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Capital One® Rewards is perhaps the most straightforward credit card rewards program you’ll find. Although termed “miles”, Capital One rewards act much like points. You can use them for statement credit toward travel purchases, convert them into airline miles and more. There are not so many ways to earn Capital One rewards, but they do hold decent value at redemption.
| Personal credit cards | Capital One® Venture® Rewards Credit Card Capital One® VentureOne® Rewards Credit Card |
| Business credit cards | Capital One Spark Miles for Business Capital One Spark Miles Select for Business |
| Redemption options | Travel purchases via Capital One Travel statement credits Gift cards Cash back Transfers to airline partners |
| Best value for miles | $0.014 per mile |
CAPITAL ONE® VENTURE® REWARDS CREDIT CARD
The Capital One® Venture® Rewards Credit Card currently earns 100,000 bonus miles when you spend $20,000 on purchases in the first 12 months from account opening. Or if are unable to meet the $20k spending requirement, you can still earn 50,000 bonus miles for spending $3,000 in the first 3 months. These bonus miles are equal to $1000 or $500, respectively, in travel and are easy to redeem as a statement credit towards the cost of your travel purchases. Take advantage of Capital One’s travel partners and these up to 100k miles can be worth around $1400 in value.
This card will earn an ongoing 2 miles for every dollar you spend on all purchases. 100 miles is equal to $1 in travel rewards. If you don’t redeem towards travel purchases, your miles will have less value.
The annual fee is $95.
Earning Capital One Miles
Capital One offers four cards that earn Capital One miles. Spark cards are geared toward small businesses, while Venture cards are for personal use. Click on the card name to see the current welcome bonus available for each card.
| Spark Miles | Venture | Spark Miles Select | VentureOne |
| Unlimited 2x miles on all purchases. | Unlimited 2x miles on all purchases. | Unlimited 1.5x miles on all purchases. | Unlimited 1.25x miles on all purchases. |
Redeeming Capital One Miles
The value of your Capital One miles varies, depending on how you use them:
| Redeem for… | Value per mile | 50,000 miles value |
| Travel booked via Capital One | $0.01 | $500 |
| Travel statement credits | $0.01 | $500 |
| Gift cards | $0.01 | $500 |
| Cash back | $0.005 | $250 |
| Transfers to airline partners | Up to $0.014 | Up to $700 |
The easiest option is to redeem for travel statement credits. With “Purchase Eraser,” you’ll get a flat rate of $0.01 per mile, and you don’t have to worry about blackout dates. Please note, only travel spending in the previous 90 days will qualify.
The worst way to use your miles is for cash back in the form of account credits or checks by mail. I recommend avoiding this option because it will devalue your miles by 50%.
But if you want the best value for you miles, transfer them to a partner airline and take the time to strategize your award travel. Putting in the legwork to search through booking scenarios with different airlines will yield great value for your Capital One miles.
Updated 9/22/2020:
| Aeromexico Club Premier | Air France KLM Flying Blue | Air Canada Aeroplan |
| Alitalia MilleMiglia Program | ALL – Accor Live Limitless | Asia Miles |
| Avianca LifeMiles | Emirates Skywards | Etihad Airways – Etihad Guest |
| EVA Air – Infinity MileageLands | Finnair – Finnair Plus | JetBlue – TrueBlue |
| Qantas – Qantas Frequent Flyer | Singapore Airlines – KrisFlyer | |
Best Capital One Partner Airline/Hotel Loyalty Programs
You can transfer your Capital One miles at a 2:1.5 ratio for most airline/hotel programs as shown above (2:1 for Emirates, Singapore Airlines and Accor Live Limitless). A few good programs to transfer to are:
Avianca charges low fees and offers a number of “sweet spots” in its loyalty program. If you’re short on miles, it also lets you purchase discount ones at good rates.
Dig deep underneath its complex rules, and you’ll find that Cathay Pacific Asia Miles offers incredible award opportunities. When you book your Asia Miles award travel, keep in mind the following:
- You’re allowed one stopover on one-way standard awards (except Air China and Iberia).
- You’re allowed two stopovers and one open jaw on standard awards.
- You’re allowed five stopovers and two open jaws on Oneworld awards.
- You save several hundred dollars in fuel surcharges when you book your British Airways-operated award flight with Asia Miles (instead of Avios or American Airlines).
You might not be familiar with Etihad Guest, but this loyalty program packs a big punch. If you’re looking to book award travel on an American Airlines-operated flight, it’s a better deal through Etihad.
Bottom Line
Each Capital One mile is easily worth $0.01. Simply use the Purchase Eraser for your travel expenses, and you’ll get one cent per mile every single time.
But if you’re looking for a more valuable use for your Capital One miles, transfer your rewards to a partner airline loyalty program. This option is much more complicated, but you can get up to $0.014 each mile this way.
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Editorial Disclaimer: Opinions expressed here are author's alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, hotel, airline, or other entity. This content has not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of the entities included within the post.
Disclaimer: These responses are not provided or commissioned by the bank advertiser, credit card issuer, hotel, airline or other entity. Responses have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of the entities included within the post. It is not the bank advertiser's or any other entity's responsibility to ensure all posts and/or questions are answered.