The Travel “X-Factor” Of The Capital One Venture X Rewards Card

I cover “everything” in travel on a daily basis. In a world of copycat moves, “what’s next”, or “what’s new”, is always a passion. And while there are many things to like about the Capital One Venture X Card, there’s an “X factor” to me, that really sets this card apart from so many others.

It’s not lounge access, though the card’s got it, nor the amazing points earning of up to 10X, $300 travel credit or any of the other countless travel credits, but a simply piece of confidence. 

This card, and other cards with access to Capital One Travel offer confidence inspiring booking features, brought along by hopper. It’s like insurance, without the painful claims process or eye gouging fees or ridiculous excuses. Sound interesting? It is. 

A Real Reason To Book With Capital One Travel

Most major rewards credit cards have a website where you can book travel. There are some good perks too. A common thread is often more points. Chase, Amex and others all offer more points if you book through them, than elsewhere. 

So when Capital One entered the game, they were faced with a choice: copy, or innovate. They chose the latter, bringing features like “cancel for any reason”, where a non-refundable airline ticket is able to be cancelled for a small fee at booking. 

Another stunner: price drop protection. If Capital One Travel suggests to “buy now”, and the price later drops, you receive the difference in price, up to $50 automatically.

I can’t tell you how many readers have gotten in touch to shout about what a difference it’s been, being able to book things knowing they can cancel without the pains of insurance, and how many have been surprised or delighted to find $50 back with the price guarantee. These alone go a long way in justifying the $395 annual fee.

The point is, sometimes people considering credit cards get bogged down in “all” the benefits, when it’s really a couple of specific benefits which can make all the difference. To me, this is the “x-factor” of this card. 

And finally, there’s price match guarantees, with an easy claims process. According to Capital One, the travel service proactively monitors and matches rates found on other top sites and matches. If for some reason the price is lower elsewhere, you simply call customer service.

With our price match guarantee, if you find a better price for a flight, hotel or rental car on another site within 24 hours of booking, we’ll refund you the difference.

Capital One Travel

There Are Some Limitations

This is one of those things that sounds too good to be true, but isn’t quite. It’s real and it works, there are just some small limitations. 

In some cases, only partial refunds are available with the “cancel or any reason” flight product. Considering how cheap it is to add the option, and how you’d get nothing back at all otherwise, it’s still remarkable. 

Second, the price drop protection is capped at $50 for flights. This may not cover the full difference in fare, but the artificial intelligence is constantly learning, and the way it is structured — Capital One has every incentive not to be wrong. With other sites, you have nothing, so the $50 is just a big plus.

Ultimately, it’s up to you to learn how to hunt great fare deals!

How To Use These Capital One Features

Using these features is easy and that’s the whole beauty of it. There’s no calling an insurance company to create a policy, or needing to read through red tape to find a justified reason to cancel or change. 

Any eligible Cardmembers can simply register for online access and then login to CapitalOneTravel.com to take advantage of these services. Don’t forget that Capital One Travel offers 10X points on hotels and rental cars booked via Capital One Travel too, in addition to 5X on flights.