The Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card was launched roughly a year ago, and has proven to be an incredibly popular product. We normally look at credit card values in the context of what a card has to offer for the primary cardmember as you’ll see in our top cards of 2022. However, sometimes it makes sense to look at the overall value of a card for a family.
Is there such a thing as a perfect credit card for families? Well, I’d argue the Capital One Venture X is unbeatable in that regard.
The Capital One Venture X pays for itself
First for some background, the Capital One Venture X has a $395 annual fee. However, in reality the card shouldn’t cost anyone nearly that much, as there are endless reasons to pick up this card. Among other things, the card offers:
- A $300 annual travel credit redeemable through Capital One Travel; this should be good as cash to most cardmembers, as it can be used for flights, hotels, or rental cars
- 10,000 anniversary bonus miles, which can be redeemed for $100 toward a travel purchase, or can be transfered to airline and hotel partners
- Amazing airport lounge access, including a Priority Pass membership, Plaza Premium lounge access, and access to Capital One Lounges
- Primary rental car coverage
- Cell phone protection
- Hertz President’s Circle elite status
- 2x Venture miles per dollar spent with no caps on earnings and no foreign transaction fees, making this one of the best cards for everyday spending, and one of the best cards for foreign purchases
- The card is also offering an excellent welcome bonus of 75,000 Venture miles upon completing minimum spending, and anecdotally lots of people are having success getting approved.
Go here for 75,000 mile sign-up bonus with the Capital One Card or read our full review here.
This is truly a card that pays for itself — the $300 annual travel credit and 10,000 anniversary bonus miles should more than cover the annual fee on an ongoing basis, and then the rest is just having your cake and eating it. Did we even mention you get early access to concerts such as Taylor Swift?
Why the Capital One Venture X is perfect for families
While the value of the Capital One Venture X is there for just a single user, what makes this card exceptional is the unrivaled value it offers to families. Capital One lets you add up to four authorized users to the Venture X at no extra cost, and best of all, each authorized user gets many of the same perks as the primary cardmember.
This is ideal for families who want to add their significant other, children, parents, etc., to their credit card (Capital One also doesn’t have a minimum age to add authorized users). Authorized users receive:
- All the same lounge access perks as the primary cardmember, including a Priority Pass membership, access to Plaza Premium Lounges, and access to Capital One Lounges
- Earn 2x Venture miles on spending with no foreign transaction fees; the primary cardmember is on the hook for paying and racks up the points, but this is a great everyday spending card to give to a spouse or children if you’re looking to maximize rewards in an easy way
- The same protections, including cell phone protection, primary rental car coverage, etc.
- Hertz President’s Circle elite status
- In one example you can add your parents to the Capital One Venture X, so that they can get airport lounge access. If you have teens you can add them.
- Go here to apply and get 75k miles
While there are several good premium credit cards, other popular options don’t let you add authorized users for free:
- The Chase Sapphire Reserve Card (review) charges $75 per authorized user
- The Platinum Card from American Express charges $175 to add a total of up to three authorized users (Rates & Fees)
- So by comparison, being able to add four authorized users at no cost on the Capital One Venture X is unbelievably generous.
Bottom line
The Capital One Venture X has an amazing value proposition in general, but the area where the card really shines is for families. That’s because you can add four authorized users to the card at no extra cost, and they get many of the same perks as the primary cardmember, including airport lounge access. You also get to bring up to 3 people into a lounge with you when you fly at any Priority Club lounge (some are saying more than that). They are also adding a new Capital One Lounge in Denver and Las Vegas!
Being able to gift airport lounge access to family and close friends is an awesome opportunity, especially since it doesn’t come at any sort of opportunity cost. So if you are considering this card, be sure to think of it beyond just the value to the primary cardmember.
