Along with the recent launch of the Capital One travel portal, Capital One announced it's improving the transfer ratio for a number of its partners. You'll now be able to transfer Capital One Miles to almost all of its partners at a 1:1 ratio. The newly added 1:1 partners are: Air Canada (Aeroplan), Air France KLM (Flying Blue), British Airways (Avios), Emirates Airlines (Emirates Skywards), Singapore Airlines (KrisFlyer) and Turkish Airlines (Miles&Smiles). Prior to this, they were 2:1.5. This means that you can stretch your miles even farther.
By adding these six partners to the 1:1 list, Capital One immediately made its loyalty program much more valuable. So if you are debating on the next travel rewards credit card to apply for, be sure to consider a Capital One credit card that earns transferrable miles.
Here's what you need to know about the addition of the six new partners.
Capital One miles transfer partners
Capital One miles can now be transferred to 14 travel loyalty partners at a 1:1 ratio; an additional two programs are also transfer partners, Accor and EVA Air, but they have less favorable transfer rates. Capital One's transfer partners are:
- Accor (Live Limitless) (2:1 transfer ratio)
- Aeromexico (Club Premier)
- Air Canada (Aeroplan)
- Air France KLM (Flying Blue)
- Avianca (LifeMiles)
- British Airways (Avios)
- Cathay Pacific (Asia Miles)
- Emirates Airlines (Emirates Skywards)
- Etihad (Etihad Guest) - Cardholders can take advantage of a 50% bonus promotion to Etihad until Oct. 31.
- EVA Air (Infinity MileageLands) (2:1.5 transfer ratio)
- Finnair (Finnair Plus)
- Qantas (Qantas Frequent Flyer)
- Singapore Airlines (KrisFlyer)
- TAP Air Portugal (TAP Miles&Go)
- Turkish Airlines (Miles&Smiles)
- Wyndham Hotels & Resorts (Wyndham Rewards)
The best part about earning flexible points that can be transferred to different partners is that cardholders have the choice of where to send their miles, rather than being tied to one brand. And within each transfer partner's program are award chart sweet spots that can really stretch the value of your rewards.
However, keep in mind that not all Capital One credit cards earn miles. Cards that earn these miles include the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card and the Capital One VentureOne Rewards Credit Card.
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 beginners or heavy travelers.
Highlights
- Earn a one-time bonus of 75,000 miles once you spend $4,000 on purchases within 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 locations and 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 fee
None
The Capital One VentureOne Rewards Credit Card earns transferrable miles, which is a stand-out benefit for a no-annual-fee card.
Highlights
Highlights shown here are provided by the issuer and have not been reviewed by CNBC Select's editorial staff.
- Earn a bonus of 20,000 miles once you spend $500 on purchases within 3 months from account opening, equal to $200 in travel
- $0 annual fee and no foreign transaction fees
- Earn unlimited 1.25X miles on every purchase, every day
- Miles won't expire for the life of the account and there's no limit to how many you can earn
- Earn 5X miles on hotels, vacation rentals and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel
- Use your miles to get reimbursed for any travel purchase—or redeem by booking a trip through Capital One Travel
- Transfer your miles to your choice of 15+ travel loyalty programs
- Enjoy 0% intro APR on purchases and balance transfers for 15 months; 18.49% - 28.49% variable APR after that; balance transfer fee applies
- Top rated mobile app
Balance transfer fee
3% for the first 15 months; 4% at a promotional APR that Capital One may offer you at any other time
Foreign transaction fee
None
What to keep in mind when transferring points
Transferring points takes a bit of strategy, but with a small investment of time, you can score some excellent deals — including luxurious business and first-class flights.
But before you start thinking of your next vacation, keep these few tips in mind if you are earning and using transferrable miles:
- Research, then transfer: If you find a route you want to fly, and one of the airlines is a Capital One partner, find out how much it will cost in miles before you transfer. Because if you send 100,000 miles to an airline, and you only need 60,000, you will not be able to send the other 40,000 back to Capital One. Also, make sure there is award availability on dates you actually want to fly.
- Taxes and fees: Just because you are using airline miles to book a flight, doesn't mean that tax authorities won't find a way to get their cut. When you book a flight with miles, you will have to pay taxes that range in cost, plus, some airlines also charge fees like fuel surcharges. Before you transfer your miles, be sure to know how much you will need to pay in taxes and fees for the specific flight route you want.
- One partner may be better than another: Believe it or not, you can get different prices for the same flight based on what transfer partner you select. For example, AeroMexico, Air France/KLM and Delta are all part of the SkyTeam alliance. So if you wanted to book a flight with Delta Air Lines through its SkyTeam partners AeroMexico or AirFrance/KLM, you may get two different price points for the same itinerary. That's why it is important to compare different partner's award charts before transferring your miles. And each airline will have different fees, some charge exorbitant fuel surcharges for certain flights while others charge none at all.
Capital One transfer partner sweet spots
While Capital One partners with mostly international airlines, nearly all of these airlines have partnerships with domestic U.S. airlines — meaning you can redeem your Capital One miles for flights within the U.S.. However, not all of the partners are worth taking advantage of.
Here are a few examples of how you can take advantage of Capital One's transfer partner sweet spots.
Use Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles or Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer to book flights to Hawaii
The loyalty programs of Turkish Airlines and Singapore Airlines both provide excellent options to fly from the continental U.S. to the Hawaiian Islands.
With Turkish Airlines, you can pay as low as 7,500 miles to fly on United Airlines in economy, its partner within the Star Alliance, from the mainland to Hawaii. With Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer, you can also fly with Alaska Airlines, one of its non-alliance partners to the Aloha State.
Use Qantas to book short American Airlines flights
If you fly American Airlines often, consider sending your Capital One miles to the Qantas frequent flyer program. Qantas operates off of a fixed award chart, and short (less than 600 miles) one-way American Airlines flights cost as little as 8,000 miles.
This is great for flights like Los Angeles to San Francisco or Dallas to Austin.
Bottom line
Capital One is making significant moves to make its rewards program very competitive with Chase and American Express. With the adjustment of these redemption ratios of six airline partners, Capital One credit cards that earn miles like the Venture cards, along with the Spark cards, have become much more valuable.
However, before selecting one of the Capital one credit cards, be sure that the transferable partners work for you and your travel needs. If you prefer a rewards program with more domestic airline transfer partners, consider an American Express or Chase credit card.
