The *venture x* is, hands down, one of the best overall travel cards on the market – and compared to other premium travel credit cards with annual fees of $550 or more, it's easily the most cost-effective way to get airport lounge access. Unfortunately, that benefit is set to take a bit of a hit in the New Year.
Capital One has made no public announcement, but a brief notice tucked into recent monthly statements contained this nugget: As of March 1, 2025, Venture X cardholders will no longer get direct access to Plaza Premium Group lounges. Instead, Venture X cardholders will be able to continue visiting some (though not all) Plaza Premium lounges via their complimentary Priority Pass membership. The two companies restarted a partnership last year, opening the door for Priority Pass members to visit dozens of Plaza Premium lounges.
It's not a massive change, but there are two possible downsides:
- While most Plaza Premium lounges will still be accessible using your Priority Pass membership, a few aren't: Avianca Lounges in Colombia, MERA Business Lounges in tourist hotspot Cancun (CUN), and Plaza Premium-branded Lounges in Brazil, among others
- Visitors using Priority Pass often get less generous access: You're limited to a two-hour visit and showers, where available, may not be complimentary
Meanwhile, one of the Venture X's sneaky lounge access perks could also be on the chopping block.
While most credit cards that offer Priority Pass lounge access cap complimentary guest access at two, Venture X cardholders could bring an unlimited number of guests inside – at least in theory. It was a largely unadvertised but noteworthy perk: Only The Ritz-Carlton Card also offers unlimited guests.
But as first noticed in a recent Reddit thread, the Venture X Card's terms were quietly updated a few weeks back to limit Priority Pass visitors to two free guests. You can apparently pay for additional guests.
But elsewhere on Capital One's site, you'll still find a different policy, suggesting that both Capital One Venture X and *venture x business* cardholders still receive unlimited complimentary access with no limit on guests, either.
So which is it? Capital One did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Either way, this has always been a largely unwritten (and definitely unadvertised) policy. It flew under the radar for a while, but Capital One eventually confirmed to us in 2022 that Venture X cardholders could, indeed, bring as many guests as they wanted inside Priority Pass lounges. That was subject to lounge capacity, of course … and that's a big caveat.
But we confirmed it ourselves this fall, bringing no fewer than five guests inside The Club lounge in Charleston (CHS) using a single Venture X Priority Pass membership. Yet other lounges were unaware of the policy, limiting Venture X cardholders to two guests apiece.
If, in fact, the Venture X's Priority Pass guest policy has changed for good, there may be a workaround.
Since you can add up to four authorized users to your Venture X card for free, and each of them get their own Priority Pass membership, you and potentially all your travel companions could continue visiting Priority Pass lounges without limits. It's by no means a perfect solution, as you won't always be traveling with your authorized users. But in most cases, this should help travelers get around any potential guest limits.
Where this will undoubtedly sting most is for big families.
For example, a family with two parents and four kids would still be able to get everyone into the lounge by adding one of the parents as an authorized user. But if you've got more than four kids under 18, you'll hit a roadblock. While Capital One doesn't have an age limit on authorized users, Priority Pass does. Any minors added to your account will be unable to register for a Priority Pass membership.
Even so, the unrivaled ability to add up to four authorized users for free, still makes the Capital One Venture X the best card for traveling families.
Bottom Line
The Capital One Venture X is set to lose access to some Plaza Premium Lounges come March of next year. With access to many of these lounges already available through the card's complimentary Priority Pass membership, this change should be relatively minor for most travelers.
Additionally, the Venture X may have lost its unlimited complimentary guest access at Priority Pass lounges.