This Travel Card Is Outsmarting the Competition—Here's Why I Keep It In My Wallet

Forbes

a day ago

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When it comes to selecting the best travel rewards credit card , it's easy to get overwhelmed by the options available. Two of the top contenders in recent years, however, have been the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card and the Chase Sapphire Reserve® card, which charge annual fees about as large as their lofty reputations. After all, you get what you pay for.
With recent changes to the Chase Sapphire Reserve , including a significant overhaul to its benefits structure and a steep hike of its annual fee to $795 (as of June 23, 2025), the Venture X card has eked out a glorious win over the CSR as the superior travel card in my eyes. Here's why.
As the cardholder of over a dozen credit cards and counting, knowing that the Venture X sits in my wallet front and center gives me a sense of security and satisfaction. And that's because I sleep well at night knowing that even before counting the rewards that I've racked up, the card more than pays for itself.
While an annual fee of $395 (rates & fees) is difficult to swallow every year, the feeling becomes an afterthought thanks to the beneficial combination of its $300 annual travel credit for bookings through Capital One Travel and the 10,000 bonus miles each account anniversary (worth $100), which has me coming out ahead before factoring in any other perks.
Here are some of the other perks of the Venture X: Welcome bonus: 75,000 bonus miles after spending $4,000 on purchases within the first three months of account opening
$300 annual travel credit (must be used through the Capital One Travel portal)
Access to Capital One lounges and Priority Pass™ lounges after enrollment
$120 Global Entry or TSA PreCheck application fee credit
Hertz President's Circle status
Rental car protection
Trip delay insurance
Trip cancellation and interruption insurance
Lost luggage reimbursement
Travel accident insurance
Up to four authorized users at no additional cost
No foreign transaction fees
In my first year of holding the Venture X, I was able to maximize my earnings between the welcome bonus and strong earning structure on flights and hotels. In fact, I was able to earn more than $2,000 worth of Capital One miles .
The card's access to lounges proved to be extremely valuable, offering a space where I could rest and grab a free meal before a flight. The additional range of insurance saved me hundreds on primary insurance for car rentals and helped reimburse me when an airline lost one of my bags on a trip.
All in all, the Venture X offers up-front value with little extra effort required. For that reason, it's a staple in my wallet, and even with changes to other premium travel credit cards, it's still my go-to.
In June, Chase unveiled sweeping changes to its premium travel card, the Sapphire Reserve. More than just a bump of the annual fee to $795, making it one of the most expensive credit cards available on the market, the card's revamp ushered in a slew of changes that aren't necessarily for the better. The card offers the following: Welcome bonus: 100,000 bonus points, plus a $500 Chase Travel℠ promo credit after spending $5,000 on purchases in the first three months from account opening
Access to Chase Sapphire lounges and Priority Pass™ lounges
$120 Global Entry, Nexus or TSA PreCheck application fee credit
Rental car insurance
Trip cancellation and interruption insurance
Trip delay insurance
Lost luggage reimbursement
Roadside assistance
$0 foreign transaction fee
Previously, the Chase Travel portal provided the bank a formidable edge in point redemptions, as Ultimate Rewards® points redeemed by Sapphire Reserve cardholders were worth a flat rate of 1.5 cents apiece. Unfortunately, Chase's move away from flat-rate redemptions for Sapphire Reserve cardholders has taken that advantage away. In its stead, Chase is offering a new redemption system called Points Boost , where Sapphire Reserve cardholders can redeem points at a value of up to 2 cents apiece on select flights and hotel stays. However, getting maximum value is tricky, and on bookings not eligible for Points Boost, the redemption value drops to 1 cent per point.
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On top of the new changes, the Reserve includes other benefits that can make the card worthwhile, depending on the person and their day-to-day spending. Are you interested in a Peloton membership? Do you eat out a lot? Do you regularly buy concert tickets through StubHub? These are all conditions as to whether or not the card would be worth the cost for you and whether, most importantly, they're valuable to you in a travel card.
Additional Sapphire Reserve perks: Up to $300 in credit at restaurants in the Sapphire Reserve Exclusives Table program in the form of two biannual $150 credits
Up to $300 statement credit for StubHub, in the form of two biannual $150 credits
Up to $250 toward Apple TV+ and Apple Music subscriptions
Up to $120 in credit towards a Peloton membership
$120 in Lyft credits ($10 a month)
$300 annually in monthly DoorDash promos and a complimentary DashPass membership worth $120 annually
Complimentary IHG One Rewards Platinum Elite Status through December 31, 2027
Up to $500 in credit for The Edit℠, Chase's luxury hotel portal, in the form of two biannual $250 credits
Fee of $195 per year for each additional user added to the card
If you spend over $75,000 on the card in a year, you can unlock the following perks: Southwest Airline benefits: Receive $500 Southwest credit and Southwest A-List status when booked through Chase
IHG One Rewards Diamond Elite Status
$250 in credit for Chase's shopping platform, The Shops
In my eyes, these new changes take the card from what was previously a strong travel option to a shell of its former glory. Despite the expensive $795 price tag, the travel benefits offered by the more affordable Venture X beat Chase's offerings, whose additional perks create a complicated web of research and bookkeeping for you to keep track of.
With the Chase Sapphire Reserve, users with high spending thresholds may earn more perks, but the Venture X card has a much lower threshold, making it accessible for all travelers—from those who take one vacation a year to seasoned digital nomads. I like that you don't need to worry about hitting high spending targets in specific categories to earn premium rewards with the Venture X. Conversely, for a luxury card, the Chase Sapphire Reserve is asking too much of people who don't want to dedicate hours to memorizing card benefits.
To me, the Venture X rewards a more straightforward approach, which makes it an ideal card for people who want premium perks without the need to chase bonus categories. It offers a competitive welcome bonus, lower annual fee, lucrative perks, travel protections and a solid customer service team. What more can you ask for?
For Capital One products listed on this page, some of the benefits may be provided by Visa® or Mastercard® and may vary by product. See the respective Guide to Benefits for details, as terms and exclusions apply.
Upon enrollment, accessible through the Capital One website or mobile app, eligible cardholders will remain at that status level through the duration of the offer. Please note, enrolling through the normal Hertz Gold Plus Rewards enrollment process (e.g. at Hertz.com) will not automatically detect a cardholder as being eligible for the program and cardholders will not be automatically upgraded to the applicable status tier. Additional terms apply.