Capital One to RUIN The Venture X with THIS Change?

The Venturex credit card from Capital One came out in late 2021, and it was described as a new class of travel card. And indeed, for the past few years, it has offered the best value airport lounge access of any credit card in the US market, giving cardholders both priority pass lounges and Capital One's own very popular lounge network, all for a relatively low annual fee. However, with a recent change that Capital One is about to enact, that could all be changing. So is Capital One about to ruin the Venturex? Hey, credit warriors. Welcome to the show. My name is Ben Hedges, a.k.a. The Credit Shofu. And on this channel, I cover US credit cards, personal finance and luxury travel. If you like the sound of that, do subscribe. So what exactly is Capital One doing with the Venturex? Well, first, why was the Venturex so good? Well, that is because the annual fee is just $395, and you currently get a $300 travel credit. And in the first year, you get a $100 global entry credit. And then every year after that, you get 10,000 points on your anniversary after you renew the card, valued at at least $100. So that all adds up to $400. The annual fee is only $395. So the card is effectively paying you $5 a year to keep it open. And then on top of that, you get priority pass and Capital One lounge access. You used to get Plaza Premium as well, but now so many of those Plaza Premium lounges have rejoined priority pass that it isn't really needed anymore. So when they got rid of it, it wasn't really a big deal. Right now, Capital One Venturex cards can have up to four authorized users, and those authorized user cards are free. Yes, you heard that right, free. And they all get lounge access as well. So potentially, you are being paid $5 per year to get full lounge access for the primary cardholder and four authorized users. That's five people. And the primary cardholder can bring two guests. That's seven people. I'm not sure if authorized users can bring guests. If you know the answer to that, do leave a comment below. But unfortunately, all of that is changing. So the first change is that as of February 2026, authorized users will no longer get lounge access for free. Priority pass cards will expire, and the card will not work at the Capital One lounge. However, authorized users can pay a $125 annual lounge access fee and get lounge access in Priority Pass and the Capital One lounges. This option will go live on February 1st next year, and you'll have to re-enroll in Priority Pass once you have paid the fee. You will still be able to keep your authorized user card with no annual fee and just not have lounge access if you like. So that's the first change. The second change has to do with guest access for the primary cardholder. But first, one of our partners, the brokerage app MooMoo, is currently running a really cool promotion where you can get up to 60 free stocks, five free stocks if you deposit $100, 25 free stocks if you deposit $2,000, and 60 free stocks if you deposit $5,000. Stocks are valued at between $2,000 and $2,000. So the more entries you have, the more chances you have at getting something really valuable. And if you deposit $10,000, you'll get two New York Mets suite tickets in addition to the 60 free stocks. MooMoo is a commission-free stock brokerage where you can trade U.S. and several major markets. Link for that offer is below. All right, guys. So the second negative change. VentureX primary cardholders will no longer get complimentary guest access at Priority Pass or Capital One lounges. For Priority Pass lounges, there is no workaround to get it completely for free. You'll have to just pay a guest fee of $35 for your guest. Or if they are a regular travel companion, you could get them an authorized user card and pay the $125 annual lounge fee on that card. If you make more than three lounge visits per year, so four or more visits per year, it is going to work out cheaper. But for Capital One lounges, there is a way to get complimentary guest access for primary cardholders and actually for authorized users. And that is if the primary cardholder or the authorized user spends over $75,000 or more on their cards in a calendar year, they're going to get two complimentary guests at the Capital One lounge and one complimentary guest at Capital One landings. That's their food-based lounges for the whole of the following year. And this policy also changes as of February 1st, 2026. All right. So currently it's still with the old policy. You're still getting free guests. But the clock is already ticking for that $75,000 in spend since 2025 is the calendar year that you need to do the spending in for guest access in 2026. All right. And that's $75,000 figure. That sounds very familiar. Oh, that's right. That is the exact same amount you need to spend to get free guests in the Centurion lounge on the Amex Platinum. Now for Capital One, if you don't manage to hit that $75,000 in spending in a calendar year, which I'm sure most people won't You will still be able to bring in guests though, apparently for the discounted rate of $45 per visit and $25 for under 18s and kids under two will still be free. So what do I think about all this? Well, I think it is to be expected. The Venture X has been a very high value proposition for several years now. So we knew something was coming and we've seen other cars from major issuers do similar things. Chase Sapphire Reserve, for example, used to offer unlimited guests at Priority Pass. They later put that down to two. Amex Platinum used to be able to bring in free guests at the Centurion lounge. Now you can't unless you spend over $75,000 per year. So, you know, this was to be expected. Many other cards have done similar things. However, I do think no free guests at Priority Pass lounges is a bit over the top. All right. Most premium cards like the Amex Platinum, for example, will give you free guests access for two free guests in Priority Pass lounges. In my opinion, it would have been better to perhaps raise the annual fee a little bit up to $450,000 or get rid of the annual anniversary points, right? The 10,000 points you get each year after your renewal or even both and keep free guests in Priority Pass lounges. With a $450,000 annual fee, the card would still be cheaper and in many cases, quite a lot cheaper than most other premium cards on the market today. But I guess the real reason may not be so much to do with money directly and more to do with overcrowding in the lounges, especially the Capital One lounges. But what are your thoughts on this, guys? Please leave your comments down below. Don't forget to get up to 60 free stocks and Metz tickets with Moomoo. Link for that deal is down below. Please subscribe to the channel if you're new and we'll see you in the next video. Bye-bye.