With restaurant-quality meals, craft cocktails curated by celebrated bars, and wellness amenities like zero-gravity nap pods, Capital One makes a compelling case for certain cardholders to arrive early at the airport. For years, the company boasted one of the industry’s most popular lounge access policies—for a $395 annual fee, primary cardholders of Venture X and Venture Business cards have received complimentary access to all Capital One Lounges and Landings, as well as Priority Pass lounges (a separate network of more 1,700 lounges worldwide that Capital One participates in), plus up to two guests.
But as more people have signed up for those cards and wait times to access lounges have ballooned (for this writer, that’s between 45 and 60 minutes to get into the Capital One Lounge at her home airport of Denver), the company has continued to adjust its policies to tackle the challenges of overcrowding. Its latest move: recently announcing tighter entry restrictions, which will eliminate free guest access as of February 1, 2026.
Primary cardholders can still enjoy free access to the brand’s four Lounges (in Dallas, Denver, Las Vegas, New York JFK, and Washington Dulles) and two Landings (a restaurant-style space, currently only available at Washington, D.C.’s Ronald Reagan National Airport, with plans to open a second at LaGuardia later this year). However, if they want friends or family to join them as guests, a fee is required, ranging from $25 to $45 per guest (unless they’re high-spending Venture X Business cardholders; more on that below).
Capital One announced the move via email to cardholders. “As airport lounges continue to grow in popularity across the industry, we’ve seen our customers increasingly encounter wait times to enter them,” the email stated. “It is important to us that we maintain a great airport lounge experience for our Venture X and Venture X Business customers while continuing to deliver best-in-class premium travel cards at an accessible price point.” Signage with the same verbiage has also since appeared in lounges across Capital One’s network.
When the new policy goes into effect, Venture X cardholders who wish to bring guests into Capital One Lounges and Landings will have to pay $45 per adult and $25 for each guest 17 years old and under (kids under 2 will remain free). At Priority Pass lounges, the guest fee will be $35.
Exceptions to the new policy changes
Venture X Business cardholders can take advantage of two exceptions to the policy changes. The first: They’re still allowed two complimentary guests to Priority Pass lounges (but not Capital One Lounges and Landings; the new guest fees still apply). Big spenders benefit, too: Anyone who charges $75,000 or more on their card in a calendar year will be permitted to bring in two guests to Capital One Lounges or one guest to Landings for free for the remainder of that year and all of the following year.
Similarly, authorized users (those who aren’t the primary cardholder but are still allowed to make charges on the card) will lose complimentary lounge access. However, primary cardholders can add lounge access to other cardholder accounts by paying $125 per card.
While the new fees are still less than buying a single visit lounge pass ($90 for visitors without a Venture X or Venture X Business Card), the new policy could lead card holders to revisit their credit card strategy.
Capital One’s newly announced changes mark the latest example of airlines and credit card companies making significant changes to their lounge entry policies. In February 2025, Delta Air Lines introduced restrictions to its popular Sky Club lounges, limiting the number of visits per year based on which credit card travelers hold. And United reorganized its lounge membership program to introduce a charge for guests and an increased annual fee. Meanwhile, some issuers have also scaled back their lounge benefits, including American Express, which previously allowed two free guests per cardholder but in 2023 began charging $50 per guest.
