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The best ways to use Capital One miles (Including a few you might not have considered)

  • Joseph Hostetler

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    Capital One miles don’t always get as much love as other rewards currencies, but like the other flexible rewards, they can be a useful tool if you’re looking to unlock the freedom to travel.

    One of their most compelling advantages of Capital One miles is that you can redeem for travel purchases that aren’t normally covered by traditional miles and points from airlines, hotels, and other banks. This includes common expenses like ride-hailing services (Uber, Lyft, etc.), train tickets, buses and alternative accommodations like Airbnb.

    Plus, eligible cardholders (those that have some of the top Capital One cards like Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card, for example) can transfer their Capital One miles to several airline partners.

    I’ll show you some of the best ways to use Capital One miles.

    Some of the best redemptions with Capital One Miles are expenses not covered by redemptions of other rewards, like Universal Orlando tickets purchased through Undercover Tourist. (Photo by Kamira/Shutterstock)

    Capital One redemption options

    Like we mentioned earlier, one of the best aspects of Capital One miles is their flexibility. There are a number of ways to redeem Capital One miles, all of which are outlined below: 

    Redeem Capital One Miles for cheap airfare and hotels

    Instead of booking award flights and stays with airline miles or hotel points, it’s worth checking the cash price to see if you’ll get a better deal redeeming Capital One miles for your purchase.

    For example, this one-way ticket for a flight between New York (JFK) and Chicago (O’Hare) on American Airlines costs ~$104. So if you pay with your Capital One Venture, you can redeem ~10,400 Capital One miles to erase the cost of the ticket.

    Cheap flights are a good candidate for Capital One miles redemptions — you’ll often pay fewer miles (with no blackout dates) compared to redeeming airline miles for an award flight.

    If you don’t mind flying basic economy, it’s a better deal than redeeming 12,500 American Airlines miles for a seat on the same plane. Plus, you’ll earn airline miles and more Capital One miles for your flight.

    Redeem Capital One miles for travel expenses beyond flights and hotels

    I view Capital One miles as sort of a Swiss army knife in your free-travel toolkit. They’re incredibly versatile, especially if you want to offset purchases that aren’t covered by regular airline miles or hotel points.

    Officially, Capital One counts these expenses as travel purchases:

    Airlines, hotels, rail lines, car rental agencies, limousine services, bus lines, cruise lines, taxi cabs, travel agents, and timeshares.

    However,

    Availability for redemption is based on the merchant category code assigned to them by the merchant. Capital One is not responsible for how merchants assign these codes.

    That said, data points from cardholders suggest the travel category is much broader. Folks have reported good luck with:

    Smaller travel purchases, like train tickets, are a great way to redeem Capital One miles. (Photo by whitelook/Shutterstock.)

    For example, you could use your miles to stay at a unique Airbnb. Or if you take Uber, Lyft or taxi rides, using Capital One miles to erase these costs is a good choice.

    If you’re planning a Disney or Universal Studios trip, Undercover Tourist sells discounted tickets and folks report that these purchases qualify for a Capital One miles redemption. I’ve used Undercover Tourist for both Disney and Universal tickets and their rates are often cheaper than purchasing through the theme park directly.

    Lots of folks book train travel as a cheaper alternative to flying, especially in countries where prices can be very reasonable. Rail lines like Amtrak qualify as travel too.

    That said, some purchases you’d think would code as travel aren’t actually eligible. These include:

    Transfer Capital One miles to airline partners

    You can transfer Capital One miles to the following airline partners (I’ve included the transfer ratios):

    You can also transfer points to the following hotel partners:

    If you transfer to the right partner you could get outsized value from your Capital One miles. For example:

    If a paid ticket would otherwise be expensive, transferring Capital One miles to airline partners could make sense. But keep in mind, because of the transfer ratio, you’ll likely be better off transferring other flexible bank points to airlines, like Chase Ultimate Rewards, Amex Membership Rewards, and Citi ThankYou points.

    That’s why most folks prefer saving their Capital One miles for other travel expenses like Airbnb, Uber, or boutique hotels. Always run the numbers to see if a redemption makes sense for your travel plans.

    Best ways to earn Capital One miles

    Earning Capital One miles is easy with the following cards:

    Credit cardSign-up bonusAnnual feeEarning rateReview
    Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card60,000 bonus miles after you spend $3,000 on purchases within the first three months of account opening. $952 miles per dollar on every purchaseCapital One Venture review
    Capital One VentureOne Rewards Credit Card20,000 miles after spending $500 on purchases within three months of account openingNo annual feeUnlimited 1.25 miles per dollar on every purchaseCapital One VentureOne credit card review
    Capital One Spark Miles for Business50,000 Capital One miles after spending $4,500 on purchases within the first three months of account opening$95, waived the first year2 miles per dollar on every purchaseCapital One Spark Miles review
    Capital One Spark Miles Select for Business20,000 Capital One miles after spending $3,000 on purchases within three months of account openingNo annual fee1.5 miles per dollar on every purchase

    The information for the Capital One Spark Miles and Capital One Spark Miles Select card has been collected independently by Million Mile Secrets. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.

    With any of these cards, you won’t have to worry about tracking bonus categories because you’ll earn the same number of miles on every purchase:

    Plus, Capital One miles don’t expire as long as you keep your account open.

    Capital One miles are extra-useful because you can redeem them for a wide variety of travel costs, including Airbnb stays, Uber rides and flights or hotels with no blackout dates. Your Venture miles are worth 1 cent each toward travel when you redeem them this way.

    There is no minimum redemption increment when redeeming miles unless you’re using miles to partially pay for a travel purchase, in which case the minimum amount is 2,500 Capital One miles ($25).

    And you’ve now got the option to transfer miles to several airline partners for award flights.

    It’s often better to use Capital One miles for travel you can’t redeem other miles and points for. Or for smaller travel purchases that might not be eligible for redemption through other programs.

    Bottom line

    Capital One miles are valuable because they offer great flexibility and, when you redeem them directly for travel purchases, you’re not subject to blackout dates. Miles are easy to redeem. Just pay for your travel with a Venture miles earning card, like the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card, then use your miles to erase the whole charge or a partial amount within 90 days of your purchase.

    It usually makes the most sense to redeem Capital One miles for travel purchases that can’t be offset by other miles and points, like boutique hotels, inexpensive Uber or taxi rides, or train tickets. You can even use Capital One miles to pay for Disney and Universal Studios tickets purchased through Undercover Tourist.

    The newest redemption option is to transfer Capital One miles to airline partners for award flights on British Airways and Turkish Airlines — two immensely useful programs. Just remember to do the math to see if you’re getting the best value for your miles. If you’re getting a value over 1 cent, transfer away! There are a few sweet spots with programs like Air Canada Aeroplan, Turkish Airlines, and Avianca.

    What’s your favorite way to redeem Capital One miles?

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    Editorial Note: We're the Million Mile Secrets team. And we're proud of our content, opinions and analysis, and of our reader's comments. These haven’t been reviewed, approved or endorsed by any of the airlines, hotels, or credit card issuers which we often write about. And that’s just how we like it! :)