The Guide to Capital One Transfer Partners

Unlike co-branded credit cards, transferable point currencies give cardholders the ability to convert their points to a number of different travel partners. Among the available options, Capital One has beefed up its partnerships with hotel and airline loyalty programs to become competitive with other transferable point currencies. This shows, with more favorable transfer ratios and a widening variety of hotel and airline partners from which to choose. And in a recent NerdWallet analysis, we value Capital One points to be worth 1.4 cents when transferred to a partner.

Let’s take a look at Capital One transfer partners, their ratios and which cards will earn you Capital One Miles.

Capital One travel partners overview

Capital One has 18 transfer partners, including three hotel programs. Most of these partners transfer at a 1:1 ratio, which means that one Capital One Mile becomes one point. Just note that not all transfer at this ratio. For some programs, including ALL Accor Live Limitless and EVA Infinity MileageLands, the transfer ratios are worse.

Here are the Capital One transfer partners and their transfer ratios:

Capital One airline transfer partners

When it come to Capital One airline transfer partners, you’ll find representation from all three major airline alliances. Its airline partners are:

A member of SkyTeam, you can transfer your Capital One Miles over to Aeromexico’s Club Premier at a 1:1 ratio.

Air Canada is Canada’s national flag carrier and a member of the Star Alliance (so you can use Aeroplan points to book award flights on any Star Alliance airline, including United). You can transfer Capital One Miles to Air Canada’s Aeroplan at a 1:1 ratio.

Thanks to its distance-based award chart, Aeroplan redemptions tend to be especially valuable for last-minute flights that would otherwise be expensive when booked in cash. Plus, the Aeroplan program has made recent, consumer-friendly changes including the opportunity to share miles with up to eight family members.

The loyalty program of Oneworld member Cathay Pacific, each Capital One Mile transferred becomes one Asia Mile.

Avianca is, like Singapore and Air Canada, a member of the Star Alliance, meaning you can use Avianca LifeMiles to book flights on partners like United and Lufthansa, among others. You can transfer your Capital One Miles to Avianca LifeMiles at a 1:1 ratio. Based on our most recent analysis, NerdWallet values Avianca LifeMiles at 1.2 cents each.

Although some warn against redeeming points with LifeMiles due to its poor customer support, this program can provide reasonable redemptions to Europe and the Middle East. The lack of fuel surcharges doesn’t hurt either.

And while most travelers might think of British Airways in terms of flights to London, that’s not usually where the top value of British Airways Avios lies. In fact, most British Airways Avios sweet spots don’t involve flying British Airways. Instead, British Airways tends to serve as a smart way to book inexpensive awards on American Airlines, Alaska Airlines and other Oneworld partners. That includes flights to the Caribbean for just 7,000 Avios each way.

If you want to fly in those flashy first class suites on Emirates, you can transfer Capital One Miles to Emirates Skywards at a 1:1 ratio. Access to Emirates’ award program is especially critical for those premium cabin redemptions, as the airline typically limits reward availability for these seats almost entirely to direct bookings. A NerdWallet analysis found that you only get about 1 cent per mile in value for Emirates economy, but the value of Emirates miles may be higher when you book Emirates business class.

EVA Air, the Taiwanese airline, is a member of Star Alliance. Capital One Miles transfer over to its loyalty program at a 2:1.5 ratio.

Although not as well known as some other Oneworld members, Finnair Plus still provides some solid value. You can convert your Capital One Miles at a 1:1 ratio.

The Flying Blue reward program is a joint venture between Air France and KLM. Miles can be redeemed interchangeably between these two airlines; you can also use these miles for other SkyTeam partner flights. Capital One cardholders can transfer their miles over to Flying Blue at a 1:1 ratio.

Watch out for Flying Blue’s monthly promo awards that discount certain routes by up to 50% (which means you can sometimes find one-way travel from the U.S. to Europe as low as 11,250 Flying Blue miles).

Yet another Oneworld airline, Capital One Miles can be transferred to Qantas points at a 1:1 ratio. Qantas operates on a distance-based award chart, meaning you can find some decent deals on expensive short-haul flights.

You can find especially great Singapore KrisFlyer sweet spots on flights to Europe and Hawaii, and flights within the continental U.S. Singapore — a Star Alliance member — has an excellent business class product, though redemptions aren’t cheap. And in fact, converting mile to KrisFlyer is typically the only way to book the award-winning Singapore first class product with points.

The reward program for nonalliance airline Virgin Atlantic, your Capital One Miles can be transferred over to Virgin Red at a 1:1 ratio.

Capital One hotel transfer partners

Accor, the popular European hotel chain, will give you a 40 euro discount for every 2,000 points you redeem with its program. Capital One Miles transfer over to ALL at a 2:1 ratio.

Choice Privileges, another of Capital One’s hotel partners, allows you to transfer over your miles at a 1:1 ratio.

The third hotel program on this list, Wyndham Rewards can be converted from Capital One Miles at a 1:1 ratio. Along with its own reward program, Wyndham Rewards has partnered with Vacasa to offer the ability to book full-sized vacation homes with your points.

The best Capital One transfer partners

1. Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles.

2. Air France/KLM Flying Blue.

Of course, you might certainly find individually great redemptions among Capital One partners not named in this top six. But if you’re not sure where to transfer your miles, these airline loyalty programs are the best ones to start with.

Unless you do find a killer redemption, skip the following Capital One transfer options, which provide the least advantageous transfer ratios:

• ALL Accor Live Limitless.

• EVA Infinity MileageLands.

Generally speaking, only transfer points from Capital One to those two travel loyalty programs to top off your account if you’re a few points shy of booking a hotel or airline with your existing points or miles balance. Otherwise, you’re generally better off booking those two travel providers directly within the Capital One travel portal.

How to earn Capital One Miles

The most common way to earn Capital One Miles is through spending on a Capital One credit card that participates in the Capital One Miles program. Just note that not all Capital One credit cards earn miles that can be transferred to these partners. Capital One credit cards that do earn transferable miles include:

All of the Capital One miles transfer partners feature the same transfer ratio, no matter which card you have. This goes for both Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card transfer partners and Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card transfer partners.

However, the miles earned on each transaction varies based on the card that you hold. Notably, the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card, Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card and Capital One Spark Miles for Business all earn at least 2 miles per dollar spent on all purchases — no matter where you’re shopping, so they can be great all-purpose cards.

And of course, one of the best ways to earn a boatload of Capital One miles in one go is through their welcome offers, which will give you a bunch of points for hitting a certain spending threshold in a relatively short period of time. See the best Capital One credit card offers for travel available now.

Is it worth transferring Capital One Miles?

Capital One has a good variety of transfer partners, and although it’s missing any relationships with domestic airlines, you can still redeem rewards on Star Alliance, SkyTeam and Oneworld. Along with its airline partners, Capital One’s three hotel partnerships can offer good redemptions for your miles. However, before you make any bookings, make sure that you’re getting good value.

So how do you know if you’re getting a good value? Use NerdWallet’s Capital One points calculator below to determine the value of your points, based on both the baseline and NerdWallet estimated values:

With a few calculations and a little bit of research, you can squeeze even more value out of your Capital One miles when you maximize its transfer partners (versus using miles to book travel directly through the Capital One Travel portal).