This Is the Travel Credit Card I'll Never Cancel

Travel credit cards have been a favorite of mine for years. There are few things better than using points to book a business-class flight or a high-end hotel stay.

Even though I like travel cards, not every card is a keeper. Most travel cards have annual fees, so it's important to make sure you get your money's worth. I've downgraded and canceled many of my cards when I didn't feel like they were providing as much value as before.

But there's one that I definitely plan to keep: The Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card (see rates and fees). It's the rare travel credit card that could benefit just about any traveler, for one simple reason.

A premium travel card that pays for itself

At first, the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card seems like another expensive travel card. It has a $395 annual fee. You might assume you'll need to use a bunch of complicated benefits for that fee to be worth it.

What I love about this card is that it effectively pays for itself, with just two benefits:

• $300 annual travel credit for bookings through Capital One Travel
• 10,000 bonus miles every account year, starting on your first account anniversary

Capital One Venture miles are redeemable for travel bookings and previous travel purchases you've made at a rate of $0.01 per mile. I value 10,000 miles at a $100 minimum based on that. And miles can also be transferred to Capital One's partners. I normally transfer mine and get even more value -- often $0.03 per mile or more.

Even going with a conservative estimate, that's still $100 a year from those bonus miles. Along with the $300 travel credit, that's $400 in value. You're already up $5 on the card's annual fee.

Now, $5 in value wouldn't make this card a must-have. But it also has several other valuable perks, including:

• Unlimited airport lounge access to Capital One Lounges, Priority Pass lounges, and Plaza Premium Group lounges (over 1,300 lounges combined)
• $100 membership fee credit to Global Entry or TSA PreCheck every four years
• Add authorized users at no additional fee

Miles are easy to earn and use

Another feature I appreciate from the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card is how much it earns. Most travel cards earn a base rate of 1 point or mile per $1, and extra in bonus categories. This Capital One card doubles that. It earns:

• 10X per $1 on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel
• 5 miles per $1 on flights you book through Capital One Travel
• 2 miles per $1 on other purchases

This makes it great as a default card you use just about anywhere. If I know I can earn bonus rewards with another card, I'll use that. For example, I put all my Amazon spending on my Prime Visa, because it earns 5% back there. But whenever I'm not sure which card to use, I go with this Capital One card and earn 2 miles per $1.

I also like that miles are easy to redeem. You're not locked into a single airline or hotel program. Capital One lets you transfer miles to over a dozen airline and hotel partners. You can find lots of award airfare deals, especially if you take international trips. And as mentioned above, you can also always redeem miles at $0.01 per mile toward travel.

It's also worth mentioning that this card starts you off with a big welcome offer. You earn 75,000 Miles after spending $4,000 on purchases within the first 3 months.

Making travel more enjoyable and affordable

Some people like credit cards that are packed with features, even if they cost over $500 a year. They don't mind carefully managing cards and using enough benefits to make the annual fee worth it.

Personally, I prefer my credit cards to be more low maintenance. Among premium travel cards, the only one I've found that fits the bill is the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card. As long as Capital One doesn't make any changes that devalue the card, I'll be hanging on to it.

I love that I don't need to check that I've used any monthly or quarterly spending credits. I just spend at least $300 per year through Capital One Travel to use the annual travel credit. That's no trouble at all. And I redeem my 10,000 anniversary bonus miles. With those, and what I earn on my everyday spending, I normally have enough miles to cover at least one business-class flight a year.

It also gets me into lots of airport lounges and covers my Global Entry membership. If you're looking for a quality travel card, it's one I'd highly recommend.