Card comparison
Venture X vs Bonvoy Brilliant: which one earns its fee?
Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant costs $650 and includes Priority Pass. Venture X costs $395 and adds Capital One Lounges and Plaza Premium on top. The lounge math favors Capital One.
Page updated October 2026.
At a glance
- lounges · Venture X
- 880
- lounges · Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant
- 848
- airports · Venture X
- 414
- airports · Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant
- 411
Side by side
Both include Priority Pass.
Airport by airport
Lounges each card opens, busiest airports first.
And 394 more airports; each card's page lists them all.
The Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant from American Express is the pricier card here at $650 a year. Capital One's Venture X is $395. You would expect the expensive card to open more doors at the airport. It opens fewer.
A two-horse race with one horse
Both cards unlock Priority Pass. From there, the Brilliant is done. The Venture X keeps going, adding the Capital One Lounge network and Plaza Premium. Three programs against one, at $255 less per year.
That gap matters most at airports with a Capital One Lounge, where the Brilliant gets you nothing beyond whatever Priority Pass offers in the same terminal. It matters internationally too, where Plaza Premium lounges show up at airports Priority Pass covers thinly.
When the Brilliant is still the right card
If every airport on your calendar is covered only by Priority Pass, the two cards deliver identical lounge access. At that point the Brilliant is a Marriott card with a lounge benefit attached, and you should judge it as one. The lounge perk does not justify the $650 on its own. Something else has to.
Guests, caps and the terms to read
Each program sets its own guest and visit rules, and each issuer may add conditions on top. Do not assume the Priority Pass terms on an American Express card match the ones on a Capital One card. Read both before applying.
Decide with three airports
List your next three departure airports and check each one on this site. If a Capital One Lounge or Plaza Premium lounge appears, the Venture X is cheaper and better. If not, the cards tie on lounges and the Marriott benefits decide it. Ratings on every lounge page follow the methodology.
Quick answers
Which has more lounge access, the Venture X or the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant?
The Venture X: 880 lounges in our directory against 848.
Which lounge networks do they share?
Both include Priority Pass.
Where does only one of them get you in?
The Venture X alone reaches 3 airports and the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant alone 0 airports.
What do they cost?
The Venture X is $395 a year and the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant $650, as last published by each issuer.
Built from our directory and checked to our editorial standards. Scores follow our methodology. Something wrong? Tell us from any lounge page.
