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When it comes to flexibility, the Capital One Travel Rewards Program offers no limits on your earnings and no blackout dates for bookings. There are other perks, such as the value of the miles you can earn. Capital One Miles, also known as Venture Miles, tend to be high in value because the miles you earn don’t expire and have a variety of redemption options, including travel, cashback, and gift cards.
Another advantage of Capital One Travel is that you do not need to earn a minimum number of miles before you can use them and you can use any number of rewards at any time. This means you don’t have to worry about having enough miles to cash out your earned rewards; you have the option to do so at any time. In addition, holders of issuer premium cards such as Capital One Spark Miles for Business can transfer their miles to one of Capital One’s transfer partners, giving them the opportunity to increase the value of their rewards.
It’s also relatively easy to accumulate bonus miles with your Capital One card, and cardholders can enjoy generous initial bonuses on all Capital One bonus cards, as well as simple reward rates. With these perks, it’s no surprise that the Capital One Venture Rewards credit card is one of our most popular travel cards.
Capital Cost of one mile
So how much are Capital One miles worth? Well, the cost of Capital One miles varies depending on how you use them, but the base cost is 1 cent per mile. If you choose to redeem your miles for a refund instead of a trip, you will forfeit half of that value.
The cost of standard repayment options
| Repayment option | Mile cost (cents) |
|---|---|
| Shopping for travel with Capital One Travel | 1 |
| Purchases outside the country as a loan statement | 1 |
| Gift card | 0.8 |
| Cashback (loan statement or check) | 0.5 |
With the transfer of miles to an affiliate loyalty program, everything becomes more complicated. When converting miles, you can get a conversion ratio of 2 Capital One miles to 1 airline mile, 2:1.5 or 1:1, depending on the partner. And since the value of each airline mile or hotel point varies, you may from time to time increase the value of your Capital One miles because the value of the award currency (affiliate program) into which you transfer them exceeds 1 cent per mile (or point). So even with a less attractive transfer rate, you can earn more by transferring your miles.
Miles transfer cost
| Partner | Transfer ratio | Amount of remuneration (cents)** | Cost of 2 miles (cents) transferred |
|---|---|---|---|
| Accor Live Unlimited | 2:1 | 2 | 4 |
| Aeromexico Club Premier | 1:1 | 0.6 | 1.2 |
| Air Canada Airplane | 1:1 | 1.2 | 2.4 |
| Avianka LifeMiles | 1:1 | 0.8 | 1.6 |
| British Airways Executive Club | 1:1 | 0.7 | 1.4 |
| Cathay Pacific Asia Miles | 1:1 | 3 | 6 |
| Choice Privileges | 1:1 | 0.6 | 1.2 |
| Emirates Skywards | 1:1 | 1.8 | 3.6 |
| Etihad Guest | 1:1 | 1.8 | 3.6 |
| EVA Air Infinity Mileage Lands | 2:1.5 | 1 | 2 |
| Finnair Plus | 1:1 | 1.2 | 2.4 |
| Flying blue (medium) | 1:1 | 1.3 | 2.6 |
| Qantas Frequent Flyer | 1:1 | 0.4 | 0.8 |
| Singapore Airlines ChrisFlyer | 1:1 | 2.2 | 4.4 |
| TAP Air Portugal Miles&Go | 1:1 | 1.2 | 2.4 |
| Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles | 1:1 | 0.6 | 1.2 |
| Virgin Atlantic Virgin Red | 1:1 | 2.6 | 5.2 |
| Wyndham Awards | 1:1 | 0.9 | 1.8 |
** Reward values provided by Bankrate and The Points Guy.
How to calculate your Capital One miles
Because Capital One miles cost 1 cent per mile across all fare options, it’s easy to calculate the value of your miles. Simply divide the number of miles you have earned by 100 to get the dollar amount. For example, a 75,000 mile Venture card introductory offer (if you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first three months) costs about $750 per trip.
The situation becomes more complicated when transferring miles to a partner airline. You will have to do some digging to find the number of points for each airline loyalty program.
How flexible are Capital One miles?
Capital One Travel offers great flexibility and multiple repayment options. There are only a few restrictions when it comes to earning miles, and the rewards do not expire within the lifetime of the account. However, Capital One does not match the value offered by several rewards programs, especially when it comes to cashback options and travel partners.
pros
- Capital One Miles do not expire. You can also transfer your points to another eligible Capital One rewards program account if you plan to close your card.
- There is no limit to how many Capital One Miles you can earn, making it easy to save up for big purchases.
- Capital One offers flexible travel repayment terms. Miles can even be used to cover any part of the cost of a trip made on a third-party booking site (redeemed as a credit statement).
- You can transfer Capital One miles to more than 15 travel partners at a rate of 1:1, 2:1.5 or 2:1. Despite the obvious cost reduction for some partners, some transfer options will benefit you more.
- You can redeem any number of Capital One Miles at any time. You can spend as little as 1 mile on a qualifying purchase and pay the rest in cash.
Minuses
- There are no major US airlines on Capital One’s list of travel partners. While Chase has partnerships with United and Southwest Airlines and American Express has partnerships with Delta, transfer options with Capital One are more limited.
- You lose value when you exchange for cashback. Statements and checks receive only 0.5 cents per mile.
- You do not receive additional value for redeeming through the Capital One Travel Portal. While cards such as Chase Sapphire Preferred Card and Chase Sapphire Reserve receive 25 to 50 percent more value respectively when redeemed through Chase Travel, Capital One Miles do not receive any boost.
- Unlike Chase Ultimate Rewards and American Express Membership Rewards, Capital One does not offer any tier cards that you can combine with your flat rate cards to maximize your mileage on certain purchases.
Should I buy Capital One miles?
Since updating its online portal and reward cards, Capital One Travel has steadily climbed up the shelves of issuer rewards programs. With top travel cards such as the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card and Capital One Venture Rewards Card these days, Capital One Travel almost rivals Chase Ultimate Rewards and Amex Membership Rewards as one of the best rewards programs available to cardholders.
Although the issuer’s transfer partners do not have a major US airline and do not provide point increases when redeeming travel through its online portal, Capital One Travel makes up for this with incredible flexibility and a variety of redemption options. Perhaps the best redemption option is the ability to retroactively use Capital One Miles for purchases outside of the country within 90 days of the date of purchase. Overall, accumulating Capital One miles is a great option, especially if you want to join the travel rewards industry.
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