The Capital One Venture Rewards credit cards have become very popular for award travel. They are great cards for beginner credit card points and miles users and offer huge amounts of flexibility in how you can redeem your miles. The easiest way to use your Venture miles is in the form of statement credits on travel purchases. Capital One Venture miles are also a transferable currency, like Chase Ultimate Rewards, American Express Membership Rewards, and Citi ThankYou Points. This means that you can transfer them directly to certain airline and hotel transfer partners. You’ll get the most value out of your miles by transferring them.

 

Capital One Venture Rewards Card Details

• The standard welcome offer is 60,000 miles after spending $3,000 in the first three months
• Annual fee of $95
• Earns 2 miles per dollar spent on ALL purchases
• Up to $100 credit towards Global Entry or TSA PreCheck
• 2 passes per year to Capital One and/or Plaza Premium lounges until December 31, 2024

 

 

Capital One Venture X Card Details

• The standard sign-up bonus is 75,000 miles after spending $4,000 in the first three months
• Annual fee of $395
• Earns 2 miles per dollar spent on ALL purchases
• $300 travel credit annually through the Capital One travel portal
• 10,000 Venture miles on each cardmember anniversary
• Capital One, Priority Pass, and Plaza Premium lounge access
• Up to $100 credit towards Global Entry or TSA PreCheck

 

 

Capital One VentureOne Credit Card

Capital One’s no annual fee card is a great choice if you want to downgrade one of the two cards above. Otherwise, I would not waste a 5/24 spot on it.

 

 

 

Travel Purchase Eraser

The easiest way to use your Venture miles is through statement credits on travel purchases. When used in this manner, each mile is worth 1 cent. So 60,000 Venture miles would be worth $600. What is great about these cards is that they are very flexible! You can use your miles to pay for an Airbnb, Disneyland tickets (make sure you purchase from a travel agency like Get Away Today so it codes as travel), rental cars, cruises, hotels, airlines, a vacation package bought from a travel agency, and more.

I also like these cards because they allow you to shop around to find the best deal instead of being locked in and having to book with a certain hotel or airline. This is a great way to save on travel expenses that are more difficult to use other credit card points on, especially Airbnb and Disneyland tickets.

To redeem your miles this way, make sure you purchase your travel with one of these cards. You will then have 90 days to log into your account and “erase” the purchase! Trust me, it is very easy!

 

Airline and Hotel Partners

Another way to use your miles is to transfer them to Capital One’s airline and hotel partners. Capital One partners with the following airlines and hotel brands. All (except for the last two) transfer at a 1:1 ratio. You can get more value from your miles when you transfer them! Ensure you find the flights you want to book and verify that there is award availability before transferring your miles. Transfers are one-way.

• AeroMexico
• Air Canada Aeroplan
• Air France/KLM Flying Blue
• Avianca
• British Airways
• Cathay Pacific
• Choice Privileges
• Emirates
• Etihad
• Finnair
• Qantas
• Singapore Airlines
• TAP Air Portugal
• Turkish Airlines
• Virgin Red
• Wyndham Rewards
• EVA (transfers at 2:1.5)
• Accor (transfers at 2:1)

 

 

What Can 60,000 Miles Get You?

$600 Towards Travel

As mentioned above, transferring your miles to one of Capital One’s partners can get you more value than $600. But, if your travel goals are to go to Disneyland or you want to keep it super simple, then using your miles to offset those costs could be the best choice for you!

A One-Way Business Class Flight to Greece

Recently, my mom went to Greece with her sister. She flew business class on Lufthansa to get from Chicago to Santorini. She booked her flight through Avianca Lifemiles, a Capital One transfer partner. The cost of her one-way flight was 63,000 miles and $72 in taxes. Her sister booked the exact same flight using United miles and paid 70,000 miles! After meeting the minimum spend on your Capital One Venture card, you would have more than enough miles to book a flight that costs 63,000 miles.

You could also transfer your miles to Turkish Airlines and book a business class flight to Greece (or elsewhere in Europe) for 65,000 miles one-way and just over $200 in taxes. In this scenario, you would be flying on Turkish, which has a really great business class.  I was lucky enough to experience it back in 2018.

 

 

Book Super Cheap United Flights Through Turkish Airlines

You can fly anywhere in the US (including Hawaii and Alaska!) for just 20,000 miles round-trip when you book your United flight through Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles.  Airline alliances are a beautiful thing! 🙂   It is a little challenging to book these flights, but my mom has done it twice, and many of our readers have done it also.

 

Book a Vacasa Rental Through Wyndham Rewards

Another option for booking a vacation rental is to book a Vacasa Rental through Wyndham. Rentals costing $250 a night can be booked at 15K Wyndham points per bedroom per night. Rentals that cost  $250-$500/night  cost 30K points per bedroom per night.

 

There are some great rental properties on Vacasa! Take this home in Newport Beach, CA. You could stay here for 2-3 nights.

Vacasa has rentals all over, including Hawaii. What’s great is some of these one-bedroom units have a basement or loft that isn’t included as a bedroom. 

 

Bottom Line

The Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card and Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card offer so much flexibility when it comes to redeeming your miles. You can use them to erase travel purchases, which is super simple. If you want to get more value out of your miles, you can transfer them to one of Capital One’s transfer partners! Will you add a Capital One Venture or Venture X credit card to your wallet?