How much are Capital One miles worth? Here's a breakdown of Capital One miles value when you transfer to partners or redeem for travel, gift cards, and more

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Capital One's miles-earning credit cards have evolved over recent years from offering basic cash back to a highly valuable transferable rewards program. Capital One's roster of 15 airline and three hotel transfer partners gives these miles a high upside, and the option to redeem directly for statement credits on travel purchases provides a consistent value floor. 

As a result, Capital One miles have an average redemption value of 1.7 cents each in Personal Finance Insider's most recent valuations. Read on to learn which redemption options you should target and avoid in order to maximize your return.

We're focused here on the rewards and perks that come with each card. These cards won't be worth it if you're paying interest or late fees. When using a credit card, it's important to pay your balance in full each month, make payments on time, and only spend what you can afford to pay.

Best ways to use Capital One miles

The miles you earn from Capital One credit cards like the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card, Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card, and Capital One Spark Miles for Business are most valuable when you transfer them to airline and hotel partners like Air Canada Aeroplan or Choice Privileges.

These and other programs enable you to redeem rewards for high-end travel experiences, such as first or business class flights and premium hotel rooms. Finding these exceptional redemption opportunities takes skill and patience, but you can crush the average redemption value when you do.

Transfer Capital One miles to Air Canada Aeroplan

For example, consider a flight from Montreal to São Paolo in March of 2023. You could book non-stop service in Air Canada business class for 58,600 Aeroplan points and 67 Canadian dollars (about $51).

At the time of writing, that same flight has a cash price of $3,503, yielding a redemption value of 5.89 cents per point. That's more than two and a half times greater than our high valuation of 2.1 cents for Capital One miles.

That redemption value is inflated by the fact that one-way, long-haul international fares are disproportionately expensive when paying cash — flying round-trip only adds about $800 in this case — but such an award itinerary is an incredible bargain if you're not traveling round-trip.

Transfer Capital One miles to Choice Privileges

As another example, consider a last-minute stay at the Comfort Hotel Grand Central in Oslo, Norway, using Choice Privileges points. At the time of writing, a double-bed room was available for 16,000 points despite the check-in time being less than 24 hours away.

Comparing that to the cash rate of $354 per night yields a redemption value of 2.21 cents per point, which is just above our high valuation for Capital One miles.

One great feature of Capital One's rewards program is that all miles are transferable regardless of which credit card you use to earn them. Miles from a no-annual-fee option like the Capital One VentureOne Rewards Credit Card are eligible for the same redemptions as those from the top-tier Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card, so they carry equal upside for use with airline and hotel partners. That's a welcome contrast to some other transferable points programs.

Fair redemption options

The examples above showcase what's possible with Capital One miles. Not all award redemptions will be so lucrative, but you can get a good return even without booking premium travel.

Transfer Capital One miles to British Airways

Economy flights and standard hotel rooms provide consistent and accessible value, like this American Airlines itinerary between Los Angeles and Honolulu in April of 2023. A round-trip award ticket booked through British Airways costs 26,000 Avios points plus $11.20 in fees.

The cash cost for the same itinerary is $478. Accounting for the fees charged on the award yields a redemption value of just under 1.8 cents per point, which is above our average valuation of 1.7 cents per mile for Capital One miles.

Transfer Capital One miles to Wyndham

For another hotel example, consider a weekend stay over New Year's Eve at the TRYP by Wyndham New York City Times Square. Using Wyndham Rewards points, you could book a king-bed room at the Go Free rate of 30,000 points per night.

An equivalent cash booking has a base rate of $459.62 per night for Wyndham Rewards members. The total inclusive of taxes and fees is $552.70 per night, which yields a redemption value of 1.84 cents per point. That's once again above our average valuation for Capital One miles.

Low-value ways to use Capital One miles

Transfer Capital One miles to Flying Blue 

Transfers to travel partners aren't always worthwhile. For example, this round-trip Air France itinerary between Paris and Rome costs just under $173 if you buy it outright.

In contrast, booking an award through Flying Blue would cost 15,000 miles plus just under $63 in fees, yielding a redemption value of only 0.73 cents per point — well below our low valuation for Capital One miles. This illustrates the importance of calculating redemption value, since just because you can book an award doesn't mean you should.

Use Capital One miles for other travel, gift cards, merchandise, or cash

In the case above, you'd be better off paying cash and using Capital One miles to offset the cost at a rate of 1 cent per mile. Capital One provides two methods for doing this: either pay with miles when booking directly through the Capital One Travel Portal, or make travel purchases with your eligible Capital One card and then redeem miles for a statement credit. The second method is superior, since booking through Capital One may disqualify you from earning rewards on hotel stays.

You can also redeem miles for gift cards at 1 cent per mile, for online shopping at 0.8 cents per mile, and for cash at 0.5 cents per mile. Given how easily you can surpass those rates with transfer partners, any redemption that yields less than 1 cent per mile should be ignored.

Other factors

Redemption rates aren't the only variable we use to assess the value of points and miles. Here's how Capital One performs across other facets of the program we take into consideration:

• Expiration policy (+) — Capital One miles don't expire as long as your account remains open and in good standing. That means there's no pressure to redeem until you're ready, which is a great feature for any travel rewards.
• Strength of transfer partners (+) — Capital One has an extensive roster of airline and hotel partners, but that includes several throwaway options, two unfavorable transfer ratios (EVA Infinity Mileagelands at 4:3 and Accor Live Limitless at 2:1), and no direct access to any frequent flyer programs based in the US. The remaining partners are a little less valuable on average than what Chase Ultimate Rewards® and Amex Membership Rewards offer.
• Transfer bonuses (+) — Capital One offers less frequent and smaller transfer bonuses than competing transferable points programs, with bonuses over the last three years topping out at 25%. Nonetheless, these promotions are highly valuable when they align with your travel plans, and provide speculative upside even when they don't.
• Transfer times (Neutral) — Transfers to 10 of Capital One's 18 travel partners typically go through right away. For the remainder, transfers rarely take more than two days. Fast transfers lower the risk of award inventory disappearing while you wait for points to show up, so this is an area where Capital One could do better.
• Sharing/pooling (++) — Capital One lets you transfer miles to any eligible Capital One members with no cap. The ability to pool resources freely helps make awards more accessible and efficient, and this policy is by far the most friendly among major transferable points programs.
• Ease of accumulation (Neutral) — You can earn Capital One miles with a variety of Capital One credit cards, including several cash back options with rewards you can convert into transferable miles. Several of these cards have a strong base earning rate of 2 miles per dollar, but opportunities to earn 3 miles per dollar or more are few and far between, making it difficult to accumulate rewards quickly outside of sign-up bonuses.
• Redemption increments (+) — Capital One has a minimum transfer requirement of 1,000 miles, but transfers above that amount are allowed in increments of 100 miles. That's superior to the 1,000-point increments offered by other transferable points programs, since you can transfer the rewards you need with less overshoot. Direct redemptions for statement credits have no minimum threshold and can be made in any amount.

Capital One gets top marks for its policy around sharing miles, but gets dragged down by relatively slow transfer times and few ways to accumulate miles quickly. The roster of transfer partners is also a little less enticing than what you get from competing programs.

Bottom line

Capital One isn't the most captivating transferable points program, but it offers plenty of opportunities through airline and hotel partners to book high-end travel at a heavy discount. The ability to redeem miles as statement credits toward travel purchases creates a reliable floor of value, and the flexible sharing policy makes the program a great fit for novice award travelers.