As an actress, model, producer, and entrepreneur, Shay Mitchell spends a good portion of her life at 30,000 feet. Since finding fame in 2010 playing Emily Fields on the mystery-thriller series Pretty Little Liars, Mitchell has added to her fan base (35 million on Instagram alone) through her travel expertise—her Shaycation series on YouTube, Thirst with Shay Mitchell on HBO Max, and tips dispensed via Béis Travel, the luggage and accessories brand that she founded in 2018.
So when a canceled flight stranded her at JFK in the middle of the night recently, surrounded by a grim visage of deserted gates and shuttered stores, Mitchell had an ace in her wallet.
Capital One’s lounge—a refuge in Terminal 4 with a cafe, a bar, and cushy velvet chairs—was open around the clock. And she had the key to get in: Capital One’s Venture X credit card.
“Who else has a lounge that’s open 24/7?” Mitchell said. “As a cardholder, that is extremely important to me. I’ve had other cards in my lifetime, but the attention to detail I’ve experienced with this Venture X card is a step above.”
Capital One is hoping many other consumers will feel that way, too. Released in 2021, Venture X falls into the luxury category, a coterie of high-fee, high-reward cards that range from the elaborately named (the Atmos Rewards Summit Visa Infinite Card) to the truly fabled (the Dubai First Royale Mastercard is so exclusive that nobody’s sure how you get one).
Recently, however, something of an arms race has broken out among three cards in particular: Capital One Venture X, American Express Platinum, and Chase Sapphire Reserve. Within the last year, these cards have been busy adding more incentives and beefing up their airport lounges while kicking off new marketing campaigns and hiring celebrity ambassadors to tout them.
Why now? Partly, economics. By restricting acceptance to those with excellent FICO scores and high incomes, luxury credit cards are tapping into a pool of consumers who love to spend, but can also pay their bills. (Card issuers make money in the usual ways—annual and late fees, interest on carried balances, and interchange charges to merchants.)
Some of it is cultural, too. “Coming out of the pandemic, we saw this huge resurgence of travel and people wanting to get back out there,” said Nick Ewen, senior editorial director of The Points Guy. “We saw a lot of people who were thinking about traveling more than they did prior to the pandemic.”
According to JPMorgan Chase CMO Carla Hassan, consumers themselves are precipitating much of the activity. As premium credit card customers expand, they’re also becoming more discerning, which means card benefits also have to expand.
“The entire industry is looking for ways to keep benefits fresh, add value, and find new and interesting ways to stay relevant,” Hassan said. “That constant push is raising the bar across the board and it’s what’s making the luxury credit card space so dynamic and competitive right now.”
