What’s the Value of Capital One Miles?

Why are Capital One rewards called “miles” instead of “points,” even though they’re earned by spending with Venture cards rather than by flying? Nobody knows. But we do know how much they’re worth.

Based on our analysis, Capital One miles are worth between 1 cent to 1.6 cents each, depending on how they’re used.

» Learn more: The best travel credit cards might surprise you

Why the big spread? Because these points are worth a flat value when booking travel through the Capital One Travel portal, which is how many people use them. They can be worth significantly more when transferred to Capital One’s transfer partners, but maximizing them in this way takes more work.

You can use Capital One miles as though they were cash by booking travel through the Capital One portal and paying with miles. They're worth exactly 1 cent apiece when used this way, and you can't squeeze more value from them. They also have the same value if you redeem miles for a statement credit against travel purchases.

» Learn more: Credit cards that earn Capital One miles

The benefit of using miles this way is simplicity. All you have to do is sign in, navigate to the travel portal and search for a flight, hotel room or rental car. Capital One will display the cost in both cash and miles, and you’ll choose how you want to pay at checkout.

The downside is value. Getting 1 cent per mile isn’t terrible, but more valuable redemptions are available when booking with partners.

» Learn more: How the Capital One Miles program works

Unlike in the previous section, there’s no simple answer to this question. You could get far more than 1 cent in value when transferring to partners, but you could also get far less if you’re not careful. Consider this option akin to trading in stocks rather than investing in bonds: It’s potentially more lucrative but also carries more uncertainty.

We estimate the value of miles redeemed with Capital One transfer partners at 1.6 cents based on the highest value transfer partner: Avianca LifeMiles. This figure ignores the lower-value transfer partnerships. Savvy points spenders should know which is which if they want to get the most from their miles.

Note: There are more Capital One transfer partnerships than what's shown above. These are the partners for which we have an estimated value.

» Learn more: The best Capital One transfer partners — and which to avoid

Use our calculator below to convert any given number of Capital One miles to dollars, based on both the baseline and NerdWallet estimated values.

Capital One miles can be redeemed for a number of travel bookings. But before you start using Capital One miles, you have to earn them. The simplest way to amass a large number of Capital One miles is to earn a sign-up bonus for a credit card.

Capital One offers several credit cards that help you earn Capital One miles.

NerdWallet estimates the value of Capital One miles at 1.6 cents each based on the transfer partner with the highest value rewards: Avianca LifeMiles.

» Learn more: The best Capital One credit card offers for travel