Choosing the Best Premium Card

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Introduction to premium credit card options

The Platinum Card® from American Express has long been regarded as one of the most rewarding travel cards on the market, in part because of its generous benefits and valuable transfer partners. Along with a substantial welcome bonus offer, the card offers a vast range of statement credits and perks — including up to $200 in annual airline fee credit**, more airport lounge access options than any other card, complimentary elite status with Hilton and Marriott**, and up to $200 in Uber credits** every year.

These premium benefits don’t come cheap — the Amex Platinum Card charges a whopping $695 annual fee. Many cardholders are able to get much more than that in value each year, but if you’re not able to maximize the benefits, paying $695 for a card won’t be worth it.

But there’s another premium credit card that offers many of the same perks for a much lower annual fee. The Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card also offers a big welcome bonus, travel credits, and airport lounge access — with a $395 annual fee that’s much more manageable and easier to justify (rates and fees).

If you’re looking for a card that offers premium benefits and top-notch travel and purchase coverage, either of these cards would be a good fit. Besides the difference in annual fees, there are other factors to consider before you decide which card is best for you. Here’s what to know to help you make that decision.

Annual fee comparison

Neither of these cards comes cheap, but one is significantly more expensive than the other. 

The Platinum Card® from American Express

Although you’ll get far more benefits and statement credits with Amex Platinum Card, most people will definitely feel the sting of its steep annual fee. The card charges $695 per year. That said, if you can make the most of its core benefits, it’s possible to get a value worth much more than the annual fee.

Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card

The Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card is comparatively inexpensive at $395 per year (rates and fees). That’s not a small sum, but if you know you’ll use the $300 in Capital One Travel credit each year, the fee is effectively only $95 — and you can knock that out by redeeming your 10,000-mile anniversary bonus for $100 in travel.

Reward earning potential

Both cards offer mediocre opportunities for cardholders to earn rewards on everyday categories of spend, but really shine on bonus categories and rates. 

Travel and everyday spending rewards

The Amex Platinum Card earns bonus points on certain travel purchases. Cardholders earn 5x points on airfare purchased directly through the airline, and on flights and hotels booked through Amex Travel (5x points on flights booked directly with airlines or with Amex Travel applies to up to $500,000 per calendar year). Otherwise, the card earns 1 point per dollar on all other eligible purchases.

Similarly, you’ll earn bonus miles for some purchases made with the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card — 10 miles per dollar on car rentals and hotels booked through Capital One Travel and 5 miles per dollar on flights booked the same way. All other eligible purchases earn 2 miles per dollar.

Overall, you have the potential to earn more rewards on non-bonus category spending with the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card, at 2 miles per dollar versus 1 point per dollar with the Amex Platinum Card. And for hotels and car rentals booked through Capital One, it’s hard to beat earning 10 miles per dollar.

Sign-up bonuses and offers

Sign-up bonuses, also called welcome bonuses or initial offers, incentivize new cardholders to earn an initial boost of rewards by spending a certain amount of money within a designated timeframe. We’ll do a comparison of these initial bonus offers below. 

Amex Platinum Card welcome bonus offer is 80,000 Membership Rewards® points after you spend $8,000 on eligible purchases on your new card in your first six months of card membership. That’s worth around $1,440 in travel, based on Business Insider’s valuation of Amex points.

Meanwhile, the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card comes with a welcome bonus offer of 75,000 bonus miles when you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first three months from account opening. Again, based on Business Insider’s valuation of Capital One miles, this bonus is worth about $1,275 in travel.

The value of Capital One miles and Amex Membership Rewards points vary depending on how you redeem your rewards. Keep in mind, too, that the minimum spending requirement to unlock the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card’s bonus is a full $2,000 less than that of the Amex Platinum Card — but you’ve got twice as long to achieve the requirement with the Amex Platinum Card.

Travel benefits and perks

These premium cards are best known for their travel benefits. Here’s what you should expect and how their perks stack up, side by side. 

Airport lounge access

The Amex Platinum Card offers the widest airport lounge access of any premium card. You’ll get access to Amex’s proprietary Centurion Lounges, as well as a range of other lounge options around the world. These include:

• More than 1,500 Priority Pass airport lounges worldwide
• Delta Sky Club lounges (when you’re flying with Delta that day)
• Escape Lounges
• Plaza Premium lounges
• Airspace lounges
• Some Lufthansa lounges

The Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card also offers Priority Pass airport lounge membership, and the access it offers is actually slightly better than membership that comes with the Amex Platinum Card.

With the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card Priority Pass membership, you and unlimited free guests (lounge space permitting) can access Priority Pass lounges. 

Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card cardholders also get complimentary access to Capital One’s new airport lounges. In addition, cardholders can access over 100 Plaza Premium lounges worldwide, with up to two complimentary guests included.

Elite status with travel programs

The Amex Platinum Card offers complimentary elite status with several hotel chains and car rental agencies. These elite tiers come with perks that can get you upgrades and a better travel experience:

• Complimentary Gold elite status with both Hilton and Marriott** 
• Elite status with Avis, Hertz, and National Car Rental

You won’t get hotel elite status with the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card, but it does offer complimentary Hertz President’s Circle elite status, which comes with perks like guaranteed upgrades, skip the counter and e-return, a free additional driver, and more. 

Travel credits and hotel benefits

The Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card offers a straightforward annual travel credit: Each year, cardholders receive $300 in credits toward flight, hotel, or car rental purchases made through Capital One Travel. While booking through Capital One Travel means you may not earn hotel or car rental points (or have your loyalty status recognized), it should be fairly easy for most folks to maximize this credit.

The Amex Platinum Card offers more opportunities to earn statement credits for travel-related purchases, but it’s a little more complicated. You can get:

By dollar value alone, the Amex Platinum Card comes out ahead — as long as you can maximize the credits. For example, the airline fee credit doesn’t cover airfare — only extras like bag fees or seat selection fees — so if you don’t incur any of these additional charges when you travel, your benefit may go unused.

Global Entry/TSA PreCheck credit

Both the Amex Platinum Card and Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card offer statement credit toward the Global Entry or TSA PreCheck application fee. These trusted traveler programs are worth having if you’re a frequent flyer because they can save you a lot of time waiting in line at the airport.

There’s one minor difference between the two cards. On the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card, you’ll receive a credit for either program’s application fee once every four years. With the Amex Platinum Card, the credit is available every four years for Global Entry, but 4.5 years for TSA PreCheck.

Anniversary bonuses

Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card cardholders receive a 10,000-mile bonus each year on their account anniversary. Capital One miles are worth 1 cent each when you redeem them toward travel purchases (and potentially more when you transfer to partners), so this bonus is worth at least $100 in travel. 

The Amex Platinum Card doesn’t offer an anniversary points bonus.

Other credits

The Amex Platinum Card has added retail credits in the past couple of years, most recently adding new “lifestyle” benefits like digital entertainment and Equinox credits. Here’s the full list:

• Up to $300 in Equinox credit** per year toward things like in-person gym membership or for a subscription to the Equinox+ fitness app 
• $300 in statement credit for SoulCycle at-home bike purchases (up to a maximum of 15 credits per year)
• Up to $155 per year in statement credits toward Walmart+ membership ($12.95 per month)**
• Up to $100 per year in Saks Fifth Avenue credits ($50 from January to June, and $50 from July to December)**. 

Transfer partners

Both the Amex Platinum Card and Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card earn flexible rewards you can transfer an array of airline and hotel partners, but your options with each program are different.

With Amex Membership Rewards, you can transfer points to 20 airline and hotel partners, all at a 1:1 ratio unless otherwise noted:

Meanwhile, Capital One miles transfer to 18 airline and hotel partners, also mostly at a 1:1 ratio (except noted):

Before you commit to either program, consider the transfer partners you’re likely to use. Amex Membership Rewards is somewhat more useful for domestic travelers because it partners with Delta and JetBlue, but Capital One has unique partners like Wyndham and Accor that you won’t find with Amex. 

Even if your favorite airline isn’t listed, it may be possible to redeem rewards for award flights through alliances and partnerships. For example, if you prefer United, which isn’t a transfer partner of either program, you can transfer rewards to Air Canada Aeroplan or Singapore Airlines. Because these airlines are all part of Star Alliance, you can use miles from any of them to book award flights on any other partner.

Additional card features

Both cards offer significantly more benefits. We’ll detail the most important ones below. 

Authorized users

The Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card is the clear winner in terms of authorized user access and benefits. You can add up to four authorized users to the card at no cost, and they get many of the same top perks as the primary cardholder, including:

• Priority Pass, Plaza Premium, and Capital One airport lounge access 
• Hertz President’s Circle elite status
• Cellphone protection

The Amex Platinum Card also offers benefits to authorized users, including airport lounge access, Global Entry/TSA PreCheck credit, and hotel elite status, but it’s not free: You’ll pay $195 per authorized user on this card account.

Protection and insurance coverages

The Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card is a Visa Infinite card, which means it comes with excellent travel and purchase protections, including primary car rental insurance, trip cancellation/interruption insurance, and trip delay insurance.

As Amex’s premium consumer card, the Amex Platinum Card also offers great coverage. One advantage of the Amex Platinum Card is emergency medical transportation assistance offered by its Premium Global Assist Hotline, which you won’t find on the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card. 

However, keep in mind the Amex Platinum Card only offers secondary car rental insurance (with the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card, it’s primary insurance) and doesn’t come with travel accident insurance.

There are restrictions and exclusions for each of the benefits below — be sure to read the Capital One Venture X benefits guide and benefits guides for the Amex Platinum for important terms. 

Comparison: Capital One Venture X vs Amex Platinum

*The 5x points will apply on up to $500,000 on flights booked directly with airlines or with American Express Travel per calendar year

***Eligible digital subscriptions include Hulu, ESPN+, Disney+, Peacock, The New York Times, and The Wall Street Journal

Considerations for choosing

The Platinum Card® from American Express has a definite advantage in the sheer number of benefits it offers, including various travel and retail statement credits and unmatched airport lounge access. For these perks, though, you’ll pay a steep price — $695 a year, compared to $395 on the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card.

Matching card benefits to your spending habits

The Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card doesn’t offer the array of credits the Amex Platinum Card does, but its key benefits — a $300 annual travel credit, 10,000-mile anniversary bonus, and Priority Pass airport lounge access — are enough to easily offset the annual fee cost.

Evaluating card fees against benefits

Both cards offer excellent travel and purchase protection and a wide range of redemption options. The right card for you really depends on how much you’ll use the benefits, and, in the case of the Amex Platinum Card, whether or not the extra perks are worth an additional $300 per year.

Venture X vs. Amex Platinum frequently asked questions