Capital One miles are one of the most valuable currencies out there, thanks to their flexible use. Case in point: You can redeem Capital One miles for flights on American Airlines – even though the American AAdvantage program isn’t a Capital One transfer partner. Thanks to the Capital One Travel portal and partnerships with Oneworld Alliance members, there are plenty of ways to book American Airlines flights with Capital One miles.
But which option is the best, and how exactly do you determine that? We’ve got you covered with this step-by-step guide.
Table of contents
Booking American Airlines flights using Capital One Travel
Booking American Airlines flights using Capital One Travel is the most straightforward way to redeem your points. You simply head to the Capital One Travel website, choose the flight you want, and apply Capital One miles to your booking. The clear advantage of this option is its simplicity and the fact that you’ll earn AAdvantage miles on this flight (if you add your frequent flyer number).
The disadvantage of booking through Capital One Travel is that points are worth a fixed one cent each, so you may not get the best deal — particularly on business and first-class flights. For example, a business class flight that might cost 50,000 points one way when booked with the airline or $2,000 when booked in cash will cost 200,000 points using Capital One Travel.
Furthermore, you may have trouble getting help from the airline in case of any issues with your flights since, technically, they’ve been booked with a third party (the portal is powered by Hopper) instead of directly with the airline. For example, I’ve managed to get nonrefundable tickets refunded when contacting an airline directly. However, the airline wouldn’t have been able to help me in this instance if I’d booked my flight through Capital One Travel.
If you’re ok with this, here’s how to book an American Airlines flight through the portal:
- Head to the Capital One Travel website and select the “book travel” button.
- Log in with your Capital One account credentials.
- Navigate to the “flights tab” on the travel homepage.
- Enter your flight information (departure, date, destination, cabin class, and number of travelers).
- Select the “Airline” filter on the search results page and check off the “American Airlines” box.
- Choose the American Airlines flight you want to book and select your seats (if given the option)
- You’ll need to create a traveler profile on the next page, including the frequent flyer number you want to credit your flight to. If you’ve already done this for a previous booking, you’ll simply select the listed travel profile.
- Enter your Capital One card as the payment method, or apply your Capital One rewards.
- Hit the “confirm and book” button.
Booking American Airlines flights using Capital One miles on partners
Booking American Airlines flights using Capital One transfer partners can be a great way to maximize your rewards. Capital One has 1:1 transfer partnerships with six airlines in the Oneworld alliance. Once you convert your Capital One miles to these rewards, you can redeem them for American Airlines flights:
- Aeromexico Club Premier
- Cathay Pacific Asia Miles
- British Airways Executive Club
- Etihad Guest
- Finnair Plus
- Qantas Frequent Flyer
The best American Airlines flights to book using Capital One miles
While there are six Capital One transfer partners you can use for American Airlines flight bookings, not all of them will give you the best value for your points. Aside from consulting the point.me booking tool (which breaks down the cheapest award flights for each route), you can also note a few “sweet spot” American Airlines flights you can book using Capital One points.
While we’ve noted some of the cheapest award flights you can book, it’s important to compare these rates against prices on the Capital One Travel site. After all, Capital One miles are worth one cent each towards Capital One Travel bookings, and American Airlines routinely offers fare sales. If the cost of an award ticket drops, the number of miles you need on the Capital One Travel website will drop, too.
- 7,500 British Airways Avios each way for short-haul economy class flights under 650 miles in distance.
- 15,000 Qatar Airways Avios each way for economy class between the West Coast and Hawaii.
- 25,000 Etihad Guest miles each way for first-class seats between the East Coast and West Coast.
How point.me helps you book American flights with Capital One miles
Point.me can make the process of booking American flights with Capital One miles much more efficient. Point.me’s platform searches award inventory across multiple programs and identifies the best booking options. Rather than searching for American flights on multiple airline websites, you perform one search on point.me and get the cheapest options.
Furthermore, the redemption rates will note any transfer bonuses Capital One might be running. At the time of writing,, Capital One is offering 20% bonus points when you transfer Capital One miles to British Airways Executive Club. So, that short-haul economy flight will end up costing you just 6,250 Capital One miles instead of 7,500.
Frequently asked questions about booking American Airlines flights with Capital One miles
Can I use Capital One points for American Airlines flights?
Yes, while you can’t transfer Capital One miles directly to American Airlines, there are ways to use these points to book an American flight. You can use Capital One points for American Airlines flights through the Capital One travel portal. You can also do so by transferring your Capital One miles to one of American Airlines’ partners, including Cathay Pacific Asia Miles and British Airways Executive Club, to name a few.
What other airlines can I transfer Capital One miles to?
You can transfer Capital One miles to 15 airline partners, six of which also partner with American Airlines. These include Aeromexico Club Premier, Cathay Pacific Asia Miles, British Airways Executive Club, Etihad Guest, Finnair Plus, and Qantas Frequent Flyer.
Can I partially pay for an American Airlines flight with Capital One miles?
Yes, you can partially pay for an American Airlines flight with Capital One points. The Capital One travel portal allows you to apply miles towards part of a flight. Capital One also has six transfer partners you can book American Airlines flights with. They all allow one-way award bookings, so if you don’t have enough miles for a roundtrip flight, you can still cover half of it.
Which Capital One credit cards earn transferable points?
Several Capital One credit cards earn transferable points. They include the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card, Venture X, Venture X Business Card, Spark Miles for Business, Spark Miles Select for Business, and VentureOne Rewards Credit Card.
Share "How to Use Capital One Miles on American Airlines"
