Capital One Transfer Partners: The Key to Maximize Your Miles

The *capone venture* and *venture x* have been fan favorites among travelers for years, thanks to solid perks and – most importantly – how easy the bank makes it to earn and redeem rewards. But travelers hoping to make the most of their Capital One miles would be wise to study up on the bank's growing list of transfer partners.

Capital One allows you to transfer miles to nearly 20 airline and hotel loyalty programs. That means you can turn your stash of Capital One rewards into points with Air Canada, Virgin Atlantic, Turkish Airlines, and many more. In almost every case, these miles transfer 1:1.

That adds some incredibly valuable ways to use your Capital One miles beyond the easy-to-use feature for covering travel purchases. But sending miles to Capital One transfer partners also comes with some confusion. Are these transfers really worth it? How does it work? And when should you transfer Capital One miles?

Let's take a look.
 

All 18 Capital One Transfer Partners

Before we dive into the nuts and bolts of transferring points, here's how it works.

Currently, you can transfer points from your *capone venture*, *venture x*, and several other cards from your account straight to 18 airline and hotel programs. Best of all, most transfer on a 1:1 basis, meaning transferring 1,000 Capital One miles gets you 1,000 airline miles in your account.

Transfers to EVA Air convert on a poorer, 2:1.5 basis. Transfers to Accor are worse yet, with a transfer ratio of 2:1. But for the vast majority of the options at your disposal, transferring miles is an even trade.

So if you've got 60,000 miles stashed away from your Venture or Venture X Card, you can easily turn them into 60,00 miles with British Airways. Or 60,000 Air Canada Aeroplan points. Or 60,000 Turkish Airlines miles.

Here's the full list. There are some real winners here, while others might be more of an afterthought. 

Airline Transfer Partners

Hotel Transfer Partners

The Best Capital One Transfer Partners

With 18 airline and hotel programs at your disposal, there are plenty of options to use your Capital One miles … but some are far better than others.

Here's a quick glance at what we consider the best of the best.

• Air Canada Aeroplan: Air Canada's loyalty program is a great way to book Star Alliance flights globally. That includes United Airlines flights from the West Coast to Hawaii, business class flights from the U.S. to Asia on top-notch airlines like EVA Air and ANA for as low as 55,000 miles each way, and many more.
• Avianca Lifemiles: Avianca is another strong option for booking Star Alliance partners like United, Lufthansa, ANA and many more. It has a good award chart for domestic flights in the U.S. – and even after a recent devaluation, it remains a good choice for trips abroad. But best of all, Avianca doesn't pass on added fees and fuel surcharges, keeping the cash price of an award ticket relatively low.
• Air France/KLM Flying Blue: The combined loyalty program for Air France and KLM is another program worth keeping in mind for both international and domestic travels. It's one of the best ways to book business class abroad, with one-way flights bookable for as low as 50,000 miles each way, but it's also become the best program for booking cheap Delta flights.
• Finnair Avios: After the airline adopted Avios as its mileage program earlier this year, it's quickly become one of Capital One's best partners. Not only is it a great choice for booking Finnair business class between the U.S. and Finland … but it's also one of the cheapest ways to book American Airlines (or Alaska Airlines) flights to Hawaii – or down to the Caribbean.
• Turkish Miles & Smiles: Capital One is one of the few banks to partner with Turkish and even after the airline gutted some of its longtime sweet sports, Miles & Smiles remains a bit of a hidden gem. You simply won't find a cheaper way to get to Hawaii, as the program charges just 20,000 miles roundtrip to fly United out to the islands and back. It's also got a solid option to get to Europe in Turkish Airlines business class, with flights that cost just 65,000 miles each way. Just beware: Turkish's website is not so easy to navigate. Booking these stellar rewards may require a phone call.
• Virgin Red: Virgin Red is the overarching loyalty program for all things Virgin – including Virgin Atlantic Flying Club. With Virgin Atlantic's recent shift to dynamic award pricing, the amount of points you need to book a (nearly) free flight is all over the board. But if you're flexible with your travel dates and departure cities, you can score some seriously good deals … like business class to Virgin's hub in London (LHR) from just 29,000 points each way! Plus, Virgin remains a great way to book partner airlines like Delta, Hawaiian Airlines, ANA, and more.

Other mileage programs like British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Singapore, and Emirates have their place, too. 

Many of the other options – especially the hotel programs like Accor – are fairly weak and generally not worth considering except in niche situations.

Book Direct or Transfer? Do the Math

Now you know where you can transfer those Capital One miles. But when should you? And is it a good deal? That's more complicated.

There's nothing complex about the usual way of redeeming Capital One rewards. You can book virtually any flight in the world by paying with your Capital One Venture (or Venture X) card, then go back and use miles to cover that charge. When you use miles this way, you'll get 1 cent for every mile. That means you can cover that $200 flight with 20,000 Capital One miles.

But transferring points can be far, far more valuable.

Read more: Save Points When Booking Flights – Transfer Them to an Airline Partner

Let’s look at a transatlantic flight from Minneapolis-St. Paul (MSP) to Paris-Charles de Gaulle (CDG) next spring, when prices are looking quite high. Flying nonstop on Air France from Minneapolis to Paris, it'd cost you a whopping $2,515 for roundtrip economy flights next May.

Going the traditional route, you could book directly with Air France, charge it to your Capital One card, then go back and remove the charge. But since every mile gets you 1 cent toward travel, it'd take 251,500 Capital One miles.

Or … you could transfer points to Virgin Red to book these exact same Air France flights using Virgin Atlantic Flying Club. The cost? Just 30,000 miles and $179 in fees. Transferring to Virgin instead could save you more than 220,000 Capital One miles! 

This is a bit of an extreme example and it won't always work out so neatly. But it should show you just how valuable transferring miles can be.

When cash prices are cheap, you're often better off booking the flight, then going back to erase the purchase. Each transfer partner places different values on different routes and redemptions, so you won't always get such an outstanding deal. And most importantly, you need to find the award availability to actually book these flights with miles through an airline partner.

How to Transfer Your Miles

Luckily, Capital One has made transferring miles easy to navigate.

Start by logging into your Capital One account either on a computer or on the mobile app. On your home page, you'll see the number of miles you've earned listed, with an option to view rewards.

Once you've clicked “View Rewards,” you'll see a host of options for using your miles.

• You can book a flight, hotel, or rental car directly through the Capital One Travel portal.
• You can cover travel purchases with your miles.
• Or, you can transfer your rewards to one of Capital One's airline or hotel partners

Choose “Transfer Rewards” and you'll see the full list of airline and hotel programs where where you can transfer your miles. Select which program you'd like and click “Transfer Miles.”

Oh, and watch for semi-regular transfer bonuses to select transfer partners. Every few months, Capital One will roll out a bonus of 15% to 40%, giving you bonus airline miles when you transfer to certain programs. Think of these transfer bonuses as a way to get free miles. 

For example, as of publication there's a 20% bonus to British Airways.

Once you choose your transfer partner, you'll get a prompt to enter your frequent flyer account information. Keep in mind that the name on your Capital One account must match your frequent flyer account. So if you're hoping to immediately transfer points to a friend or family member – even an authorized user on your Venture X account, for example – you're out of luck.

Once you've linked your frequent flyer account, it's time to decide how many points to transfer. 

You'll need to transfer at least 1,000 miles … but from there, you can transfer in 100-mile increments. That's quite nice, as it means you can tailor your transfer to closer fit the total amount needed. Other programs like American Express Membership Rewards and Chase Ultimate Rewards always require you to transfer points in increments of 1,000.

Just remember: These points transfers are a one-way street. Once you send the miles to an airline partner, you cannot get them back to your Capital One account. That makes it critical to make sure the award flight you want to book is available before you transfer points.

Once you've hit complete transfer, you're done! Capital One says most miles will deposit into your airline or hotel account within the same day – and perhaps instantaneously. Some others can take up to five business days.

Thrifty Tip: Brand-new airline accounts tend to have the most trouble when transferring miles – even when they're supposed to transfer instantly. See our list of the free frequent flyer programs you should sign up for for ASAP, even if you don't have any plans to transfer your miles right now. 

How to Earn Capital One Miles

The *venture x* might just be the best travel credit card we’ve ever seen.

Think of it as a souped-up version of the ever-popular Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card that’s chock full of extra benefits like access to Capital One Lounges and Priority Pass lounges, an annual $300 Capital One Travel credit, a credit for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck, great travel and rental car insurance protection, anniversary points and more.

The annual fee clocks in at $395 a year, but all those benefits can easily outweigh that. And if it's a big bonus you're after, here's what's at stake: bonus_miles_full.

Learn more about the *venture x*.
 

Meanwhile, the *capone venture* remains truly one of the best travel credit cards for beginners. You'll earn 2x miles on every purchase and even get a credit that covers the cost of Global Entry or TSA PreCheck – all for a card with a $95 annual fee.

With the current bonus offer you can earn bonus_miles_full.

Learn more about the *capone venture*.

Those still aren't the only cards that can transfer miles, though. You can also transfer miles from business cards like the *CapOne Spark Miles* and *venture x business*. 

With the Venture X Business, Capital One essentially hit copy and paste on the personal Venture X Card and if you ask us … that's a good thing. The card's $395 annual fee is largely offset by its annual $300 Capital One Travel credit and 10,000-anniversary mile bonus. Add in Capital One and Priority Pass lounge access and this card is a clear winner for just about any business owner.

Not to mention it comes with a monster sign-up bonus, albeit with an equally monster spending requirement. bonus_miles_full

Learn more about the *venture x business*.

Finally, there's the no-annual-fee *capone ventureone*. This card earns unlimited 1.25x miles on every purchase and still gets you full access to Capital One's transfer partners.

You can also earn bonus_miles_full.

Learn more about the card_name

Bottom Line

Transferring Capital One miles is easily one of the best ways to redeem your rewards, period. 

There are 18 transfer partners in all: 15 airline programs and three hotel chains. You can turn your Capital One miles into points with each of them.

Do it right, and you can come out far, far ahead by using these transfer partners.