Welcome to the Points Pro, where I answer your credit cards and travel rewards questions each week. If you have a question you'd like answered, you can submit it here.
How difficult is it to transfer Capital One miles?
This question has been edited for clarity.
Daniel is in luck because transferring Capital One miles is easy. You can transfer miles to airline and hotel loyalty programs and to other Capital One cardholders.
Also, if you have a miles-earning card, like the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card, you can even convert cash-back rewards from cards like the Capital One Savor Cash Rewards Credit Card or Capital One Quicksilver Cash Rewards Credit Card into miles.
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 both beginners and frequent travelers.
- Valuable welcome offer
- You can transfer miles to Capital One's travel partners
- Global Entry or TSA PreCheck application fee credit
- No foreign transaction fees
- Lacks ongoing travel benefits such as statement credits or lounge access
- Limited bonus spending category that only applies to certain Capital One Travel bookings
Highlights
Highlights shown here are provided by the issuer and have not been reviewed by CNBC Select's editorial staff.
- 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
How to transfer Capital One miles
Transferring Capital One miles
Transferring Capital One miles to airline or hotel partners is fairly simple. After logging in to your Capital One account, find the rewards section. Select the "Transfer rewards" option, and you'll be given the full list of the following travel partners:
Capital One transfer partners
| Capital One transfer partners | Transfer ratio |
|---|---|
| Accor Live Limitless | 2:1 |
| Aeromexico Rewards | 1:1 |
| Air Canada Aeroplan | 1:1 |
| Avianca LifeMiles | 1:1 |
| British Airways Club | 1:1 |
| Cathay Pacific Asia Miles | 1:1 |
| Choice Privileges | 1:1 |
| Emirates Skywards | 4:3 |
| Etihad Guest | 1:1 |
| EVA Air Infinity MileageLands | 4:3 |
| Finnair Plus | 1:1 |
| Flying Blue (Air France/KLM) | 1:1 |
| I Prefer Hotel Rewards | 1:2 |
| JAL Mileage Bank | 4:3 |
| JetBlue TrueBlue | 5:3 |
| Qantas Frequent Flyer | 1:1 |
| Qatar Airways Privilege Club | 1:1 |
| Singapore KrisFlyer | 1:1 |
| TAP Air Portugal Miles&Go | 1:1 |
| Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles | 1:1 |
| Virgin Red | 1:1 |
| Wyndham Rewards | 1:1 |
Capital One transfers to travel partners are usually instant and can easily be completed online. However, transfers to certain partners may take one to three days, according to online reports.
Keep in mind that not all partners have a 1:1 ratio, and Capital One regularly runs promotions that increase the transfer rate for a specific partner. To have access to transferable Capital One miles, you need one of the following cards:
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.
- Annual $300 credit for bookings through Capital One Travel
- 10,000 bonus miles after every card anniversary
- Unlimited complimentary access to 1,300+ airport lounges, including Capital One Lounge and Landing locations
- Long list of valuable travel and shopping protections, including return protection, rental car coverage and trip delay reimbursement (Benefit(s) only available to accounts approved for the Visa Infinite card. Terms apply.)
- Limited bonus spending categories compared to other premium credit cards
- High annual fee
- High credit score requirement (excellent credit)
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
Transferring between cards
You can also move cash-back rewards from cards like the Capital One Savor or Capital One Spark Cash Plus Credit Card to a miles-earning card at a 1 cent to 1 mile transfer ratio. This is advantageous because you can frequently receive greater than 1 cent per mile when you transfer rewards to the best Capital One transfer partners.
You can complete a transfer between Capital One cards online by logging in to your Capital One account and finding the "Combine Rewards" or "Move Rewards" option in the redeem rewards section. While you can convert cash back into miles, you cannot convert miles into cash back.
You can also transfer rewards from your account to another person's Capital One card, but you'll need to call to complete that transfer.
When does it make sense to transfer Capital One miles?
Capital One miles are worth 1 cent each when you use them to offset travel purchases or make Capital One Travel bookings. So, it may make the most sense to transfer your miles when you can receive value greater than 1 cent per point.
The value of a points booking depends on the partner and the specific award because loyalty programs typically don't have fixed point values, although there are exceptions. Here are the basics of how I would decide whether to transfer Capital One miles or simply pay for the travel and redeem miles for a statement credit toward that charge.
I found a weekend in April at the Wingate by Wyndham New York Midtown South/5th Ave for roughly $914 or 60,000 points. If you transfer 60,000 Capital One miles to Wyndham, you'd get over 1.5 cents per point toward this hotel stay. While you may be able to get a higher value by transferring to an airline to book an international business class award, that's a strong value, and I would consider it a good deal.
There are also considerations on the margins that may make a difference to you. When you pay cash, you'll earn Capital One miles on the card purchase and airline miles or hotel points (hotel bookings typically need to be booked directly through the hotel to earn loyalty rewards or receive elite status benefits). You may also qualify for discounted hotel rates through AARP, AAA or other means, which can change the math. And don't forget to factor taxes and fees; certain business and first class award flights have exceptionally high fees, and hotels may add resort fees onto an award night.
AAA Membership
Cost
Exact pricing and specific tier names can vary depending on where you live.
Benefits
Basic roadside assistance includes towing up to three miles, plus fuel delivery, flat tire services and jump starts. Plus plans include towing up to 100 miles, plus lockout services and identity theft monitoring. Premier plans add one day of a rental car with a tow, as well as travel benefits like international driving permits and four sets of passport photos.
Other perks
Membership can also help you score discounts on shopping, dining and entertainment purchases, as well as travel discounts on hotels and car rentals.
Pros
- Membership includes a variety of ways to save everyday, including on travel and entertainment purchases.
- Identity theft monitoring is included with all membership tiers
Cons
- $15 one-time enrollment fee
The CNBC Select Recommends newsletter delivers practical money tips each week along with expert-picked financial product recommendations. Sign up here.
Why trust CNBC Select?
At CNBC Select, our mission is to provide our readers with high-quality service journalism and comprehensive consumer advice so they can make informed decisions with their money. Every personal finance article is based on rigorous reporting by our team of expert writers and editors with extensive knowledge of financial products. While CNBC Select earns a commission from affiliate partners on many offers and links, we create all our content without input from our commercial team or any outside third parties, and we pride ourselves on our journalistic standards and ethics.
Catch up on CNBC Select's in-depth coverage of credit cards, banking and money, and follow us on TikTok, Facebook, Instagram and X to stay up to date.
Read more
For Capital One products listed on this page, some of the above benefits are provided by Visa® or Mastercard® and may vary by product. See the respective Guide to Benefits for details, as terms and exclusions apply.
