Unlike hotel chains like Hyatt, Hilton, IHG, and Marriott, where you can earn and redeem points for free nights, Airbnb doesn’t have a loyalty program of its own. But that doesn’t mean you’re out of luck when it comes to using points for your next stay – or even for something a little more memorable.
While many travel rewards credit cards let you earn bonus points or miles on travel purchases like hotels and vacation rentals, only one bank gives you a straightforward way to those miles for Airbnb (or Vrbo) bookings — and even for Airbnb’s new experiences and premium services, like hiring a private chef or booking a local adventure.
We're talking about Capital One miles – the miles you earn from the bank's popular credit cards like the *venture x* or the *capital one venture card*.
There are many great ways to use Capital One miles, but one of our favorites is to put them toward an Airbnb or Vrbo stay. With Capital One’s “Cover Travel Purchases” feature, you can use miles to cover nearly any travel purchase – including vacation rentals – at a rate of 1 cent per mile.
We’ll walk you through everything you need to know about using Capital One miles to cover the cost of your next Airbnb or Vrbo stay — and maybe even upgrade your experience while you’re at it.
Cover an Airbnb or Vrbo Stay with Capital One Miles
The list of ways to use your Capital One miles keeps growing. Sure, you can earn miles on your Capital One card and transfer them to one of more than 20 airline and hotel partners or even book travel directly through the Capital One Travel portal.
But the easiest way to use these miles, and arguably the most straightforward in the world of points and miles, is to pay for travel with your Venture card and then cover that charge with miles later on.
It's honestly just as easy as it sounds. Here's how it works.
Step 1: Pay for Your Airbnb or Vrbo Stay with Your Venture Card
Let's say you've recently picked up the *venture x*. Once you've spent $10,000 within the first six months of opening the card, you'll earn 100,000 bonus miles. And since you'll earn at least 2x miles for every dollar you spend on your card, you'll end up with at least 120,000 miles when all is said and done.
Using this option, you can redeem those miles for 1 cent apiece towards any travel-related purchase. That means you've got a cool $1,200 in value sitting in your account.
Start by heading directly to the Airbnb or Vrbo website and booking your stay with your Venture X Card. To redeem your Capital One miles using this method, you must make a purchase that codes as “travel” on your credit card statement. From Airbnb and Vrbo stays to Uber rides, to flight and hotel purchases, and even cruises – Capital One considers all of these to be travel purchases.
Simply pay for your Airbnb or Vrbo with your Capital One Venture or Venture X card, and then give it a few days for the purchase to post to your account.
Read next: 5 Steps to Find the Best Airbnb, No Matter Where You’re Heading
Step 2: Cover Your Airbnb or Vrbo Purchase with Your Miles
The second (and final) step in this process is to go back and cover the cost of your Airbnb or Vrbo with your Capital One miles.
Start by logging in to your Capital One account and clicking the “View Rewards” button on the homepage.
Next, select how you'd like to redeem your miles. You can book flights or hotels directly through Capital One, get gift cards, redeem for cash, or transfer Capital One miles to one of their partner airline or hotel programs. However, to get reimbursed for the cost of your Airbnb or Vrbo stay, you'll use the “Cover Travel Purchases” option.
Once you've opted to cover your travel purchases, you'll be directed to a page where you can select which travel-related purchases you'd like to cover with miles. This includes all travel transactions from the last 90 days.
As long as you've used your Venture card to pay for your Airbnb or Vrbo and that transaction has been posted to your account, it should be available to remove with miles.
Again, when redeeming Capital One miles for travel purchases, each mile is always worth 1 cent. So, for example, a $500 Airbnb reservation can be completely covered with 50,000 miles.
Don't have enough miles – or don't want to spend them all? You can even redeem miles to cover just part of a purchase. So if your Airbnb booking costs more miles than you have in your account, you can opt to use as many or as few miles as you'd like.
Read our step-by-step guide to covering travel purchases with Capital One miles!
Use Capital One Miles for Airbnb's New Services and Experiences
In recent years, Airbnb has introduced “Airbnb Services” and “Airbnb Experiences,” allowing travelers to book professional services, such as private chefs, photographers, spa treatments, and personal trainers, as well as curated local experiences, including workshops and activities with celebrities.
To utilize your Capital One miles for these new offerings, pay for them with your Capital One Venture or Venture X card. Once the charge posts to your account, log in to your Capital One account and use the “Cover Travel Purchases” feature to redeem your miles at a rate of 1 cent per mile. Since the charge will come from Airbnb, it will be coded as travel.
Beyond the ability to use Capital One miles to book an actual stay or services, you can also use them to book experiences during your trip. Launched a few years back, Airbnb Experiences is a separate service offered by the popular home-sharing company. You can use the normal Airbnb platform to search for top-rated tours, activities, day trips, and other experiences guided by a local. Again, since the charge will come from Airbnb, it will be coded as travel, allowing you to redeem your miles to cover the cost.
In most cases, these aren’t typical walking tours or day trips, though you can find those, too. These unique experiences range from guided hikes to photo shoots, food experiences, and everything in between. Better yet, you don’t need to stay in an Airbnb during your trip to book one! Book an experience like you would any other tour or activity, and you’ll be set.
For example, on a recent trip to Japan, I booked “The Kyoto Wagyu Experience,” an awesome food experience where we ate authentic A5 Japanese Wagyu. I paid the $143 cost with my Capital One Venture X card. Since my Capital One miles are worth one cent each when used to cover travel purchases, I was able to remove the charge from my card statement for 14,300 miles.
This isn't unique to Airbnb Experiences, however. Any tour or activity that is coded as travel and is charged to your Venture or Venture X card should be eligible to be covered with miles. However, we've had a lot of great luck with Airbnb Experiences, and it's one of the first places I check when planning my trips.
Combine Capital One Miles with Other Cardholders
Capital One gives you the unparalleled ability to combine Capital One miles between accounts, whether you're looking to transfer your miles from an older Venture card to your new Venture X card or you want to combine miles with friends and family.
It's yet another reason why Capital One miles are a great option for booking Airbnb and Vrbo. If you're booking a larger property with multiple people who all have some Capital One miles, you can easily pool your miles and put them toward the booking. There's no limit on the number of miles you can transfer or a requirement that the person you're sharing miles with lives at the same address or is related to you in any way.
Here are the basics:
- You can transfer Capital One miles to other members as long as they have a credit card that earns Capital One miles.
- There is no requirement that the person you are transferring miles to lives at the same address or is related to you in any way.
- There is no cap on the number of miles that can be shared with other Capital One cardholders.
- There are no expiration dates or other major restrictions on miles that are transferred to other cardholders.
To make these transfers, you have to call the number on the back of your Capital One card, as there isn't currently a way to do so online. All you need is the name and card number of the person's account you are transferring to. The entire process should take less than 10 minutes.
How to Earn Capital One Miles
To spend Capital One miles on an Airbnb or Vrbo stay, you've first got to earn them. Here are the cards that can help you bolster your balance of miles.
The Capital One Venture X Card
The *capital one venture x* might just be the best travel credit card we've ever seen.
It's the bank's very first premium travel card, launched back in November 2021. Think of it as a souped-up version of the ever-popular *capital one venture card* that’s chock full of extra benefits like access to Capital One Lounges and Priority Pass lounges, a $300 annual travel credit, a credit for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck, great travel and rental car insurance protection, and more.
The annual fee clocks in at $395 a year, but the benefits can easily outweigh that.
Welcome Offer Bonus: bonus_miles_full
Since you'll earn at least 2x miles on every dollar you spend, you'll end up with 120,000 miles once you complete the initial spending requirement.
Read our full review of the Capital One Venture X Card!
Learn more about the *capital one venture x*
Capital One Venture Card
The *capital one venture card* has been a fan favorite among travelers for years – and for good reason. It's truly one of the best travel credit cards for beginners.
Like the Venture X discussed above, you earn 2x miles on every purchase and even get a credit that covers the cost of Global Entry or TSA PreCheck – all for a card with a $95 annual fee.
Welcome Offer Bonus: bonus_miles_full
Read our full review of the Capital One Venture Card!
Learn more about the *capital one venture card*
Capital One VentureOne Card
Finally, there's the *capital one ventureone card*.
It's a no-annual-fee card that will earn you 1.25x miles per dollar you spend. The welcome bonus is smaller, too, so if your goal is to use these miles to cover an Airbnb or Vrbo stay, you'll likely be better served by one of the options above.
Welcome Offer Bonus: bonus_miles_full
Learn more about the *capital one ventureone card*
Bottom Line
Even though Airbnb and Vrbo don't have loyalty programs of their own, you can use Capital One miles to cover some or all of the cost of your next vacation rental.
And while many other travel credit cards will award you bonus points or miles for actually booking a stay with either Airbnb or Vrbo, only Capital One gives you a path to redeeming miles for stays through either platform.
This is a great option for someone who has more miles than they know what to do with. For more modest point earners like me though, I look for redemptions/transfers that are worth more than 1 cent per mile.