I Never Redeem Miles on Capital One Travel — Here’s What I Do Instead

I love the flexibility provided by fixed-value rewards programs. The most common example of this type of loyalty program is Capital One miles, though Bank of America and U.S. Bank have similar setups.

Using my points and miles to book boutique properties or small airlines that aren’t in a rewards program provides incredible flexibility in my travel — something I find priceless.

As much as I’m a fan of these options for redeeming rewards at a fixed value, I never redeem my miles on the Capital One Travel website. Here’s why.

How To Redeem Capital One Miles

There are several ways to use Capital One miles. You can redeem miles to offset your recent travel purchases within 90 days or cash them out, though the second option provided and continues to provide less value per mile.

In 2018, the issuer added the ability to transfer Capital One miles to airline and hotel programs. If you learn how to use these partner programs, you can send miles to these rewards partners and redeem them at 2, 3, or more cents per mile.

However, the ability to redeem miles after booking travel however you want allows you to book hotels and flights that can’t be accessed with a rewards program. Then, within 90 days of the purchase, you can offset those purchases using miles at a 1-cent-each value. Easy!

How To Use Capital One Travel

The Capital One Travel portal offers flights, lodging, rental cars, and package bookings. It is very similar to other travel websites, such as Expedia or Priceline.

You can pay with a Capital One credit card or redeem Capital One miles in the portal, or you can use a combination of the 2 if you don’t have enough miles to cover the full cost. The number of miles you’ll earn with Capital One Travel varies by card:

Miles are worth 1 cent apiece in the travel portal. That’s well below our average valuation of Capital One miles at 1.8 cents each. Using your miles here is simple, but the higher value comes from the transfer partners discussed above. Better value is also possible if you still want to use miles for purchases in the travel portal — you’ll just do things in a different order.

Why I Don’t Redeem Miles Through the Capital One Travel Portal

Consider the following example: a $400 hotel stay at the Grand Beach Hotel in Miami. This 2-night stay is available starting at $400 — with higher costs for refundable rates — or 28,350 miles plus tax, including a resort fee.

You’re faced with 2 choices if you want to use miles for this stay: redeem them now through the portal or pay with your card and redeem miles after the fact. You should do the latter. Here’s why.

Imagine you have 30,000 miles in your account right now. Booking this stay would basically wipe out your balance after spending 28,350 miles and paying the cash portion of the reservation. You’ll have 1,650 miles left.

But what if you pay with your credit card and use miles later, redeeming miles against travel purchases within 90 days? If you do that, you’ll ultimately get more miles.

With the Capital One Venture card, you could pay for this stay via Capital One Travel and earn 2,000 miles. You’ll still have the option to redeem some of your 30,000 miles later, and you may even be able to redeem them against the hotel’s resort fee, assuming that purchase shows up as a hotel expense on your credit card. Even if you don’t do that, you’ll still redeem 28,350 miles but end with a balance of 3,650 instead.

With the Capital One Venture X card, the difference is even bigger. You could redeem 28,350 miles now, get your hotel reservation, and be left with 1,650 miles. Alternatively, you could pay for the stay with your card to earn 10x miles — earning 4,000 miles from the payment. Within 90 days, redeem your 28,350 miles against this purchase on your billing statement, and you’ll be left with a final balance of 5,650 miles.

Using this strategy, you still book the trip you want, but you do it in a different order to earn more rewards along the way. Those extra miles left in your account can be used for additional trips, cash-back, or other redemptions in the future.

Final Thoughts

I never redeem miles in the Capital One Travel portal. I redeem a lot of miles against purchases made for excursions, activities, and regional airlines that don’t have a rewards program. While I could redeem miles for many of these directly in the portal, I don’t.

Instead, paying for a trip in the portal and then redeeming miles afterward is the smarter move. It allows you to earn miles on the purchase but still gives you the option to redeem miles after the fact, which was the original goal.