How to Earn, Use, and Maximize Capital One Miles in 2024

Capital One miles are worth more than ever after improving transfer rates to travel partners. And there have never been more cards to earn them.

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Capital One has been hyper-focused on self-improvement in recent years. It's got some of the best credit cards for earning travel and other rewards, and its momentum appears only to build. Let's look at the best ways to earn and redeem Capital One miles.

Capital One Miles Guide

How to Earn Capital One Miles

The Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card is one of Business Insider's picks for the best credit cards on the market because of its flexible rewards program and generous travel benefits.

You need a Capital One miles-earning credit card in order to earn Capital One miles. Other Capital One credit cards earn rewards that can be converted into Capital One miles, but you'll need a Capital One miles-earning card to do that (we'll cover this in a minute).

Capital One has opened its first airport lounges in Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW), Denver (DEN), and Washington-Dulles (IAD) — and they look great.

The Capital One Travel Portal offers exclusive features such as cancel-for-any-reason coverage, refunds for up to 10 days if your airfare drops (in the form of a Capital One travel credit, max $50), and price-freezing for up to 14 days if you're not ready to book.

Capital One has created a solid rewards program for both earning and redeeming miles. Business Insider estimates Capital One miles are worth 1.7 cents each, on average. That's a higher value than you'll find on the majority of rewards currencies. Better yet, they're extremely easy to earn.

Capital One Miles-Earning Personal Cards

Cards That Earn Rewards Which Convert to Capital One Miles

Even Capital One's strictly cash-back cards can help you accumulate Capital One miles. As long as you have one of the above cards, you can instantly turn cash back into travel rewards.

In your online account, simply head to the "Share My Rewards" button in the Rewards tab. You'll receive 1 Capital One mile for every 1 cent you transfer.

You can then open cards like the Capital One Savor Cash Rewards Credit Card†, which earns cash back at the following rates:

• Earn a one-time $300 cash bonus once you spend $3,000 on purchases within the first three months from account opening
• 4% cash back on dining, entertainment, and popular streaming services
• 3% cash back at grocery stores (excluding superstores like Walmart® and Target®)
• 1% back on all other purchases

This is a great card to pair with a card like the Capital One Venture to earn the most rewards on your everyday purchases.

How Much Are Capital One Miles Worth?

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 Business Insider's most recent valuations. Read on to learn which redemption options you should target and avoid in order to maximize your return.

How to Use Capital One Miles

While our points and miles valuations peg Capital One miles value at 1.7 cents apiece on average, there are myriad ways to use Capital One miles. You can potentially juice significantly more value from your rewards — or significantly less, based on how you use them. If you're strategic, Capital One miles can unlock lie-flat airplane seats, luxury hotels, and much more for just the cash cost of taxes and fees.

Here are all the options you can choose from.

Book Travel Through the Capital One Travel Portal

You can use miles to book your travel directly through the Capital One Travel portal. You'll receive a value of 1 cent each toward flights, hotels, and car rentals.

We generally encourage readers to use their miles to "erase" travel purchases from their cards instead of using them through the Capital One Travel portal. That's because this method won't earn rewards for travel purchases.

For example, if you buy $500 in hotel accommodations through Capital One Travel with your Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card, you'll earn 5,000 miles for your purchase (10 miles per dollar). You can later go back and redeem 50,000 miles to offset the expense. 

However, if you were to simply redeem 50,000 miles at checkout for $500 worth of travel, you would earn zero miles. 50,000 miles would be deducted from your account, and your card would never be charged.

Transfer Capital One miles to Airline and Hotel Partners

Here's the method that'll give you (by far) the highest value for your rewards.

Capital One has 18 transfer partners to choose from. You can convert Capital One miles into the following award currencies at the specified transfer ratio.

You may not be familiar with several of the above loyalty programs, but they each can play a part in helping you travel on the cheap (or virtually free) to just about anywhere you'd like to go. For example, you could:

• Transfer 39,000 miles to Singapore Airlines and book a round-trip flight on United Airlines from the East Coast to Hawaii.
• Transfer ~60,000 miles to Aeroplan for a one-way lie-flat business class seat on Air Canada to Western Europe.
• Transfer 30,000 miles to Wyndham for two free nights in a one-bedroom cabin in the Rocky Mountains through Vacasa.

This is just the tip of the iceberg. Depending on how you use your miles, you could receive a value well over 5 cents each. 

Erase Travel Purchases From Your Credit Card Bill

Capital One miles can still benefit you if you don't want to deal with individual hotel or airline programs and you prefer to use rewards to cover any travel purchases you want.

All Capital One miles-earning credit cards give you the option to redeem your rewards to cover eligible travel purchases made to your credit card within the last 90 days. That's extremely convenient, especially considering you won't need the miles in your account before purchasing travel.

Miles are worth 1 cent each when using them this way. You can cash in your miles in any increment, unless you don't have the miles to cover your entire purchase. In that case, your minimum redemption is 2,500 miles.

Any purchase that codes as travel on your credit card account qualify, including:

• Airfare
• Hotels
• Rental cars
• Cruises and more

While getting just 1 cent each per mile may not seem like an exceptional value, the fact you can redeem your rewards for any travel you want is a big deal. You won't have to deal with complicated rewards programs or award availability.

Redeem for Cash Back or Gift Cards

Capital One also lets you redeem rewards for cash back or gift cards.

When redeeming for cash, you'll receive just 0.5 cents per mile. That's unreasonably low. If you plan to redeem for cash with regularity, consider opening a cash-back credit card instead.

Gift cards, on the other hand, are offered at the standard 1 cent per mile redemption option (except for Amazon gift cards, for which you'll receive a value of 0.8 cents). Individual card offerings vary and are subject to change.

Use Rewards with Amazon and PayPal

You can use your Capital One miles for purchases made through Amazon and PayPal. If you've got an eligible Capital One credit card, link it to your account, and you'll see the option to pay with miles at checkout.

With either option, you'll only get a value of 0.8 cents per mile. This is far from the most strategic use of miles isn't a great redemption option, but it can be worth considering if you don't want to travel and are just after "free" stuff.

If you plan to use your rewards regularly with Amazon, read our guide to the best credit cards to use for Amazon purchases. You'll find a better credit card for your lifestyle there.

What to Know About Earning and Redeeming Capital One Miles

Capital One miles come with more redemption options than ever these days — including transfers to popular airline and hotel loyalty programs. You can still redeem your Capital One miles for any travel purchase charged to your account, as well as for gift cards and cash back.

If you're looking for a flexible travel credit card that fits your travel strategy, any Capital One travel credit card is worth exploring. Before you apply, however, take the time to compare other travel credit cards and their rewards programs to ensure you wind up with the right one.