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What’s the Value of Capital One Miles?
Depending on how you redeem your miles, they'll net you anywhere from 1 to 1.6 cents each in value.
Craig Joseph is a NerdWallet credit cards and travel rewards expert. He has degrees in geology from West Virginia University and oceanography from Oregon State University and has published in academic journals, newspapers and blogs. Craig is passionate about personal finance and wants to enhance the financial literacy of everyone he meets. He'll probably also try to convince you why rocks are cool.
Meghan Coyle is an editor on the Travel Rewards team and the co-host of the Smart Travel podcast. She covers travel credit cards, airline and hotel loyalty programs, and how to travel on points. Meghan is based in Los Angeles and has a love-hate relationship with LAX.
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been provided or reviewed by the card issuer.
Nerdy takeaways
Capital One miles are worth exactly 1 cent apiece when booking travel through the Capital One portal.
More valuable redemptions are available when transferring miles to partners.
We estimate the value of miles redeemed with Capital One transfer partners at 1.6 cents.
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.
What’s the value when booking travel through the Capital One portal?
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.
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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.
What’s the value when transferring to Capital One partners?
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.
Transfer partner
NerdWallet value
Air Canada Aeroplan
1.1 cents.
Air France/KLM Flying Blue
0.8 cent.
Avianca LifeMiles
1.6 cents.
British Airways Avios
1.2 cents.
Emirates Skywards
1 cent.
Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer
1.1 cents.
Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles
0.7 cent.
Wyndham Rewards
0.7 cent.
Note: There are more Capital One transfer partnerships than what's shown above. These are the partners for which we have an estimated value.
Use our calculator below to convert any given number of Capital One miles to dollars, based on both the baseline and NerdWallet estimated values.
Credit cards that earn Capital One miles
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's ratings are determined by our editorial team. The scoring formula takes into account the type of card being reviewed (such as cash back, travel or balance transfer) and the card's rates, fees, rewards and other features.
NerdWallet's ratings are determined by our editorial team. The scoring formula takes into account the type of card being reviewed (such as cash back, travel or balance transfer) and the card's rates, fees, rewards and other features.
NerdWallet's ratings are determined by our editorial team. The scoring formula takes into account the type of card being reviewed (such as cash back, travel or balance transfer) and the card's rates, fees, rewards and other features.
NerdWallet's ratings are determined by our editorial team. The scoring formula takes into account the type of card being reviewed (such as cash back, travel or balance transfer) and the card's rates, fees, rewards and other features.
• 5 miles per dollar on hotels, vacation rentals and car rentals booked through Capital One Travel.
• 1.25 miles per dollar on purchases.
• 5 miles per dollar on hotels, vacation rentals and car rentals booked through Capital One Travel.
• 2 miles per dollar spent on purchases.
• 5 miles per dollar on flights and vacation rentals booked through Capital One Travel.
• 10 miles per dollar on hotels and car rentals booked through Capital One Travel.
• 2 miles per dollar spent on purchases.
Bonus offer
LIMITED-TIME OFFER: Enjoy $250 to use on Capital One Travel in your first cardholder year, plus earn 75,000 bonus miles once you spend $4,000 on purchases within the first 3 months from account opening - that’s equal to $1,000 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 75,000 bonus miles when you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening, equal to $750 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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