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Capital One miles are the transferable points currency earned by Capital One travel rewards credit cards. You can use your points to purchase and book travel experiences through the Capital One travel portal, but you’ll get more value out of your points by transferring them to Capital One’s travel partners like airlines and hotels, and then using the points to book directly with those partners.
(To clarify some terminology here, Capital One calls their points currency “miles,” e.g. “You earn two miles per dollar spent.” Points and miles are commonly interchangeable, but in this guide, I’ll call them points while the currency is in your Capital One account, and then miles once they are transferred to an airline partner.)
Since we’re here to help you book flights for cheap—or even for almost free—we’re most interested in transferring Capital One points to airline loyalty programs, like Air Canada Aeroplan and Air France-KLM Flying Blue, so you can book award flights and maximize the power of your points.
This guide is a work-in-progress. We’ll routinely update this guide on how to transfer Capital One points to airline partners. For now, here’s what you absolutely need to know when transferring points from your Capital One credit cards to an airline loyalty program.
Pro-tip: We recommend transferring points from Capital One to an airline partner only when you have a specific award flight booking you want to make.
Once you move your Capital One points to an airline loyalty program, you can’t move those points back into your Capital One account. For that reason, we recommend holding your points in your Capital One account until you see an available award flight (that is: a flight that’s bookable with points). From there, you can then transfer your points to an airline and make that booking as soon as you see a good deal.
Got a stash of points waiting to be spent on travel? Let us find the points deals for you. Sign up for an Elite membership and we’ll alert you whenever we see a good points deal for travel in economy, business, and even first class.
How to transfer Capital One points to airline partners
Step 1: On your desktop, log into the Capital One website.
Step 2: On your account page, click the “View Rewards” button, then the “Convert Rewards” option.
On the dashboard for your Capital One credit card, you should see the prominent “View Rewards” button right under your current balance, card number, and other important details.
You’ll then be presented with all the ways you can redeem your points. Select “Convert Rewards” to see the list of all of Capital One’s airline and hotel partners
Step 3: Select the airline you want to transfer points to.
If it’s your first time transferring points to that airline loyalty program, you’ll be prompted to enter your account number with the program.
In order to transfer Capital One points to an airline loyalty program, you need to first have an account with that program. It’s a good idea to proactively make accounts with these programs because some have rules that require an account to be open for a certain period of time before you can transfer points to it. It can get unwieldy with different member ID numbers and passwords, so keep track of your account numbers somewhere safe, like in a password manager.
See the full list of the current Capital One transfer partners below.
Step 4: Transfer your points.
Once you link your Capital One account to your selected airline loyalty program, or if you’ve transferred Capital One points to that airline before, you can then select how many points you want to transfer.
That’s all there is to it! Depending on the airline partner you selected, you’ll see your points appear in your airline account either instantly, or within a day. The transfer times for each airline partner are listed below.
Remember: all transfers are final. Once you move your Capital One points to an airline loyalty program, you can’t move those points back into your Capital One account.
Current Capital One transfer partners
As of June 2023, Capital One partners with these airlines.
- Aeromexico Club Premier
- Air Canada Aeroplan
- Air France / KLM Flying Blue
- Avianca LifeMiles
- British Airways Executive Club
- Cathay Pacific Asia Miles
- Emirates Skywards
- Etihad Guest
- EVA Air Infinity MileageLands
- Finnair Plus
- Qantas Frequent Flyer
- Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer
- TAP Air Portugal Miles&Go
- Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles
- Virgin Red
With one exception, all Capital One points transfer to airline partners at a one to one (1:1) ratio, which means that one Capital One point is equivalent to one mile or point with most of these loyalty programs, once transferred. The exception to this is EVA Air Infinity MileageLands. Capital One points transfer to EVA AIr at a 2:1.5 ratio (e.g. 1000 Capital One points become 750 EVA Air miles).
Transfer times from Capital One to its travel partners vary. Points transfers to Cathay Pacific can take up to 24 hours. Meanwhile, points transfers to EVA Air can take up to 36 hours. Points transfers to all other airline partners are relatively instantaneous.
And these are Capital One’s current hotel partners.
- ALL Accor Live Limitless
- Choice Privileges
- Wyndham Rewards
Capital One points transfer at a 1:1 ratio to Choice Privileges and Wyndham Rewards; points transfer to Accor at a 2:1 ratio. Points transfers to all these hotel loyalty programs vary in speed. It can take up to two days for Accor, one day for Choice Privileges, and a few minutes for Wyndham.
On the whole, transferring points to hotels rarely maximizes the value of your points. You’re better off sticking to points transfers to airlines to get the most cents per point when you compare the cash price to the points cost.
What to do once you’ve transferred Capital One points to airline partners
Now that you’ve transferred your Capital One points to an airline partner, try searching for flights and play around with that airline’s search tool for award bookings. Here are some guides to check out.
- How to book an award flight through Air Canada Aeroplan
- How to book an award flight through Air France-KLM Flying Blue
Or if you’re ready to get going, sign up for an Elite membership and we’ll send you all the best points deals we can find.
Going has partnered with CardRatings for our coverage of credit card products. Going and CardRatings may receive a commission from card issuers. Opinions, reviews, analyses, and recommendations are the author's alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed, or approved by any of these entities.
