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Capital One’s flexible currency, earned through multiple Capital One credit cards, is similar to other banks’ flexible currencies, such as American Express Membership Rewards and Chase Ultimate Rewards, and provides multiple redemption options to cardholders. 

One of the best ways to use flexible currency is to transfer it to airline or hotel partners. Relevant considerations are specific partners, point transfer ratios and expected transfer times. If you haven’t yet transferred Capital One miles to partners, let’s go over instructions and some cautions about transfers.

How to Earn Capital One Miles

Unlike some other bank programs, Capital One doesn’t require customers to have a premium credit card to enable transferring miles to partners.

Several Capital One credit cards earn Venture Miles, through new card welcome offers and spending on the card:

The following business cards earn Spark Miles, which are valued and function the same as Venture Miles:

Cashback rewards earned on other cards may be combined with and converted to Venture Miles. This capability exists for cards in the Quicksilver, Savor and Spark card families. 

Capital One allows an individual who has card(s) that earn cash rewards and card(s) that earn miles to “Move Rewards” online from the cashback card to the miles earning card. Cash rewards convert to miles at a 1:1 conversion rate, where $1 in cash rewards becomes 100 miles.

Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card

Earn 75,000 bonus miles when you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening, equal to $750 in travel

LEARN MORE 

Reasons to Transfer Miles to Partners

For many of us who have been earning and redeeming flexible currency for years, Capital One’s version seemed sub-par compared to the three leaders: American Express, Chase and Citi

Recently, Capital One has closed the gap by adding new transfer partners and improving transfer ratios for many partners. In addition, Capital One’s Venture X Rewards Credit Card, with a strong value proposition and large welcome bonus and the generous bonus for the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card, incentivized many people to reconsider Capital One.

Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card

Earn 75,000 bonus miles when you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening, equal to $750 in travel

LEARN MORE 

American Express® Gold Card

Earn 60,000 Membership Rewards® points after you spend $6,000 on eligible purchases with your new Card within the first 6 months. Terms Apply.

LEARN MORE

For points and miles enthusiasts, transferring flexible currency to partners and using loyalty program points or miles to book flights or hotels often represents the highest value usage. 

Minimizing discussion of the math geekiness, the terms cents per mile (cpm) or cents per point (cpp) are used to measure and compare redemption value. For example, people might say that they got 10 cpm in value booking a first-class airline ticket through an airline loyalty program for 100,000 miles when the ticket otherwise would have cost $10,000. 

In contrast, when redeeming flexible currency through travel portals, the redemption value is fixed. Venture Miles have a value of 1 cent each when used to book travel through Capital One Travel or to erase travel purchases. So, redeeming the same 100,000 miles would buy only $1,000 of travel. 

Ignoring the question of whether it’s realistic to value luxury travel at the full retail price, people often are able to get more expensive airline tickets or accommodations by transferring flexible points or miles to partner loyalty programs and redeeming them for partner awards.

Transferring flexible currency to airline or hotel loyalty programs provides extra value when there is a transfer bonus. Capital One, like other bank programs, sometimes offers limited-time promotions where transfers to a specific program are at a higher ratio than the normal 1:1 (for most programs). 

For example, a 25% transfer bonus to Air France means that 1,000 Venture Miles become 1,250 Flying Blue miles.

Capital One Airline and Hotel Transfer Partners

Capital One partners with 15 airline loyalty programs, covering airlines in each alliance, and three hotel loyalty programs. For most partners, 1 Capital One Mile becomes 1 unit in the loyalty program’s currency. The minimum transfer amount for all programs is 1,000 miles.

You can transfer Capital One miles to the following loyalty programs:

Loyalty ProgramAirline AllianceTransfer Ratio
Accor Live LimitlessNot applicable2:1
Aeroméxico Club PremierSkyTeam1:1
Air Canada AeroplanStar Alliance1:1
Air France-KLM Flying BlueSkyTeam1:1
Avianca LifeMilesStar Alliance1:1
British Airways Executive ClubOneworld1:1
Cathay Pacific Asia MilesOneworld1:1
Choice PrivilegesNot applicable1:1
Emirates SkywardsNon-alliance1:1
Etihad GuestNon-alliance1:1
EVA Air Infinity MileageLandsStar Alliance4:3
Finnair PlusOneworld1:1
Qantas Frequent FlyerOneworld1:1
Singapore Airlines KrisFlyerStar Alliance1:1
TAP Air Portugal Miles&GoStar Alliance1:1
Turkish Airlines Miles&SmilesStar Alliance1:1
Virgin RedNon-alliance1:1
Wyndham RewardsNot applicable1:1

Process to Transfer Miles to Partners

Transferring Venture Miles to airline or hotel partners is a straightforward process. 

Begin by logging into your Capital One online account and clicking the button “View Rewards” in the tile labeled “Explore Rewards & Benefits.”

Then, select the desired credit card account when prompted and click the button to “View Account.”

On the rewards home screen, scroll down to see the different options for using Capital One miles. Options displayed and order may be different depending on which credit cards you have. 

To transfer miles to partners, select the link for “Convert Rewards.”

This will bring you to the list of transfer partners shown above. From here, do the following:

  • Move to the section for the loyalty program to which you want to transfer miles (the example below uses Air Canada Aeroplan).
  • Note that there’s a link to enroll in the program if you’re not already a member.
  • Select the link “Transfer Miles” next to the program’s name.

A pop-up window appears with the primary cardholder’s name pre-populated (but editable) and areas to enter and confirm your loyalty program number. Capital One allows cardholders to transfer miles to their own loyalty program accounts only. 

Keep in mind that if the name on the Capital One account doesn’t exactly match the name on the loyalty program account, the transfer may be delayed.

After entering your loyalty program information, click the “Next” button.

Another pop-up window appears, and on this screen, you’ll see a box to enter the number of miles you want to transfer to the selected loyalty program. When done, click the “Complete Transfer” button.

Capital One sends a confirmation email once the transfer is complete. The communication notes the number of miles transferred and the loyalty program to which the transfer occurred. It is a good idea to check your loyalty program account directly to ensure that the transferred miles are reflected in the balance.

Common Questions About Capital One Miles Transfers

There are similarities and differences among the major flexible currency programs. You might be wondering whether it’s possible to transfer points to another member, how long the transfers take and whether transfers can be reversed. 

Let’s discuss this and other questions you might have.

Can I Transfer Miles to Other People?

While you can’t directly transfer Venture Miles to someone else’s loyalty program account, you can share Capital One rewards with others before initiating a transfer to a partner loyalty program. It’s been widely reported on points and miles sites that Capital One allows people with separate credit card accounts to combine miles, as described in the example below. 

This is different from the online functionality to “Move Rewards,” which supports combining rewards from multiple Capital One credit card accounts for the same person. 

The ability to combine rewards between cardholders isn’t formally documented and must be done by calling Capital One. There are reports that people have successfully shared cash rewards from one cardholder to another person’s card that earns Venture or Spark Miles.

Here’s an example of why and how two people might share rewards.

  • Bob and Jane both have their own Capital One credit cards that earn Capital One miles.
  • Jane wants to transfer 50,000 miles to a Capital One partner airline to book an award ticket, but she has only 44,000 Venture Miles.
  • Bob agrees to share some of his miles with Jane.
  • Bob can’t transfer Capital One miles directly from his Capital One account to Jane’s loyalty program account, so he calls Capital One to initiate sharing some of his miles with Jane, giving the representative both account numbers.
  • Jane receives 6,000 miles from Bob and subsequently transfers 50,000 miles to her loyalty program account.

Other than both individuals having an eligible Capital One credit card in good standing, there are no known restrictions on sharing miles. Capital One doesn’t charge fees or limit the number of miles that can be shared. Capital One also doesn’t require that people sharing miles are related to each other or live in the same household.

How Long Do Miles Transfers Take?

Rewards miles can take up to 24 hours to transfer to loyalty programs, according to Capital One, but experience indicates that transfers to many programs occur instantly, and some transfers take longer. 

Transfer times are an important consideration, since longer transfer times increase the risk that award availability might change before you can book an award. For loyalty programs that allow award holds without having enough miles in your account to book, holding a flight is recommended to mitigate this risk.

Here’s how long you should expect to wait for the Capital One miles to transfer to partners:

Loyalty ProgramEstimated Transfer Time
Accor Live Limitless~ 1 to 3 days*
Aeroméxico Club PremierInstant
Air Canada AeroplanInstant
Air France-KLM Flying BlueInstant
Avianca LifeMilesInstant
British Airways Executive ClubInstant
Cathay Pacific Asia Miles~ 1 to 5 days*
Choice PrivilegesInstant
Emirates SkywardsInstant
Etihad Guest~ 0 to 24 hours*
EVA Air Infinity MileageLands~ 1 to 2 days
Finnair PlusInstant
Qantas Frequent Flyer~ 1 to 2 days*
Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer~ 0 to 48 hours*
TAP Air Portugal Miles&GoInstant
Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles~ 0 to 48 hours*
Virgin RedInstant**
Wyndham RewardsInstant

Notes:

*: Significant variation in transfer time estimates among sources

**: Limited data points for the program

Can Transfers to Partners Be Reversed?

Similar to other banks’ flexible currency transfers, Capital One miles transfers to loyalty programs generally can’t be reversed. All transfers are final, according to Capital One.

What Airline Transfer Partners Are Good Options?

For the most part, individual circumstances and preferences dictate which loyalty programs are most useful. Each loyalty program has strengths and weaknesses. Overall, Capital One has several good airline partners that provide options to transfer miles to:

  • Programs in each of the three major alliances (Oneworld, SkyTeam and Star Alliance): This can be useful to book travel on an airline in a particular alliance that isn’t a Capital One transfer partner. An example is booking flights on United Airlines, which isn’t a Capital One transfer partner. You can transfer Capital One miles to another Star Alliance program, such as Avianca LifeMiles or Air Canada Aeroplan, and use these programs to book United flights, if award space is available to partners. Having multiple options for booking the same flight also may allow you to cherry pick the best option when programs price awards differently.
  • Partners outside of the major alliances (such as Etihad Guest or Emirates Skywards): This can be useful for leveraging unique redemption opportunities through these programs. For example, Etihad Guest uses the “old” American Airlines award chart for awards on AA-operated flights. This chart offers lower priced awards than American’s current sAAver level redemptions (55,000 vs. 70,000 miles for a one-way business class award between the United States and Asia 2).
  • Airline partners that also participate in several other banks’ programs: This makes it easier to get enough miles in a loyalty program to book desired flights when you have multiple types of flexible currency. For example, Air France-KLM Flying Blue and Singapore KrisFlyer also are transfer partners for American Express Membership Rewards, Chase Ultimate Rewards and Citi ThankYou Points. So, if you want to book an award for 100,000 KrisFlyer miles, you could transfer 70,000 from Capital One and 30,000 from Chase.

“Sweet spot” redemptions often are discussed in the points and miles community. These are awards offered through specific loyalty programs that are priced low compared to other programs’ prices for similar awards. One example is booking United flights between the continental United States and Hawaii through the Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles program for 7,500 or 12,500 miles one-way in economy or first class respectively.

Since most of Capital One’s airline transfer partners also are transfer partners with other flexible currency programs, the easiest way to find strong redemption options is to search for “sweet spots” or “best ways” to use miles or points for a particular destination and/or a loyalty program that is a Capital One partner. For example, we published articles about the best ways to use Avianca LifeMiles and best ways to use Turkish Miles&Smiles.

Another thing to keep in mind is that Virgin Red is a Capital One transfer partner, and most other programs partner with Virgin Atlantic Flying Club as well. Virgin Red is Virgin’s group worldwide rewards club, and members can spend Virgin points across the group, including redeeming for Virgin Atlantic Flying Club awards. 

Virgin Atlantic has one of the most highly touted sweet spot awards, letting you book ANA first-class one-way flights between North America and Japan for 55,000 to 60,000 points.

On the other end of the spectrum, transferring Venture Miles to EVA Air Infinity MileageLands probably is the weakest option. First, this is the only airline partner with a transfer ratio less favorable than 1:1. Beyond that, the program isn’t known for having great redemption rates. Finally, if transferring to EVA Air makes sense for your situation, 1:1 transfers are possible through Citi.

What About Transferring Capital One Miles to Hotel Programs?

The three participating hotel transfer partners are Accor Live Limitless, Choice Privileges and Wyndham Rewards. Everyone has different hotel preferences (basic, mid-range or luxury), and travel locations often dictate the usefulness of some programs.

Capital One to Accor transfers are at a 2:1 transfer ratio, and Accor points are worth a fixed rate of 1 euro cent per point towards cash rates at Accor properties. Given historic U.S. dollar to euro exchange rates, this is slightly better value compared to paying for an Accor hotel with the Venture or the Venture X cards and reimbursing the purchase using Venture Miles. But, with U.S. dollars and euros trading at par, this advantage disappears.

Choice Privileges is a 1:1 transfer partner, and in some situations, it’s possible to get good value from Choice redemptions. Choice properties in Northern Europe often are discussed as places to get above average value because of generally expensive hotels there. 

Choice Privileges has a partnership with Preferred Hotels & Resorts, which may be useful for booking participating higher end hotels with Choice points. If you’re interested in transferring points to Choice Privileges and have Citi ThankYou Points, the Citi transfer ratio to Choice is 1:2, so that is a much better redemption compared to Capital One.

Wyndham Rewards is a 1:1 transfer partner, and it’s probably Capital One’s strongest hotel transfer partner overall. Wyndham’s award chart has fixed award prices, so there are more opportunities for getting higher value compared to programs with variable award prices. 

Hotels fall into one of three tiers for Wyndham’s “Go Free” awards (7,500, 15,000 or 30,000 points per night). Wyndham also has “Go Fast” awards at 1,500, 3,000 or 6,000 points per night plus a cash copayment. 

Through a partnership with Vacasa vacation rentals, you can redeem Wyndham points for good value. Vacasa properties often are full homes, and award prices are based on the number of bedrooms at 15,000 points each. Similarly, Wyndham points can be used to book properties in Europe through Cottages.com.

Final Thoughts

Capital One has become a useful option for transferring miles to partners to achieve more value than 1 cent per mile that can be realized by booking through Capital One Travel or using Capital One miles for other purposes. Which transfer partners and specific redemptions are most rewarding largely depends on your personal preferences and travel patterns.

Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card

Earn 75,000 bonus miles when you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening, equal to $750 in travel

LEARN MORE 

Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card

Earn 75,000 bonus miles when you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening, equal to $750 in travel

LEARN MORE 

American Express® Gold Card

Earn 60,000 Membership Rewards® points after you spend $6,000 on eligible purchases with your new Card within the first 6 months. Terms Apply.

LEARN MORE