Capital One Miles: The Complete Beginner’s Guide
Update 1/20/26: The Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card is now offering 75,000 Capital One® Miles after you spend $4,000 in your first 3 months + $250 Capital One Travel credit upon approval.
Capital One Miles are one of the most flexible transferable points currencies available today. You can redeem them for travel at a fixed 1 cent per mile, transfer them to valuable airline and hotel partners, or even combine points across accounts. If you’re just getting started with travel rewards, here’s everything you need to know about earning, redeeming, and maximizing Capital One Miles.
Why Capital One Miles Are Great for Beginners
Here are three reasons why we love Capital One Miles for beginners:
- Easy to redeem – Use miles to erase travel purchases on your Capital One card with a simple statement credit.
- Immediate impact – Book a trip now, then redeem miles retroactively once you’ve hit your bonus. See your travel dreams take off (pun intended =)) immediately!
- Fast bonus access – Once you meet your required spending, those miles show up right away. No waiting for billing cycles or next month’s statement.
How to Earn Capital One Miles
1. Welcome Bonuses on Capital One Cards
The fastest way to earn Capital One Miles is through the signup bonus on a Miles-earning card.
Below are the current Capital One cards that earn Capital One miles.
Personal Cards:
Business Cards:
How to transfer Capital One Miles
Transferring miles to your chosen program is simple and takes just a few steps.
Step 1: Log in to your credit card account
Log in to your account and click on your “Rewards Miles” balance.
Step 2: Scroll down and click “Use My Miles”
On the next page, scroll down to “Transfer Your Rewards” and click “Use My Miles”.
That will bring you to the page of transfer partners and ratios.
Step 3: Click on your chosen partner
From there, if you click on a partner, it will expand details and provide a link to “Enroll Now” if you are not yet a member of that rewards program.
Next click “transfer miles” to the right of the ratio.
Step 4: Enter your loyalty account information
You’ll next need to enter your Membership Number twice. You can paste it into the first field, but you’ll have to type it in the second time.
One notable point here: the terms state that the Loyalty Program must be registered to the exact username on the Capital One account.
Step 5: Choose the amount and complete the transfer
Finally, choose the number of miles you would like to transfer and click “Complete Transfer”. That’s it!
Transfer Partners
| Rewards Program | Capital One Transfer Ratio | Best Uses |
| Accor Live Limitless | 2 to 1 | Use to pay hotel bill with value of 2 Euro cents per point. In some cases (such as hotel to airline transfer bonuses) it may make sense to convert Accor points to the following airline miles at a 1 to 1 ratio: Finnair, Iberia, Qantas, or Virgin Australia |
| Aer Lingus Avios | 1 to 1 via BA | Iberia offers very low award prices on their own flights. Round trip partner awards can offer good value under some circumstances as well. Fuel surcharges are often lower when booking with Iberia rather than British Airways. It's possible to move points (Avios) between Iberia, British Airways, Aer Lingus, and Qatar. |
| AeroMexico ClubPremier | 1 to 1 | AeroMexico is a SkyTeam partner. Club Premier points can be used to book flights on AeroMexico, SkyTeam alliance members (such as Delta or Korean Air), or on select partner airlines. Unfortunately many have reported that awards are extremely difficult to book through AeroMexico so we do not recommend transferring points to this program. If you want to fly AeroMexico, look to transfer points to another SkyTeam partner (such as Air France) and then book AeroMexico with that program. |
| Air Canada Aeroplan | 1 to 1 | Redeem for Star Alliance flights and/or flights with Air Canada partners (such as Etihad). No fuel surcharges; $39 CAD award booking fee; 5,000 points to add stopover on one-way award. |
| Air France KLM Flying Blue | 1 to 1 | Monthly Air France Promo Awards often represent very good value. Air France miles can be used to book Sky Team awards, including Delta awards. Air France often offers very good business class award pricing between the US and Europe & Israel. |
| Avianca LifeMiles | 1 to 1 | Avianca LifeMiles can be great for Star Alliance awards. They offer reasonable award prices and no fuel surcharges on awards. They also offer shorthaul awards within the US (for flying United, for example) for as few as 7,500 miles one-way. Best of all, their mixed-cabin pricing can lead to fantastic first-class award prices. |
| British Airways Avios | 1 to 1 | While flights on British Airways itself often incur outrageously high fuel surcharges, many BA partners charge low or no fuel surcharges. Excellent value can be had in redeeming BA points for short distance flights. It's possible to move points (Avios) between Iberia, British Airways, Aer Lingus, and Qatar. |
| Cathay Pacific Asia Miles | 1 to 1 | Cathay Pacific has a decent distance based award chart, but they no longer allow stopovers longer than 24 hours. Cathay Pacific Asia Miles can be a good option for booking American Airlines flights with a distance based award chart, especially if other OneWorld Alliance miles aren't available. For long distance flights, it is possible to reduce the cost of first class by adding on a business class flight. |
| Choice | 1 to 1 | Choice Privileges points seem to be randomly valuable within the US, but dependably valuable internationally in expensive locations such as Scandinavia and Japan |
| Emirates Skywards | 1000 to 750 | Emirates has different award charts for each airline partner. Sometimes they allow one-way awards, sometimes they do not. In general, award prices are fairly high, but there are a few sweet spots such as New York to Milan for a 90K round trip in business class. |
| Etihad Guest | 1 to 1 | Etihad has a very competitive award chart for American Airlines flights, among others. For example, they charge only 50,000 miles one-way for business class flights from North America to Europe. Partner awards must be booked over the phone. |
| EVA Air Infinity MileageLands | 1000 to 750 | If you want to fly one of the best business class products in the sky, the best way to snag EVA flights is with their own miles since they release more award space to their own members. One-way business class flights from the US to Taipei cost 75K to 80K miles. Fuel surcharges are very low on these routes. |
| Finnair Plus+ | 1 to 1 | Award prices are quite high compared to competing programs. Interestingly, miles can be exchanged for tier points (towards elite status). |
| Iberia Avios | 1 to 1 via BA | Iberia offers very low award prices on their own flights. Round trip partner awards can offer good value under some circumstances as well. Fuel surcharges are often lower when booking with Iberia rather than British Airways. It's possible to move points (Avios) between Iberia, British Airways, Aer Lingus, and Qatar. |
| Japan Airlines (JAL) | 2 to 1.5 | One of the only transfer partners to this airline. |
| JetBlue True Blue | 5 to 3 | |
| Qantas Frequent Flyer | 1 to 1 | Best use is probably for flights on El Al with no fuel surcharges. Also useful for short AA flights. Qantas offers distance based award charts similar to Cathay Pacific. Both are OneWorld Alliance members. I recommend comparing award prices across both programs before transferring to either. Qantas offers round the world business class awards for only 280,000 points (but with many restrictions) |
| Qatar Airlines | 1 to 1 | Originally, you could only transfer Cap One Miles via British Airways but now with the addition of this partner, you can cut out one of the steps in booking flights with Qatar. |
| Preferred Hotels | 1 to 2 | A nice consideration given the favorable transfer ratio. |
| Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer | 1 to 1 | Use to book Singapore Airlines First Class awards (generally reserved for their own members), Alaska Airlines economy awards, or for Star Alliance awards (including United Airlines). |
| TAP Air Portugal | 1 to 1 | Miles & Smiles offers a number of awesome sweet-spot awards including 7.5K one-way anywhere within the US, even to Hawaii. Many awards cannot be booked online but can be booked via phone or email. |
| Virgin Atlantic Flying Club | 1 to 1 | Virgin Atlantic offers a few great sweet spot awards including ANA first class between the US and Japan for as low as 55K points one-way; and US to Europe on Delta One business class for 50K points one-way. |
| Wyndham | 1 to 1 | Wyndham often allows booking multi-room suites for the same price as a standard room. It's sometimes possible to get great value from points in that way. Bonus: award nights are not subject to resort fees. Additionally, you can book Vacasa vacation rentals for only 15K points per room per night. Wyndham Earner cards offer automatic 10% discount on award stays. |
3. Capital One Entertainment (fun, but not the best value)
Capital One Entertainment is a portal for booking tickets to events, like concerts, sporting events, and special cardholder experiences. Occasionally, you can find incredible offers, like seats to Major League Baseball games. But pricing can vary a lot, so we don’t recommend this as a primary use of Capital One Miles. Think of it as a nice bonus option when the value makes sense, not a core strategy for stretching your miles.
For instance, Capital One Entertainment has offered incredible deals on seats to Major League Baseball games. If you enjoy attending events, it is worth keeping an eye on the “Cardholder Exclusives” section on Capital One Entertainment.
4. Cash back (best avoided)
Capital One Rewards Miles can be redeemed for 0.5 cents each either as statement credits or as cash back via check. That’s a very poor value and not recommended.
5. Gift cards (okay, but not ideal)
You can also redeem Capital One miles for gift cards at a value of 1 cent per mile. Occasionally, Capital One offers “Special Hotel Offers” gift card deals at much better rates. But these are rare and usually targeted. For most people, travel redemptions are still the better use of miles.
How to Manage Your Capital One Miles
Whether you have multiple cards or want to pool points with someone else, Capital One makes the process incredibly simple.
Combine Miles Across Your Own Cards
If you have more than one Capital One card, you can freely move miles between them. For example, you might earn miles on a VentureOne card and then move them to a Venture or Venture X account for easier redemptions.
Here’s how it works:
-
Log into the card account that holds the miles
-
Click “Redeem” under your rewards balance
-
Select “Move Rewards”
-
Choose the destination card and the number of miles to transfer
There’s no minimum, and you can move up to your full available balance.
A nice bonus: if you earn cash back on Capital One cash-back cards, you can often convert that cash back into miles at a 1 cent = 1 mile rate by using the same “Move Rewards” option. It’s not heavily advertised, but it’s a great way to turn everyday cash back into travel rewards.
Share Miles With Other People
Capital One very generously allows people to transfer rewards to any other Capital One miles cardholder, for free, with no minimums and no caps on how much you can transfer.
The only downside is that this can not be done online. You’ll need to call the number on the back of your card and provide the name and card number of the person to whom you would like to transfer your miles.
Why is this so useful? A few common scenarios:
- If your spouse/sibling/parent/neighbor/cousin/friend is a few thousand miles short of having enough for an award ticket, you can top them off instantly
- A friend or family member has airline elite status and can access better award pricing or availability, so you send them the miles to book on your behalf
-
You’re booking travel for multiple people and want all tickets on the same reservation
Keep Your Miles from Expiring
Capital One miles do not expire as long as your account is open and in good standing.
The catch? If you close a card with miles attached, those miles are gone forever. Before canceling any Capital One miles card, make sure you:
-
Move the miles to another Capital One miles card, or
-
Transfer them to an airline or hotel partner
A quick transfer can save you from accidentally losing hard-earned rewards.
Where to Find the Fine Print
If you ever want to double-check the details, you can find the full terms for your specific card by logging into your account, clicking on your rewards balance, and selecting “Terms and Conditions” or “FAQ.”
