Booking Hotels and Rental Cars Through Capital One Travel
With the Capital One Venture X card, you’ll earn a whopping 10x miles per $1 on hotel and rental car purchases made through Capital One Travel. Given that we value Capital One miles at 1.6 cents per mile, this is effectively like earning a 16% return on these purchases!
Of course, there is the downside that by not booking directly with the hotel, you won’t earn redeemable hotel miles, nor will those stays count towards your elite status qualification with the chain, so this is definitely important to keep in mind if that is important to you.
Booking Airfare Through Capital One Travel
On airfare purchases made through Capital One Travel, you’ll earn 5x miles per $1. This is a very solid rewards rate that is in line with or better than many other premium cards, but again, flights purchased through the Capital One portal won’t count towards elite status.
All Other Purchases
One area where the Capital One Venture X card really shines is that it earns an uncapped 2x miles per $1 on all purchases. Usually, premium rewards cards earn just 1x mile per $1 on non-bonused purchases, causing savvy points travelers to add an “everywhere else” type card to their wallet to ensure they’re always earning as many miles/points as possible.
But those using the Capital One Venture X card could easily take a “one-card-fits-all” approach by knowing that they’ll earn 5x to 10x miles per $1 on travel purchases and an unlimited 2x miles per $1 on every other purchase.
Adding Additional Capital One Miles Cards
Capital One offers several other cards that earn Capital One miles that you could pair alongside your Capital One Venture X card, but it might not necessarily make sense to do so.
The reason being is that all other Capital One miles-earning cards offer between 1.25x to 2x miles per $1 on all purchases. Given that you’ll already be earning an uncapped 2x miles per $1 on all purchases with your Capital One Venture X card, you’ll probably need a very specific reason to add another card that has overlapping or worse rewards rates.
Once you’ve built up a stash of Capital One miles, you’ll want to redeem them for as much value as possible. Fortunately, Capital One gives you quite a few options when it comes to redemption options.
Capital One Transfer Partners
Using the Capital One transfer partners is by far your best option if you’re looking to get as much value out of your miles as possible. After all, redeeming your miles this way will allow you to book first and business class flights for a mere fraction of the cash cost.
Capital One offers 16 different transfer partners for you to choose from, 14 of which can be transferred to at a 1:1 rate, including fantastic partners like Air Canada, Avianca, and Turkish Airlines.
Hot Tip: Need some ideas for great ways to redeem your Capital One miles? Read through our guide on the best ways to redeem your Capital One miles!
Capital One Travel
Just as you’ll receive 5x to 10x miles per $1 when making certain travel purchases through Capital One Travel, you can also redeem your miles straight through the portal as well. When you redeem this way, you’ll receive just 1 cent per mile in value, so it’s not quite as good of a value as you’ll get with transfer partners.
But what you lose in value you make up for in flexibility as your miles can be redeemed for literally any travel purchase with no blackout dates or award availability hoops to jump through.
Statement Credit
You’ll also have the ability to redeem your miles for cold hard cash-back, but at a rate of just 0.5 cents per mile. This is the worst redemption option from a value perspective, so you’ll want to opt for some of the other choices unless you really need the cash.
Gift Cards
Like most other travel loyalty programs, you’ll have the ability to redeem your miles for gift cards with select merchants, and you’ll usually receive anywhere from 0.8 cents to 1 cent per mile when doing so. Given that, this is one to skip if you’re trying to get as much value as possible.
Checkout With Amazon or PayPal
Lastly, if you have your Capital One Venture X card linked to your Amazon or PayPal account, you’ll have the option to use your miles as your method of payment when checking out via either platform. Redeeming your miles this way will also give you a value of 0.8 cents per mile — so it’s hardly the best use of them.
Bottom Line: Point blank, if you’re looking to get as much value as possible for your Capital One miles, then you should be redeeming them almost exclusively through the Capital One transfer partners.