There are a few cards in the travel world that are considered all-around winners… keeper cards if you will.
Those cards stay in our wallets for a lifetime and bring us outsized value with both our daily spending habits AND with our travel adventures.
No matter how you spin it, there are two cards that make the perfect pair for ANYONE interested in travel: the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card and the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card.
They’re truly two peas in a pod—like peak 2005 Usher and Lil Jon 😏
And when you make that first major travel redemption using the miles and points earned from these two cards, you know what you’ll be screaming?
That’s what I thought 😎
Why Should I Get These Two Cards?
There’s many reasons why these two cards have a home in the wallets of (almost) everyone on the Daily Drop squad.
For starters, each card is fantastic on its own. But if you put them together… you’re doing serious business.
The Sapphire Preferred is an excellent starter card, and it’s the one we would recommend applying for first out of the two.
This is simply due to the fact that it’s a modest card with a modest annual fee (at just $95 a year), and it’s usually easier to get approved for than the more premium Venture X.
Plus, getting the Sapphire Preferred unlocks access to Chase Ultimate Rewards—one of the best, if not THE best travel currency in the world.
You’ll be spoiled with abounding hotel and airline transfer partners, solid earning categories, and even some travel protections.
By also holding the Venture X, you’ll reap the rewards of earning Capital One Miles which bring their own list of transfer partners to the table.
Additionally, this more premium card (with a $395 annual fee) also comes with a plethora of premium travel perks like airport lounge access and travel credits that essentially offset that annual fee altogether.
So to make things extra clear for you here… by having these two cards to your name, you’re getting:
Access to two different travel currencies
The option of two sets of transfer partners
A wide variety of earning rates for both everyday and travel spending
Tons of top-notch travel perks
And I haven’t even talked about their current welcome offers yet. So yeah, you’ll also be getting two of those 🤯
Card Perks and Benefits Overview
In the table below, you’ll find all the current perks and benefits of these two cards. And spoiler alert—there’s a lot 😍
Chase Sapphire Preferred | Capital One Venture X |
---|---|
Current Welcome Offer: Get up to $1,050 in Chase Travel℠ value. Earn 60,000 bonus points after $4,000 in purchases in your first 3 months from account opening. That’s worth $750 when redeemed through Chase Travel. Plus, get up to $300 in statement credits on Chase Travel purchases within your first year. | Current Welcome Offer: Earn 75,000 bonus miles after spending $4,000 in the first 3 months. |
5X points per $1 on travel purchased through Chase TravelSM, excluding hotel purchases that qualify for the $50 anniversary credit | 10X miles per $1 on hotels and rental cars booked via the Capital One Travel portal |
3X points per $1 on select streaming services, dining (including eligible delivery services), and online grocery purchases (excluding Target, Walmart, and wholesale clubs), | 5X miles per $1 on flights and vacation rentals booked via the Capital One Travel portal |
2X points per $1 on travel purchases | 2X miles per $1 on all other spending (‼️) |
Earn up to $50 in statement credits each year for hotel stays booked through the Chase Ultimate Rewards Travel Portal | Complimentary access to the Capital One Lounges, plus two free guests on each and every visit |
10% Annual Points Bonus: Receive a 10% points bonus on your total spending during the account anniversary year at the rate of 1 point for every $1 spent | Priority Pass and Plaza Premium lounge membership for you and two guests at 1,400+ airport lounges around the world |
Trip Cancelation, Trip Interruption, Baggage Delay, Lost Luggage, and Rental Car Insurance Coverage | Up to $120 statement credit for TSA PreCheck or Global Entry every four years |
Get 10,000 bonus miles each year after renewing your card | |
Complimentary Hertz President’s Circle status | |
Access to Premier Collection Hotel bookings | |
Primary Rental Car Coverage and Lost Luggage Reimbursement; Trip Delay, Cancellation, and Interruption Coverage | |
Add up to four authorized users at no additional fee (and who get their own lounge membership) | |
Foreign Transaction Fee: None | Foreign Transaction Fee: None |
Annual Fee: $95 | Annual Fee: $395 |
And now for some transfer partner action. In most cases, both Chase Ultimate Rewards and Capital One Miles gain significant value when you transfer them to their airline or hotel partners.
Here’s who you can transfer to if you hold either of these two cards:
Chase Sapphire Preferred | Capital One Venture X |
---|---|
Aer Lingus AerClub 1:1 (transfer ratio) | Aeromexico Rewards 1:1 (transfer ratio) |
Air Canada Aeroplan 1:1 | Air Canada Aeroplan 1:1 |
Air France-KLM Flying Blue 1:1 | Air France-KLM Flying Blue 1:1 |
British Airways Executive Club 1:1 | Accor Live Limitless 2:1 |
Emirates Skywards 1:1 | Avianca LifeMiles 1:1 |
Iberia Plus 1:1 | British Airways Executive Club 1:1 |
JetBlue TrueBlue 1:1 | Cathay Pacific Asia Miles 1:1 |
Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer 1:1 | Choice Privileges 1:1 |
Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards 1:1 | Emirates Skywards 1:1 |
United Airlines MileagePlus 1:1 | Etihad Airways Guest 1:1 |
Virgin Atlantic Flying Club 1:1 | EVA Airways Infinity MileageLands 4:3 |
IHG One Rewards 1:1 | Finnair Plus 1:1 |
Marriott Bonvoy 1:1 | Qantas Frequent Flyer 1:1 |
World of Hyatt 1:1 | Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer 1:1 |
TAP Air Portugal Miles&Go 1:1 | |
Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles 1:1 | |
Virgin Red 1:1 | |
Wyndham Rewards 1:1 |
So you can see that by holding just these two cards, you’ll gain access to a ton of amazing airline and hotel transfer partners.
In fact, you can essentially travel to anywhere in the world with Chase and Capital One!
If you’d like a step-by-step guide on how to actually do these point transfers, feel free to reference our transfer partners resource.
💡 Pro tip: We even see occasional transfer bonuses come through that might give you an additional 20%, 25%, or even 30% bonus when you move your miles and points over to an airline or hotel!
Why Are the Sapphire Preferred and the Venture X the Perfect Pair?
Just from skimming through the charts above, it’s easy to see the significant value you get out of these two cards.
Plus, their combined total annual fee of $490 is still less than most other premium cards on the market (I’m looking at both of you—Chase Sapphire Reserve® and The Platinum Card® from American Express 👀).
The Reserve’s annual fee is $550 alone, and the Platinum is a whopping $695 (Rates & Fees).
And even if $490 a year still seems high to you, go back and look at all the statement credits, bonus anniversary miles, and free food and drinks (from lounge access) that easily cancel out that number.
Speaking of bonus miles… earning both welcome offers will give you a minimum total of 150,000 miles and points combined 🤯
And that’s not even factoring in the additional miles and points you would earn just from hitting the minimum spend.
At the very least, you could tack on an additional 12,000 miles to your total, but that could likely be even more with the different spending categories (e.g. 2X, 3X, 5X, or 10X per $1 spent).
Another awesome perk with the Venture X specifically, is the ability to pay for ANY type of travel using Capital One Miles… even retroactively.
If you’re curious how this is possible, we have an entire resource that details how you can pay for anything with points. It’s pretty dope 😎
We also have a super informative YouTube video that does a further comparison of these cards. You can watch it here 👇
Bottom Line
If you’re just getting started in the miles and points world and feel stuck on which cards to start with, look no further than the Sapphire Preferred and the Venture X.
They really have the perfect balance of racking up points on everyday spending, but also allowing you to enjoy more premium travel perks whenever you do travel.
You’ll truly unlock some of the best benefits around, and for a combined annual fee that is less than most other premium cards.
💡 If you want daily examples of how to maximize your miles and points for free trips all over the world… then subscribe to the Daily Drop newsletter. Seriously, what are you waiting for? 🙃