Capital One offers a popular suite card that earns a mile of valuable capital that can be redeemed for travel at a fixed value. However, in order to truly maximize the value of these miles, you will need to take advantage of the issuer’s transfer partner.
Capital One has an impressive 15+ transfer partners, including airlines and hotels, most of which are transferred at a 1:1 ratio. By leveraging the transfer partner, you can get higher value per mile, usually beat TPG’s valuation at a valuation of Capital at 1.85 cents per mile.
You may be ready to transfer miles to a partner and wonder how long it took to transfer capital a mile. Several TPG employees conducted test transfers and recorded the time for each transfer.
Let’s study the results.
Capital Mile Transfer Time
For each transfer partner of the program, TPG employees transferred 1,000 miles from our Capital One account to see how long it takes them to appear in our loyalty program account.
One thousand miles is the minimum requirement for transfers, after which you can transfer points in 100 increments, which is perfect for redemptions that don’t end in a thousand rounds (i.e. 23,500 miles). Here is how long each transfer takes:
| program | Transfer time | Transfer ratio |
|---|---|---|
| Air Mexico Rewards | Immediately | 1:1 (1,000 miles = 1,000 club top points) |
| Air Canada Aeroplan | Immediately | 1:1 (1,000 miles = 1,000 Aeroplan points) |
| France-klm flying blue | Immediately | 1:1 (1,000 miles = 1,000 flying blue miles) |
| Avianca Lifemiles | Immediately | 1:1 (1,000 miles = 1,000 lives) |
| All ACCOR Unlimited | Two working days | 2:1 (1,000 miles = 500 points) |
| British Airways Club | Immediately | 1:1 (1,000 miles = 1,000 Avios) |
| Cathay Pacific Myers | 24 hours | 1:1 (1,000 miles = 1,000 Asian miles) |
| Select Privileges | 24 hours | 1:1 (1,000 miles = 1,000 selection privilege points) |
| Emirates Airlines | Immediately | 1:1 (1,000 miles = 1,000 Emirates miles) |
| Etihad’s Guests | Immediately | 1:1 (1,000 miles = 1,000 Etihad guest miles) |
| EVA Infinity Rileagelands | 36 hours | 2:1.5 (1,000 miles = 750 Infinity Rileagelands Miles) |
| Finnair Plus | Immediately | 1:1 (1,000 miles = 1,000 Finnair Plus Point) |
| JetBlue TrueBlue | Immediately | 5:3 (1,000 miles = 600 JetBlue TrueBlue points) |
| Qantas Frequent Flyer | Immediately | 1:1 (1,000 miles = 1,000 Qantas Flight Point) |
| Singapore Airlines Kleisley | Immediately | 1:1 (1,000 miles = 1,000 Singapore Chrisley miles) |
| Pat the Portuguese mileage | Immediately | 1:1 (1,000 miles = 1,000 faucets from miles) |
| Turkish Airlines’ Mileage and Smile | Immediately | 1:1 (1,000 miles = 1,000 Türkiye miles and Smile miles) |
| Virgin Red | Immediately | 1:1 (1,000 miles = 1,000 Virgin Red Dots) |
| Wyndham Rewards | Immediately | 1:1 (1,000 miles = 1,000 Wyndham bonus points) |
Although the above transfer times are based on data from TPG employees, the transfer times may take shorter or longer. Some TPG staff reported a maximum transfer time of two weeks.
Note that the times listed above represent personal experience and should not be considered as difficult and fast rules. Your transfer experience may be faster or slower, but these times can serve as your benchmark when transferring a mile.
Related: How to Maximize Capital One Mile
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Tips for transferring capital one mile
The biggest tip we can recommend is to make plans before transferring miles. Transfers are irreversible, so make sure you have a plan and redemption. Moving mileage without a plan is by no means a good idea, as loyalty programs will depreciate frequently, which means you may be transferring less miles. Here are some other tips for transferring capital a mile:
- Have your loyalty plan Convenient information: Unlike Amex and Chase, Capital One cannot save your loyalty account information, so you have to increase it every time you want to transfer your mileage to a partner. This may cause you some inconvenience, but it is worth the value you can get from redemption.
- Keep your rewards on hold before transferring: Only a few airlines can still do this, but it’s worth checking if reward bookings can be put on hold before transferring a mile. This is especially useful if you are transferring to a program that does not provide instant transfer. After all, transferring miles is frustrating only to find another traveler has scouted the reward seat you want.
- Choose a flight with enough reward seats: While it is impossible for you to book, you can look for routes with adequate reward availability. This can improve your chances of booking a seat once your mileage is transferred to your account. You can use tools like ExpertFlyer (by TPG’s parent company, Red Ventures) or seating. Aero finds how many reward seats are there in the flight. Expert tip: Search for three or four passengers, so it can better estimate how many seats there are.
- Let the supply determine your destination: If you have some flexibility in your destination and date, you can really get extremely high value. If your plan is no longer an option due to availability changes, you can choose a different destination. I always like to say looking for deals, not destinations, and this mentality has given me some great redemptions. Also, remember that reward availability changes frequently and seats increase or decrease as they approach your departure date; therefore, it is always a good habit to have a backup plan whether you leave another departure city or have a completely different destination.
- Choose a less popular route: You can find opportunities for reward tickets through less popular or unusual flight routes, or deviate from non-hubs, as these routes are often better available. These usually have better reward availability. For example, if you want to fly from the Western United States to Tokyo, you can check out flights from San Jose Menetta International Airport (SJC) and San Diego International Airport (SAN) instead of San Francisco International Airport (SFO) and Los Angeles International Airport (LAX).
- Determine the best transfer options for transfer: If you want to spend a mile of capital on domestic flights, or to redeem a mile of domestic flights, you may want to consider Turkish Rix and Smile or Avianca Lifemiles. Want to go to Hawaii? You may need to use British Airways Avios to book awards on American Airlines or Alaska Airlines. For flights to Europe, you may find additional rewards on the French and Dutch Air Forces by using your own flight blue miles. In all cases, thinking strategically and creatively is worth it. Plus, among the partners in all three major airline alliances, there are many opportunities to redeem on Star Alliance Airlines, OneWorld Airlines and Skyteam Airlines. Before transferring mileage to a specific program, make sure to do your homework and determine the best redemption options.
Related: The Final Guide to Major Airline Search Rewards
Which cards earned a mile?
Select Capital only one credit card to earn transferable capital a mile. Here is a quick overview of these five cards:
| Capital One Venture X Reward Credit Card | Spend $4,000 in the first three months of opening an account and earned a bonus of 75,000 miles. |
|
$395 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card | Spend $4,000 in the first three months of account opening and earning 75,000 miles. |
|
$95 |
| Capital One VentureOne Rewards Credit Card | Earn 20,000 miles after spending $500 in the first three months after opening. |
|
$ 0 |
| Capital One Venture X Business | Earn 150,000 miles after spending $30,000 in the first three months after opening. |
|
$395 |
| The Capital One Spark Mile Business | Spend $4,500 in the first three months of opening an account and earn 50,000 bonus miles. |
|
$0 for the first year of annual introduction fee, then $95 per year |
The great thing about these one-mile bonuses is that they provide simple income. With all these cards, you will earn at least 1.25 miles per dollar. In addition, all Capital One cards have no foreign transaction fees, making it an excellent card for use abroad.
Can you transfer capital a mile to someone else’s account?
You can only transfer one mile of capital to an airline or hotel loyalty program registered with the name of your Capital One account. The same is true for authorized users. There is no cost to transfer your point of view to the loyal partner.
However, you can transfer a mile of capital from one capital to another for free. You will have to call Capital One to do this and you will need the name and card number of the person you are transferring your mileage.
This is a huge bonus for a mile of capital, as the person who transfers the reward to other issuers is less stable and some issuers don’t allow it.
Related: The Final Guide to Collecting and Sharing Points
Bottom line
Before transferring capital a mile, make sure you have plans to use them. Most capitals mile transfers are instant, but some may take longer.
No matter which plan you transfer capital to a mile, there are many great redemption options.
Related: Capital One vs. Chase: Which bank has a better credit card?
