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- The Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card offers Priority Pass Select airport lounge membership.
- In addition to lounge access, the card offers discounts at 70 restaurants and access to non-lounge experiences.
- Beginning January 1, 2023, the card will no longer provide any benefits outside of airport lounges.
- Read Insider’s guide to the best credit cards for Priority Pass.
The Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card has become top dog among credit cards that offer Priority Pass airport lounge access — a network of more than 1,300 airport lounges worldwide. There are three reasons for this:
- It lets you bring in as many guests as you want. All other publicly available cards limit you to two guests (or sometimes immediate family).
- You can add up to four authorized users to the card for no charge — and each authorized user will get their own full fledged Priority Pass Select membership. Other publicly available cards that offer a Priority Pass membership to authorized users charge a fee.
- It comes with access to Priority Pass airport restaurants, spas, and other non-lounge experiences. The Priority Pass membership offered by many other credit cards doesn’t offer this benefit.
But late last week, Capital One quietly updated the Priority Pass lounge access rules for the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card. Starting January 1, 2023, members will no longer have access to Priority Pass non-lounge experiences.
Here’s what to know about the changes to the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card and what your options are if Priority Pass restaurant access is important to you.
We’re focused here on the rewards and perks that come with each card. These cards won’t be worth it if you’re paying interest or late fees. When using a credit card, it’s important to pay your balance in full each month, make payments on time, and only spend what you can afford to pay.
Capital One Venture X Priority Pass losing airport restaurants, spas
Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card
Intro offer
75,000 bonus miles when you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening
Rewards
Earn unlimited 10X miles on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel. Earn 5X miles on flights booked through Capital One Travel. Earn unlimited 2X miles on all other purchases.
Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card
Intro offer
75,000 bonus miles when you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening
Rewards
Earn unlimited 10X miles on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel. Earn 5X miles on flights booked through Capital One Travel. Earn unlimited 2X miles on all other purchases.
Details
Rewards
Earn unlimited 10X miles on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel. Earn 5X miles on flights booked through Capital One Travel. Earn unlimited 2X miles on all other purchases.
Intro offer
75,000 bonus miles when you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening
Recommended Credit
Excellent
Regular Annual Percentage Rate (APR)
19.99% – 26.99% Variable
Pros & Cons
Highlights
Additional Reading
If you’ve never used your Priority Pass membership for free food, you don’t know what you’re missing. At ~70 participating restaurants, you can receive up to $60 in free food simply by handing your Priority Pass card to your server. Here’s how it works:
- You’ll receive a discount of up to $30 for your meal.
- You’ll receive an additional discount of up to $30 for a guest’s meal.
It’s a huge money saver for anyone who frequents major hubs like San Francisco (SFO), Miami (MIA), New York (JFK), and Houston (IAH) — but you’ll also find them in smaller airports such as Syracuse (SYR), Cleveland (CLE), St. Louis (STL), and Indianapolis (IND).
In addition, Priority Pass Select gives you access/discounts for other experiences, such as things like Gameway, a pay-to-play video game room in Dallas (DFW), and Be Relax Spa locations which are found in San Diego (SAN) and Detroit (DTW).
While the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card is still a great choice if you’re looking for free airport lounge access, this removal of non-lounge experiences is disappointing. The change puts the Priority Pass membership from the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card in line with cards such as The Platinum Card® from American Express
. American Express removed Priority Pass restaurants from its memberships in 2019, leaving only a handful of cards from other issuers that include restaurant credits.
Now, instead of the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card as the undisputed king of Priority Pass credit cards, your Priority Pass-conferring airport credit card will take a bit more deliberation. You must decide what’s most important to you.
Is your main priority the ability to bring lots of guests into the lounge?
If so, the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card is still the best card for you. No other card publicly available card gives you an unlimited number of guests. Just note that individual lounges may turn you away if they’re really busy.
Do you want to pass along free Priority Pass membership to others?
The Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card is still the cheapest way to do that, as you can add up to four authorized users for free — and all authorized users will get their own Priority Pass Select membership with unlimited guests. All other publicly available cards charge an annual fee for authorized users.
Do you value Priority Pass restaurants and other non-lounge experiences above “unlimited guests” perk?
If so, the Chase Sapphire Reserve® is now your best bet. Again, this card allows you to bring up to two guests. If you tend to only travel with two guests or fewer, you have little need for a credit card that gives you unlimited guests.
If you do travel with more than two guests, you can add authorized users for $75 each. When you add an authorized user, you effectively allow for three more people into the lounge with you (the authorized user and their two guests).
Bottom line
While the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card was once inarguably the best public credit card for Priority Pass, there is now a case to be made that the Chase Sapphire Reserve® is better.
The Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card is the first Visa credit card to drop access to discounts at participating Priority Pass restaurants and other non-lounge experiences. Because of this, it’s possible that other Visa cards — Chase Sapphire Reserve® included — do the same in the near future.
