Negative Venture X & Venture X Business lounge access changes coming

Since their launches, the Venture X and Venture X Business cards have been popular cards for those seeking lounge access. That’s because Capital One implemented a generous policy for bringing guests into lounges, plus additional cardholders (AKA authorized users) received complimentary lounge access despite the authorized user cards not coming with an added fee.

That’s sadly changing.

As of February 1, 2026, only primary cardholders will get complimentary lounge access. Not only will additional cardholders have to pay a special lounge access fee of $125 in order to gain access, but primary cardholders will also have to pay a fee to have guests join them if they have a personal Venture X card, as will guests of Venture X Business cardholders depending on the type of lounge.

Additional Cardholder Changes

From February 1, 2026, additional cardholders on Capital One Venture X and Venture X Business cards will lose lounge access. To regain access, you’ll have to pay an annual lounge access fee of $125. That will reenable access to Capital One Lounges, Capital One Landings and Priority Pass lounges.

Something important to note is that there still won’t be a fee to get additional cardholder cards on your Venture X and/or Venture X Business cards. It’s only if those additional cardholders wish to have lounge access that a $125 fee will be payable.

For both personal Venture X cardholders and Venture X Business cardholders, there’ll be a limit of four additional cardholders for whom you can pay $125 to gain lounge access.

Guest Access Changes

Also starting from February 1, 2026, primary cardholders will no longer be able to provide complimentary lounge access to traveling companions if they have the personal Venture X card; Venture X Business cardholders on the other hand will have a better policy.

Here’s what the new policies will be based on the lounge types and which version of the Venture X card you have:

Priority Pass

• Venture X – Primary cardholders & additional cardholders who have paid the $125 lounge access fee will be able to bring guests for $35 per visit.
• Venture X Business – Primary cardholders & additional cardholders who have paid the $125 lounge access fee will be able to provide complimentary access for up to two guests. Additional guests can be brought along for $35 per person.

Capital One Lounges & Landings

• Venture X – Primary cardholders won’t be able to provide complimentary access to guests automatically. However, if you and eligible additional cardholders spend $75,000 in a calendar year, you’ll be able to bring two complimentary guests in to Capital One Lounges and one complimentary guest to Capital One Landings. This access is valid for the rest of the year in which $75,000 is spent and all of the following year.
  Primary cardholders & additional cardholders who have paid the $125 lounge access fee will be able to pay $45 per guest per visit who’s 18+; children ages 2-17 will be charged a discounted fee of $25, while children under two years old will be free.
• Venture X Business – Primary cardholders won’t be able to provide complimentary access to guests automatically. However, if you spend $75,000 across all cardholders in a calendar year, you’ll be able to bring two complimentary guests in to Capital One Lounges and one complimentary guest to Capital One Landings. This access is valid for the rest of the year in which $75,000 is spent and all of the following year.
  Primary cardholders & additional cardholders who have paid the $125 lounge access fee will be able to pay $45 per guest per visit who’s 18+; children ages 2-17 will be charged a discounted fee of $25, while children under two years old will be free.

Quick Thoughts

Considering how overcrowded airport lounges have gotten in recent years and how generous the Venture X and Venture X Business lounge policies – particularly for additional cardholders – were, it’s not surprising that some kind of restrictions would eventually be implemented. However, that doesn’t take away from the fact that this is potentially a massive hit for Venture X and Venture X Business cardholders.

We added a couple of friends to my wife’s Venture X card a few months ago so that they’d be able to get complimentary lounge access, so it’s a shame that from February 1, 2026 they’ll each have to pay $125 if they want to maintain that.

For infrequent travelers, having complimentary lounge access was nice to have. If you’re only flying a handful of times per year though, it might not seem worth paying the $125 fee, particularly if the airports you fly in and out of only have access to Priority Pass lounges that happen to be mediocre.

It’s even worse for personal Venture X primary and additional cardholders who want to bring along guests. That’s because it’ll now cost $35 per guest for Priority Pass lounges. Venture X Business cardholders can breath a sigh of relief as they’ll still be able to bring two complimentary guests into Priority Pass lounges, for now at least.

Despite these changes, for many cardholders it’ll still be a no brainer to pay the $395 annual fee on these cards seeing as you get a $300 annual credit for bookings made through Capital One’s travel booking site, as well as 10,000 bonus miles at renewal. However, if you find it to be a hassle to redeem that $300 credit, having Capital One greatly restrict lounge access for additional cardholders and guests might make the decision on keeping the card more of a toss up.

Question

Will these lounge access changes have an effect on your decision to renew your Venture X and/or Venture X Business card? Let us know in the comments below.

The post Negative Venture X & Venture X Business lounge access changes coming appeared first on Frequent Miler. Frequent Miler may receive compensation from CHASE. American Express, Capital One, or other partners.