Capital One offers a mix of travel credit cards that provide an appealing combination of simplicity and value.
Multiple Capital One cards earn a minimum of 2X unlimited miles on purchases, and you can easily redeem miles for travel. That makes cards like the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card and Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card ideal for travelers who want value without complexity.
For the mile maximizers, Capital One offers an unusually long list of transfer partners. You can transfer miles to 22 airline and hotel programs, which gives you access to premium flights at a potentially higher value per mile.
If you’re interested in earning Capital One miles and learning how to make the most of them, CNBC Select covers everything you need to know about Capital One’s travel rewards program.
Guide to earning and using Capital One miles
Earning Capital One miles
To earn Capital One miles, you’ll need a Capital One travel rewards credit card. There are business and consumer cards that earn Capital One miles. Additionally, once you have a miles-earning card, you can convert cash back from other Capital One cards into miles.
Personal credit cards
Capital One offers a range of consumer miles-earning cards, from a no-annual-fee card to a $395 annual-fee card with premium perks, including:
The Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card has a reasonable annual fee and earns flexible travel rewards, which makes it a great travel card for beginners or heavy travelers.
- Valuable welcome offer worth at least $750 in travel
- You can transfer miles to over 15 Capital One partners, including Emirates Skywards, Choice Privileges and Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer
- No foreign transaction fees
- Lacks ongoing travel benefits such as statement credits or lounge access
- Limited bonus spending category that only applies to certain Capital One Travel bookings
Highlights
Highlights shown here are provided by the issuer and have not been reviewed by CNBC Select’s editorial staff.
- Enjoy a one-time bonus of 75,000 miles once you spend $4,000 on purchases within 3 months from account opening, equal to $750 in travel
- Earn unlimited 2X miles on every purchase, every day
- Earn 5X miles on hotels, vacation rentals and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel
- Miles won’t expire for the life of the account and there’s no limit to how many you can earn
- Receive up to a $120 credit for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck®
- Use your miles to get reimbursed for any travel purchase—or redeem by booking a trip through Capital One Travel
- Enjoy a $50 experience credit and other premium benefits with every hotel and vacation rental booked from the Lifestyle Collection
- Transfer your miles to your choice of 15+ travel loyalty programs
- Top rated mobile app
Balance transfer fee
$0at the Transfer APR, 4% of the amount of each transferred balance that posts to your account at a promotional APR that Capital One may offer to you
Foreign transaction fee
The Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card is a premium credit card with a myriad of benefits and a lower annual fee than other high-end cards with similar features.
- Annual $300 credit for bookings through Capital One Travel
- 10,000 bonus miles after every card anniversary
- Unlimited complimentary access to 1,300+ airport lounges, including Capital One Lounge and Landing locations
- Long list of valuable travel and shopping protections, including return protection, rental car coverage and trip delay reimbursement (Benefit(s) only available to accounts approved for the Visa Infinite card. Terms apply.)
- Limited bonus spending categories compared to other premium credit cards
- High annual fee
- High credit score requirement (excellent credit)
Highlights
- Earn 75,000 bonus miles when you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening, equal to $750 in travel
- Receive a $300 annual credit for bookings through Capital One Travel, where you’ll get Capital One’s best prices on thousands of trip options
- Get 10,000 bonus miles (equal to $100 towards travel) every year, starting on your first anniversary
- Earn unlimited 10X miles on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel and 5X miles on flights and vacation rentals booked through Capital One Travel
- Earn unlimited 2X miles on all other purchases
- Enjoy access to 1,300+ lounges worldwide, including Capital One Lounge and Landing locations and participating Priority Pass™ lounges, after enrollment
- Use your Venture X miles to easily cover travel expenses, including flights, hotels, rental cars and more—you can even transfer your miles to your choice of 15+ travel loyalty programs
- Enjoy a $100 experience credit and other premium benefits with every hotel and vacation rental booked from the Premier Collection
- Receive up to a $120 credit for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck®
- Top rated mobile app
Balance transfer fee
$0 at the Transfer APR, 4% of the amount of each transferred balance that posts to your account at a promotional APR that Capital One may offer to you
Foreign transaction fees
Business credit cards
If you want to earn Capital One miles for your business purchases, Capital One offers business travel cards that largely mirror its consumer miles-earning cards. These include:
The Capital Venture Business has a simple and lucrative rewards program because you earn at least 2X miles on every purchase and you can transfer those miles to travel partners.
- Earns flexible travel rewards you can transfer to airline and hotel loyalty programs such as Air Canada Aeroplan, Choice Privileges and Emirates Skywards
- Application fee credit for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck
- Up to $100 in annual credits
- Has an annual fee
- High spending requirement to earn the full welcome bonus
Highlights
Highlights shown here are provided by the issuer and have not been reviewed by CNBC Select’s editorial staff.
- Limited-time offer: Earn up to 150,000 bonus miles—75,000 miles once you spend $7,500 in the first 3 months, and an additional 75,000 miles once you spend $30,000 in the first 6 months
- Earn unlimited 2X miles per dollar on every purchase, everywhere, no limits or category restrictions, and miles won’t expire for the life of the account
- Receive up to $220 in credits: Receive an annual $50 travel credit for bookings through Capital One Business Travel, up to an annual $50 statement credit for purchases at qualifying advertising or software merchants, plus up to a $120 credit for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck® every four years. Terms and conditions apply
- Unlimited 5X miles on hotels, vacation rentals and rental cars booked through Capital One Business Travel
- Transfer your miles to 15+ travel loyalty programs
- Redeem your miles instantly for any travel-related purchases, from flights and hotels to ride-sharing services
- $95 annual fee
- Free employee cards which also earn unlimited 2X miles from their purchases
- Top rated mobile app
The Capital One Venture X Business Credit Card has all the benefits you expect with a premium business card, including flexible travel rewards, airport lounge access and travel insurance.
- Extremely valuable welcome bonus
- 10,000 bonus miles after every card anniversary
- Unlimited complimentary access to 1,300+ airport lounges, including Capital One Lounge and Landing locations
- Annual $300 credit for bookings through Capital One Business Travel
- Limited bonus spending categories compared to other business credit cards
- High annual fee
- No airport lounge access for employee cardholders
Highlights
Highlights shown here are provided by the issuer and have not been reviewed by CNBC Select’s editorial staff.
- Earn 150,000 bonus miles once you spend $30,000 in the first 3 months from account opening
- Earn unlimited 2X miles on every purchase, everywhere—with no limits or category restrictions
- Earn 10X miles on hotels and rental cars and 5X miles on flights and vacation rentals booked through Capital One Business Travel
- With no preset spending limit, enjoy big purchasing power that adapts so you can spend more and earn more rewards
- Empower your teams to make business purchases while earning rewards on their transactions, with free employee and virtual cards. Plus, automatically sync your transaction data with your accounting software and pay your vendors with ease
- Redeem your miles on flights, hotels and more. Plus, transfer your miles to any of the 15+ travel loyalty programs
- Every year, you’ll get 10,000 bonus miles after your account anniversary date. Plus, receive an annual $300 credit for bookings made through Capital One Business Travel
- Receive up to a $120 credit for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck®. Enjoy access to 1,300+ airport lounges worldwide, including Capital One Lounge and Landing locations and participating Priority Pass™ lounges, after enrollment
- Enjoy a $100 experience credit and other premium benefits with every hotel and vacation rental booked from the Premier Collection
- This is a pay-in-full card, so your balance is due in full every month
- Top rated mobile app
Cash back credit cards
Capital One cash back cards don’t earn transferable miles, but you can move rewards from one Capital One card to another. So if you have a miles-earning Capital One card, you can convert your cash back rewards into miles.
This is a great way to enhance the value and flexibility of the rewards you earn from Capital One’s extensive network of cash back rewards cards. Capital One has a range of cash back cards for lower credit scores, students or anyone who wants to pay no annual fee, including (but not limited to):
The Capital One Quicksilver Cash Rewards Credit Card has no annual fee, cash-back rewards and a generous intro-APR offer, which make it a great option for saving on interest while earning rewards.
- No annual fee
- Low spending requirement for the welcome bonus
- Redeem cash back for any amount at any time
- No foreign transaction fee
- 3% balance transfer fee during the first 15 months your account is open
- No bonus rewards categories
Highlights
Highlights shown here are provided by the issuer and have not been reviewed by CNBC Select’s editorial staff.
- Earn a one-time $200 cash bonus after you spend $500 on purchases within 3 months from account opening
- Earn unlimited 1.5% cash back on every purchase, every day
- $0 annual fee and no foreign transaction fees
- Earn unlimited 5% cash back on hotels, vacation rentals and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel
- No rotating categories or sign-ups needed to earn cash rewards; plus, cash back won’t expire for the life of the account and there’s no limit to how much you can earn
- 0% intro APR on purchases and balance transfers for 15 months; 18.49% – 28.49% variable APR after that; balance transfer fee applies
- Top rated mobile app
Balance transfer fee
- 3% for the first 15 months; 4% at a promotional APR that Capital One may offer you at any other time
How to redeem Capital One miles
How you redeem Capital One miles changes the value you receive. So it’s important to understand not only what you can do with your miles, but what you’ll get for them.
Here’s what you can use Capital One miles for and the value you’ll normally receive for each type of redemption:
- Gift cards: Typically 1 cent per mile
- Cash back: 0.5 cents per mile
- Travel: 1 cent per mile in statement credits to offset travel purchases
- Capital One Travel or Capital One Business Travel bookings: 1 cent per mile for travel booked through Capital One
- Mile transfers: Value varies, can be worth above 1 cent per mile
- Capital One Entertainment bookings: Value varies, but generally worth less than 1 cent per mile, with exceptions
There are a handful of simple ways to receive 1 cent per mile in value when you redeem Capital One miles, especially if you travel semi-regularly. If you’re willing to put in a little legwork, you can multiply that value by taking advantage of the best deals that Capital One’s transfer partners offer.
Capital One transfer partners
Capital One’s transfer partners are where you’ll find the best value, if you’re willing to deal with more complexity. You can transfer Capital One miles directly to 18 airline programs and four hotel programs at the following rates:
Capital One transfer partners
| Capital One transfer partners | Transfer ratio |
|---|---|
| Accor Live Limitless | 2:1 |
| Aeromexico Rewards | 1:1 |
| Air Canada Aeroplan | 1:1 |
| Avianca LifeMiles | 1:1 |
| British Airways Club | 1:1 |
| Cathay Pacific Asia Miles | 1:1 |
| Choice Privileges | 1:1 |
| Emirates Skywards | 4:3 |
| Etihad Guest | 1:1 |
| EVA Air Infinity MileageLands | 4:3 |
| Finnair Plus | 1:1 |
| Flying Blue (Air France/KLM) | 1:1 |
| I Prefer Hotel Rewards | 1:2 |
| JAL Mileage Bank | 4:3 |
| JetBlue TrueBlue | 5:3 |
| Qantas Frequent Flyer | 1:1 |
| Qatar Airways Privilege Club | 1:1 |
| Singapore KrisFlyer | 1:1 |
| TAP Air Portugal Miles&Go | 1:1 |
| Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles | 1:1 |
| Virgin Red | 1:1 |
| Wyndham Rewards | 1:1 |
In general, airline transfers provide more value than hotel transfers, although that’s not always the case depending on the transfer ratio and specific award you’re looking to book. It can be confusing to understand all of your options because airlines allow partner award bookings.
You can book Air Canada flights by transferring miles to its Aeroplan program or by transferring miles to another Star Alliance airline, such as Singapore Airlines or Turkish Airlines. Each program may charge a different number of miles for the same flight, and the award taxes and fees can also differ dramatically.
A simple way to determine if transferring miles makes sense is to compare the cash price of the hotel or flights you want to book with its award price. The baseline you’re aiming for is 1 cent per mile, since that’s what you’ll receive if you pay for the booking with your Capital One card and erase the travel purchase with miles.
That means that if a hotel costs $200 a night, it’s usually only worth utilizing a transfer partner if you can book the same room by transferring less than 20,000 miles. And in most cases, it wouldn’t make sense to transfer more than 50,000 miles to book a $500 award flight.
Be sure to pay attention to fees, as well. Certain hotels charge resort fees on award stays, and rewards flights are assessed taxes and fees, such as fuel surcharges, which can cost hundreds of dollars on premium international flights.
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Information about the Capital One VentureOne Business has been collected independently by Select and has not been reviewed or provided by the issuer of the card prior to publication.
Editorial Note: Opinions, analyses, reviews or recommendations expressed in this article are those of the Select editorial staff’s alone, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any third party.
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