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The changes below have taken effect, and this post is no longer being updated. Here is our archive of major updates from card issuers and loyalty programs.
- 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
Ready for some good news? As of April 20, 2021, Capital One is has added four new transfer partners and has improved the conversion rates on transfers to several existing partners. As if that wasn't enough, Capital One is also working on building two new airport lounges.
Highlights by the Numbers
- 2 new Capital One airport lounges — coming to Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW) and Washington Dulles (IAD)
- 4 new transfer partners: TAP Air Portugal (Miles&Go), Choice Hotels (Choice Privileges), British Airways (Avios), Turkish Airlines (Miles&Smiles)
- 7 improved transfer ratios: get 1:1 transfers when moving Capital One miles to Avianca (LifeMiles), Etihad (Etihad Guest), Asia Miles, AeroMexico (Club Premier), Finnair (Finnair Plus), Qantas (Frequent Flyer) and Wyndham Rewards
New Capital One Lounges
Capital One is jumping into the airport lounge bandwagon by building two new luxurious airport lounges — complete with shower suites, yoga and cycling options, private workspaces, and restaurant-quality dining.
Families are also welcome at the new lounges, which will include private family areas. Parent/nursing rooms are available and will be equipped with lounge-style chairs and footrests, a place to warm baby bottles, mini-fridges with various beverages, and of course, extra counter space for diaper changes.
The first lounge will be located in the Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW) airport. It's scheduled to open in the late summer of 2021. Lounge number two will be at Washington Dulles (IAD) airport and is set to begin allowing guests sometime in 2022.
It doesn't seem that lounge access will be free for Capital One cardholders. Capital One notes that “cardholders will be eligible for special entry rates depending on their card.”
New Capital One Transfer Partners and Transfer Rate Changes
Up until now, Capital One's transfer options lacked… well a lot. First, Capital One's transfer partners weren't particularly diverse and, consequently, not exactly lucrative. However, that's getting better with the addition of four new transfer partners and improved transfer rates for seven existing transfer partners.
Starting April 20, 2021, you can transfer your Capital One miles to a few new — and great — transfer partners:
- British Airways (Avios)
- TAP Air Portugal (Miles&Go)
- Turkish Airlines (Miles&Smiles)
- Choice Hotels (Choice Privileges) — available “later this year”
Capital One is also changing transfer rates for some partners — and all for the better. Capital One miles generally transferred to partners at a 2:1.5 rate. That means that every 2 Capital One miles you transfer to a partner would net 1.5 miles with said partner.
Now, there will be three tiers of transfer rates. One tier will continue to transfer at the standard 2:1.5 ratio. Another transfer tier still has 2:1 partners. The new tier now offers transfers at a 1:1 ratio. Partners in this tier now include:
- Avianca (LifeMiles)
- Etihad (Etihad Guest)
- Asia Miles
- AeroMexico (Club Premier)
- Finnair (Finnair Plus)
- Qantas (Qantas Frequent Flyer)
- Wyndham Rewards
- TAP Air Portugal (Miles&Go)
- Choice Hotels (Choice Privileges)
Capital One Transfer Partners
After all of these changes, Capital One's transfer partners now include:
| Loyalty Program | Transfer Ratio | Miles/Points per 1,000 Capital One Miles Transferred |
|---|---|---|
| Aeromexico (Club Premier) | 1:1 | 1,000 |
| Air Canada (Aeroplan) | 1:1 | 1,000 |
| Air France-KLM (Flying Blue) | 1:1 | 1,000 |
| Avianca (LifeMiles) | 1:1 | 1,000 |
| British Airways (Executive Club) | 1:1 | 1,000 |
| Cathay Pacific (Asia Miles) | 1:1 | 1,000 |
| Emirates (Skywards) | 1:1 | 1,000 |
| Etihad (Etihad Guest) | 1:1 | 1,000 |
| EVA Air (Infinity MileageLands) | 2:1.5 | 750 |
| Finnair (Finnair Plus) | 1:1 | 1,000 |
| JetBlue (TrueBlue) | 5:3 | 1,000 |
| Qantas (Frequent Flyer) | 1:1 | 1,000 |
| Singapore (KrisFlyer) | 1:1 | 1,000 |
| TAP Portugal (Miles & Go) | 1:1 | 1,000 |
| Turkish Airlines (Miles & Smiles) | 1:1 | 1,000 |
| Virgin Red (includes Virgin Atlantic Flying Club) | 1:1 | 1,000 |
| Accor (Accor Live Limitless) | 2:1 | 500 |
| Choice Hotels (Choice Privileges) | 1:1 | 1,000 |
| Wyndham (Wyndham Rewards) | 1:1 | 1,000 |
For a full list of partners and transfer rates, you can read more about it here.
Great Redemptions Now Available
These new changes with Capital One really make the bank's currency a contender in the points and miles world. And this couldn't come at a better time.
Right now, you can earn 75,000 bonus Capital One miles with the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card once you spend $4,000 on purchases within the first 3 months of account opening.
- 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
What can you do with your bonus miles thanks to these changes? Let's find out.
Turkish Miles and Smiles
Turkish Miles & Smiles are a fantastic option when booking with Star Alliance partners. But, there are a few caveats. Not all partner flights are not redeemable online. So, you might have to call in to book. You'll also need to watch out for some heavy carrier-imposed fees. But if you can get to know the program and practice a little patience (because phone calls are the worst) there can be some amazing value had.
Hawaii, anyone? You can use your Turkish miles to book round-trip tickets to Hawaii for just 15,000 miles total and $5.60 in taxes and fees each way.
At the 2:1.5 transfer ratio, you'll need to transfer just 20,000 Capital One miles to get the 15,000 Miles & Smiles miles needed to book the round-trip.
Wyndham Rewards
Before this week's changes, Capital One was already the only transfer partner of Wyndham Rewards. And now that partnership just got better. You can now transfer Capital One miles to Wyndham at a rate of 1:1. This opens up more value when booking hotels with this highly underrated program.
Not only does Wyndham have some incredible properties outside of the United States, but Wyndham hotels are great for locations like National Parks. In these areas, other chain hotels can be nonexistent and the cash cost of these properties is sky-high thanks to the lack of competition and popularity in the area.
For example, a single weekend night in May in Kanab, Utah — gateway to Zion and Escalante Grand Staircase — at the La Quinta runs $254 a night.
When booking with Wyndham points, that same night is just 15,000 points.
Capital One miles are great as you can redeem miles for travel you've already purchased or transfer points to transfer partners. In this case though, you'd have to redeem 25,462 Capital One miles to “erase” the cost of the cash booking. Or, you can transfer just 15,000 Capital One Miles to Wyndham to book an award night.
Eligible Capital One Cards
Capital One issues four miles-earning credit cards — which now transfer to 19 travel loyalty program partners. These cards include:
- Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card
- Capital One VentureOne Rewards Credit Card
- Capital One Spark Miles for Business
- Capital One Spark Miles Select for Business
Both the Capital One Venture and Spark Miles earn 2X miles on every purchase. Spark Miles Select earns 1.5X miles per dollar spent on all purchases and Capital One VentureOne earns 1.25 Miles per dollar on every purchase, every day. 5 Miles per dollar on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel.
Final Thoughts
With Capital One's new changes, it's now time to start healing as a community from all the pain, frustration, and downright trauma from hearing your loved ones boast about how they “got that new Capital One card because I always see it on TV and that lady says it's been voted the best.”
But really, these changes are fantastic. Plus, it's always such a breath of fresh air getting good news in the points and miles world, especially after several nasty, no-notice devaluations (I'm looking at you Southwest).
What do you think of these changes with Capital One?
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