Credit card showdown: Capital One Venture X vs. Chase Sapphire Reserve

HOSTED BY: 1 AIR TRAVEL

For years, the unquestionable leaders of the premium card market were The Platinum Card® from American Express and the Chase Sapphire Reserve.

That all changed when Capital One shook up the industry with its debut of the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card (see rates and fees) in late 2021 — undercutting both of its rivals by offering competitive perks at a lower $395 annual fee.

Perhaps you’re one of the many Sapphire Reserve cardmembers who’ve questioned your loyalty to Chase with the launch of the Venture X. Or, maybe you’re on the hunt for your first premium travel rewards card.

Today, we’ll help you decide whether the Capital One Venture X or the Chase Sapphire Reserve is the better card for you.

Comparing the Capital One Venture X and the Chase Sapphire Reserve

*Upon enrollment, accessible through the Capital One website or mobile app, eligible cardholders will remain at upgraded status level through December 31, 2024. 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.

The annual fee on the the Sapphire Reserve is $550. Note that it costs an additional $75 to add an authorized user.

At $395 per year, the Capital One Venture X is one of the most affordable premium cards. Best of all, you can add up to four authorized users for no additional cost.

Winner: The Capital One Venture X for its lower annual fee for the primary cardholder and no additional cost for up to four authorized users.

Welcome bonus

Both cards require the same amount of spend in a given time frame ($4,000 in the first three months of account opening) to unlock their introductory offers.

TPG values Chase Ultimate Rewards points slightly higher than Capital One miles due to its superior transfer partners — we estimate that Ultimate Rewards points are worth 2 cents apiece while Capital One miles are worth 1.85 cents apiece.

The Capital One Venture X’s welcome bonus of 75,000 miles is worth about $1,388, while the Sapphire Reserve’s bonus of 60,000 points is worth $1,200.

Winner: Capital One Venture X.

Earning

Which premium card will offer better returns in the long run? For this analysis, we factored in the value of each currency to their rewards rates:

Both the Venture X and the Sapphire Reserve offer fantastic returns for travel purchased through their respective portals.

While the Venture X offers simplicity, with 2 miles per dollar on all other purchases, the Chase Sapphire Reserve offers higher returns for two lucrative bonus categories — travel (booked outside of Ultimate Rewards) and dining purchases.

Chase defines travel as a broad category, including everything from rental homes and buses to rideshares and parking fees. Similarly, dining purchases include takeout and delivery services, widening the spectrum for what falls under this category.

Winner: Chase Sapphire Reserve, as it offers bonus categories beyond travel portal bookings. However, non-bonus purchases only garner 1 point per dollar. If you’re the type of consumer who has a ton of varied spend outside of travel and dining, then the Venture X may be a better card for you for its simple earning rate.

Redeeming

With both of these programs, transferring your points to travel partners is the most rewarding way to redeem your points and miles.

The Chase Ultimate Rewards program is a long-time crowd favorite. You can transfer your Ultimate Rewards points at a simple, 1:1 ratio (so every 1,000 Chase points equates to 1,000 points or miles in a Chase transfer partner program).

On the other hand, the Capital One miles program has partners that transfer at a 1:1 ratio for the most part, but there are a few exceptions that transfer at a less favorable ratio.

Let’s compare the partners side-by-side (all transfer at a 1:1 ratio unless otherwise stated).

As you can see, there are quite a few overlaps. While Capital One offers more loyalty partners, there are no domestic airlines (after it lost JetBlue TrueBlue as a partner).

Meanwhile, Chase offers three domestic airlines — JetBlue, Southwest and United — as well as one particularly lucrative hotel program, World of Hyatt.

Of course, both the Venture X and Sapphire Reserve offer other (less lucrative) redemption options, such as gift cards and cash back.

However, with the Sapphire Reserve, your points are worth 50% more toward any travel booked through the Ultimate Rewards portal, making your points worth 1.5 cents apiece. While this isn’t as rewarding as transferring your points to Chase’s transfer partners, this redemption option is useful if you are having trouble finding award space.

Meanwhile, the Venture X offers fixed-rate travel redemptions at just 1 cent per mile — and while this can be applied to any travel purchase you charge to the card, it’s still notably lower.

Winner: Chase Sapphire Reserve. More partners doesn’t necessarily equate to more value, which is why we peg Ultimate Rewards points at a higher value than Capital One miles. And even the fixed-value redemption option is 50% more lucrative.

Other benefits

Let’s talk about what makes these cards truly premium.

For starters, there’s an up to $300 annual travel statement credit on both cards. However, the Venture X’s travel credit is less flexible since you’ll have to book all travel on the Capital One portal in order to receive reimbursement. Meanwhile, the Sapphire Reserve will automatically reimburse for any purchases under the “travel” umbrella up to the $300 limit — and they don’t necessarily have to be booked directly with Chase.

As for lounge access, both cards offer Priority Pass membership, giving you access to 1,300-plus lounges worldwide.

On the one hand, the Venture X gets you Unlimited complimentary access for you and two guests, whereas the Sapphire Reserve limits to you to two free guests (and then $27 each for additional guests.) Where the Sapphire Reserve fights back is that you can visit Priority Pass restaurants and spas, whereas you’re limited to lounges with the Venture X.

Both issuers are getting into the lounge game themselves, with Capital One’s first lounge open at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) and more to come. The Venture X gets you access.

Chase has its first U.S. lounge open in Boston and the Sapphire Reserve card will get you access.

Finally, both are Visa Infinite cards, giving you high-level travel and purchase protections. Both also come with ancillary benefits that won’t necessarily move the needle for prospective applicants (such as the 10,000-mile anniversary bonus on the Venture X and partner benefits with the Sapphire Reserve), but these perks are all worth taking advantage of if you decide to apply for either card.

Winner: Tie. While the Chase Sapphire Reserve’s $300 travel credit is much more flexible, the Capital One Venture X comes with 10,000 bonus anniversary miles. They’re very similar on lounges.

Bottom line

Both the Venture X and the Sapphire Reserve have their own strengths and weaknesses, so it’s impossible to generalize which card comes out on top.

However, for a much more manageable annual fee, the Venture X is a fantastic offering — if you don’t mind using the travel portal to unlock many of the benefits on the card.

For those who prefer to book directly with travel providers, the Sapphire Reserve is likely the better option for you — but at the cost of a higher $550 annual fee.

Official application link: Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card Official application link: Chase Sapphire Reserve

For Capital One products listed on this page, some of the above benefits are provided by Visa® or Mastercard® and may vary by product. See the respective Guide to Benefits for details, as terms and exclusions apply.

Additional reporting by Ryan Wilcox.