Capital One Venture X Business vs. The Business Platinum Card® from American Express

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Both of these premium credit cards will appeal to business owners who travel frequently. One is a pay-in-full card, and the other is a more traditional credit card with a ton of perks and an annual fee to match. Which one is right for you?

Capital One Venture X Business vs. The Business Platinum Card® from American Express: Side-By-Side Comparison

Welcome Offer Winner: Amex Business Platinum

Capital One Venture X Business offers this: 150,000 Miles once you spend $30,000 in the first 3 months from account opening.

The Business Platinum Card® from American Express has this offer for new cardholders: Earn 150,000 Membership Rewards® points after you spend $20,000 in eligible purchases on the Card within the first 3 months of Card Membership. Terms apply.

If you book travel through the Capital One Travel portal, miles are worth about a penny each. However, if you transfer your miles to any of Capital One’s travel partners, you could get more value out of your points. Even if you choose to redeem through the portal, the welcome offer is worth $1,500. However, it’s worth noting that you have to spend $30,000 in three months to qualify for this offer.

American Express membership points are worth between 0.6 cents and a penny each, depending on how you redeem them. That makes this offer worth about $1,200 if you use it for travel. You can squeeze more value out of your points if you transfer them to American Express’s travel partners, but for comparison purposes, we’ll consider $1,200. You only need to spend half as much ($15,000) as the Capital One card to qualify for this offer.

Since the American Express offer is worth 80% of the Capital One offer but you only need to spend half the amount to qualify for it, we give American Express the win.

Rewards Winner: Amex Business Platinum

Capital One Venture X Business earns unlimited 10x miles on hotels and rental cars, and 5x miles on flights and vacation rentals booked through Capital One Travel, and unlimited 2X miles on every purchase. Also offered is a $300 travel credit when you book through Capital One Travel and 10,000 miles on your cardmember anniversary. There is also a statement credit for TSA PreCheck® or Global Entry.

The Business Platinum Card® from American Express offers cardholders 5x Membership Rewards® points on flights and prepaid hotels on AmexTravel.com, 1.5x points on each eligible purchase at U.S. construction material, hardware suppliers, electronic goods retailers, software & cloud system providers, and shipping providers, as well as on purchases of $5,000 or more everywhere else, on up to $2 million of these purchases per calendar year. Earn 1x points on other eligible purchases. There are some other rewards and credits that come with this card:

• $400 statement credit  through 12/31/24 toward U.S. purchases with Dell Technologies
• $360 credit  through 12/31/24 for purchases with Indeed
• $150 credit  through 12/31/24 for Adobe business subscriptions
• Up to $120 credit per year for purchases with U.S. wireless telephone service providers
• $200 airline fee credit (select one qualifying airline and receive up to $200 in credits per year for incidental fees)
• $199 CLEAR® Plus Credit
• *Terms Apply

Another important benefit, hidden in the fine print is the 35% point rebate you get when booking an airline with points through American Express Travel. So, if you book a flight for 100,000 points, you get 35,000 points back. Terms Apply.

If you use all the benefits of the American Express card, the card is an excellent value. If you don’t use them or forget to use them, the annual fee is steep. But assuming you do take advantage of them, the American Express card gets the nod.

Here are the details for each card.

Capital One Venture X Business Rewards

The Business Platinum Card® from American Express Rewards

Interest Rates Winner: Amex Business Platinum

This is a tough comparison, like comparing apples to oranges. Capital One Venture X Business doesn’t charge interest rates because it’s a pay-in-full card. This means you have to pay your balance every month. The Business Platinum Card® from American Express does let you carry a balance and charges interest if you choose to do that, but if you pay your balance in full, you will pay no interest. We’ll give the win to American Express for sheer flexibility.

Fee Winner: Venture X Business

The biggest difference between these two cards is the annual fee. Capital One Venture X Business has an annual fee of $395, whereas The Business Platinum Card® from American Express has an annual fee of $695.

If you use the $300 travel credit and the 10,000 anniversary points (worth about $100) on the Capital One card, the annual fee is -$5. Or, to put it another way, Capital One pays you $5 a year to carry this card. Even if that weren’t true, however, the difference in the annual fees is still significant, so Capital One gets the win.

Features and Benefits: Amex Business Platinum

For features and benefits, Amex Business Platinum wins. It offers several travel perks that the Capital One card doesn’t.

Venture X Business

Amex Business Platinum

Who the Capital One Venture X Business is Best For

Business owners who travel for work even just once or twice a year will get a lot of value out of the Capital One Venture X Business. There’s that $300 travel credit and all you have to do is book through the Capital One portal, plus the 10,000 anniversary miles. Currently, there are only three Capital One airport lounges, but you also get access to Priority Pass lounges, and there are over 1,300 of those. The only thing that might give one pause is the $30,000 you need to spend to earn the welcome offer. This is not a card for part-time businesses or freelancers.

Who the The Business Platinum Card® from American Express is Best For

The Business Platinum Card® from American Express is an excellent card for high-spending business owners who travel frequently. You get 1.5x points cash back on every purchase over $5,000 with no cap. If you can take advantage of the many business credits you get, the card practically pays for itself. Business owners will appreciate the airport lounge access, which makes travel more comfortable and less hectic. And there’s the 35% point rebate on flights booked through the Amex portal, which is a valuable benefit.

Does it Make Sense to Get Both Cards?

Maybe. There are lively debates on Reddit regarding the personal versions of both these cards, and some people do recommend both. You would have access to Amex’s better benefits and customer service, and the Capital One card has a net cost of $0 after the statement credits and discounts. One thing to be aware of it that to earn both welcome offers, you would need to spend $45,000 in three months, which many businesses certainly do. But if you don’t, one of these cards will be enough.

Approval Odds

Capital One Venture X Business

The Business Platinum Card® from American Express

Both cards require excellent credit. American Express may be slightly more forgiving than Capital One, but not by much. Since Capital One Venture X Business is a pay-in-full card, we don’t have access to spending limits.

Bottom Line

Both the Amex Business Platinum and the Ink Preferred card offer excellent value for business owners. Business owners who travel just once or twice a year will find a lot of value in the Capital One card. If you travel a lot, the The Business Platinum Card® from American Express will be an excellent choice.