In 2022, Capital One inked a deal to become the official bank and credit card partner of Major League Baseball (MLB).
That's great news for baseball fans with a Captial One credit card. Capital One cardholders can take advantage of discounts at MLBshop.com and on MLB.TV subscriptions. But the biggest benefit of this partnership is the ability to redeem rewards for exclusive, lower-level MLB tickets.
Through Capital One Entertainment, you can redeem 5,000 miles or $40 in cash rewards for exclusive premium seats — and there are no additional fees. The cash price for tickets in the same area can easily top $100 per ticket before even factoring in service fees, which makes this a potentially excellent use of your credit card rewards. But there are only four seats available at this price per game, so if you're interested you'll want to act fast.
If you want to redeem Capital One miles or cash rewards for seats to an MLB game, here's what you need to know.
Get MLB tickets through Capital One Entertainment
To purchase MLB tickets with your Capital One miles or cash rewards go to the Capital One Entertainment site and log in to your account. Once you're logged in, select "MLB Single Game Tickets" and you'll be able to search for tickets to specific games.
As you're searching for tickets, you'll find two types of offers: one for "tickets powered by Vivid Seats" and another for "cardholder exclusive tickets by Capital One." The exclusive tickets are available for 5,000 miles or $40 in cash rewards, depending on what Capital One card you have, and they are typically an excellent deal as these tickets typically retail for anywhere from $100 to $300 apiece. The exclusive seats are generally in lower-level, infield sections.
However, there are only four exclusive tickets available per game. Once the exclusive seats have been scooped up, you'll be able to purchase tickets with your rewards through Vivid Seats at variable prices, which are generally not a great deal. You'll only get 0.8 cents per mile when redeeming through Vivid Seats and will be on the hook for taxes and fees during checkout.
To be eligible for the 5,000-mile tickets, you'll need a Capital One travel card that earns Capital One miles, such as the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card and the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card.
The Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card has a reasonable annual fee and earns flexible travel rewards, which makes it a great travel card for beginners or heavy travelers.
Highlights
- LIMITED-TIME OFFER: Enjoy $300 to use on hotel and vacation rental bookings through Capital One Travel in your first cardholder year, plus earn 75,000 bonus miles once you spend $4,000 on purchases within the first 3 months from account opening – that's more than $1,000 in travel value
- Earn unlimited 2X miles on every purchase, every day
- Earn 5X miles on hotels, vacation rentals and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel
- Miles won't expire for the life of the account and there's no limit to how many you can earn
- Receive up to a $120 credit for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck®
- Use your miles to get reimbursed for any travel purchase—or redeem by booking a trip through Capital One Travel
- Enjoy a $50 experience credit and other premium benefits with every hotel and vacation rental booked from the Lifestyle Collection
- Transfer your miles to your choice of 15+ travel loyalty programs
- Top rated mobile app
Balance transfer fee
$0 at the Transfer APR, 4% of the amount of each transferred balance that posts to your account at a promotional APR that Capital One may offer to you
Foreign transaction fee
None
The Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card is a premium credit card with a myriad of benefits and a lower annual fee than other high-end cards with similar features.
Highlights
- 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
- Receive a $300 annual credit for bookings through Capital One Travel, where you'll get Capital One's best prices on thousands of trip options
- Get 10,000 bonus miles (equal to $100 towards travel) every year, starting on your first anniversary
- Earn unlimited 10X miles on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel and 5X miles on flights and vacation rentals booked through Capital One Travel
- Earn unlimited 2X miles on all other purchases
- Enjoy access to 1,300+ lounges worldwide, including Capital One Lounge and Landing locations and participating Priority Pass™ lounges, after enrollment
- Use your Venture X miles to easily cover travel expenses, including flights, hotels, rental cars and more—you can even transfer your miles to your choice of 15+ travel loyalty programs
- Enjoy a $100 experience credit and other premium benefits with every hotel and vacation rental booked from the Premier Collection
- Receive up to a $120 credit for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck®
- Top rated mobile app
Balance transfer fee
$0 at the Transfer APR, 4% of the amount of each transferred balance that posts to your account at a promotional APR that Capital One may offer to you
Foreign transaction fees
$0
If you have a Capital One cash-back card like the Capital One Savor Cash Rewards Credit Card, you can redeem $40 in cash rewards per ticket for the specially priced seats.
The Capital One Savor Cash Rewards Credit Card is one of the most rewarding options for earning cash back in categories such as entertainment and dining without paying an annual fee.
Highlights
Highlights shown here are provided by the issuer and have not been reviewed by CNBC Select's editorial staff.
- Earn a one-time $200 cash bonus once you spend $500 on purchases within the first 3 months from account opening
- $0 annual fee and no foreign transaction fees
- Earn unlimited 3% cash back at grocery stores (excluding superstores like Walmart® and Target®), on dining, entertainment and popular streaming services, plus 1% on all other purchases
- Earn 8% cash back on Capital One Entertainment purchases
- Earn unlimited 5% cash back on hotels, vacation rentals and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel
- No rotating categories or sign-ups needed to earn cash rewards; plus cash back won't expire for the life of the account and there's no limit to how much you can earn
- 0% intro APR on purchases and balance transfers for 12 months; 18.74% - 28.74% variable APR after that; balance transfer fee applies
- Top rated mobile app
Balance transfer fee
3% for the first 12 months; 4% at a promotional APR that Capital One may offer you at any other time
There are no additional fees for the cardholder exclusive tickets and they must be purchased in increments of two.
Other relevant Capital One benefits
If the best tickets aren't available to the games you're interested in, there are other ways your favorite Capital One card can save you cash on your next trip to an MLB game.
The Capital One Savor Cash Rewards Credit Card earns 3% in those same categories. Plus, both cards earn 8% back on Capital One Entertainment purchases.
Earning Capital One miles can also be helpful for booking flights or hotels if you're traveling for an out-of-town game.
You can redeem Capital One miles at a flat rate of one cent per mile to offset past travel purchases or new bookings made through Capital One Travel. If you redeem miles this way, a $150 hotel room would cost 15,000 miles.
There are also several useful airline and hotel loyalty programs you can transfer Capital One miles to and potentially get even more value. For example, you can transfer miles to British Airways to book American Airlines award flights or transfer to Virgin Red to book Delta awards. One of the best deals is transferring 15,000 miles to Turkish Airlines to book a round-trip domestic United Airlines economy award.
You can earn transferrable Capital One miles with cards like Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card and the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card and both cards earn a minimum of 2X miles on every purchase.
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Bottom line
Capital One cardholders have access to exclusive events and experiences through Capital One Entertainment. This includes dining experiences, sporting events, concerts and theater tickets.
One of the best deals is available through Capital One's partnership with Major League Baseball. Depending on which Capital One card you have, you can purchase desirable tickets to MLB games for as little as 5,000 miles or $40 in cash rewards per seat. This is a great deal as these seats would cost well over $100 in many cases.
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