In late 2018, Capital One introduced the ability to convert Venture and Spark miles into airline miles, essentially creating a new transferable points currency.
This program has been considerably improved over time, with new transfer partners added, as well as transfer ratios improved.
In this post:
Capital One miles transfer 1:1 to most partners
When the Capital One mileage transfer program launched, Capital One miles could be converted into airline miles at a ratio of up to 2:1.5. Then in the spring of 2021, we saw Capital One improve the transfer ratio for some partners to 1:1, and also add more transfer partners. Currently, Capital One has 18 transfer partners.
Capital One miles convert into airline miles at a 1:1 ratio with 16 of 18 of their transfer partners. These include:
- Aeromexico Club Premier
- Air Canada Aeroplan
- Air France-KLM Flying Blue
- Avianca LifeMiles
- British Airways Executive Club
- Cathay Pacific Asia Miles
- Choice Privileges
- Emirates Skywards
- Etihad Guest
- Finnair Plus
- Qantas Frequent Flyer
- Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer
- TAP Air Portugal Miles&Go
- Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles
- Virgin Red (the overall loyalty program for the Virgin brand, rather than just Virgin Atlantic Flying Club)
- Wyndham Rewards
At this point which partners don’t offer 1:1 transfers?
- Accor Live Limitless (ALL), where transfers are 2:1
- EVA Air Infinity MileageLands, where transfers are 2:1.5
As you can see, most Capital One mileage transfers are at a 1:1 ratio, and for that matter, I’d say all the useful partners offer 1:1 transfers.
Why this development is significant
You might be thinking to yourself “well shouldn’t Capital One have offered 1:1 mileage transfers all along, like other programs?” Not necessarily. Keep in mind that:
- The Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card (review) (Rates & Fees) offers 2x miles per dollar spent
- The Capital One Spark Miles for Business (review) (Rates & Fees) offers 2x miles per dollar spent
Given the previous transfer ratio of up to 2:1.5, you were earning up to 1.5 airline miles per dollar spent on the card, which was solid for non-bonused spending. Well, Capital One cards 2x airline miles per dollar spent for a vast majority of transfer partners, which is pretty awesome.
In fairness, Capital One isn’t the first issuer to offer up to 2x airline miles per dollar spent, though the other options have limits or require jumping through some hoops:
- The Blue Business® Plus Credit Card from American Express (review) offers 2x Membership Rewards points on the first $50,000 spent every calendar year (1x after that)
- The Citi Double Cash® Card (review) offers 1% cash back when you make a purchase and 1% cash back when you pay for that purchase (earned as ThankYou Points); in conjunction with a card like the Citi Strata Premier℠ Card (review), rewards can be converted into more transfer partners.
Bottom line
Capital One has significantly improved its mileage transfer program. Capital One miles convert into partner loyalty points at a 1:1 ratio with all but a couple of partners. This is major since it really puts the value of Capital One miles on par with the value of other major transferable points currencies.
When you consider that cards like the Capital One Venture and Capital One Spark offer 2x miles per dollar spent, that means you can also earn 2x airline miles per dollar spent. That’s awesome and makes these the first cards that directly earn 2x airline miles, with no spending caps, and no requirements to have other cards.
What do you make of these improvements to Capital One mileage transfers? Will it change whether or not you use Capital One cards?
I literally transferred points this morning like hours before this happened
*cries*
I have the venture card. It was my first travel card ever and second credit card. I kept it all these years because they kept waiving the AF. Last year they did not waive the AF. I ended up keeping it anyway but this spring if they refuse to wave the AF again I will likely toss it. I have the amex business blue and that has no AF so really I don't feel like...
I have the venture card. It was my first travel card ever and second credit card. I kept it all these years because they kept waiving the AF. Last year they did not waive the AF. I ended up keeping it anyway but this spring if they refuse to wave the AF again I will likely toss it. I have the amex business blue and that has no AF so really I don't feel like this card is giving much value. I could see the value for people with a lot of international spend that doesn't fall into bonus categories of their other cards though. I would need to crunch the numbers to see if I spend enough internationally to offset the AF.
I am grandfathered in to the $59 AF. I gorged on the 10x hotels.com perk, but since that ended, I’ve used it only where Amex is not accepted. I last disputed a canceled Nile Air flight. Capital One requested more documentation via fax or snail mail. Really? I’ve had Amex disputes drawn out, but at least I can upload my evidence. I should downgrade to VentureOne now that I think about it.
Great news. I have some international travel planned and I'm thinking about grabbing the venture card now in light of this development. Is the current 60k sign up bonus typical, or have you seen higher/lower recently?
Fantastic
When the Venture card launched they sent me pre-approved offers every week. When I didn't bite they totally stopped sending them. Now I kind of wish they'd try again
Great for Capital One cardholders. Upset I've been rejected for this card twice with a ~815 FICO (apparently for being 5/24 and "too many revolving accounts").
Between AMEX and Citi, one has all the bases covered at good earn rates. Capital One has no airline transfer partner that another card issuer doesn't have. (Yes, it has Accor Hotels as a transfer partner.) Capital One has no points earn rate that another card issuer doesn't have. For the vast majority of people, Capital One offers no differentiated value. Sign-up bonus only and move on.
I have a Capitol One venture but can’t get approved for anything else. My 790 credit score 0% debt ratio and the fact I’ve always managed my credit perfectly must scare the crow out of them. I have only opened 3 cards in the passed 2 years. Capital One won’t approve me because …… ????
Wow, this is huge.
Suddenly, doesn't this become the best all-around card?
- Yes, it's $95.
- And unlike Citi, I don't need to take out two cards
- And while I generally would still prefer Amex MR, given their bonused transfers, Biz Blue+ downside is the $50k spend. So if I hit that, or I can't get a biz card, the CapitalOne card seems the best choice?
Citi with 3 cards gives you 2x on everything, 3x on dining, groceries, gas, hotels, flights and 10% back on Thank you point redemptions.
I personally don't see any issue to holding multiple cards. The bigger benefit is capital one has Aeroplan and Avios as partners, which could be more worthwhile.
For those of us that living internationally, it is huge news because this is now the best all-round card(s) with no foreign transactions fees.
Wow, this a big deal. This actually makes Cap 1 points more valauble than Amex membership rewards. Even with bonuses, membership rewards never reaches 2x for transfers.
Amex is still the most valuable imo. The transfer bonuses are so frequent and the ecosystem is much better. Plus it’s nearly impossible to get approved for capital one from my experience. Still… a very nice change and they’re tempting me to apply again. I guess they just don’t like people with 800+ credit scores.
This isn't 2x on transfers. It's 1:1 transfers, and the Venture gives you 2x points per $1. Amex is also 1:1 transfer, and Amex has thr the Gold with 4x on dining, groceries, 3x flights, BBP is 2x everything. Green is 3x dining, travel. Platinum is 5x flights.
To me, the bigger impact is on Citi. Citi Premier gives you 3x on a lot of different categories, but I would argue the transfer partners are weaker (assuming AA isn’t made permanent), and you can do better than Citi Premier bonus categories via Amex. Amex still gives you 5x and 4x on important categories, along with many more other perks.