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

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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 last year when Capital One shook up the industry with its debut of the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card — 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 (and the increased annual fee on the Reserve, which kicked in last year). Or, maybe you're on the hunt for your first premium card as most of international travel has opened back up.

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

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Comparing the Capital One Venture X and the Chase Sapphire Reserve

Annual fee

In 2020, Chase increased the annual fee on the Sapphire Reserve from $450 to $550, without increasing many of the benefits to justify this $100 jump. 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 better range of transfer partners — we estimate that Ultimate Rewards points are worth 2 cents apiece while Capital One miles are worth 1.85 cents apiece.

Therefore, the Capital One Venture X's welcome bonus of 75,000 miles is worth about $1,388, while the Sapphire Reserve's bonus of 50,000 points is worth $1,000.

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.

Travel is a broad category defined by Chase, including everything from rental homes, buses, rideshares, parking fees and more. 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, the most rewarding way to redeem your points and miles is by transferring your points to travel partners.

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 is much newer, but the issuer has done a great job of adding new participating partners in recent months. While most transfer at a 1:1 ratio, 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 in the fall).

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, cash back and more.

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 great to have 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.

Both cards offer Priority Pass membership, giving you access to 1,200-plus lounges worldwide.

But the Venture X goes a step further with its new Capital One Lounges. The first-ever Capital One Lounge opened in Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) in late 2021, and two more locations in Denver International Airport (DEN) and Washington-Dulles International Airport (IAD) are set to open later in 2022.

These locations take lounges to the next level with chef-curated meals, nap pods and even Peloton bikes, so we're excited for the lounge network to continue to grow over the years.

It's worth noting that Chase Sapphire Lounges are in the pipeline, with five locations actively in the works. But for now, the Venture X outdoes the Sapphire Reserve in the lounge department.

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 and access to the Capital One Lounge network.

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.