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The changes below have taken effect, and this post is no longer being updated.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 3 months from account opening; worth $750 in travel if redeemed for a fixed-value, or potentially much more when transferred to airline partners
- 2 Miles on every purchase
- Fee credit for Global Entry or TSA Pre✔® (up to $100)
- No foreign transaction fees
- $95 annual fee
- 5X miles per dollar on hotels 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 |
| 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 3 months from account opening.
- Earn 75,000 Miles once you spend $4,000 on purchases within 3 months from account opening; worth $750 in travel if redeemed for a fixed-value, or potentially much more when transferred to airline partners
- 2 Miles on every purchase
- Fee credit for Global Entry or TSA Pre✔® (up to $100)
- No foreign transaction fees
- $95 annual fee
- 5X miles per dollar on hotels 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 18 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 and 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?
The comments on this page are not provided, reviewed, or otherwise approved by the bank advertiser. It is not the bank advertiser's responsibility to ensure all posts and/or questions are answered.
Great to hear about the lounges, will need to reevaluate my cards to see where I should focus.
I am glad to see Capital One has more transferring partners. But selections are still limited and most of them I don’t normally use.
I like the new options. I don’t think it’ll push me to get a card. It’s interesting how they have a charge for card holder to get into their lounge. Not a bad idea but I don’t think it’d work with Amex since their annual fee is high and they are looking to possibly raise it. It’ll be interesting to see how capital one handles the lounges.
I was recently denied this card due to “too many revolving accounts”. I’m currently at 5/24 but will fall under in the next two months. Is there an unofficial or official Capital One “5/24” rule? I also understand that I cannot reapply for another 6 months, is there any way around that, so I can still obtain this new SUB?
Capital One is quite strict. As far as I know, there isn’t a “5/24”-style metric that’s known for Capital One. It might be worth calling in a couple of weeks and asking for a reconsideration of your application.
Appreciate the feedback!
What are the chances that Capital One will offer a reward card in the UK? Points earning cards are getting thin on the ground, and those that remain erode in value year on year.
Unlikely, at least not one as generous as the US cards. UK credit card rewards are lower because one of the fees merchants pay is limited to 0.3% of the transaction. Capital One withdrew their UK cash back cards in 2015 because of this.
Yes, in the UK, cards are regulated more rigorously. There are benefits to that regulation broadly speaking, but it does reduce their profitability and thus their ability to be generous with rewards, unfortunately.
The new mile exchange options are great, especially TAP Air Portugal. I don’t really care for the lounges though.
Thank you for the update on this…
Ugh! Now CapOne is even more enticing! Unfortunately for me, my oldest cc (18+ years) is a “professional” CapOne card that costs me $59 every year and has no product change path to a card with these better benefits. Every year I call for waiver and ask for PC. Maybe this year will be the one or that I take the chance, cancel, and start over with CapOne.
Personally I would cancel. Your credit may take a small hit if this is your oldest card but not to the point it’ll cost you anything when otherwise you’re paying an annual fee.
I’ve found CapOne to be pretty generous with retention offers. I’ve successfully had the AF waived on my Venture every year just by asking! I effectively view it as a $0 AF credit card, so any new benefits like this latest announcement are just icing on the cake.
This card has gone from being a fixed value, not particularly useful card (basically a cash back card that could only be used for travel redemptions) to one of the top travel cards in the points and miles world! However, it does me no good. CapitalOne will not give me a card…despite an excellent credit rating and a significant amount of money in their bank. I have Too many cards overall,I believe.
So this one should be a card that people get early on in their points and miles strategy. Learn from my misfortune!
I wouldn’t say it’s a huge loss. 1.5 miles per dollar is good but they really need to add a domestic airline or two.
Never had a thought that CapitalOne would be one of my essential card playing the mile game. For years I kept the Venture card open only because it was my first credit card, but I look forward to using it more with these changes, especially Wyndham exchange.
These changes are fantastic. With the Wyndham exchange, it makes it a very good cardio have in your mix.
Very excited to hear about the new lounges! Wondering how much they will cost, and hoping they can give one or two free passes to cardholders at least!
Maybe the premium Capital One card members will get complimentary admission to these two lounges.
Hopefully this is just the start for CapOne and they can add some more partners and give the other 3 points currencies, Chase, Citi & Amex, a little more competition.
Cap1 starting lounges definitely sounds interesting! HOPEFULLY they start at ORD!
Definitely a step in the right direction. Interesting that they’re opening a lounge but plan on charging everyone to come in. Dulles is my home airport but I’m not paying for a lounge.
This 100,000 offer is so good, I’m very tempted, but I only just took out a Amex Gold card. So I think I will wait. But otherwise I may have gone for it.
Also, you help the Washington Capitals with the flat salary cap 😉
The card is good for those who don’t stay in the major hotel chains I used to use this to offset budget hostel stays and odd travel expenses like public transportation.
This is a step in the right direction, but I feel like they need to work on offering better rewards on their consumer cards.
I like the 4 new transfer programs, at least there is one hotel in the mix.