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One of the big advantages of holding multiple Capital One cards is the ability to convert your cash back rewards into miles that can be transferred to Capital One airline and hotel partners. It's an often-overlooked benefit that can add a ton of value to the rewards you earn using cash back cards.
In this post, we look at how to convert cash back to miles with Capital One, why this is such a great deal, and which cards gain value thanks to this functionality.
- 2% cash back on every purchase and 5% cash back on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel
How to Convert Capital One Cash Back to Miles
Here's how to convert your Capital One cash back rewards to Capital One miles:
- Log in to your Capital One account (website, not the mobile app) and choose the card with cash back rewards.
- Click on “view rewards”.
- Choose “move rewards”.
- In the drop-down menu, choose “one of my accounts” and which account you want to move your rewards too.
- Cash back will convert to miles at a 1 cent = 1 mile value with Capital One.
Is This a New Feature From Capital One?
Not aware that this was news to a lot of folks in the points and miles space, I had previously combined cash back earned with my Capital One Quicksilver Cash Rewards Credit Card to miles on my Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card.
And while this is not a new feature, the ability to convert cash back to miles with Capital One has been creating quite a buzz recently.
This Reddit thread contains data points and screenshots from users sharing their success stories and which combination of cards they have transferred to/from (you need a cash back-earning card and a miles-earning card).
Another thread on the myFICO forums also contains data points, albeit a little older than those you'll find on Reddit. One of the important takeaways to note is you cannot convert in the other direction (from miles cards to cash back cards).
Why Does This Matter?
There are two reasons why this is good news for anyone holding both cash back and miles earning Capital One cards.
First, the ability to choose what you want to do with your rewards is always a positive. Some people prefer cash back. Others prefer miles that they can redeem with transfer partners. And, of course, Capital One miles-earning cards also allow you to redeem your miles for a statement credit towards travel purchased on your card. Having more control over your redemption options and more options available is always a net positive.
Second, and more importantly, you now have the ability to earn miles in more ways and at higher-earning rates. For example, the Capital One Spark Cash Plus is currently running an excellent bonus, giving new cardmembers the chance to earn up to $1,000 after meeting the minimum spend. If you also hold a miles earning card from Capital One, you could convert that to 100,000 transferrable miles!
Other Capital One cash back cards that earn an excellent return on bonus categories include:
- Savor Rewards from Capital One — which earns 4% cash back on dining, entertainment, and popular streaming services; and 3% at grocery stores
- Capital One SavorOne Cash Rewards Credit Card — which earns 3% cash back on dining, entertainment, streaming services, and grocery (excluding superstores like Walmart® and Target®).
Instead of earning just 2x by using your Capital One Venture everywhere, you can earn higher rates and then convert your cash back to Capital One miles. Now, you have the ability to use those miles with travel transfer partners. You can read more about Capital One miles and transfer partners in our guide here.
The Bottom Line
Need a TL;DR (too long; didn't read)? Here it is in one sentence:
You can convert Capital One cash back earnings to Capital One miles, opening the ability to earn at higher rates while still having access to transfer partners.
By using cash back-earning cards from Capital One, you can take advantage of cash back welcome offers. Plus, you have the potential to earn more than the standard 2x earning ratio found on Capital One's miles-based personal and business cards. By maximizing which card you use and then combining your earnings later on, your points balances grow faster. In the end, you have even more redemption options available.
Before you apply for a cash back-earning card from Capital One, make sure to consult our guide to bank application rules and brush up on Capital One's application restrictions.
- 2% cash back on every purchase and 5% cash back on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel
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Hey, I’ve been doing the conversion for a couple of times, but I can’t find the option to move the points anymore. Did they just remove the feature?
Hi CJ, Capital One said this when I asked over the weekend: “Confirming that the Share Rewards option is temporarily unavailable, due to maintenance. We are hoping to restore availability as quickly as possible, in the meantime, cardholders still have the ability to transfer miles with our 15 miles transfer partners. I am happy to circle back when I have an update to share.”
This was a good article. Really helped explained how to get the most benefits from all your cards.