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Some travelers may overlook the Capital One miles program since it doesn’t partner with major U.S. airlines like American, Delta, United, or Alaska. But did you know you can still book award flights on all of these airlines using Capital One miles? The trick is using the partners and alliances of Capital One’s 16 airline transfer partners.
Even better, award flights can sometimes be cheaper to book through these partners than through U.S. airline mileage programs. For example, you can book United flights for as few as 10,000 miles and flights between the U.S. mainland and Hawaii for just 15,000 miles (or potentially less) each way. United itself rarely offers award flights that cheap anymore.
Today, let’s break down the best sweet spots for using Capital One miles to travel within North America, including Hawaii, Mexico, and the Caribbean — and cover some of the best ways to stock up on these valuable miles.
- Earn 75,000 Miles once you spend $4,000 on purchases within the first 3 months of account opening
- 5X miles on hotels, vacation rentals and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel
- 2X miles on all other purchase
- Fee credit for Global Entry or TSA Pre✔® (up to $120)
- No foreign transaction fees
- $95 annual fee
- 5X miles per dollar on purchases through Capital One Entertainment (through 12/31/2025)
- 5X miles per dollar on hotels, vacation rentals and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel
- 2X miles per dollar on all other purchases
Page Contents
- Capital One Airline Transfer Partners Overview
- The Best Capital One Sweet Spots in North America
- Delta flights from 5,000 Capital One miles
- American and Alaska flights from 6,000 Capital One miles
- United flights from 10,000 Capital One miles
- United flights to Hawaii from 10,000 Capital One miles
- American Airlines flights to Mexico, Bahamas, and the Caribbean from 12,000 Capital One miles
- American and Alaska flights to Hawaii From 15,000 Capital One miles
- Book low-cost carriers with Capital One miles
- Top Ways to Stock up on Capital One Miles
- Bottom Line
Capital One Airline Transfer Partners Overview
Before we dive into the sweet spots, here's an overview of Capital One's 16 airline partners, transfer ratios, and which U.S. airline partner each has:
| Capital One Transfer Partner | Transfer Ratio | ...which you can use to book award flights on: |
|---|---|---|
| Aeromexico Rewards | 1:1 | Delta |
| Air Canada Aeroplan | 1:1 | United |
| Air France/KLM Flying Blue | 1:1 | Delta, WestJet, and Aeromexico |
| Avianca LifeMiles | 1:1 | United |
| British Airways Club | 1:1 | American and Alaska |
| Cathay Pacific Asia Miles | 1:1 | American and Alaska |
| Emirates Skywards | 1:1 | United |
| Etihad Guest | 1:1 | American and JetBlue |
| EVA Air Infinity MileageLands | 4:3 | United |
| Finnair Plus | 1:1 | American and Alaska |
| JetBlue TrueBlue | 5:3 | JetBlue and Cape Air |
| Qantas Frequent Flyer | 1:1 | American and Alaska |
| Singapore KrisFlyer | 1:1 | United and Alaska |
| TAP Air Portugal Miles&Go | 1:1 | United |
| Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles | 1:1 | United |
| Virgin Red | 1:1 | Delta and Aeromexico |
Related: How to Transfer Capital One Miles to Airline and Hotel Partners
The Best Capital One Sweet Spots in North America
Delta flights from 5,000 Capital One miles
Several Capital One airline transfer partners can be used to book flights on Delta. One of our favorite options is Virgin Atlantic, which lets you book nonstop Delta award flights for as few as 7,500 points when the distance is under 500 miles.
Virgin Atlantic award pricing increases with distance:
- 11,000 points for nonstop Delta flights between 501-1,000 miles
- 16,500 points for nonstop Delta flights between 1,001-1,500 miles
- 18,500 points for nonstop Delta flights between 1,501-2,000 miles
- 22,000 points for nonstop Delta flights between 2,001-3,000 miles
One sweet spot on this chart is flying between Atlanta (ATL) and Nassau (NAS) for just 11,000 Capital One miles each way — with minimal taxes and fees:
Flying Blue is another decent option for booking domestic Delta award flights with miles you transfer from Capital One. Flying Blue prices Delta awards based on the city pairings, so deals can be hit or miss, but good ones are out there nonetheless. Some examples include routes like Detroit (DTW) to Chicago (ORD) for 5,000 miles:
Raleigh-Durham (RDU) to Orlando (MCO) for 7,000 miles:
Or Minneapolis (MSP) to Denver (DEN) for 9,000 miles:
American and Alaska flights from 6,000 Capital One miles
Travelers have several options for booking American or Alaska domestic awards using Capital One miles.
Etihad is one example, with awards starting at 6,000 miles for routes under 500 miles. You could potentially book JetBlue flights at the same cost, which may be a better option than booking through JetBlue directly — since Capital One transfers to JetBlue at a 5:3 ratio.
Qantas is another example. Through Qantas Frequent Flyer, you can find U.S. domestic flights for as few as 8,000 points! Though it's worth noting that Qantas has plans to devalue this sweet spot on August 5, 2025. The 8,000-point rate will jump to 9,200 points.
Cardholders can also use Capital One miles to book Alaska award flights through Singapore KrisFlyer. Instead of using a distance-based award chart (like British Airways, Qantas, or Asia Miles), Singapore divides the U.S. into five zones. Flights within a zone — and sometimes to nearby zones — start at just 7,500 miles each way.
United flights from 10,000 Capital One miles
As you can likely gather from the table above, several Capital One transfer partners are members of Star Alliance. And you can get excellent value booking United awards through a few of them (there are hundreds you can book!). But just be mindful of the taxes and fees.
Air Canada Aeroplan
Air Canada Aeroplan is a solid option for booking United award flights. And this holds true despite Air Canada recently adding United to its list of “select partners” that are subject to dynamic pricing. Although the Air Canada partner chart lists United awards as “starting at” a lower price, we’ve found that in practice, economy tickets generally price out as follows:
- 10,000 points for routes under 500 miles
- 12,500 points for routes between 500–1,500 miles
- 15,000 points for routes between 1,501–2,750 miles
There's plenty of potential value in the 1,501–2,750 mile range, which we’ll highlight in the Hawaii section below. Meanwhile, short-haul United flights can be a solid option through Air Canada. For example, this Chicago (ORD) to Kansas City (MCI) flight falls under 500 miles and costs 10,000 Aeroplan points.
Avianca LifeMiles
Fellow Star Alliance and Capital One partner Avianca LifeMiles should also be considered when booking domestic United flights. A recent devaluation and some quirks mean results won’t always be consistent, though.
For example, the same Chicago–Kansas City flight above is also 10,000 LifeMiles, yet a Seattle to Palm Springs one-stop flight (spanning 1,100 miles) comes in at just 7,500 LifeMiles. You can find many awards starting at 7,500 miles, so it’s worth comparing your options. Just note that the cancellation policies of Air Canada and Avianca LifeMiles aren’t the most consumer friendly.
Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles
Another fantastic Capital One transfer partner for booking United flights is Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles. Turkish charges 10,000 miles for all economy awards within the United States — including flights to Hawaii. The catch, of course, is finding award space.
United flights to Hawaii from 10,000 Capital One miles
Let’s not gloss over that Turkish Miles&Smiles award price. It’s one of the best Capital One sweet spots available. It’s incredible that you can fly from anywhere in the U.S. to Hawaii for just 10,000 miles. The downside is that the Miles&Smiles website makes searching and booking these awards quite difficult. This post outlines how to search and book them.
If you can find economy saver space (X fare) on United’s website, it may be possible to book these awards for 10,000 Turkish miles. If the award doesn't show up on Turkish’s site, you may need to call or email Turkish. Be prepared for some frustration. But it's worth the hassle to save 60% off what United charges for the same flights!
As mentioned above, if Turkish proves too difficult, Air Canada can also be a useful option for getting to Hawaii. Ironically, this Cleveland (CLE) to Orlando (MCO) flight — spanning just 897 miles — costs the same as the 2,552-mile Los Angeles (LAX) to Honolulu (HNL) flight.
That means there can be excellent value on routes from the West Coast (under 2,750 miles) to Hawaii.
American Airlines flights to Mexico, Bahamas, and the Caribbean from 12,000 Capital One miles
Another way to put your Capital One miles to good use is to take advantage of British Airways’ distance-based award chart to fly to the Bahamas, the Caribbean, or Mexico for as few as 12,000 Avios.
This sweet spot is somewhat limited (and has been devalued several times over the years), as the award rate requires nonstop American Airlines flights under 650 miles. But that's still long enough to cover about a dozen routes from Miami (MIA), like MIA to Grand Cayman (GCM).
If you need to book a connecting flight, check the award rate when booking through Qantas Frequent Flyer. Qantas is often less expensive than booking the exact same itinerary through British Airways when there are one or more connections.
American and Alaska flights to Hawaii From 15,000 Capital One miles
Cathay Pacific Asia Miles offers American and Alaska award flights to Hawaii starting at 15,000 miles each way, making it a better option than British Airways, which charges 20,000 Avios one-way. If you don’t already have Avios, it’s worth booking through Asia Miles. However, the math could shift if there’s a transfer bonus to British Airways Club.
Book low-cost carriers with Capital One miles
Whenever you consider booking award flights with Capital One miles, remember that Capital One miles can be redeemed for 1 cent per mile to cover travel purchases. So, make sure you're getting at least that much value from any award booking.
For cheap flights, it may be better to simply book the cash fare with your eligible Capital One card. Then, go into “Cover Travel Purchases” and redeem miles for a statement credit to offset the cost.
For example, say you're looking at a Frontier flight between Las Vegas (LAS) and Los Angeles (LAX). If the fare is just $18.98, you’d only need 1,898 Capital One miles to cover the purchase. This fare does require a Discount Den membership, but with a price this low, it's not worth checking award rates.
Top Ways to Stock up on Capital One Miles
If these Capital One miles sweet spots for flights within North America sound appealing, you’re in luck. Several Capital One cards currently offer new cardmember bonuses with plenty of miles to take advantage of the awards highlighted in this post. Some of the top personal card offers include:
- Capital One VentureOne Rewards Credit Card: Earn 20,000 miles once you spend $500 on purchases within 3 months from account opening.
- Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card: Earn 75,000 Miles once you spend $4,000 on purchases within 3 months from account opening.
- Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card: Earn 75,000 bonus miles when you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.
- 5 Miles per dollar on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel
- 5 Miles per dollar on purchases through Capital One Entertainment (through 12/31/2025)
- 1.25 Miles per dollar on every purchase, every day.
- 5X miles per dollar on purchases through Capital One Entertainment (through 12/31/2025)
- 5X miles per dollar on hotels, vacation rentals and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel
- 2X miles per dollar on all other purchases
- 10X miles per $1 on hotels and rental cars booked via Capital One Travel
- 5X miles per $1 on purchases through Capital One Entertainment (through 12/31/2025)
- 5X miles per $1 on flights when booking via Capital One Travel
- 5X miles per $1 on vacation rentals booked via Capital One Travel
- 2X miles per $1 on all other eligible purchases
You can also find excellent offers on some of Capital One's business cards, too:
- Capital One Spark Miles for Business: Earn a one-time bonus of 50,000 miles - equal to $500 in travel - once you spend $4,500 on purchases within 3 months from account opening.
- Capital One Venture X Business: Earn 150,000 Miles once you spend $30,000 in the first 3 months from account opening.
- 2X miles per dollar on every purchase, everywhere, no limits or category restrictions
- 5X miles per dollar on purchases through Capital One Entertainment (through 12/31/2025)
- 5X miles on hotels, vacation rentals and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel
- 10X miles per $1 on hotels and rental cars booked via Capital One Travel
- 5X miles per $1 on purchases through Capital One Entertainment (through 12/31/2025)
- 5X miles per $1 on flights booked via Capital One Travel
- 5X miles per $1 on vacation rentals booked via Capital One Travel
- 2X miles per $1 on other eligible purchases
Better yet, many of these cards are ones you'll want to continue to use even after earning the bonus, as many earn at least 2X Capital One miles on every purchase. Capital One miles are worth a minimum of 1 cent each when redeemed toward travel purchases, giving you a baseline return of 2% back on everything you buy. But as we've covered, you can get even more value by using transfer partners strategically.
Related: Best Credit Cards for Everyday Purchases
Bottom Line
Even though JetBlue is the only U.S.-based airline among Capital One’s 16 airline partners, you can still use Capital One miles to book award flights on American, Alaska, Delta, and United by transferring your miles to the right partner programs.
The potential value and flexibility are two of the main reasons Capital One miles are worth earning in the first place. And if you apply for a miles-earning card like the Capital One Venture or Capital One Venture X, you can jumpstart your account and take advantage of several of these sweet spots.
- Earn 75,000 Miles once you spend $4,000 on purchases within the first 3 months of account opening
- 5X miles on hotels, vacation rentals and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel
- 2X miles on all other purchase
- Fee credit for Global Entry or TSA Pre✔® (up to $120)
- No foreign transaction fees
- $95 annual fee
- 5X miles per dollar on purchases through Capital One Entertainment (through 12/31/2025)
- 5X miles per dollar on hotels, vacation rentals and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel
- 2X miles per dollar on all other purchases
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