Have the Capital One Venture Rewards Card but new to points and miles? Here’s what you need to know
Editor's Note
Hey there, Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card holder — or potential cardholder. You may have heard that you can maximize your Capital One miles when you transfer them at (usually) a 1:1 ratio and then redeem them for award space on popular loyalty programs such as Air Canada Aeroplan.
If this sounds confusing, you're in the right place because that's exactly the point of this article.
In short, I'll discuss how your credit card can help you travel the world for free by offsetting your travel costs with Capital One miles.
The card and the welcome offer
Let's dive into the Capital One Venture Rewards' 75,000 miles and $250 travel credit welcome offer. You'll receive the $250 Capital One Travel credit as soon as you're approved for the card, but you'll need to spend $4,000 on the card within the first three months of account opening to earn 75,000 bonus miles.
New cardholders can use the $250 credit on Capital One Travel in their first cardholder year. The bonus miles are a type of currency that you can use to book travel via the Capital One Travel portal for 1 cent per point.
However, for maximum value, you're better off transferring them to travel partners.
You're probably wondering, "Where can I go with 75,000 miles?"
I'm glad you asked. Since miles are a type of currency, they have a value. According to TPG's August 2024 valuations, Capital One miles are worth 1.85 cents each, making 75,000 miles worth $1,388.
In addition to the welcome offer, you can earn 5 miles per dollar you spend on hotel, vacation rentals and car rental purchases made through Capital One Travel and 2 miles per dollar spent on all other purchases. The card has a $95 annual fee (see rates and fees).
Using your Capital One miles
Capital One has 15-plus transfer partners. In layman's terms, a way to use the miles you accrue with your card — including the welcome bonus and miles earned through everyday spending — is by transferring them to hotels and airlines to book award space set aside for those using miles.
While Capital One has long let you use miles to cover travel purchases on your credit card statement, it may not be the best use of your hard-earned Capital One miles.
That's because redeeming miles as a statement credit or to cover purchases made through Capital One Travel will only net you a maximum value of 1 cent per mile. That falls short of TPG's August 2024 valuation of Capital One miles at 1.85 cents per point when using transfer partners.
Capital One's transfer ratios
You can transfer your Capital One miles to 15-plus programs:
- Aeromexico Rewards: 1:1 transfer ratio
- Air Canada Aeroplan: 1:1 transfer ratio
- Air France-KLM Flying Blue: 1:1 transfer ratio
- Accor Live Limitless: 2:1 transfer ratio
- Avianca LifeMiles: 1:1 transfer ratio
- British Airways Executive Club: 1:1 transfer ratio
- Cathay Pacific Asia Miles: 1:1 transfer ratio
- Choice Privileges (only U.S.-based accounts): 1:1 transfer ratio
- Emirates Skywards: 1:1 transfer ratio
- Etihad Guest: 1:1 transfer ratio
- EVA Airways Infinity MileageLands: 4:3 transfer ratio
- Finnair Plus: 1:1 transfer ratio
- Qantas Frequent Flyer: 1:1 transfer ratio
- Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer: 1:1 transfer ratio
- TAP Air Portugal Miles&Go: 1:1 transfer ratio
- Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles: 1:1 transfer ratio
- Virgin Red: 1:1 transfer ratio
- Wyndham Rewards: 1:1 transfer ratio
For the most part, miles transfer at a 1:1 ratio, except Accor Live Limitless and EVA Airways Infinity MileageLands.
Related: Ultimate guide to Capital One airline and hotel transfer partners: How to maximize your miles
Redemption options
Some airline transfer partners can be better than others, and this is based on their respective award charts.
For example, you can use Air Canada Aeroplan to fly from San Francisco to London in business class for 70,000 miles. Where things get interesting and what makes Aeroplan a lucrative transfer partner is their stopover program for award tickets.
Let's say you want to fly from San Francisco to London and Istanbul. You can book a stopover ticket by flying from San Francisco to London in United Polaris, staying four nights and then continuing onward to Istanbul on Turkish Airlines, all for 95,000 miles in business class.
Prefer a first-class flight instead? You can transfer your miles to Etihad Guest to book an American Airlines flight. You can fly in first from Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) to London's Heathrow Airport (LHR) or Tokyo's Haneda Airport (HND) for only 62,500 Etihad Guest miles each way — although award availability can be difficult to nail down.
It's always important to remember that many airlines use dynamic award pricing for their award tickets, so it may take time and patience to secure a great deal. Specific award ticket prices can be hard to secure and may change at any time.
Further reading: Cashing in Capital One miles? How to get the maximum value when redeeming miles
Bottom line
Keep in mind that these are just a few of the easy award redemptions you can make with Capital One miles. Building up your Capital One miles gives you more redemption options, including transferring miles for premium cabin airfare or higher-category hotel rooms.
It's good practice to stay up to date with airline award and hotel award charts to better understand how you can maximize your miles and enjoy your travels.
To learn more, read our full review of the Capital One Venture Rewards.
Apply here: Capital One Venture Rewards
Related: Why I keep the Capital One Venture Rewards card in my wallet