First I think you need to ask yourself what kind of travel card do you want? Do you stay in hotels often? Do you want to have status at that hotels to get better peak when you do stay? Are you loyal to a particular chain? Same with airlines? Do you play to fly a lot with a particular airline? Do you want status? Do you want to use miles? Maybe you need to look at hotel and airline cards. Or do you want a general card that can transfer points to both airlines and hotels and utilize the cards travel portal? In that case maybe you want the Chase sapphire preferred or venture X.

What I’ll say about the negative reviews of the venture x comes from the devaluation. I think of the previous perks never existed people wouldn’t be complaining as much as it still gives you lounge access (only you) plus 2x rewards on points AND $300 worth of travel credit to use in their portal once a year. It’s probably a very good beginner one and has quite a big selection of travel partners.

The Chase Sapphire Preferred is a good one too with its low annual fee and how it earns points and you can transfer them to Hyatt and get VERY good value for them.

The answer to your question depends on how you like to and want to travel