Now is the time to apply for the Capital One Venture X rewards credit card.
To give you the most flexibility, I recommend earning your points with your credit cards whenever possible.
Capital One only introduced a points currency a few years ago, but has done a lot. There are so many reasons to pick up the Capital One Venture X rewards credit card, which will surely get a lot of people into the Capital One network.
I wanted to learn more about how to earn and redeem Capital One miles in this post.
You can use the Capital One credit cards to redeem for travel. If you know what you're doing, Capital One miles can be redeemed to offset the cost of a travel purchase.
Capital One credit cards offer an industry-leading return on everyday spending and the flexibility they provide is unbeatable.
We will cover everything you need to know about Capital One miles, the difference between Venture and Spark miles, and more.
There are five Capital One credit cards that earn Capital One miles.
Capital One miles can be earned in other ways. At the rate of one cent per mile, Capital One miles can be converted into rewards on select Capital One cards. It would make sense to get the Capital One cards.
You can earn 3x Venture miles on dining, groceries stores, and more if you use the Capital One Venture X and Capital One SavorOne cards. Both cards have no fees for foreign transactions.
There is confusion about what the difference is between the two. The name of Capital One's mileage currency on personal credit cards is called "Venture", while the name of its mileage currency on business credit cards is called "Spark"
If you have both personal and business cards, you can combine these points into one. The currencies are the same despite the different branding.
Capital One miles are unique because of how quickly they post. It can take a few billing cycles for rewards to be sent to your account. The case of Capital One is similar.
It's a nice feature that you can redeem your rewards for travel almost instantly.
Capital One miles can be redeemed either for a statement credit or through the Capital One Travel portal, or they can be transferred to airline and hotel loyalty programs. In a bit more detail, let's talk about that.
Capital One miles can be redeemed directly towards the cost of travel purchases. Each mile can be redeemed for a single cent towards a travel purchase.
It is possible to use miles to wipe out the cost of a travel purchase within 90 days. The Venture Card offers 2x miles per dollar spent, meaning that it will give you a minimum 2% return on spending.
You can make a travel related purchase with your favorite travel provider and then receive a statement credit from Capital One for that purchase at the rate of one cent per mile.
There are no hoops to jump through to redeem points, and you don't have to book through a specific portal. When you make a purchase with your card, you can redeem it for statement credits. That doesn't get easier.
It is possible to redeem miles at the same rate through the Capital One Travel portal, though most will prefer being able to book directly with their preferred travel provider.
Capital One Venture and Spark miles can be used in 18 programs. A majority of these partners allow one transfer at a time. Since some Capital One cards earn 2x miles per dollar spent, this means that the cards essentially offer two airline miles per dollar spent, which is a great return on everyday spending.
The full list of Capital One transfer partners includes airlines and hotels.
Capital One miles can be transferred directly to airline and hotel partners on the Capital One website. The process is explained in this post.
There are different transfer times for Capital One partners. It can take anywhere from a few hours to a few days to transfer from one partner to another. This post contains information about Capital One mileage transfer times.
Capital One miles transfer to most airline partners at a 2:1 ratio, but sometimes they transfer at a better rate for a limited time. It can extend your Capital One miles further.
The above gives you a general idea of redemption options. I wanted to give people more information about which Capital One mileage redemption option is best for them. Is it better to convert Capital One miles into points with partner programs or to redeem them for travel purchases?
If you have been a Capital One customer for a long time, you probably know how to redeem your miles for statement credits. That is Capital One's oldest redemption feature, and it was the first thing that set the card issuer apart.
It's an easy redemption with no learning curve, it gives you lots of flexibility, and Capital One cards earn 2x miles per dollar spent, so you're still earning a good return on your spending.
The benefit of converting Capital One miles into airline miles is that the cost of a ticket doesn't correlate to the cost of points redeemed. While the statement credit redemption option gives you a one cent of value per mile, with airline and hotel points you could be getting anywhere from a fraction of a cent of value per mile to a lot of value per mile.
If you want to redeem your Capital One miles for international first and business class airline tickets, then converting Capital One miles into a partner currency is the best way to go. Many people think that these flights are out of reach, but with airline miles they are more reasonable.
I'm going to give a few examples from my travels. I redeemed 55k Flying Blue miles for a one-way Air France business class ticket from Paris to Miami. It would have cost a lot of money to pay with cash. There is an opportunity cost of 55,000 Capital One miles.
I redeemed 85,000 Emirates Skywards miles for a one-way Emirates first class ticket from Athens to Newark. The ticket would have cost over $6,000 if you paid with cash. The $850 travel purchase is made with Capital One miles.
I redeemed 100,000 Aeroplan points for a one-way ticket to Germany from Chicago and transferred Capital One miles to Air Canada Aeroplan. The ticket would have cost thousands of dollars if you paid with cash. There is an opportunity cost of 100,000 Capital One miles.
Capital One's frequent flyer partnerships allow you to redeem miles on more airlines than just Capital One. Capital One miles can be used to purchase airline tickets. The reality is that you have access to more airlines than that.
What's the reason? Many airline loyalty programs have more than one airline partner. Transferring miles to an airline loyalty program doesn't mean you have to fly with that airline.
Capital One miles gives you access to all of the big three alliances and there are many more airline partners on top of that. The amount of flexibility you can get with your miles is huge, so look beyond the airline transfer partners.
There are still plenty of circumstances in which you can get a better deal using the statement credit redemption method, even though it is exciting to be able to convert Venture and Spark miles into airline and hotel points. If you are happy flying economy and staying at reasonably priced hotels, this is especially true.
Ultra low cost carriers in the US have made airfare cheaper in many markets. There is no way to transfer miles from one airline program to another.
If you have Capital One miles, you can use the statement credit feature to buy your ticket at the airport and have the cost reimbursed.
The value of redeeming for statement credits might be appreciated by those who are into earning elite status. What's the reason? It would be considered paid travel if you book travel as usual. You can earn points with both airlines and hotels.
The appeal of the rewards program has been due to the fact that it is simple to use. If you are a cardmember who is used to that, you might be surprised by the number of hoops you have to jump through.
If you want to convert Capital One miles into airline or hotel points, there are a few things you should do.
Capital One miles are valued at 1.7 cents per mile. The ability to transfer Capital One miles to most airline partners at a1:1 ratio is a great use of points. I think all points currencies are worth 1.7 cents each.
Capital One cards that earn 2x miles on everyday purchases offer an amazing 3.4% return on spending.
The popularity of the Capital One Venture X Card has made Capital One's mileage currency more useful.
Capital One cards give an excellent return on everyday spending and Capital One miles are incredibly flexible. In addition to being able to redeem them for one cent each toward the cost of virtually any travel purchase, you can also transfer them at a 1:1 ratio to over a dozen airline frequent flyer programs, which is where you will really get outsized value.
What have you experienced with Capital One?
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