Capital One Adds a Trio of New Transfer Partners, Including Japan Airlines!

The *capone venture* and its premium sibling, the *venture x*, have long been travelers' go-to cards for one big reason: It’s easy to earn miles and even easier to use them. Now, you’ve got even more ways to redeem.

On Tuesday Morning, Capital One officially just added three new transfer partners to its already long list of options: Japan Airlines Mileage Bank (JAL), Qatar Airways Privilege Club, and I Prefer Hotel Rewards. JAL is no doubt the headliner – this is just the second major bank program that's a transfer partner following Bilt's addition earlier this year. Critically, Japan Airlines offers some shockingly cheap award rates to fly lie-flat to Japan and back … with more award availability to actually book those seats than you'll find booking through other airline programs!

Unfortunately, not all of these transfers come at a clean, 1:1 ratio where every Capital One mile converts to one airline mile or hotel point. 

Here's how it works: 

• JAL Mileage Bank: Capital One miles transfer at a 2:1.5 ratio, meaning every 1,000 Capital One miles you send to JAL will result in 750 Mileage Bank miles.
• Qatar Airways Privilege Club: Capital One miles transfer 1:1, meaning 1,000 Capital One miles turns into 1,000 Qatar Avios.
• I Prefer Hotel Rewards: Capital One miles transfer 1:2, meaning a transfer of 1,000 Capital One miles will yield 2,000 I Prefer points. 

But there's a sweetener for JAL at launch: Through Oct. 22, Capital One is offering a 30% transfer bonus to JAL. So for the next month, every 1,000 Capital One miles you transfer to Japan Airlines, you'll get 975 JAL miles – just multiply the miles you need by 1.0256 to determine how many Capital One miles to transfer. Yes, the math is messy, but this transfer bonus makes it a nearly 1:1 transfer … for the time being. 

The addition of Qatar Airways will make booking the airline's coveted Qsuites business class a little easier – though it was already a backdoor transfer partner through Capital One partners British Airways and Finnair. Meanwhile, Preferred Hotels & Resorts' I Prefer Hotel Rewards program opens the door to some really high-end independent, boutique hotels around the world … albeit with a relatively limited footprint. 

As with all Capital One partners, you can dial in the exact amount of points or miles you need to book an award. Transfers start at 1,000 miles, then increase in 100-mile increments to help you avoid orphaning extra points. This should keep you from moving over more miles than absolutely necessary, even with all the funky math. 

Read on for everything you need to know about these new transfer partners and redeeming Capital One miles.

Best Use of JAL Mileage Bank Miles

These days, everyone wants to go to Japan … and for good reason. It's clean, safe, modern (yet steeped in culture), and don't even get me started on the food.

Flying Japan Airlines from one of the carrier's nine North American gateways to Tokyo Haneda (HND) or Narita (NRT) – or even Osaka (KIX) – is a great way cross the Pacific, no matter if you're flying in economy or business class. Thanks to JAL's reasonable award chart, a one-way ticket to Japan will set you back 27,000 miles in economy, 40,000 miles in premium economy, or as low as 55,000 miles in business class. That's even better than what American AAdvantage charges!

The only problem? It's been practically impossible for U.S. travelers to actually earn JAL miles. That changed a little when Bilt added JAL as a 1:1 transfer partner earlier this year, but now with Capital One entering the fold, there's never been a better time to familiarize yourself with JAL Mileage Bank to start taking advantage of this new sweet spot.

Take this flight from Chicago-O'Hare (ORD) to Tokyo-Haneda (HND) for example. You can book a Japan Airlines business class seat on the nearly 13-hour flight to Japan for just 55,000 miles – just 56,500 Capital One miles with the current transfer bonus – and $142 in taxes and fees. 

If you're feeling really fancy, you could even book Japan Airlines first class for 125,000 miles – 128,300 Capital One miles – and the same $142 in taxes and fees. JAL's first class awards are priced based on seasonality so you may even see prices as low as 110,000 miles on off-peak dates … or as high as 140,000 miles in peak season. 

If you're flying to or from New York City (JFK), Los Angeles (LAX), or Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW), you might even luck out and find availability on one of JAL's new Airbus A350-1000 aircraft, equipped with the airline's brand new business suites like this. 

Of course, the ride is even more comfortable in first class – just look at how wide the seat is when it's converted a bed! 

While first class seats in particular are no sure thing, Japan Airlines gives its Mileage Club members much more premium award availability than you'll see searching through American AAdvantage, Cathay Pacific Asia Miles, and other Oneworld alliance mileage programs. That could make this the single-best way to score a lie-flat seat to Japan and back – especially if you're willing to plan 11-plus months in advance, when we tend to see the best availability.

If you're content flying further back, finding a seat in premium economy for 40,000 miles each way – or regular economy for 27,000 miles each way – is also quite doable. 

But there's one big hitch to be aware of: JAL Mileage Bank typically requires accounts to be 60 days old in order to be able to redeem miles. With this announcement, Capital One has made a deal allowing cardholders to redeem their miles within seven days after transferring – even if their JAL account isn't already 60 days old.

Even if you don't have a redemption to make right away, you'd be wise to enroll in JAL Mileage Bank now to speed up the process and avoid any future delays when it comes time to transfer miles to JAL.

Best Use of Qatar Airways Avios

Qatar Qsuites are the best business class seats in the world, full stop. For years, the best way to book them was redeeming American AAdvantage miles … but things have changed. 

These days, the #1 way to book Qsuites is by using Qatar's own Avios. Unlike American (which only allows you to book flights 330 days in advance), you can book nearly a full year in advance when using Qatar Avios. That gives you critical window to snag your Qsuite before other travelers have the chance. 

Read our full review of flying Qatar Qsuites!

So how many Capital One miles will it cost you? It depends on where you're going:

• Nonstops between the U.S. and Doha (DOH) will cost you 70,000 Avios each way – though you might see more flights at twice that rate
• Flying to Middle Eastern destinations like Dubai (DXB), Abu Dhabi (AUH) or Muscat (MCT) costs 75,000 miles.
• Other destinations like Amman (AMM) and Cairo (CAI) as well as major Indian cities go up to 80,000 miles each way.
• Getting to the Seychelles (SEZ) or Maldives (MLE) will run you 85,000 miles each way.
• Both Southeast Asia and South Africa typically cost 95,000 miles each way.

Since Capital One miles now transfer 1:1, you'd only need to send 70,000 of them over to Qatar to book this business class seat from Miami (MIA) to Doha (DOH). 

Read our full guide to booking flights with Qatar Avios!

Qatar tacks on about $250 for a nonstop flight in business class – and north of $300 when making a connection. Still, that's a small price to pay for one of the best business class experiences in the world. 

In addition to booking Qatar's own flights, you can also use Avios to book domestic flights on Oneworld partner airlines like American and Alaska – sometimes at more favorable rates than the airlines charge their own members. 

The only reason the addition of Qatar isn't bigger news is because Capital One has long partnered with British Airways and you can easily transfer Avios between all the different airlines that use them – including Qatar. This move eliminates an extra hurdle from the process and that is, of course, a good thing. 

Best Use of I Prefer Hotel Rewards Points

Never heard of Preferred Hotels & Resorts or its I Prefer Hotel Rewards loyalty program? We can't really fault you for that. 

This collection of 600-plus independent hotels isn't exactly tiny, but when you stack it up against household names like Hilton, Hyatt, IHG, and Marriott, it's quite small in comparison. But what it lacks in size, it makes up for in might. With a presence in over 80 countries around the globe, you'll find some unique boutique properties in places near and far. 

Speaking of far … let's say you're planning a trip to South Africa and want to use your Capital One miles to book a safari – a major blind spot for most hotel programs, but not I Prefer.

Last Word Kitara sits on the banks of the Klaserie River, just outside Kruger National Park. As is the case with most luxury safari camps, nights here don't come cheap – generally starting at $1,500 (or more) when all is said and done. But if you've got I Prefer points, you can book this same exact room for 150,000 points per night – just 75,000 Capital One miles with the 1:2 transfer ratio! 

Related Reading: How We Booked a South African Safari With Points & Miles

If a safari isn't on your bucket list – even though it certainly should be – you can also get good value from I Prefer points in plenty of cities across the globe. Take New York City, for example, where a night at The Prince Kitano hotel in Midtown Manhattan typically goes for $500 (and often much more), but you can book that same room for just 50,000 I Prefer points. With Capital One's 1:2 transfer ratio, transferring 25,000 miles to I Prefer is all you'd need to book a stay here.

These are just a few examples of what's possible with I Prefer points. Hopefully, it serves as a good reminder that just because you're not familiar with a program doesn't make it worthless.

Now, it's worth mentioning that as nice as the addition of I Prefer is, Capital One isn't Preferred Hotels & Resorts only transfer partner. Citi also partners with I Prefer … and offers an even more impressive 1:4 transfer ratio. This means if you've got both Citi ThankYou Rewards and Capital One miles, you'd be much better off transferring from Citi instead.

Full List of Capital One Transfer Partners

Capital One made a name for itself by allowing travelers to easily cover nearly any travel purchase using miles. But over the years, the bank has steadily added new airline and hotel loyalty programs to its list of travel partners – and in the process, turned Capital One miles into an indispensable currency for award travelers, too. 

With these three new additions, Capital One's full roster of partners is up to nearly two dozen total. Here's a look at the full list. 

Just keep in mind, all these transfers are a one-way street. So as exciting as the prospect of having a stash of Qatar Airways Avios or JAL Mileage Bank miles may be, you'll want to hold off on making a transfer until you've got a good use for them. Once you move them to a hotel or airline partner, there's no going back.

Bottom Line

Capital One just added three new transfer partners – Japan Airlines Mileage Bank (JAL), Qatar Airways Privilege Club, and I Prefer Hotel Rewards – giving Venture and Venture X cardholders more valuable ways to use miles.

The addition of JAL is especially exciting as it unlocks some standout sweet spots to Japan. And although the normal transfer is at a lackluster 2:1.5 ratio, the limited-time 30% bonus through late October makes for an enticing deal.