Capital One has flipped the travel world on its head in the last few years, transforming Capital One miles into an indispensable program for travelers who want to do more for less.
No other credit card points give you more flexibility and versatility to redeem miles toward travel, including flights, hotels, rental cars, and much more. Whether you're just getting started using miles and want a simple option to cover the costs of flights or hotels or you consider yourself an advanced traveler who's ready to put the nearly 20 Capital One transfer partners to use to maximize your miles, there's a path for you.
Here are some of the best ways to redeem Capital One miles.
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Use Miles to Cover Any Travel Purchases
Let's start with the easiest route. This is what Capital One is really known for.
No airline or credit card company makes it easier to redeem points and miles toward travel than Capital One. Just charge your flight, hotel, Airbnb, or almost any other travel expense to your Capital One card. A few days later, you can go in and remove that charge from your statement using miles.
Read our step-by-step guide to covering travel purchases to see how it's done!
Using this method, every Capital One mile is worth 1 cent. That means you can book a $500 flight using 50,000 Capital One miles. That may not be earth-shattering value, but it's easy as can be – and it goes far when you find a cheap flight.
Here's a real-world example. Let's say you're a Thrifty Traveler Premium member and received this alert for $434 flights from New York City (JFK) to Dublin (DUB) next year.
Just pay for that flight with your Capital One card directly through the airline's website, go to your account a few days later, and remove it from your statement for 43,400 miles. That's all it takes: It really is that easy.
This is tailor-made for travelers who want a quick-and-easy way to use their miles. Don't want to deal with booking through third-party travel portals or try decoding the mystifying world of how airlines set award rates when using their miles? This method is for you.
There are a few advantages to covering travel charges with miles beyond convenience. For starters, it's one of the few ways to make a flight completely free, as your miles will cover the taxes and fees that traditional airline miles will not. And you'll still earn miles with the airline you're flying.
But the real beauty is that it can go, far, far beyond booking flights. Think of any travel expense, and you can cover it using your miles – including expenses that other credit card points can't cover. For example…
- You could cover a $500 Airbnb or VRBO reservation for 50,000 miles
- Charge your $40 train ticket anywhere in the world to your Capital One Card, then erase it using 4,000 miles
- Book a tour or excursion through Viator or Airbnb Experiences, then use miles to cover the cost
- Ubers, Lyft rides, a golf trip, boat rides … you name it, you can cover it with miles
The list goes on and on. Needless to say, there's a ton of flexibility and ease when using miles to cover travel purchases. Where other bank points fall short, Capital One Venture miles deliver.
Be ready to book the next cheap flight alert with miles. Sign up for Thrifty Traveler Premium today!
Level Up Using Capital One Transfer Partners
For years, the beauty of Capital One miles has been their simplicity. Charge a flight to your Capital One card, then go back and cover the cost using miles.
But if you want to get more value from your miles, you'll want to look into Capital One transfer partners.
Capital One added the ability to transfer miles straight to airline and hotel programs back in late 2018. After steadily adding more and more partners and making significant improvements, it's now a bonafide option with some killer value. With few exceptions, every 1,000 Capital One miles you transfer gets you 1,000 airline miles or hotel points.
Here's the full list.
| Program | Type | Ratio | Transfer Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aeromexico | Airline | 1:1 | Instant |
| Air Canada Aeroplan | Airline | 1:1 | Instant |
| Air France/KLM | Airline | 1:1 | Instant |
| Avianca LifeMiles | Airline | 1:1 | Instant |
| British Airways | Airline | 1:1 | Instant |
| Cathay Pacific AsiaMiles | Airline | 1:1 | Up to five business days |
| Emirates | Airline | 1:1 | Instant |
| Etihad | Airline | 1:1 | Up to 1 day |
| EVA Air | Airline | 2:1.5 | Up to five business days |
| Finnair | Airline | 1:1 | Instant |
| Qantas | Airline | 1:1 | Instant |
| Singapore | Airline | 1:1 | Instant |
| TAP Air Portugal | Airline | 1:1 | Same day |
| Turkish Airlines | Airline | 1:1 | Same day |
| Virgin Red | Other | 1:1 | Same day |
| Accor | Hotel | 2:1 | Up to two business days |
| Wyndham | Hotel | 1:1 | Same day |
| Choice Hotels | Hotel | 1:1 | Same day |
Read our guide to Capital One transfer partners and learn how you can transfer your miles!
It can get even better, as Capital One regularly offers transfer bonuses, giving you a 15% to 40% bonus when sending your miles to select partners on this list. That's a great way to maximize your miles.
Thrifty Tip: Unlike many other banks, Capital One allows you to fine-tune your transfers in increments of 100 (so long as you transfer at least 1,000 miles).
With that many options, the world is your oyster. But here are a few of our favorites to redeem your Capital One miles for big value.
Read more: Save Points When Booking Flights: Transfer Them to an Airline Partner
Business Class to Europe for 50K Each Way
Air France and KLM offer one of the most economical ways to fly business class to Europe. And with Capital One miles, you can make it happen.
For just 50,000 miles each way, you can book a lie-flat business class seat between the U.S. and almost anywhere in Europe thanks to Air France and KLM's incredible Flying Blue program. With a 1:1 transfer ratio, 50,000 Capital One miles is all you need. Many airlines charge close to double that or more!
No matter if you're flying from the East Coast, the Midwest, or as far away as the West Coast, business class redemptions flying Air France and KLM price out at just 50,000 miles each way. And you can get these great rates whether you're flying nonstop to Paris or Amsterdam or connecting onward almost anywhere in Europe.
Just keep in mind that Flying Blue's dynamic award pricing means award rates are still all over the map, so you won't see these lowest rates every single day – especially in business class, where you're more likely to see rates closer to 200,000 miles or more.
Read our guide to booking award tickets with Air France/KLM Flying Blue miles!
But that's where Thrifty Traveler Premium comes in. We do all the legwork for our members: Finding availability, in-depth booking instructions, and guiding you to the best credit card points to use to book what's typically a $4,000-plus fare – like this recent deal to fly business class to Paris (CDG) during the peak summer travel months for just 50,000 miles each way.
And since Flying Blue is a transfer partner with Capital One, it was easily bookable with Capital One miles.
Only Thrifty Traveler Premium members get award alerts like these to use their points and miles!
Fly to Hawaii From 20K RT
American Airlines may not be a Capital One transfer partner, but you can still fly American to Hawaii and back using these miles – often at a huge discount. And the same goes for Alaska Airlines.
How? Qatar Airways. You won't find Qatar Airways on the list of Capital One transfer partners, but you will find British Airways. Both airlines are part of the growing family of carriers that use Avios as their frequent flyer miles. That opens up a way to transfer your Capital One miles to British Airways and then from there, transfer them to Qatar to book flights to Hawaii on American Airlines or Alaska.
It's an extra step, but the savings can be worth it. While both airlines (and now even British Airways) regularly charge at least 40,000 of their own miles for a round-trip from the West Coast, you can book the exact same flights for just 26,000 Qatar Airways Avios.
Read more: How to Combine Avios Between British Airways, Qatar, Aer Lingus, Iberia & Finnair
The trick here to getting these low rates is that you have to fly from the West Coast – specifically, Los Angeles (LAX) or Phoenix (PHX) with American or Los Angeles, San Francisco (SFO), San Jose (SJC), San Diego (SAN), Portland (PDX), or Seattle (SEA) with Alaska.
So long as there's a nonstop flight, you can fly from all those cities to all four major Hawaiian airports at this low price. Capital One miles transfer to British Airways (and therefore Qatar) on a 1:1 basis, so 26,000 miles is all you need.
But if you're not on the West Coast, you're probably better off booking flights on Delta … using miles from Virgin Atlantic. While booking nonstop Delta flights to Hawaii through Virgin isn't as great of a deal as it once was after a recent devaluation, it all depends on where you're flying from.
Virgin uses a distance-based award chart to price out it's Delta flights, including those to Hawaii. But there are still some savings to be had, especially if cash fares are high.
- Seattle (SEA) to all four Hawaiian Islands for 22,000 miles each way in economy
- Los Angeles (LAX) to all four Hawaiian islands for 22,000 miles each way, too
- Salt Lake City (SLC) to Maui (OGG) for 22,000 miles each way
- Minneapolis-St. Paul (MSP) to Honolulu (HNL) for 35,000 miles each way
- Detroit (DTW) to Honolulu (HNL) for 44,000 miles each way
- New York City (JFK) to Honolulu (HNL) for 44,000 miles each way
But Capital One has occasionally offered transfer bonuses of 30% or more to Virgin Atlantic, which could bring down the cost of the above flight to just 54,000 points or less. That's tough to beat considering Delta itself often charges 100,000 SkyMiles or more for these exact same flights.
Capital One Miles also transfer 1:1 to Virgin Red – the overarching loyalty program for all things Virgin. Just beware that finding the Delta flights you want can be a bit of a challenge, so be sure to read our guide on how to book these Delta flights for huge savings. And never transfer miles before you've confirmed the flights you want are available.
Prefer to fly United? Ready to take things to the next level with your points? You can't beat booking United flights to the Hawaiian islands and back for just 20,000 miles roundtrip by transferring to and booking through Turkish Airlines. Best of all, that 20,000-mile roundtrip rate works nationwide – not just on shorter flights from the West Coast!
Be warned: This redemption isn't for the faint of heart. Finding the award availability to actually book at these dirt-cheap rates can be a challenge and the finicky Turkish Miles & Smiles program doesn't help. But if you're patient and flexible, you won't find a cheaper way to get to Hawaii and back than this.
Read next: Points Stuck in Limbo? Here's Why (& What You Can Do About It)
…Or Fly Lie-Flat to Hawaii for 40K Points Each Way
There's a best way to fly to Hawaii, and it's in a lie-flat suite. Hawaiian Airlines has begun flying some excellent fully-enclosed first class seats from the West Coast to the Hawaiian Islands and back – and made them bookable through partner airline Virgin Atlantic for just 40,000 points each way.
But there's a catch: Unlike some of the other examples above, you have to pick up the phone and actually call Virgin to book these Hawaiian Airlines flights.
Start by searching through Hawaiian Airlines If it's available through Hawaiian for 40,000 in first class, you can book it through Virgin for the same rate.
Call up Virgin at 1-800-365-9500 (or 1-800-862-8621 or even an international call center), feed them the dates you found and how many seats you need. Once you've confirmed the flights are available with Virgin, you can transfer your Capital One miles to Virgin to book. Just ask an agent to stay on the line until your points hit your account.
Lie-Flat Biz Class to Southeast Asia for 75K Miles
Looking to take that long flight across the Pacific in a comfy lie-flat business class seat? There are few better ways to do so than in Cathay Pacific business class – and no cheaper way to book those seats than through through the small Finnish airline Finnair. Yes, you read that right.
Finnair recently joined the family of airlines using Avios as its mileage currency, and that move opened up a path to book flights all over the world often at cheaper rates than you'll find booking through other airlines.
Finnair has a separate award chart for each of its partners, including Cathay Pacific, one of the top airlines in the world. Cathay flies some excellent business class seats nonstop to Hong Kong (HKG) from several cities in the U.S. and Canada. Booking through Finnair, you can book one of these Cathay Pacific business class seats from anywhere in North America for just 75,000 Avios each way, including all the way from New York (JFK)!
While Cathay Pacific tends to release more business class availability to partner airlines that use Avios (like Finnair) than it does to U.S. airlines like Alaska and American, that award space to actually book these seats can be rare. But our team at Thrifty Traveler Premium is searching these routes every day, and when we find availability, we alert our members right away so they can book.
The best part? You can transfer miles directly from Capital One to Finnair to book these flights. Using points from other banks, you'd have to first transfer your points to British Airways, then move them to Finnair – a simple but still extra step.
Biz Class All Over the World For 88K (Or Less!)
If you're looking to use your Capital One miles to fly business class anywhere in the world, Air Canada Aeroplan should be your first stop.
Air Canada Aeroplan is one of the best airline mileage program for using points and miles to book flights on Star Alliance airlines (i.e. United, Lufthansa, SWISS, TAP Air Portugal, Singapore, and more) and also other top airlines like Emirates and Etihad. And, you don't have to fly from Canada or even fly Air Canada to make the program work for you. For U.S. travelers, it's one of the best-kept secrets in award travel.
Read up on all the best ways to book business class using Aeroplan miles!
Fly Emirates Business Class to Italy or Greece for 108K Points RT!
There's a stellar way to get to Europe and back in style on one of the world's best airlines.
Emirates operates two funky fifth-freedom flights between the U.S. and Europe: One from New York City (JFK) to Milan (MXP) and another from Newark (EWR) to Athens (ATH). On either route, you can snag a seat in Emirates business class for as low as 108,000 Skywards miles roundtrip – plus under $250 in fees.
Capital One Miles transfer instantly to Emirates, so as long as you have the miles, you can book this deal.
But the trick is finding the award availability at those lowest rates: Searching yourself on Emirates, you might only see flights for closer to 200,000 miles … if you see anything at all. Thrifty Traveler Premium has you covered there, too, pinpointing you to the exact dates you can travel to book.
This deal is long gone – get the next award alert to fly business class with Thrifty Traveler Premium!
The flights to Athens are also an option, but the ride over to Italy with Emirates is our top choice because Emirates flies its Airbus A380 on that route. Guess what that means? An onboard bar at 35,000 feet! You can even try your luck at upgrading to Emirates First Class at the airport and take a shower as you cross the Atlantic Ocean!
Short Domestic Flights For Less
Are U.S. flight prices higher than you'd like? Sure, you can book an expensive flight and reimburse yourself for some, or all, of it using Capital One miles after the fact as we outlined earlier. But there's a better way. Whether you want to fly Delta, United, American, or Alaska, first see if you can book that same flight for fewer miles through one of Capital One's transfer partners.
Thanks to Virgin Atlantic's distance-based award chart, Delta flights under 500 miles in distance are only 7,500 points one-way. Going a little further? It’s only 11,000 points one-way for flights between 501 – 1,000 miles.
That means by transferring your Capital One miles to Virgin, you can book short hops like this one from Minneapolis (MSP) to Chicago-O'Hare (ORD) for as few as 15,000 miles roundtrip!
Especially for Delta hub captives, this can be a great deal considering you’ll always be booking a main cabin ticket on Delta when using Virgin points. That means you’ll be able to make changes and choose a seat for free.
For United Airlines flights, turn to its Star Alliance partner, Air Canada. Short-haul United flights under 500 miles cost just 6,000 Air Canada Aeroplan points each way.
This can be a great way to book short United Airlines flights as they will cost just 12,000 round trip.
For flights on American Airlines, booking through Qatar Airways will be your best bet. This lesser-known sweet spot might just be the No. 1 way to book flights on American with miles right now after British Airways hiked award rates for partner airlines yet again.
For example, booking through Qatar, this one-way flight from Dallas (DFW) to New York (JFK) costs just 11,000 Avios.
The same trick works for Alaska, too. This Seattle (SEA) to San Francisco (SFO) route prices out at just 9,000 Avios each way when booked through Qatar.
You can't transfer your Capital One miles directly to Qatar, but you can still book these flights through Qatar with one extra step. Because you can easily combine Avios across all the programs, you'll first need to transfer your Capital One miles to British Airways Avios, then move them to Qatar Airways Avios to book.
Qatar's website isn't without its quirks, though. Qatar won't always pull up all the airports American flies to – for example, it will show Sioux Falls, South Dakota (FSD) in the search box, but doesn't return any results even when other partners like British Airlines does.
One-Way to Lisbon in Biz for 35K
You can transfer your Capital One miles to Avianca LifeMiles on a 1:1 basis, then use them to book a business class flight to Europe. Normally, that'll take you 63,000 miles each way, which isn't bad. But there's one incredible sweet spot for almost half the cost.
You can fly from New York-JFK (JFK) to Lisbon (LIS) in TAP Air Portugal business class for just 35,000 miles. Just that one route prices out that low – that's it. Every other Star Alliance business class redemption from JFK will run you 63,000 miles. Even the same flight from nearby Newark (EWR) and the return flight from Lisbon back to JFK cost nearly twice as much.
At 35,000 miles, this is an absolute steal. Plus, LifeMiles passes on less than $25 in taxes and fees. That means you can book a $2,000-plus business class flight for just 35,000 Capital One miles and a few bucks.
Most days TAP flies its new Airbus A330-900neo on this route, which means you’ll get the best business class seats TAP has to offer, with lie-flat seats in a spacious 1-2-1 arrangement.
How to Earn Capital One Miles
To spend Capital One miles wisely, you've first got to earn them. You're in luck: There are a handful of cards that can help you bolster your balance of miles, including a brand new option.
Capital One Venture X Card
The Venture X card might just be the best travel credit card we've ever seen.
The *venture x* is the bank's very first premium travel card. Think of it as a souped-up version of the ever-popular *capital one venture card* that’s chock full of extra benefits: Access to Capital One Lounges and Priority Pass lounges, a $300 annual travel credit for bookings through Capital One Travel, a credit for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck, great travel and rental car insurance protection, and more. The annual fee clocks in at $395 a year, but the benefits can easily outweigh that.
Here's the best part: You can currently earn 75,000 Miles after spending $4,000 in the first three months. Considering you earn at least 2x for every dollar you spend on the Venture X Card, you’ll earn a total of at least 83,000 Miles.
Learn more about the *venture x*.
Capital One Venture Card
The *capital one venture card* has been a fan favorite among travelers for years – and for good reason. It's truly one of the best travel credit cards for beginners.
You earn 2x miles on every purchase and even get a credit that covers the cost of Global Entry or TSA PreCheck – all for a card with a $95 annual fee.
Capital One currently offers a welcome bonus of 75,000 miles once you spend $4,000 on purchases within three months from account opening. This is equal to $750 in travel expenses – or get even more by transferring those 75,000 miles to partner airlines or hotels.
Learn more about the *capital one venture card*
Capital One VentureOne Card
Think of the *capital one ventureone* as the littlest sibling to the Venture X and Venture Card.
It's a no-annual-fee card that will earn you 1.25x miles per dollar you spend. The welcome bonus is smaller, too – though still quite nice. You can currently earn bonus_miles_full
Learn more about the *Cap One VentureOne*.
Bottom Line
There are some incredible ways to redeem Capital One miles.
As the credit card company has improved its transfer partner program, that list has only grown. But even if you're looking to keep things simple, Capital One Miles give you an easy route to cover almost any travel expense you can think of.
That versatility and value is the beauty of using Capital One miles.
Want award alerts like these to use Capital One miles? Sign Up for Thrifty Traveler Premium today!