How I Turned 400K Capital One Miles Into $15,000 in Travel

As a business owner who spends heavily and travels frequently, I am always on the lookout for new cards that offer serious rewards. So when Capital One announced a giant welcome bonus offer on the Capital One Venture X Business Card, I knew I had to apply for it.

The Capital One Venture X Business card offers a simplified rewards structure and a long list of perks and benefits. The massive welcome bonus offer, though, is what really stood out:

• Previous offer at the time of writing (no longer available): Earn up to 400,000 bonus miles: 200,000 miles when spending $30,000 in the first 3 months and an additional 200,000 miles when spending a total of $150,000 in the first 6 months.
• Current offer: Earn 150,000 bonus miles once you spend $30,000 in the first 3 months.

After meeting the (admittedly large) minimum spending requirements of the card, I was thrilled to see the welcome bonus offer posted to my account — and was even happier to redeem it.

Here’s how I maximized the Capital One Venture X Business card to save me well over $15,000 for luxury travel.

Capital One Venture X Business Card Overview

The Capital One Venture X Business card is a tremendous all-around rewards card for business owners looking for a simplified approach to earning and redeeming Capital One miles and easy-to-use benefits:

Capital One Venture X Business Card

U.P. Rating 

The rating for this card has been determined by our own industry experts who know the ins and outs of credit card products. Bonuses, rewards as well as rates and fees are all taken into account. Compensation from the issuer does not affect our rating. We only recommend products we either use ourselves or endorse.

The Capital One Venture X Business card offers at least 2x miles on all purchases, and comes packed with premium perks.

Capital One Venture X Business Card

The Capital One Venture X Business card offers at least 2x miles on all purchases, and comes packed with premium perks.

Welcome Offer

Earn 150,000 bonus miles once you spend $30,000 in the first 3 months from account opening.

150,000 miles

UP's Offer Valuation*:

Up to $2,700

Annual Fee

$395

APR

This is a pay-in-full card, so your balance is due in full every month.

Why We Like This Card

The Capital One Venture X Business card is a great all-around premium rewards card that helps you rack up miles on all of your business expenses.

From 2x miles per dollar on all purchases, airport lounge access, an annual travel credit, complimentary employee cards, and more, there is plenty to love about the Capital One Venture X Business card.

Pros & Cons

Pros

• 10x miles per dollar on hotels and rental cars purchased through Capital One Business Travel
• 5x miles per dollar on flights and vacation rentals purchased through Capital One Business Travel
• 2x miles per dollar on all other purchases
• $300 annual travel credit on bookings made through Capital One Business Travel
• 10,000 bonus miles awarded on your account anniversary each year
• Enjoy complimentary access to 1,300+ airport lounges worldwide, including Capital One Lounge locations and membership to Priority Pass through the Partner Lounge Network
• Global Entry or TSA PreCheck credit
• No-additional-fee employee cards
• No preset spending limit
• No foreign transaction fees

Cons

• $395 annual fee
• 10x and 5x bonus categories are limited to Capital One Business Travel

Card Highlights

• Earn 150,000 bonus miles once you spend $30,000 in the first 3 months from account opening
• Earn unlimited 2X miles on every purchase, everywhere—with no limits or category restrictions
• Earn 10X miles on hotels and rental cars and 5X miles on flights and vacation rentals booked through Capital One Business Travel
• With no preset spending limit, enjoy big purchasing power that adapts so you can spend more and earn more rewards
• Empower your teams to make business purchases while earning rewards on their transactions, with free employee and virtual cards. Plus, automatically sync your transaction data with your accounting software and pay your vendors with ease
• Redeem your miles on flights, hotels and more. Plus, transfer your miles to any of the 15+ travel loyalty programs
• Every year, you'll get 10,000 bonus miles after your account anniversary date. Plus, receive an annual $300 credit for bookings made through Capital One Business Travel
• Receive up to a $120 credit for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck^®. Enjoy access to 1,300+ airport lounges worldwide, including Capital One Lounge locations and Priority Pass™ lounges, after enrollment
• Enjoy a $100 experience credit and other premium benefits with every hotel and vacation rental booked from the Premier Collection
• This is a pay-in-full card, so your balance is due in full every month
• Top rated mobile app

Financial Snapshot

• APR: This is a pay-in-full card, so your balance is due in full every month.
• Foreign Transaction Fees: None

Card Categories

• Credit Card Reviews
• Travel Rewards Credit Cards

Rewards Center

Capital One Miles

• 10x miles for hotels and rental cars booked via Capital One Business Travel, 5x miles for flights and vacation rentals purchased via Capital One Business Travel, 2x miles on all other purchases
• $300 annual travel credit for bookings through Capital One Business Travel
• 10,000 bonus miles every year, starting on your first anniversary
• Unlimited lounge access at more than 1,300 lounges worldwide, including Capital One Lounges and Priority Pass™ lounges, after enrollment
• Global Entry or TSA PreCheck application fee credit
• $395 annual fee, and no additional fee for employee cards
• No preset spending limit

What Are 400K Capital One Miles Worth?

Capital One miles are among the most valuable transferable rewards available, just behind American Express Membership Rewards and Chase Ultimate Rewards. We value Capital One miles at 1.8 cents per point, making the 400,000-mile welcome offer I received worth an astounding $7,200.

How you choose to redeem these Capital One miles will ultimately determine the value you receive. The best way (and the only method I use) to redeem Capital One miles is by transferring them to Capital One’s airline and hotel travel partners.

Fortunately, Capital One has several fantastic transfer partners, including Air Canada Aeroplan, Air France-KLM Flying Blue, Avianca LifeMiles, and Virgin Red (which can be transferred to Virgin Atlantic Flying Club).

Turning 400K Capital One Miles Into $15,000+ of Travel

Here at Upgraded Points, we strive to maximize the value of our hard-earned points and miles. As mentioned, after meeting both tiers of the minimum spending requirements of the Capital One Venture X Business card, I earned 400,000 Capital One miles.

Even if you just meet the first tier, 150,000 bonus miles is a giant lump sum that can help you book any of the redemptions below.

1. Round-Trip Business Class Flights to Paris (120,000 Miles)

My first major redemption using Capital One miles was for a business meet-up in Paris, France. Since several airlines offer nonstop flights between Chicago O’Hare (ORD) and Paris (CDG), I knew I had some options.

Over the last few years, I have prioritized using my points and miles for premium cabins on flights longer than 5 hours. Fortunately, Capital One has several transfer partners that make flying long-haul business class relatively easy.

Flying Blue, the loyalty program of Air France-KLM, is one of Capital One’s best transfer partners, as the program has solid award pricing for routes between the U.S. and Europe. Although Flying Blue employs dynamic pricing for awards, it also offers standardized saver-level pricing, which can be found if you’re flexible with your travel dates.

One-way business class flights between the U.S. and Paris can be booked for as little as 60,000 miles one-way. This means that, for as little as 120,000 Flying Blue miles plus taxes and fees, I could fly to Europe and back in business class.

Best of all, Capital One miles transfer to Flying Blue at a 1:1 ratio. After searching around for award availability, I was able to book the exact seats I was looking for at the standardized pricing.

This was an excellent redemption as round-trip business class flights on Air France typically cost around $5,000. For this redemption, I got about 3.3 cents per mile, which is nearly double our valuation.

United and Lufthansa Business Class to Korea (87,500 Miles)

My next redemption was for a business class flight from Chicago to Seoul, Korea. Although there are several booking options for flights between Chicago and Seoul (ICN), I decided to book through Air Canada Aeroplan, which is my favorite airline loyalty program.

The airline is a member of Star Alliance, the largest airline alliance in the world. However, it also has several valuable nonalliance partners.

Aeroplan has a tremendous stopover policy, allowing you to add another destination for just 5,000 points, including on one-way award redemptions. The program does not levy fuel surcharges for partner redemptions.

For award redemptions on certain partner airlines, Air Canada still has a zone-based award chart. The total cost is determined by which zones you fly between and the total distance flown.

From Chicago, I flew to Seoul on United Airlines and Lufthansa for just 87,500 Aeroplan points plus taxes and fees. Best of all, I flew on 2 different business class products.

After confirming the award availability, I transferred 88,000 Capital One miles to Air Canada Aeroplan at a 1:1 ratio. This one-way business class redemption netted me 6.7 cents per mile, saving me about $6,000.

5 Nights of Luxury in Taipei (125,000 Miles)

After spending some time sightseeing in Seoul and visiting friends, I headed to Taipei, Taiwan. With 5 nights in the city, I made sure to book one of the city’s best hotels.

Recently, in late 2025, Capital One added a new transfer partner: I Prefer Hotel Rewards. Although I was not familiar with the loyalty program, I noticed considerable potential.

I began by narrowing down hotel options in Taipei and found the Palais De Chine, a 5-star property located in the heart of the city.

The hotel can be booked for 50,000 I Prefer points per night. Although that seemed like a steep number of points required, Capital One miles transfer to I Prefer Hotel Rewards at a 1:2 ratio. This meant that I only needed to transfer 25,000 Capital One miles for a 1-night stay at this property.

Since I wanted to spend 5 nights at the property, I went ahead and confirmed the necessary award availability. I transferred 125,000 Capital One miles to the I Prefer Hotel Rewards program, which increased my points balance to 250,000 in the hotel loyalty program.

The 5-night hotel redemption netted me 1.92 cents per mile and saved me over $2,400. While this was not the best redemption, it was more than what we value for Capital One miles and also allowed me to stay at one of the best hotels in Taipei.

EVA Air Business Class to Chicago (75,000 Miles)

After 5 days in Taipei, I would need to return home to Chicago. Fortunately, there is a nonstop option on one of my favorite airlines: EVA Air.

Since EVA Air is part of Star Alliance, I could book the nonstop route using Air Canada Aeroplan. I began by searching for award space on Aeroplan and was fortunate to find nonstop EVA Air award space on the exact day I was scheduled to check out of my hotel.

After confirming the award space, I immediately transferred 75,000 Capital One miles to Aeroplan and booked the return flight to Chicago. This was another excellent redemption, as one-way business class flights on EVA Air typically cost around $3,500.

For this redemption, I received approximately 4.7 cents per mile, nearly 3 times our valuation of Capital One miles.

Final Thoughts

The Capital One Venture X Business card is a solid business rewards and premium travel card. By leveraging Capital One’s transfer partners, I was able to redeem the welcome bonus offer for several long-haul business class flights and 5 nights at a luxury hotel. These redemptions would have cost over $15,000 if I’d paid in cash.