Your All-in-One Guide to Capital One Miles

Using credit card rewards can be a good way to offset the high cost of travel. You can earn points or miles from your regular, everyday spending and then put those towards flights, hotel stays, and more.

Capital One has several cards that earn miles — if you have one of them, you can access their travel rewards program to redeem miles for all of or part of your next trip. 

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How Capital One Miles Work

Capital One Miles can be earned through Capital One’s rewards program. 

Depending on the card you have, you can earn anywhere from 1.25 to 2 miles for every dollar spent on qualifying purchases. While there isn’t an official exchange rate, miles are equivalent to around 1 cent per mile.

Miles earned with a Capital One card can be redeemed in the Capital One Travel portal or transferred to a participating travel partner. Miles can also be used for other offerings like events, cashback, or redemption on sites like Amazon.

As long as your account is active and in good standing, Capital One miles never expire. There is no limit to the amount of miles you can earn, but if you pay your credit card bill late, you won’t earn miles for that billing period. 

While carrying a balance on a Capital One card (or any credit card) isn’t a good idea, it won’t affect your ability to earn or redeem miles.

Capital One travel rewards come with a number of perks. You’ll get access to Capital One Lounges and you’re eligible for travel insurance in case a trip is canceled. 

Miles can also be used for VIP experiences like booking first-class flights or staying at one of Capital One’s Premier Collection hotels. 

READ MORE: How To Use the Capital One Travel Portal for Free Travel

How To Earn Capital One Miles

You can earn miles for every dollar spent on a qualifying purchase. The amount you can earn varies depending on the type of card you have. 

The following cards are currently eligible to earn miles:

• Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card
• Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card
• Capital One VentureOne Rewards Credit Card
• Capital One Venture X Business
• Capital One Spark Miles for Business
• Capital One Spark 1.5X Miles Select

Other rewards cards like the Capital One Quicksilver Cash Rewards Credit Card earn cashback instead of miles. You’ll still have access to the Capital One Travel portal and can earn cashback when booking with the card.

Booking travel through Capital One Travel can increase the amount of rewards you're eligible to earn. For example, the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card earns 5x miles for hotel and rental car bookings while the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card can earn 10x.

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You can also pool miles together from different cards. If you have a cashback card in addition to a travel card, you can convert your cash into miles and redeem for travel on Capital One Travel.

Other ways to earn miles include unlocking a rotating spending category, referring family and friends, and adding an authorized user to your account. 

READ MORE: How To Earn Credit Card Points Fast for Travel

How To Redeem Capital One Miles

The easiest way to redeem your miles is to log onto the Capital One website or use the app on your phone. 

Under the “Explore Rewards & Benefits” section you’ll be prompted with a number of ways to redeem your miles.

Travel

Travel is arguably the best way to redeem your Capital One miles. You can either make travel reservations directly in Capital One Travel or you can apply your miles as a statement credit for qualifying travel purchases.

Capital One is famously known for having no blackout dates or restrictions on how you use your miles. You can use your miles to book flights and hotels, make rental car reservations, and even purchase local travel expenses like taking an Uber from the airport.

Miles are generally worth about 1 cent each and can be used to cover some or all of your expenses. To book travel directly go to the Capital One Travel portal and select “Book a Trip.” 

If you want to cover a recent travel expense instead, log into your account and select “Cover Travel Expenses.” It will populate travel-related transactions from your credit card that you can select to apply your miles to.

READ MORE: How To Use Credit Card Points for Travel

Loyalty programs

Capital One has more than 15 airline and hotel partners that you can transfer your miles to. 

While this can make it easier to use miles, it may reduce the value of them. You’ll want to take careful note of the transfer ratios:

Partner	Transfer rate
Accor Live Limitless	2:1
Aeromexico Club Premier	1:1
Air Canada Aeroplan	1:1
Air France/KLM Flying Blue	1:1
Avianca LifeMiles	1:1
British Airways Executive Club	1:1
Cathay Pacific Asia Miles	1:1
Choice Privileges	1:1
Emirates Skywards	1:1
Etihad Guest	1:1
EVA Air	2:1.5
Finnair Plus	1:1
Flying Blue	1:1
Qantas Frequent Flyer	1:1
Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer	1:1
TAP Miles&Go	1:1
Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles	1:1
Virgin Red	1:1
Wyndham Rewards	1:1

Some partners allow for instant transfers while others can take a few business days. You can use these yourself or transfer them to a loved one.

Events

Miles can be redeemed for event tickets through Capital One Entertainment. This includes sports, dining, and music events.

Capital One cardholders also get special benefits. A number of stadiums offer cardholders lower-level seats for games and Capital One partners with big performing artists (hello, Taylor Swift) to offer early access on ticket sales. 

Gift cards

If you don’t want to use your miles on travel, you can redeem them for gift cards instead. You’ll need a minimum of 2,500 miles in order to redeem for a gift card. 

Most gift cards can be redeemed for around 1 cent per mile, but that isn’t the case for all merchants. For example, a $25 gift card for Lululemon will cost 3,125 miles while a gift card to Barnes and Noble only costs 2,343. 

Other merchants you can obtain gift cards with include Apple, Chipotle, Sephora, and Starbucks.

PayPal or Amazon

Miles can also be used to make purchases online. Link your card to PayPal or Amazon to apply your miles at checkout. 

Cashback

If you’re working to pay off a cedit card balance, you can redeem your miles for a statement credit. 

Keep in mind that if you opt for a statement credit you’ll only receive 0.5 cents per mile or half the travel value. 

To be eligible for cashback, you’ll need to have a minimum of 5,000 miles.

How Much Are Capital One Miles Worth?

There isn’t an official value for Capital One Miles but generally they’re worth around 1 cent each. The value of your miles can change depending on how you use them. 

Miles transferred to a participating travel partner can be worth more than 1 cent. This can make it easier to access business-class seats or book stays at luxury hotels.

Miles used on gift cards can be worth less than 1 cent while miles redeemed as cashback are worth 0.5 cents.

Here’s a quick look at how Capital One compares with its chief competitors:

	Number of Transfer Partners	Travel Portal Redemption Value	Statement Credit Value
Capital One miles	15+	$0.01 per mile	$0.005 per mile
Chase Ultimate Rewards®	14	$0.01 to $0.015 per point	$0.01 per point
American Express Membership Rewards®	21	$0.007 to $0.01 per point	$0.006 per point
Wells Fargo Rewards	7	$0.01 per point	$0.01 per point
Citi ThankYou® Rewards	19	$0.01 per point	$0.01 per point

READ MORE: When To Use Points vs. Cash for Booking Travel

FAQs

Do Capital One Miles expire?

As long as your account is open and in good standing, your miles will never expire.

How much are 10,000 Capital One Miles worth?

Capital One Miles are worth around 1 cent each, which means 10,000 Capital One Miles are worth $100.

Where can I transfer my Capital One Miles to?

Capital One works with a number of travel partners. 

For hotels, you can transfer miles to:

• Choice Privileges for stays at Quality Inn and MainStay Suites
• Wyndham Rewards for stays at brands like Days Inn, Howard Johnson, and Ramada

For airlines, you can transfer miles to:

• Accor Live Limitless
• Aeromexico Club Premier
• Air Canada Aeroplan
• Air France/KLM Flying Blue
• Avianca LifeMiles
• British Airways Executive Club
• Cathay Pacific Asia Miles
• Emirates Skywards
• Etihad Guest
• EVA Air 
• Finnair Plus
• Flying Blue
• Qantas Frequent Flyer
• Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer
• TAP Miles&Go
• Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles
• Virgin Red

For non-travel purchases, you can also transfer miles to Amazon or PayPal.

TL;DR: Are Capital One Miles Worth It?

Capital One Miles offer solid value for everyday spending. They’re worth around 1 cent per mile and are pretty flexible — you can redeem for flights, hotels, or experiences with no blackout dates.

While you'll get the best bang for your buck using miles for travel, the program's versatility is a major plus. You can transfer miles to over 15 travel partners, use them for entertainment events, or even cash them out if needed.

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Disclosure: Opinions expressed here are the author's alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, hotel, airline, or other entity. This content has not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of the entities included within the post.