Travelers love the *capital one venture card* and the premium *venture x* … and for good reason: There are few travel cards more approachable than these two. With the ability to redeem miles to cover nearly any travel purchase and a slew of valuable transfer partners, Capital One miles have become some of the most valuable on the planet.
While your first reaction might be to opt for the entry-level Venture Card, with its lower $95 annual fee, the Venture X is likely the better value for most travelers. For $395 per year, you'll get an annual $300 Capital One Travel credit, a 10,000-mile anniversary bonus (beginning in year two), lounge access, rental car elite status, and some of the best travel protections on the market.
Oh … and there's this: For a limited-time, you can earn 100,000 bonus miles once you spend $10,000 in the first six months. Since the card earns unlimited 2x miles on all purchases – and even more through Capital One Travel – you'll have a minimum of 120,000 miles to your name when all is said and done. Those miles are worth at least $1,200 towards travel – or likely much more if you transfer them to one of the bank's airline or hotel partners.
No matter which card you're eyeing, racking up miles is the easy part. But actually using them to get the best bang for your buck? That's what we're here for.
Still not sure which card is right for you? Read our guide comparing the Capital One Venture and Venture X Card!
Learn more about the *venture x*.
Learn more about the *capital one venture card*
Book $1,200 in Travel (Anything…)
This is no big secret. In fact, it's the go-to method for millions of Capital One cardholders.
No airline or credit card company makes it easier to redeem miles toward travel than Capital One. Just charge your flight, hotel, Airbnb – even Disney theme park tickets – or almost any other travel expense to your Capital One card. A few days later, you can go in and cover that charge from your statement using miles.
Read more: Using Capital One Miles to Cover Travel Purchases
Using this method, every Capital One mile is worth 1 cent. That means you can use the Venture X Card's big bonus and miles earned on your spending to book $1,200 worth of flights. Or cover a $1,200 hotel stay or Airbnb. Or a $1,200 rental car (a really nice rental car). We could go on and on like this.
Is that an earth-shattering value? No. There are better ways to squeeze more out of your Capital One bonus. But if delving into airline award charts and Capital One transfer partners isn't your thing, the simplicity and flexibility of redeeming Capital One miles this way makes it a serious sweet spot – especially when you pair it with a cheap flight.
Here's an example. Let's say you're a Thrifty Traveler Premium member and just received this alert for $460 nonstop flights from Miami (MIA) to Rome (FCO) for next March.
Get cheap flights like this one sent straight to your inbox with Thrifty Traveler Premium!
Just pay for that flight with your Capital One Venture or Venture X card, go to your account a few days later, and remove it from your statement for 46,000 Capital One miles. That's all it takes.
There are a few advantages to covering travel charges with miles beyond convenience. For starters, it's one of the few ways to make a flight completely free, as your Capital One miles will cover the taxes and fees that a traditional airline award booking would not – plus, you'll still earn miles with the airline you're flying. Most importantly, you're booking directly with the airline—not through a third-party online travel agency that could complicate your booking later on.
But if you want to get more value from your Capital One miles, you'll want to study up on Capital One's transfer partners.
Capital One added the ability to transfer miles straight to airline programs years ago. After steadily adding more and more partners and making significant improvements, it's now a bonafide option with some killer value. With few exceptions, every 1,000 Capital One miles you transfer gets you 1,000 airline miles or hotel points.
Read our guide to Capital One transfer partners and learn how you can transfer your miles!
Just 20K to Hawaii and Back!
I'll be honest, this one requires a bit of work … but the savings are worth it. You can book United flights from the mainland all the way to Hawaii for just 20,000 miles roundtrip. With the current offer on the Venture X, you'd have enough miles to book six flights to Hawaii and back.
But it all hinges on using the Turkish Miles & Smiles program, another 1:1 transfer partner, and one of the most underrated options in Capital One's arsenal. Case in point: Turkish's award chart makes it possible to fly from anywhere in the U.S. to Hawaii and back for just 20,000 miles roundtrip – or just 30,000 miles in business class.
So what's the problem? Well, booking is a bit of a pain. For starters, you'll need to find award availability through United.com or another site like Singapore's. From there, you might have luck finding and booking straight through Turkish's website, but it can be incredibly hit or miss.
Read our full walkthrough on how to book these incredibly cheap flights to Hawaii through Turkish!
At times, nonstop flights simply won't show up at all. So, odds are, you'll need to either email Turkish or call them at 1-800-874-8875 to book. Make sure to read our full guide on how to book flights to Hawaii through Turkish.
However, considering that United itself would charge 45,000 miles or more for these exact same flights, this is a steal. You won't find a cheaper way to get to Hawaii using your Capital One bonus.
Lie-Flat to London for 29K Each Way
Virgin's transition to dynamic award pricing has resulted in some outstanding deals, flying Virgin Atlantic itself … for a fraction of the miles. Unfortunately, this deal recently took a big hit: Virgin now tacks on close to $600 in taxes and fees on a one-way business class ticket to London-Heathrow (LHR).
Still, flying business class to London from East Coast cities like Boston (BOS), New York City (JFK), Washington, D.C.-Dulles (IAD), or Atlanta (ATL) for as low as 29,000 points could be worth stomaching the higher fees.
If you get lucky, you might even be able to time it with a big transfer bonus to drop the price even further. For example, Capital One recently offered a 30% bonus to Virgin that would have made this flight bookable for just 23,000 miles each way.
There are deals to be had in the lower cabins now, too.
- A one-way from the East Coast to London for as low as 6,000 miles.
- A one-way in premium economy can often be found for just 10,500 miles.
Thrifty Tip: It’s much easier to search for Virgin Atlantic flights one-way rather than roundtrip – and unlike with many other airlines, it’ll often save you money on taxes and fees for booking one-way separately, too.
15K Miles (or Less) to Get to Europe
This might just be the sweetest spot of all – especially if you live in Minneapolis-St. Paul (MSP).
You can transfer your Capital One bonus to Virgin Atlantic to fly Air France or KLM economy from Minneapolis-St. Paul (MSP) to just about anywhere in Western Europe for 30,000 points roundtrip and around $150 in fees. It works whether you're flying nonstop to Amsterdam (AMS) or Paris (CDG) or connecting elsewhere to cities like Barcelona (BCN) or Rome (FCO).
It's one of the cheapest ways to fly to Europe with points and miles because it combines low rates with low fees. The odd thing about this sweet spot is that it really only works from Minneapolis: If you depart from other cities in the U.S. or Canada, you'll get hit with cash fees of around $400 or more.
But when flying out of Minneapolis, Virgin isn't charging the fuel surcharge it does from other cities – meaning cash fees are typically $200 or less.
It gets better. Whether you want to pop over to Madrid (MAD) or Lisbon (LIS), party in Dublin (DUB), or eat your way around Rome (FCO), you can fly almost anywhere in Western Europe for as low as 15,000 miles each way and under $100 in taxes and fees. You can even fly into one European city and back from another!
Virgin Atlantic isn't a Capital One transfer partner … but Virgin Red is. Virgin Red is the overarching loyalty program for all Virgin brands, from the airline to Virgin Hotels, Virgin Voyages, and more. Be sure to read our instructions on how you can transfer your Capital One bonus to Virgin Red and make this amazing deal a reality.
Biz Class to Japan Under 74K
Flying Japan Airlines (JAL) 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 to cross the Pacific, no matter if you're flying in economy or business class. With Capital One recently adding JAL as a transfer partner, you can now use a big stash of Capital One miles to do it.
Unfortunately, Capital One miles don't transfer to JAL on a 1:1 basis; instead, every 1,000 miles you transfer will net you 750 Mileage Bank miles. But thanks to JAL's reasonable award chart, these tickets still cost less than booking with nearly any other program.
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 73,400 Capital One miles – and $142 in taxes and fees.
Your best bet at finding these cheap award rates is at the end of the calendar. But one standout feature of JAL Mileage Bank is that they offer their members tons of additional award availability at slightly higher rates: It's not too hard to find one-way flights for 75,000 miles, transferring just 100,000 Capital One miles to make it happen.
Is that the bargain of the century? No … but it's still a decent price to pay for a seat like this.
You'll currently find JAL's new business class suites flying one of the carrier's Airbus A350-1000 to or from New York City (JFK), Los Angeles (LAX), and Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW).
If you're feeling really fancy, you could even book Japan Airlines first class for 125,000 miles – 166,700 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.
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. With the 1,000:750 transfer ratio, you'd need just 53,400 Capital One miles for a ride in premium economy and only 36,000 miles for regular economy class flights to Japan.
Or Business Class to Istanbul for 65K!
Even after raising rates last year, Turkish still offers one of the most economical ways to fly business class to Turkey. Go figure!
For just 65,000 miles each way, you can book a business class seat between the U.S. and Istanbul thanks to the incredible Turkish Airlines Miles & Smiles program. With a 1:1 transfer ratio, 65,000 Capital One miles is all you need.
The airline is renowned for its inflight catering – complete with an onboard chef – and solid service. Look for flights on the airlines' newest Boeing 787s or Airbus A350s.
Read our full review of Turkish Airlines business class!
Bahamas or Cayman Islands for 15K Miles!
OK … this is the weirdest one, for sure. But it's really fun! Sometimes, the cheapest way to fly lie-flat requires getting creative … by flying strange routes that may not even touch U.S. soil.
British Airways operates one such route: A few times each week, it flies one of its planes decked out with snazzy new Club World business class suites … on the short, nonstop flight between Nassau (NAS) and the Grand Cayman (GCM). The airline flies one of its wide-body planes so it can serve both Caribbean destinations from London without having to run a separate flight.
Here's why it matters: The airline charges just 15,000 Avios and $25 each way for these intra-Caribbean flights.
This kind of quirky deal is the epitome of a “Nerd Alert,” the special deals we send to Thrifty Traveler Premium members to give them a chance to fly some of the coolest seats on strange routes. And with this big bonus, you'd have enough miles to bring along four of your closest friends.
Qatar Qsuites from 70K Miles
We saved the best for last.
Thanks to Qatar Airways' recent adoption of Avios, the floodgates are open to book Qatar's world-leading Qsuite business class seats using a big Venture Card bonus.
Check out our full review of Qatar Qsuites!
Here's the easiest route: You could book a simple nonstop from many cities in the U.S. over to Doha (DOH) for just 70,000 British Airways Avios and about $100 in fees. Find the award availability you want, transfer 70,000 Capital One miles to your BA account, and book it. Done. It doesn't get much cheaper or easier than that.
We send Thrifty Traveler Premium members award alerts when they can book the world's best business class using their points, plus cheap cash fares too!
But if you want to take it next level and connect elsewhere – Dubai (DXB) or Muscat (MCT) in the Middle East, Cairo (CAI), or maybe even the Maldives (MLE) or down to Cape Town (CPT) in South Africa – you'll want to turn to Qatar Airways Avios. And even though you can't directly transfer Capital One miles to Qatar, you can easily combine your Avios balances between British Airways and Qatar.
These multi-segment awards wind up being much cheaper by booking through Qatar itself than British Airways, which still charges mileage on a per-segment basis. Booking through Qatar, you could fly in Qsuites to …
- Middle Eastern destinations like Dubai (DXB), Abu Dhabi (AUH) or Muscat (MCT) for 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
Considering both Venture Cards earn unlimited 2x miles on all purchases, you'd have at least 83,000 miles at your disposal after meeting the $4,000 minimum spending requirement. That puts many of these more far-flung destinations within reach.
Qatar recently raised its surcharges to about $200 for a simple nonstop to Doha or $300 (or more) if you need to make a connection. But that's a price worth paying, given you can book these incredible flights for as few as 70,000 Capital One miles with this bonus.
Bottom Line
This is just the tip of the iceberg.
With a big stash of Capital One miles, an easy way to redeem them toward almost any travel expense, plus a portfolio of nearly 20 transfer partners, the world is – quite literally – your oyster. But these are some of our favorite ways to put 120,000 Capital One miles to use.
