The 6 Best Capital One Transfer Partners — and Those to Avoid

Capital One miles transfer 1:1 to all but two program partners, so it's really about finding the best redemptions.

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Updated · 4 min read
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Written by Ramsey Qubein
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Edited by Chris Burkhardt
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Fact Checked

Capital One miles are a favorite of many credit card holders. They can be redeemed like cash through the Capital One travel portal or in the form of statement credits toward travel at the value of 1 cent per mile or transferred to several travel partners.

But, what are the best Capital One transfer partners? And are there any you should skip? The short answer is yes. Here’s everything you need to know about the best Capital One transfer partners.

How Capital One Miles work

Capital One Miles can only be earned by those who hold Capital One travel credit cards. Depending on which card you have, you can earn between 1.25 to 2 miles per $1 on every day spending. The points can be redeemed through the travel portal or transferred to Capital One's list of partners.

If you choose to transfer these points to an airline loyalty program, you can possibly extract even more value from them. This would make the most sense if the value of the redemption is higher than the 1 cent per mile value when redeemed from Capital One directly.

It can help to first understand how Capital One rewards operate and the various credit cards that award them.

Credit cards that earn Capital One Miles

There are four personal credit cards and two business credit cards that earn Capital One Miles.

Here's a selection of popular Capital One travel cards, along with their perks.

Popular Capital One travel cards
Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card
Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card
NerdWallet Rating
Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card
Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card
NerdWallet Rating
Capital One VentureOne Rewards Credit Card
Capital One VentureOne Rewards Credit Card - Miles Boost
NerdWallet Rating
Capital One Spark Miles Credit Card
Capital One Spark Miles for Business
NerdWallet Rating
Annual fee

$395.

$95.

$0.

$0 intro for the first year, then $95.

Earn rate

• 10 miles per $1 on hotels and rental cars through Capital One Travel.

• 5 miles per $1 on flights through Capital One Travel.

• 2 miles per $1 on everything else.

• 5 miles per $1 on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel.

• 2 miles per $1 on all other purchases.

• 5 miles per $1 on hotels and car rentals booked through Capital One Travel.

• 1.25 miles per $1 on all purchases.

• 5 miles per $1 on hotels and rental cars through Capital One Travel.

• 2 miles per $1 on everything else.

Welcome offer

Earn 75,000 bonus miles when you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening, equal to $750 in travel.

Enjoy 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.

Earn a bonus of 40,000 miles once you spend $1,000 on purchases within 3 months from account opening, equal to $400 in travel.

Earn a one-time bonus of 50,000 miles – equal to $500 in travel – once you spend $4,500 on purchases within the first 3 months from account opening.

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If you're looking for a business charge card with higher rewards, you can consider the Capital One Venture X Business card (annual fee: $395), which earns 10 miles per $1 on hotels and rental cars and 5 miles per $1 on flights booked through Capital One Travel and 2 miles per $1 on everything else. The card has the following welcome offer: Earn 150,000 bonus miles once you spend $30,000 in the first 3 months from account opening.

All these cards earn between 1.25-2 miles per $1 on non-category spend, but also offer lucrative welcome bonuses that can instantly boost your points stash.

🤓Nerdy Tip

So, let’s say that you find an expensive business class flight to the Maldives or Tahiti, but you realize that you can redeem frequent flyer miles for it instead of paying cash. That’s the perfect time to transfer Capital One miles over to the airline loyalty program; plus, you may get more value from your Capital One miles.

Not all transfers are created equal, though — it is important to know which from the Capital One list are the best transfer partners. Some should be avoided if you want to maximize transfer value.

Capital One miles transfer ratios

Capital One miles can be transferred to most partner loyalty programs at a 1:1 ratio with a minimum transfer of 1,000 miles (e.g., 1,000 miles transfer as 1,000 miles or points in the programs below). Here's Capital One's full list of transfer partners and ratios:

Airlines

  • Aeromexico (1:1 ratio).

  • Air Canada (1:1 ratio).

  • Air France-KLM (1:1 ratio).

  • Avianca (1:1 ratio).

  • British Airways (1:1 ratio).

  • Cathay Pacific (1:1 ratio).

  • Emirates (1:1 ratio).

  • Etihad (1:1 ratio).

  • EVA (2:1.5 ratio).

  • Finnair (1:1 ratio).

  • Qantas (1:1 ratio).

  • Singapore Airlines (1:1 ratio).

  • TAP Air Portugal (1:1 ratio).

  • Turkish Airlines (1:1 ratio).

Hotels

  • Accor (2:1 ratio).

  • Choice Privileges Hotels (1:1 ratio).

  • Wyndham Rewards (1:1 ratio).

Note that when you transfer 1,000 Capital One miles to EVA Air Infinity MileageLands, you will only receive 750 miles or points within this program. ALL Accor Live Limitless is another transfer partner with Capital One, but you only receive 500 ALL points for each 1,000 Capital One miles moved into it.

The best Capital One transfer partners

Here are the top six Capital One transfer partners if you want to optimize the points you transfer over to an airline.

🤓Nerdy Tip

Make sure there is award availability with a partner you are transferring Capital One miles to before completing the transaction. Otherwise, you might get stuck with orphan miles or points in a program where you may not have another use for them.

1. Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles

The Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles program is great for domestic redemptions with several sweet spots worth exploring. NerdWallet values Turkish miles at 1.1 cents apiece. The program still uses an award chart, which is a nice departure from the more confusing dynamic pricing model of other programs.

2. Air France/KLM Flying Blue

NerdWallet estimates that Flying Blue miles are worth 1.2 cents, giving great value for your miles. Flying Blue also has monthly promo awards that discount certain routes by up to 50%. That means you can sometimes find one-way travel from the U.S. to Europe as low as 11,250 Flying Blue miles.

3. Air Canada Aeroplan

Air Canada’s Aeroplan points are a great way to book United flights within the United States — especially last-minute flights — and Star Alliance awards around the world thanks to a distance-based award chart.

Recent changes have brought updates to the program, including the opportunity to share miles with up to eight family members to get to an award faster.

If you’re looking for short-haul flights of less than 500 miles in distance within North America, Aeroplan only charges 6,000 points each way. That can be quite the bargain for last-minute, expensive flights. NerdWallet values Aeroplan points at 1.4 cents each, which means this is a solid transfer partner.

4. Avianca LifeMiles

Avianca is, like Singapore and Air Canada, a member of the Star Alliance. This means you can use Avianca LifeMiles to book flights on partners like United and Lufthansa among others. Based on our most recent analysis, NerdWallet values Avianca LifeMiles at 1.2 cents each, and the lack of fuel surcharges and low redemption rates make this an attractive transfer partner.

5. Singapore Airlines

Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer miles are easily attainable through various transfer partners.

🤓Nerdy Tip

In addition to Capital One, you can also use other transferable points currencies like Chase Ultimate Rewards®, American Express, Citi and Marriott points for Singapore awards, which means you can reach a redemption faster than you think.

NerdWallet values Singapore KrisFlyer miles at 1.5 cents each, although the airline recently raised redemption costs on awards — meaning you might need more miles. Great redemptions can still be had with some Singapore Airlines sweet spots.

6. Avios

Avios is the points currency for Aer Lingus, British Airways, Iberia and Vueling, and it is possible to move points between programs. Qatar Airways Privilege Club members also earn Avios and can move points between programs. This makes it easier to boost your balance for an award.

The program uses a distance-based award chart, which has several sweet spots. NerdWallet values Avios at 1 cent each, meaning 10,000 Avios points is worth about $100.

Other solid Capital One transfer options

There are several other smart ways to use Capital One miles for redemptions through partners.

  • Cathay Pacific Asia Miles: Cathay Pacific uses a distance-based award chart that can vary in value depending on where you are going and whether you’re flying only Cathay Pacific or including additional Oneworld partners. Because the Asia Miles award chart is distance-based, your best redemption will be 7,500 miles for intra-Asia flights under 750 flown miles.

  • Emirates Skywards: Emirates’ own miles are one of the premier ways to fly premium cabins on Emirates. The prices can be quite high, but if you want real bling on your next flight, Emirates is it. Check out some of our other Emirates Skywards sweet spots. Although, note that NerdWallet values Emirates miles at just 0.6 cent apiece.

  • Etihad Guest: Etihad is another program with a quirky award chart with prices varying by airline that has some amazing redemptions.

  • Qantas: Qantas also has a distance-based award chart, and flights under 600 miles cost only 8,000 miles to book. This can be a great option for last-minute short hops within the U.S. (flying on American Airlines) or in Australia itself.

The least valuable Capital One transfer options

We don’t recommend using miles for other Capital One transfer partners since the ratios are less favorable. If it’s the only travel option you have, then go for it. Just know that you could get more value elsewhere.

The transfer partners with the least advantageous ratios include:

You can also redeem your miles for credit card statement credits, which is hardly the most valuable way to use them. Even so, it could save you cash in the short term. You would earn 0.5 cents in value per mile redeemed toward a gift card or toward credit card charges for travel purchases.

Get maximum value from your Capital One points transfer

This is an axiom for the points and miles world. Put your travel rewards credit cards to work for you by finding ways to extract the most value from your miles and points.

Sometimes, it makes more sense to pay for a trip in cash if you can use miles to offset the cost of a more expensive trip later.

Capital One miles and its transfer partners are a great example, and this advice over the best transfer partners could help you rise to the top of the award trip value chain.


How to maximize your rewards

You want a travel credit card that prioritizes what’s important to you. Here are some of the best travel credit cards of 2024:

Travel Cards from Our Partners
Chase Sapphire Preferred Credit Card

on Chase's website

Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
5.0
NerdWallet Rating
Rewards rate

1x-5x

5x on travel purchased through Chase Travel℠, 3x on dining, select streaming services and online groceries, 2x on all other travel purchases, 1x on all other purchases.

Points

Intro offer

60,000 Points + $300 Travel Credit

Get up to $1,050 in Chase Travel℠ value. Earn 60,000 bonus points after $4,000 in purchases in your first 3 months from account opening. That’s worth $750 when redeemed through Chase Travel. Plus, get up to $300 in statement credits on Chase Travel purchases within your first year.

Chase Freedom Unlimited Credit Card

on Chase's website

Chase Freedom Unlimited®
5.0
NerdWallet Rating
Rewards rate

1.5%-5%

Enjoy 5% cash back on travel purchased through Chase Travel℠, 3% cash back on drugstore purchases and dining at restaurants, including takeout and eligible delivery service, and unlimited 1.5% cash back on all other purchases.

Cashback

Intro offer

Up to $300

Earn an additional 1.5% cash back on everything you buy (on up to $20,000 spent in the first year) - worth up to $300 cash back!

Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card

on Capital One's website

Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card
4.7
NerdWallet Rating
Rewards rate

2x-5x

Earn unlimited 2X miles on every purchase, every day. Earn 5X miles on hotels, vacation rentals and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel, where you'll get Capital One's best prices on thousands of trip options

Miles

Intro offer

75,000

Enjoy 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.

Miles
See more travel cards
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