How much are Capital One miles worth?

The Capital One rewards program is very flexible, with no limits on what you can earn or blackout dates for booking. And the Capital One miles value is high since they never expire and can be redeemed for all sorts of options, including travel, cash back and gift cards. You won’t have to earn a minimum number of miles to redeem them and can use any amount of rewards at any time. Plus, Capital One has a list of more than 15 travel partners, allowing rewards cardholders to transfer their miles to several different airlines.

It is easy to rack up rewards miles as well, with generous introductory bonuses on all Capital One rewards cards and straightforward rewards rates. With perks like these, it’s no wonder the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card is one of our top-rated travel cards.

In addition, Capital One Spark Miles for Business cardholders can transfer miles to Capital One rewards partners.

Capital One miles value

So how much are Capital One miles worth? Capital One miles value can vary depending on how you redeem it, but the base value is 1 cent per mile. If you choose to redeem your miles for cash back instead of travel, you will lose half of that value.

Value of standard redemption options

Transferring miles to a partner airline is where things get tricky. When you transfer your miles, you can get a transfer rate of 2 Capital One miles to 1 airline mile, 2:1.5 or 1:1, depending on the partner. And because the value of each airline mile varies, you can occasionally get a mile value greater than 1 cent, even with a less appealing transfer ratio.

Value of transferring miles

How to calculate the value of Capital One miles

Since Capital One miles are worth 1 cent per mile for all travel redemption options, calculating the value of your miles is very simple. Just divide the number of miles you’ve accrued by 100 to get a dollar value. For example, the Venture card’s 75,000-mile introductory offer (if you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first three months) is worth $750 in travel.

Things get a little more complicated when transferring your miles to a partner airline. You’ll have to do some digging to find the point value for each airline loyalty program.

How flexible are Capital One miles?

The Capital One rewards program offers great flexibility with several redemption options. There are few limitations when it comes to earning miles and rewards don’t expire for the life of the account. However, Capital One fails to match the value offered by several rewards programs – especially when it comes to cash back options and travel partners.

Pros:

• Capital One miles don’t expire. You can also transfer your points to another eligible Capital One rewards account if you are planning to close a card.
• There’s no limit to how many Capital One miles you can earn, making it easy to save up for large purchases.
• Capital One offers flexible travel purchase redemptions. Miles can be used to cover any portion of a travel charge made on an outside site (redeemed as a statement credit).
• You can transfer Capital One miles to more than 15 travel partners at a rate of 1:1, 2:1.5 or 2:1. Despite the apparent drop in value for some partners, a few transfer options get you more for your mile.
• You can redeem any number of Capital One miles at any time. You can apply as little as 1 mile to an eligible purchase and cover the rest with cash.

Cons:

• There is no major U.S. airline on Capital One’s list of travel partners. While Chase partners with United and Southwest Airlines and American Express partners with Delta, the transfer options with Capital One are much more limited.
• You lose value when you redeem for cash back. Statement credits and checks only get 0.5 cents per mile.
• You don’t get extra value for redeeming through Capital One Travel Center. While cards like the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card and Chase Sapphire Reserve get 25% to 50% more value respectively when used in the Ultimate Rewards center, Capital One miles don’t get any boost.
• Unlike Chase Ultimate Rewards and American Express Membership Rewards, Capital One doesn’t offer any category cards that you can juggle with your flat-rate cards to maximize your miles earnings on certain purchases.
• In fact, the Capital One rewards program is fairly limited on opportunities to stack up extra miles – the max you will usually earn on your spending is 2 miles per dollar.

Are Capital One rewards worth it?

It’s true that Capital One miles aren’t the most valuable reward out there, with programs like Chase Ultimate Rewards and individual airline loyalty programs getting you more for your points. But the added flexibility provided by the redemption of outside purchases through the Capital One Travel Center and variety of redemption options still make Capital One rewards a great option, especially for booking travel.