Capital One Miles Compensation Guide

After updating both the rewards credit cards and the travel portal, the Capital One Travel rewards program has managed to rise in the ranks and compete with other trusted travel programs such as Chase Ultimate Rewards and American Express Membership Rewards. Nearly all Capital One credit cards now offer access to the Capital One Travel Portal, and many offer additional rewards when you book certain travel types on the site.

If you’re looking for a simple yet value-for-money travel credit card, Capital One has some great options. Whether you’re looking for a business card or a personal card, you can earn Capital One Flexible Miles on your daily purchases. Here’s what you need to know about the features of the Capital One Travel rewards program, the best ways to earn Capital One miles and the best ways to use them.

What are Capital One Miles?

Capital One Travel is well known for its ease of use, creating cards such as Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card favorite of frequent travelers. All Capital One premium card holders can earn unlimited miles per year. Redemption options are also flexible, including statements, gift cards, and travel bookings.

Capital One also has a list of over 15 travel partners to which cardholders can transfer their miles.

Overview of the bonus program Capital One Travel

How to earn Capital One miles

Each Capital One bonus card has its own unique reward rate and earning scheme, but there are several strategies to help you earn more. To get the most out of your Capital One Reward Card, here are some tips to help you earn miles and get one step closer to your next vacation.

Subscribe to Capital One Bonus Cards to get initial bonuses

All Capital One Reward Cards offer competitive signup bonuses. No matter which card suits your shopping habits best, the initial bonus can make a big difference in the cost of your next trip.

However, these signup bonuses are only available to new cardholders and Capital One also limits the number of cards you can open with an issuer. If you already have two open Capital One credit cards, you will not be able to get approved for a new one.

Watch out for referral bonus offers

Another great way to earn Capital One miles is through the Refer a Friend program. All you have to do is log into your account, get your personal referral link and share it with your friends and family. If someone applies and is approved, you will receive a bonus of up to $500 per year. Just keep in mind that offers are targeted and subject to change by the cardholder.

Use your Capital One bonus card for most of your purchases

All Capital One Reward Cards offer fixed rewards on regular purchases ranging from 1.25 to 2 miles per dollar with each purchase. While many bonus cards require you to match your spending against bonus tiers to get a similar total rate, Capital One rewards you for every purchase you make.

The benefit is that you will earn extra rewards on all your purchases, regardless of category, so it may make sense to deposit large spending and daily purchases on Venture or Spark Miles cards. All purchases will earn more than 1 mile per dollar.

How to use Capital One miles

Capital One Travel is one of the most flexible rewards programs available, allowing cardholders to redeem miles for travel, cash back, gift cards, Amazon purchases, Capital One Entertainment tickets and more. You can even cover previous travel purchases made on third party websites. You also have the option to transfer miles to over 15 travel partners with different transfer rates depending on the partner.

One of the downsides of using Capital One miles is that you lose some value if you use the miles for an Amazon purchase, credit statement, or check.

Redemption options for Capital One rewards

Find out how much a Capital One mile will cost when redeemed for all available options.

Some redemption options reduce the value of your flexible miles. Despite this, Capital One miles have a high potential for value, especially if you transfer them to one of Capital One’s partners.

Here are some of the best ways to redeem Capital One miles:

1. Booking a trip through Capital One Travel

When you use your miles to book travel with Capital One Travel, you can use any part of your purchase. This means you can make a booking no matter how many miles you have and pay the rest in cash. There is also no minimum requirement and you can only use one mile.

2. Refunds for previous travel purchases

Perhaps the best feature of Capital One Travel, which few other flexible rewards programs offer, is the ability to use miles on any previous travel purchases (redeemable as a credit statement).

You get the same value for your rewards as if you booked through Capital One Travel, with the added flexibility of choosing whichever airline or hotel you want. So you can go on a travel hunt outside of the issuer’s portal and still use your miles as long as you use your miles within 90 days from the date of purchase.

To take advantage of this feature, first book your hotel stay, flight or cruise with your Capital One Reward Card. When you log into your Capital One account and click “use rewards”, select “use purchase” and view all eligible travel expenses in the last 90 days. Just choose how much of the amount you want to use to pay for miles and it will be credited to your account in the form of a credit statement.

3. Refund

Redeeming miles for cashback, whether it’s a check or a credit statement, is usually not the best choice for Capital One cardholders. Both of these options give you only 0.5 cents per mile – only half the standard cost. However, if you need the flexibility of cold cash, this is always the option for you.

4. Buying Gift Cards

If you want to redeem your Capital One miles for something other than travel but aren’t thrilled with the 0.5 cent cost, you can use your miles to buy gift cards instead. With this option, you can receive the full value of the point for 1 cent per mile, although this value may vary depending on the gift card.

5. Shopping on Amazon

Another option for non-travelers is to redeem miles for purchases made on Amazon.com. Unfortunately, this redemption option does not provide the same value as travel, but still higher than cashback.

6. Transfer of points to Capital One travel partner

When transferring miles to a Capital One partner, you can transfer miles at a ratio of 1:1, 2:1.5 or 2:1, depending on the partner. You can lose value on transfer, as is the case with a 2:1 transfer ratio. However, some airline miles have a higher cost per mile than Capital One miles, so the transfer could potentially earn you more per mile.

Here is a summary of how much your miles are worth with each Capital One transfer partner.

** Reward values ​​are averages of points provided by Bankrate and The Points Guy.

To help you understand how these values ​​stack up, consider what you can get from Capital One’s initial offering. With the Capital One Spark Miles for Business card, your signup bonus is 50,000 miles (if you spend $4,500 in the first three months). If you redeem those 50,000 miles to Air Canada, this bonus could be worth $600 instead of $500 per trip when redeemed through the Capital One Travel Portal. This can make a huge difference in how many flights you can afford for a fee alone.

If you normally travel within the country, transferring miles may not be suitable for you as there are no major US airlines on Capital One’s list of travel partners. However, frequent flyers using certain international airlines such as Air Canada, Emirates and Singapore Airlines can find great value in this.

*All information about the Capital One Spark Miles Select for Business program has been independently compiled by CreditCards.com and has not been verified by the issuer.