Why I’m holding on to my Capital One Enterprise X card for a 3rd 12 months

I’ve simply paid my third annual payment for the Capital One Enterprise X Rewards Credit score Card, and I did so with zero hesitation.

The reason being easy: 12 months after 12 months, this card basically pays me to maintain it open, and I come out forward.

This is why this card has been probably the most rewarding I’ve ever held — lengthy after the thrill of the first-year welcome bonus wore off — and why I plan to maintain it for years to return.

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Why I am joyful to pay the annual payment once more

Whereas the $395 annual payment on the Enterprise X will not be insignificant, it’s decrease than the annual payment of most opponents’ premium playing cards.

In my second 12 months, I utilized the cardboard’s advantages to acquire practically $800 in worth from a Caribbean winter getaway to the gorgeous, sunny island of Grenada, together with my prices for TSA PreCheck and International Entry, which I am loving as they proceed to save lots of me a major period of time each time I go by means of a U.S. airport.

Listed here are the advantages I worth in my third 12 months of card membership:

• Annual credit score: $300 in credit every cardmember 12 months for bookings made by means of the Capital One Journey portal.
• Anniversary bonus: 10,000 bonus miles each account anniversary (beginning on my first anniversary), value $185 by TPG’s December 2025 valuations.
• Lounge entry: Complimentary entry for myself plus as much as two friends to Capital One Lounges and over 1,800 Precedence Cross lounges. Sadly, visitor lounge entry can be tightened in 2026.
• Spectacular portal incomes charges: I earn 10 miles per greenback spent on resorts and automobile leases, and 5 miles per greenback spent on trip leases and flights booked through Capital One Journey.
• Terrific on a regular basis incomes charges: I earn 2 miles per greenback spent on all different purchases.

The $300 Capital One Journey credit score and 10,000 anniversary miles simply cowl the $395 annual payment for me every year, so the lounge entry and beneficiant incomes charges push me additional forward as I earn tens of 1000’s of Capital One miles on this card over and above the anniversary bonus every year.

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Enterprise X is the default in my pockets

I’ve a number of journey bank cards with completely different perks and incomes charges. It may be exhausting attempting to recollect which card earns bonus rewards each time I have to pay for one thing, particularly if there is a line of individuals behind me in a busy cafe or bar.

My Enterprise X card earns 2 miles per greenback spent on all purchases, which is increased than every other card I personal, together with the favored Chase Sapphire Most popular® Card (see charges and costs). That is why I’ve set it because the default card in my Google Pay app.

My husband is a certified consumer on all of my playing cards, and whereas he loves the advantages of redeeming factors and miles, like snagging an award seat in Qatar Airways’ Qsuite enterprise class, he is not practically as obsessive about bank cards as I’m.

It is not logical for him to memorize incomes charges throughout a number of playing cards, so I’ve set him up with the Enterprise X card as his default card in Google Pay. This manner, when unsure, he can merely faucet to pay and earn 2 miles per greenback spent.

How I am maximizing my Enterprise X as a third-year cardholder

In 2026, I’m planning a tour of the Kentucky Bourbon Path.

I will use the $300 journey credit score from my Enterprise X to cut back the lodge prices in Lexington, the place the excursions go away from. As I will be staying a number of nights, the full lodging prices will seemingly exceed $300. Nevertheless, for any out-of-pocket lodge prices over that quantity, I will earn 10 miles per greenback spent by reserving my keep by means of the Capital One Journey portal.

I will fly into Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky Worldwide Airport (CVG) on British Airways from London, so I’ll use the ten,000 anniversary miles (in addition to tens of 1000’s of miles I’ve earned on the cardboard within the final 12 months) to pay for the flights by transferring them to the British Airways Membership program at a 1:1 ratio.

On condition that I will want a automobile to drive from Cincinnati to Lexington, I will e book this by means of Capital One Journey as nicely, each to earn 10 miles per greenback spent and to reap the benefits of the built-in auto rental collision injury waiver, which I hopefully will not want to make use of.

Associated: Bourbon tasting and baseball bats: Why Louisville is the proper vacation spot for a father-daughter journey

Backside line

My Enterprise X card retains its place because the go-to card in my pockets as a result of its worth outweighs the annual payment.

And at present, new candidates can earn a best-ever welcome bonus of 100,000 bonus miles after spending $10,000 on purchases throughout the first six months of account opening, so when you’ve ever thought of including this card to your pockets, there’s by no means been a greater time to apply now.