I think Capital One's strategy is more specific. They could see that Chase had some success attracting high income/spend customers from American Express, and thought that they could do the same, which would improve the profile of their securitized card pools. To make this stick they need to not only mimic the features that Amex and Chase offer, but also offer something unique to differentiate the product. For me, Venture X's 2X transferable points on general spending, combined with the refund of the annual fee through the Travel Credit + renewal bonus is enough at the current price level. I never activated the Priority Pass.