I have the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card, and one of the biggest things that I like about the card is that it comes with excellent airport lounge access for a reasonable annual fee. The $395 annual fee to me is all but offset by the $300 annual travel credit and 10,000 anniversary Venture miles. This is one of the reasons that I have described the Venture X as “the best luxury credit card out there“.
Capital One Venture X lounge access
As I mentioned, the airport lounge access policy with the Venture X card is one of the biggest reasons I personally like the card. You get a Priority Pass Select membership, with 2 guests included. You also get access to the outstanding Capital One lounges that are in various airports throughout the country.
Even better, you could add up to FOUR authorized users (for free), and each of THEM also got access to these lounges and the ability to add guests. I’ve used that to get my family into lounges when we travel, and also given my kids their own cards so that they can access lounges when they travel without me.
Capital One changing lounge access with the Venture X card
It has definitely been a generous policy, and we were all wondering how long it would last (or when the annual fee would go up). Unfortunately, this week we got news that Capital One is changing the lounge access with the Venture X card.
Here is the relevant parts from an email that I got from Capital One recently regarding authorized users:
- Beginning February 1, 2026, additional cardholders on Venture X accounts will not automatically have airport lounge access.
- Primary cardholders can pay an annual lounge access fee of $125 per additional cardholder to maintain their lounge access. This will grant additional cardholders access to Capital One Lounges, Capital One Landings and Priority Pass lounges.
- You can still keep or add additional cardholders without lounge access for no fee.
- If you wish to add lounge access for your additional cardholders you’ll have the option to do so beginning February 1, 2026.
And it gets even worse, because here are the changes for guests:
- Beginning February 1, 2026, guests of Venture X cardholders will no longer receive complimentary access to Priority Pass lounges. At that time, Venture X primary cardholders and eligible additional cardholders can bring guests to Priority Pass lounges at a rate of $35 each per visit.
- Beginning February 1, 2026, guests of Venture X cardholders will no longer automatically receive complimentary access to Capital One Lounges and Landings.
Primary cardholders and eligible additional cardholders that spend at least $75,000 across their Venture X account per calendar year can bring up to two complimentary guests to Capital One Lounges and one complimentary guest to Capital One Landings per visit.
Cardholder spend towards the $75,000 threshold begins in the 2025 calendar year. Complimentary guest access is valid for the calendar year in which the $75,000 spend occurs and the following calendar year.
Venture X primary cardholders and eligible additional cardholders will continue to receive discounted pricing of $45 per guest per visit, and will now receive a discounted rate of $25 per visit per guest 17 and under.
Children under two remain free.
Is the Venture X still worth it?
So, is the Capital One Venture X still worth it? I think that it’s possible that it is still worth it to have the Venture X – since as I mentioned the travel credit and anniversary points make the annual fee somewhat palatable, especially given some of the other benefits it has, like Trip Delay insurance, car rental insurance and roadside assistance:
(SEE ALSO: Successfully Getting A Capital One Venture X Trip Delay Insurance Claim)
(SEE ALSO: My Experience With Capital One Venture X Roadside Assistance)
And it will still be nice for lounge access when I’m traveling by myself. But I’m going to have to look at when my anniversary date is, and what I might do with my miles if I decide to cancel my card.
What’s the best luxury / premium credit card now?
So, does this change the calculations for what is the best luxury or premium credit card now? It certainly is a big hit to the Venture X, at least for me and how my family have used it. When comparing it to cards like the Chase Sapphire Reserve® or The Platinum Card® from American Express, I’m not sure if it stacks up favorably any more. My initial thought was that I might cancel my Venture X card and open up one of those other two cards for a signup bonus, and then see how it goes. I know sometimes the Platinum or Business Platinum cards have big welcome offers – I could switch to one of those for better guest access on lounge access as well as access to either Chase Sapphire lounges or Centurion lounges.
I’m curious to hear from other Venture cardholders and what they plan to do.
The Bottom Line
Capital One has slashed the airport lounge benefit that comes with its flagship Venture X credit card. Personally, I think they’ve gone a bit too far – I understand that they’re doing this in lieu of (hopefully!) raising the annual fee, and I do think that some of the lounge benefits they had were overgenerous. I would have been saddened but not surprised if they had removed the authorized user lounge access, as that’s a feature that no other card in its class has. But removing Priority Pass guests from the benefits is a punch to the gut for sure.
What do you make of these airport lounge changes on the Venture X? Will you keep the card? Leave your thoughts in the comments below
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Dan Miller travels with his wife and 6 (SIX!) children. He loves to help families travel for free / cheap, especially larger families. If you are looking for help, drop him an email at
Lounges are too crowded. Even more needs to be done to thin the herds in my opinion. They’re not pleasant when packed to the gills.
Thank you for calling out Capital One for this. I think that some restrictions on lounge access are prudent but so many bloggers are doing the equivalent of a shrug at this draconian policy change. That makes me mistrust the motives of those bloggers.
Capital One has gone too far in removing the guest access.
They should’ve simply removed free lounge benefits for the authorized users (unless you pay an extra $125), but kept the two guest policy for the primary cardholder at Capital one and priority pass lounges. That would have reduced the crowds, but positioned the card as an attractive option. I expect negative impact from this decision.
That is kind of what I was thinking would be reasonable as well