Is the Capital One Venture X worth the $395 annual fee?

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The Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card comes with features aimed at travelers, such as airport lounge access, travel credits and a large welcome bonus offering 75,000 Capital One miles after cardholders spend $4,000 in the first three months from account opening.

However, the Venture X comes with a $395 annual fee. While that's on the lower end for a premium credit card, some are asking if it's worth the hefty price tag.

Below, CNBC Select breaks down the Capital One Venture X's rewards, benefits and fees to help you decide if it's the right card for you.

The Capital One Venture X packs a punch for consumers who want a credit card that focuses almost exclusively on travel perks. Other premium cards, most notably The Platinum Card® from American Express and Chase Sapphire Reserve®, have made additions to their benefits in recent years that make each more of a 'lifestyle' card than a pure travel card. Terms apply.

With the Venture X, the valuable rewards and benefits you will have access to can quickly make the annual fee worth paying — that is as long as you use them. In the first year alone, the card comes with perks easily worth over $1,000 (that includes the welcome bonus), not including the ones with variable values like the cell phone insurance and no foreign transaction fees. *Terms, conditions and exclusions apply. Refer to your Guide to Benefits for more details.

Additionally, if you're someone with multiple credit cards, you may be frustrated as several popular travel cards have similar benefits to the Venture X. If so, it may be best to analyze which card can deliver you more value. If the Capital One Venture X can offer you more for a better annual fee, canceling (or downgrading) your other card(s) is an option to trim the fat.

If you're looking just at the first year, the Venture X card is easily worth it if you earn the 75,000-point welcome bonus, which is worth $750 when redeeming for recent travel purchases or booking travel through the Capital One Travel Portal. However, if you transfer your points to airline partners, you could get more value from your miles. You can transfer Capital One Miles to 15 partners which include JetBlue, Choice Privileges, British Airways and Air Canada Aeroplan.

With this long list of perks, the $395 annual fee can very quickly be made back, especially in the first year. While you won't earn a welcome bonus in the second year, the 10,000 bonus anniversary miles (worth at least $100 toward travel) plus the $300 travel credit easily offsets the annual fee. When you take just those two perks at their face value of $400, it's nearly like Capital One is paying you $5 to keep the card open.

And benefits like the Complimentary Hertz President Circle status*, airport lounge access, access to unique events through Capital One Experiences and ongoing rewards from spending is gravy on top. Plus, you can add authorized users and share many of these benefits, including lounge access, for no extra costs.

*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.

If you're considering the Capital One Venture X card, it's best to apply if you have any large upcoming expenses — especially if they're travel related.

First, you would be able to use the $300 Capital One Travel credit toward purchases made through Capital One Travel right off the bat — effectively earning back the annual fee plus some. This makes the card great for someone who's in the trip-planning process.

In addition, be sure that you have an excellent credit score and that you'll be able to meet the minimum spend threshold before you apply. The requirement is a bit steep at $4,000 in three months, so having large upcoming expenses can ease the stress of earning the bonus.

But most importantly, add the nearly $400 annual fee into your budget. While saving money on travel through reward miles and credit cards can be a thrill, it isn't worth putting yourself into a financial bind. So before applying be sure you consider the annual fee as it will be applied on the first billing statement.

If the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card doesn't fit exactly what you are looking for, don't fret. There are plenty of travel credit cards, with smaller and larger annual fees, that may be a better fit.

If you enjoy earning transferable Capital One miles, but don't want to pay a large annual fee upfront, consider the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card. Similar to the Venture X, the Venture Rewards Card earns 2X miles for every dollar spent on eligible purchases, but has a more modest $95 annual fee. You will still have access to the Capital One Travel portal and you can earn a valuable welcome bonus of 75,000 bonus miles once you spend $4,000 on purchases within the first three months from account opening.

If you want to have a larger suite of benefits, consider the Chase Sapphire Reserve® Card. It has a long list of features, including: broad spending categories to earn rewards, airport lounge access, discounts and credits with partners like Lyft, Peloton and DoorDash, comprehensive travel insurance, purchase protection, return protection and 50% more value when you redeem your Chase Ultimate Rewards® points for travel through Chase Travel℠. The card also comes with a great welcome offer: 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. However, the card has a steep $550 annual fee, and an additional $75 annual fee for each authorized user.

Alternatively, there's also the American Express® Gold Card. It currently has a welcome bonus of 60,000 Membership Rewards® points after spending $6,000 on eligible purchases with your new card within the first six months of card membership and offers a generous return on dining and for shopping at U.S. supermarkets. The card's annual fee is $250 annual fee (see rates and fees), but that's almost fully offset by the up to $120 in annual dining credits (up to $10 in statement credits each month) and up to $120 Uber Cash per year ($10 each month). Terms apply. To receive this benefit, you must have downloaded the latest version of the Uber App and your eligible American Express Gold Card must be a method of payment in your Uber account. The Amex Benefit may only be used in the United States.

The Capital One Venture X is a great travel credit card for someone looking for a straightforward way to earn and spend rewards from their purchases. The Venture X is focused on consumers who solely want travel benefits and it's relatively easy to earn the annual fee back if you travel at least once or twice a year. Other premium credit cards offer a wider array of perks, but it can be difficult to use them without making purchases you wouldn't ordinarily make.

If you're able to stomach the $395 annual fee, the Venture X card can be a great companion to not only make your purchases with, but help elevate the quality of travel you experience.

At CNBC Select, our mission is to provide our readers with high-quality service journalism and comprehensive consumer advice so they can make informed decisions with their money. Every credit card article is based on rigorous reporting by our team of expert writers and editors with extensive knowledge of credit cards. While CNBC Select earns a commission from affiliate partners on many offers and links, we create all our content without input from our commercial team or any outside third parties, and we pride ourselves on our journalistic standards and ethics.

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For rates and fees for The Platinum Card from Amex, click here.

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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.