How to Redeem Capital One Venture Miles

Capital One has some of the best travel cards, as well as one of the top credit card rewards programs. To get the most out of its travel cards, you need to know how to use Capital One Venture miles.

There are several ways to redeem miles, but they're all easy to understand. Whether you already have a Capital One card or you're planning to get one, this guide will cover the basics and finer details of Capital One Venture miles.

Capital One Venture miles are travel rewards offered by multiple Capital One credit cards. You can redeem these miles for travel, cash back, gift cards, experiences, and more. But travel redemptions get you the most value, so it's best to stick with them.

Despite their name, Capital One Venture miles aren't part of a frequent flyer program. The word "miles" is just the branding that Capital One uses.

Capital One Venture miles are worth $0.01 per mile when you redeem them directly toward travel purchases. You can do so by booking travel through Capital One Travel, or by applying your miles toward previous travel purchases you've made.

Like many of the best credit cards, Capital One Venture cards also allow you to transfer miles to travel partners. When you transfer miles, the value you get depends on how you use them after the transfer. You could end up getting $0.02 per mile or more with high-value redemptions. On the other hand, a low-value redemption could get you well under $0.01 per mile.

You can also redeem miles in other ways, including cash back, gift cards, or purchases with Amazon. With these options, your rewards are generally worth between $0.005 and $0.008 per mile, so it's better to stick to travel redemptions.

Here's how to redeem Capital One Venture miles:

1. Log in to your Capital One account.
2. Select the credit card with the miles you want to use.
3. Click "View Rewards."
4. Select a redemption method.

From there, the rest of the process will depend on which redemption method you chose. Here are your options:

• Book a trip
• Convert rewards
• Cover travel purchases
• Redeem for experiences
• Get gift cards
• Redeem for cash
• Redeem with PayPal
• Shop with Amazon
• Move rewards

This may seem like a lot. Keep in mind that you're probably going to find one or two options you like and use those exclusively. For example, I always go with "Convert rewards" to transfer my miles to Capital One partners, because that gets me much more value than any other option.

From a value perspective, the first three options (book a trip, convert rewards, and cover travel purchases) are best. Below, you can find out how each option works and the value they offer.

Book a trip

This takes you to Capital One Travel, where you can book a flight, hotel, or rental car and pay using your miles. You get a value of $0.01 per mile, so a $200 flight would cost you 20,000 miles.

Convert rewards

With this option, you can transfer miles to one of Capital One's travel partners. You can then use those miles through that partner's loyalty program. For example, if you transfer 30,000 miles to Air Canada, you'll have 30,000 miles you can use to book a flight through its Aeroplan program.

The value you get varies depending on what you book. It's possible to get $0.02 per mile or more, so this can be a great way to use your miles.

With most of Capital One's partners, transfers are at a 1:1 ratio and process either right away or within 48 hours. Here are the partners, the transfer ratios for each, and the number of miles you'd get in each partner's loyalty program by transferring 1,000 Capital One Venture Miles:

Cover your travel purchases

You can apply your miles as a credit to travel purchases made within the previous 90 days at a value of $0.01 per mile.

There are two advantages to using this method instead of booking a trip through Capital One Travel:

• You can redeem miles for a much greater variety of purchases because Capital One has a broad category of what it considers travel. For example, you could use your miles to pay for a vacation rental, a ride with Uber, or a cruise. With Capital One Travel you're limited to flights, hotels, and car rentals.
• You may get a better deal by booking with another travel service. Sometimes Capital One Travel doesn't have the lowest prices. And if you're part of a rewards program with a different travel booking site, you can book through that site, earn points in its program, and later use your miles to cover the purchase.

Redeem for experiences

This opens Capital One Entertainment, where you can get tickets to sports, music, comedy and theater, dining events, and more. You typically get a value of $0.008 per mile on Capital One Entertainment purchases.

Get gift cards

You can buy gift cards using Capital One miles from many different retailers. The minimum gift card amount and the value you get per mile varies by retailer. You typically get a value of $0.008 per mile.

Redeem for cash

You can request cash back as either a statement credit on your credit card or as a check. With this type of redemption, you only get a value of $0.005 per mile. If you're interested in cash back, you're much better off looking at cash back credit cards.

Redeem with PayPal

Link your Capital One card to your PayPal account, and you'll be able to pay with your miles at online stores when you check out with PayPal. You get a value of $0.008 per mile.

Shop with Amazon

Link your Capital One card to your Amazon account, and you'll be able to pay with miles for Amazon purchases. You get a value of $0.008 per mile.

Move rewards

If you have multiple eligible Capital One accounts, you can transfer your miles from one account to another. You get a 1:1 ratio when you move rewards this way.

The best way to maximize the value of Capital One Venture miles is by transferring them to travel partners. You can do so using the "Convert rewards" option.

This is a little more complicated than just redeeming your miles for travel purchases. The tradeoff is that you can get significantly more value. If you redeem 100,000 miles for travel purchases at $0.01 per mile, you can save $1,000. If you transfer them and get $0.02 per mile, you can save $2,000.

Here's how to do this:

• Figure out what you want to book with your miles. Airfare is a great choice, because Capital One has lots of airline partners.
• See which of Capital One's transfer partners you can use for that travel booking. If you want to book a flight from New York to Paris, then you'd see which frequent flyer programs you can use for that route.
• Check how many miles you need. Let's say flights cost 30,000 miles and there's a 1:1 transfer ratio to that Capital One partner. You could send 30,000 Venture miles to get 30,000 miles in that loyalty program.
• Transfer your miles and make your booking. You'll need an account in the transfer partner's loyalty program first so that you can receive the transfer. If you don't have one already, it's easy and free to set one up.

When you look for travel, make sure you check prices in both cash and miles. That way, you can see what kind of value you'll get. Only transfer your miles if you'll get a better deal that way.

For example, if you can transfer 30,000 miles to book airfare that otherwise costs $600, that's a fantastic deal. You're getting $0.02 per mile. But if that airfare costs $250, you shouldn't transfer your miles. Remember that you can also redeem miles for travel at $0.01 per mile, so you could buy that flight for 25,000 miles.

Now, there are quite a few Capital One partners. To give you an idea of where you can find high-value redemptions, I'm going to list a few of the best ones, including a few that I've used myself:

• Air Canada Aeroplan
• Air France-KLM Flying Blue
• Avianca LifeMiles
• Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer
• Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles

With the option to either transfer your rewards or redeem them for cash travel purchases, you can book just about any type of travel you want with Capital One Venture miles. It doesn't take long to get used to the rewards page in your online account, and once you do, you'll be able to cash in your miles and get plenty of value in the process.

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