Premium credit cards promise elevated travel experiences, lucrative rewards, and exclusive perks—but in exchange, they charge hefty annual fees.
If you find yourself asking if they’re worth it, you are not alone. As someone who holds the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card, Chase Sapphire Reserve®, and The Platinum Card® from American Express, I’ve had the opportunity to extensively test drive each of them.
Let me take a moment to stress that I absolutely do not recommend holding three premium travel cards. For the vast majority, one should do the trick.
I pay over $1,600 a year in annual fees on these cards alone, and that doesn’t make sense for 99 percent of civilians. It only makes sense because I write about credit cards for a living, my family is travel-obsessed, and as you’ll learn I am not planning to keep all three for the long term.
Let me tell you how I use each of the three premium cards noted above, and which ones I believe are truly worth the cost. After reading about how I use them, you should get a good idea whether a premium credit card is right for your wallet.
The Capital One Venture X is my go-to card for everyday spending. Why? It’s simple, rewarding, and cost-effective. With a $395 annual fee, it’s the most affordable premium card that offers transferable points—a feature that’s critical for travelers who want flexibility in redeeming rewards.
Some experts complain about the Capital One miles program because it doesn’t have a domestic airline partner, like American Express (Delta) or Chase (United). But I’ve had no problem redeeming Cap One miles on both domestic and international flights using Air Canada Aeroplan, Air France/KLM Flying Blue and British Airways Executive Club.
The Venture X earns 2X miles on all purchases, making it an excellent catch-all card for spending non-bonus categories. Whether I’m paying for groceries, subscriptions, or utility bills, I know I’m earning a solid return without having to think about bonus categories.
For travel booked through Capital One Travel, the card earns 10X on hotels and rental cars and 5X on flights.
The card also includes a $300 annual travel credit, which effectively reduces the net cost of the card to $95 as long as you book through Capital One Travel. Add in 10,000 anniversary miles (worth $100 toward travel), and you’re already ahead of the game if you travel even occasionally.
Another standout feature is its lounge access. Venture X gets you into Priority Pass lounges worldwide as well as Capital One’s own lounges (which are excellent and especially useful for me as my home base of Washington, DC has two airports with Cap One lounges).