by Daniel | Last Updated November 12th, 2021
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With a wide variety of different travel credit cards available, choosing the best one can be a bit of a challenge,
Who Are These Cards Good For?
Both of these cards are specifically good for frequent travelers as a lot of the benefits and perks that come with both cards are directly related to travel.
They both offer a complimentary Priority Pass membership and a $300 travel credit each year.
APR
So the APR for both cards is the same and varies between 16.99% and 23.99% depending on what your creditworthiness is, and this rate will vary with the market depending on what the Prime rate is.
Annual Fee
So now let’s take a look at what the annual fee is for each card.
And starting with the cheaper of the two cards, the Capital One Venture X Card has an annual fee of $395, and while it is cheaper than the Chase Sapphire Reserve, it’s not exactly cheap.
But thankfully both cards offer a sign-up bonus that easily offsets this cost.
Next up, the Chase Sapphire Reserve Card has an annual fee of $550, which is $155 more expensive than the Venture X card.
So in terms of the annual fee the Capital One Venture X card is better value than the Chase Sapphire Reserve card, as it saves you $155.
Sign-up Bonus
So now let’s compare the sign-up bonus of each card and see which card comes out on top.
Starting with the Capital One Venture X card you can earn 100,000 bonus miles after you spend $10,000 in purchases within the first 6 months of opening the account.
And with miles being worth approximately 1 cent per mile, these miles are worth approximately $1,000.
Next up, the Chase Sapphire Reserve Card is offering 50,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 within the first 3 months of card ownership.
And with points being worth approximately 1.5 cents per dollar, these points are worth approximately $750.
So both cards offer a generous sign-up bonus that more than covers the cost of the annual fee.
One thing to take note of is that you will need to spend more than twice as much with the Capital One Venture X Card than the Reserve card to receive the sign-up bonus.
With the Venture X card, you will need to spend $1,666 per month for 6 months to receive the sign-up bonus, whereas with the Reserve card you will only need to spend $1,333 per month for just 3 months to receive the bonus.
So if you don’t have any issue with spending $10,000 within the first six months to receive the sign-up bonus from the Venture X card, then this won’t be an issue for you and you will receive $250 more in value.
So for this section, the Capital One Venture X card does offer more value than the Chase Sapphire Reserve Card.
Earning Miles/Points
Next up, let’s see how you can earn reward points with each card and how much they are worth.
And starting with the Capital One Venture X card you can earn 10x miles per dollar spent on both hotels and rental cars that are booked through Capital One Travel.
You will then earn 5x miles per dollar spent on flights that are also booked through Capital One Travel.
And finally, you will earn 2x miles per dollar spent on all other purchases.
Next up, with the Chase Sapphire Reserve card, you will earn 10x points per dollar spent on hotels and car rentals when you book through Chase Ultimate Rewards.
You will also receive 10x points per dollar spent on Chase Dining purchases through Ultimate rewards.
And until March 2022 you will also earn 10x points on Lyft rides.
You will receive 5x points for flights that are booked through Ultimate rewards, and all other travel will receive 3x points per dollar spent.
You will earn 3x points on all other dinings at restaurants, and this includes delivery services and take-out.
And finally, all other purchases will receive one point per dollar spent.
(And just a note, you will only start to earn full point rewards on travel-specific purchases after you have utilized all of the $300 annual travel credit bonus.)
So as you can see, the Chase Sapphire Reserve card does have more options to earn points from.
Another thing to note is that when you redeem points through Chase Ultimate Rewards, they are worth 1.5 cents per point, which is 50% more than what the Capital One Venture Card Points are worth.
So for this section, the Chase Sapphire Reserve Card clearly offers more value than the Capital One Venture X Card does.
Benefits and User Perks
So from here let’s take a look at what benefits and user perks are offered with each card.
Starting with the Capital One Venture X Card you will receive a $300 annual travel credit that can be used for bookings made through Capital One Travel.
Next up you will receive a $200 vacation rental credit that can be used within the first year of card ownership at rental merchants such as Airbnb, Turnkey, Vacasa, and VRBO.
You will get an anniversary bonus of 10,000 miles each year that is worth $100 that can be used towards travel.
Next up you will have access to both Capital One and Priority Pass airport lounges.
Capital One Lounges will initially open at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport and then at other airports across the US.
And with Priority Pass you will have access to more than 1,300 airport lounges from all over the world.
Then finally, you will receive a $100 credit that can be used for either Global Entry or TSA PreCheck.
With the Chase Sapphire Reserve card, you will also get a $300 annual travel credit that can be used on a wide variety of travel-related purchases.
And until the end of 2021 both gas station and grocery store purchases will be eligible for this credit.
Next up you will get a Lyft Pink membership that is worth $199, and this gives you up to up to 15% of all Lyft rides, priority airport pickups, and relaxed cancellations.
You will also get a DashPass subscription which is worth almost $120, and this gives you a $0 delivery fee on orders that are over $12.
Along with this, you will also get up to $60 in statement credits that can be used for DoorDash purchases through December 31st, 2021.
Next up you will get up to $120 back on eligible Peloton Digital or All-Access Membership until the end of 2021.
There is the same $100 credit that you can use for either Global Entry or TSA PreCheck.
You also get a Priority Pass Membership for access to over 1300 airport lounges from all over the world.
And finally, you will get access to The Luxury Hotel & Resort Collection which offers complimentary room upgrades, early check-in, and late check-out.
In terms of the value that each card offers, the Capital One Venture X Card has $700 in value that is given back in way of a credit statement, and the Chase Sapphire Reserve card has $899 in value.
So for this section, the Chase Sapphire Reserve card offers more value than the Venture X card, if you take into account the difference in the annual fee, the Chase card ends up offering $44 more in value.
Insurance-related Benefits
Now when it comes to insurance-related benefits, both cards offer quite a lot of coverage.
So starting with the Capital One Venture X card you will get cell phone protection that will cover up to $800 if your phone is damaged or stolen.
Next up there is an auto rental collision damage waiver that covers you for any physical damage, theft, and reasonable customary towing.
You will also get lost luggage reimbursement that will cover up to a total of $3,000 per trip for theft or misdirection by a common carrier.
There is trip delay reimbursement that provides up to $500 per ticket if you’re held up for more than 6 hours due to a covered hazard or require an overnight stay.
You will get trip cancellation/ trip interruption reimbursement that covers up to $2,000 per insured person in the event of injury, disease, physical illness, or death.
There is return protection that covers purchases for up to $300 and for 90 days if the merchant won’t accept the return.
And finally, you will get extended warranty protection that gives you 1 extra year of coverage on eligible US manufacturers warranties that are 3 years or less.
Now with the Chase Sapphire Reserve card, you will get Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver that covers you for up to $75,000.
You get the same Lost Luggage Reimbursement that covers $3,000 per person and the Trip Delay Reimbursement that covers $500 per ticket.
Next up you will get Trip Cancellation/Interruption Insurance, but with the Chase Sapphire Reserve Card you have a lot more coverage, it will cover up to $10,000 per person and $20,000 per trip if your trip is canceled or cut short by sickness.
There is Return Protection, but again you get a higher level of coverage, the coverage is for the same 90 days but it covers up to $500 per item, $1,000 per year.
You get the same extended warranty protection as the Venture X card.
And finally, you will also get Emergency Evacuation & Transportation which covers up to $100,000 in the event that you or a member of your immediate family become sick or is injured during a trip that is not close to your home.
So for the section, the Chase Sapphire Reserve card offers more in the way of coverage, specifically when it comes to travel insurance.
Final Thoughts
So what are my thoughts about each of these cards?
Clearly, both of these cards offer some fantastic value and in my opinion, either card is worth having.
The sign-up bonus on both cards easily covers the annual fee for the first year, and there are plenty of other perks and benefits that make having either card worth it.
Ultimately the Chase Sapphire Reserve card comes out on top, first of all, because it has more options and variety when it comes to earning points than the Venture X card, also the points with the Reserve card are worth 50% more than the Venture X card, which can make a huge difference over the course of a year, especially if you spend a lot of money on the card.
Along with this, the Reserve card also offers more benefits and user perks, and more in the way of travel-related insurance.
But I’d love to know what card you would choose?
Do you think that the Chase Sapphire Reserve Card is the better overall card?
Or would you prefer to get the Capital One Venture X Credit card?