility and likelihood of being approved.
The comments on this page are not provided, reviewed, or otherwise approved by the bank advertiser. It is not the bank advertiser's responsibility to ensure all posts and/or questions are answered.
Thank you. If I rent a car with travel credits in entire amounts, am I still qualified for a primary rental car coverage?
SP – Here’s what Capital One says: “Even with the $300 Travel Credit modification, if a customer uses their rewards to cover an entire purchase, Visa insurance benefits will still kick in and be applied. This is the same for all redemption based purchases – including using the travel credit.”
A very well compiled article.
This helps me a ton
Thanks!