Earning and redeeming credit card rewards can be a fantastic way to get more out of your spending. Capital One miles are among some of the best to earn and can provide tons of value, especially when you redeem them for travel. While their worth varies based on how you redeem them, you can generally expect to get between 1 and 2.5 cents in value per mile.
Let’s take a look at how much Capital One miles are worth, the best ways to redeem them for maximum value, and how to make sure you’re getting the best use out of your rewards.
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The value of Capital One Miles when booking through the Capital One travel portal
The Capital One travel portal allows you to redeem your miles at a rate of one cent per mile, no matter what type of travel you’re booking. For those who are unfamiliar with the Capital One travel portal, it’s a place where you can book (and redeem miles for) flights, hotels, and rental cars.
While it’s easy to redeem your Capital One miles through the travel portal, you’ll want to be aware of its setbacks.
First, it’s always better to book directly with a travel provider rather than through a third party. For hotels and rental cars, booking directly is the only way you’ll get elite status credits and benefits. You’ll also have more flexibility with changes and cancellations if you’ve booked directly.
Second, you can often get better value from your miles when transferring them to a partner rather than redeeming them within the portal. The biggest exception is when you need to redeem miles for a hotel that isn’t part of a chain; in this case, booking through the portal may be the only way for you to save on out-of-pocket costs.
The value of Capital One miles when transferring to a partner
Capital One Miles can also be transferred to various hotel and airline partners, which tends to be the best way to redeem your miles.
For example, here’s a one-way flight from Denver (DEN) to London (LHR), which costs 70,000 Aeroplan points in business class.
Capital One miles can be transferred to Aeroplan at a 1:1 ratio, so you’ll need just 70,000 Capital One miles for this transaction.
The cash cost of your ticket, meanwhile, would be over $5,000.
At this rate, you’re redeeming your Capital One miles at a rate of over seven cents each – more than seven times the value you’d get when redeeming within the portal.
Capital One sweet spots
Capital One has many different transfer partners with a wide variety of value, but here are some good redemptions and sweet spots to keep in mind:
- Air Canada allows you to add a lap child for 5,000 points per flight.
- Air Canada allows you to add a stopover to your flight for 5,000 points.
- Turkish Airlines charges just 10,000 miles one-way for flights from the mainland U.S. to Hawaii.
- Avianca Lifemiles allows you to select each leg of your award flight individually; this means you can save miles by flying in economy on short flights and business on longer flights.
- Singapore Airlines releases more award seats to its own program than partners, which means you’ll have an easier time finding business class awards when using Singapore Airlines Krisflyer miles.
- Emirates first class is best booked using Emirates Skywards miles.
- Virgin Red points can be converted to Virgin Atlantic points, which can then be used for bucket-list redemptions such as All Nippon Airways (ANA) first class.
- Wyndham Rewards has a partnership with Vacasa, allowing you to book vacation homes from just 15,000 points per bedroom, per night.
Capital One transfer partners
The following Capital One partners transfer at a 1:1 ratio:
- Aeromexico Club Premier
- Air Canada Aeroplan
- Cathay Pacific Asia Miles
- Avianca LifeMiles
- British Airways Executive Club
- Choice Privileges
- Emirates Skywards
- Etihad Guest
- Finnair Plus
- Flying Blue
- Qantas Frequent Flyer
- Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer
- TAP Miles&Go
- Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles
- Virgin Red
- Wyndham Rewards
The following Capital One partner transfers at a 1.5:1 ratio:
- EVA Air Infinity MileageLands
The following Capital One partner transfers at a 2:1 ratio:
- ALL (Accor Live Limitless)
What can you get with your Capital One miles?
There are so many different things you can do with your Capital One miles, but using them for travel is going to be the best way to maximize them.
This is especially true for anyone wanting to book a vacation rental. It’s almost impossible to do so with Airbnb or VRBO since they don’t have loyalty programs. However, thanks to Wyndham’s partnership with Vacasa, you can give hotel rooms a miss and instead book out entire properties.
Here’s an example of a condo in Miami Beach located steps from the ocean. It sleeps up to four guests and averages $221 per night, not including taxes and fees.
You’ll pay just 15,000 points per night for this stay by transferring your Capital One miles to Wyndham.
Another great way to redeem your miles is for a cruise. A few times per year, Virgin Red has a promotion allowing you to redeem points for one of their Virgin Voyages cruises.
While it’s not necessarily a high-value redemption for your miles, it’s almost impossible to redeem points for cruises, and Virgin Voyages is a high-end, adults-only cruise line.
Speaking of Virgin Red, we already mentioned that Virgin Red points can be converted seamlessly to Virgin Atlantic Flying Club. This is great because you can spend just 72,500 Virgin points one-way for a first-class flight with Japanese airline ANA.
Want to book ANA business class using other miles? Expect to pay up to 220,000 miles for the same ticket with partners such as United Airlines
The value of Capital One Miles when redeeming for Amazon.com purchases, statement credits, or gift cards
You can also choose to redeem your Capital One miles for other types of rewards, but they’re not generally going to be a great use of your miles.
Amazon purchases: Miles are worth 0.8 cents each
PayPal: 0.8 cents each
Statement credits: 1 cent each
Gift cards: 0.8 cents each
Cash back: 0.5 cents each
The best use of your Capital One miles
- Flights booked with transfer partners
- Hotels booked with transfer partners
- Boutique hotels booked through the Capital One travel portal
The worst use of your Capital One miles
- Cash back
- Gift cards
- Amazon purchases
- PayPal
Frequently asked questions about Capital One Miles
How much are 10,000 Capital One Miles worth?
10,000 Capital One miles can be worth anywhere between $100 and $250. A one-way economy class flight from the mainland U.S. to Hawaii costs 10,000 miles through Turkish Airlines. The same flight might cost $250 or more, making transfers a much better option.
How much are 30,000 Capital One miles worth?
30,000 Capital One miles are worth somewhere between $300 and $750. You can fly round trip from the United States to London using 30,000 miles with British Airways or stay two nights in a one-bedroom vacation rental using Wyndham points.
How much are 50,000 Capital One miles worth?
50,000 Capital One miles are worth between $500 and $1,250, depending on how you redeem them. For 50,000 Capital One miles, you can fly one way business class from the U.S. to Europe using the Flying Blue program.
How much are 75,000 Capital One miles worth?
75,000 Capital One miles can be worth anywhere between $750 and $1,875. With 75,000 Capital One miles, you can fly first class from the United States to Japan with Virgin Atlantic points.
How much are 100,000 Capital One miles worth?
100,000 Capital One miles are worth somewhere between $1,000 and $2,500, though you may be able to get much greater value than that by maximizing your redemptions. For example, you can book Choice Hotels in Scandinavia, which can cost upwards of $300 per night, for as little as 8,000 points per night.
How many Capital One miles does it take for a free flight?
The number of Capital One miles you’ll need for a flight will depend on which program you’re using to book. For very cheap cash flights, you can use the Capital One travel portal to book. Think flights under $50, which would cost you 5,000 miles.
Otherwise, you can expect to pay between 5,000 to 10,000 miles one-way for an economy-class flight throughout the United States or Canada.
How many Capital One miles to fly business class to Europe?
There are many different ways to use your Capital One miles for business class to Europe, but here are some of the best:
- Flying Blue: 50,000 miles
- Turkish Airlines: 65,000 miles
- Avianca Lifemiles: 60,000 miles
- Air Canada Aeroplan: 60,000 miles
Do Capital One miles expire?
Capital One miles do not expire as long as you hold an open Capital One card.
Summary
Capital One miles can be extremely valuable, especially when redeemed for travel, thanks to their hotel and airline partners.
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