Capital One Miles Will Transfer to Airline Miles But AMEX and Chase Cards Still Better

Capital One Miles-Transfer to Airline Miles

 

Capital One Miles Will Transfer to Some Airline Miles Frequent Flyer Programs Effective December 1, 2018, at a 2:1.5 Ratio. That's good news for people who have the Capital One Venture card or Spark Miles cards. That said, this won't tempt me to get a Capital One card. I've never had a Capital One credit card, because other travel rewards cards are so much more lucrative, and this announcement doesn't change anything for me–I'm not tempted in the least, which I'll explain below.

First, here are the 12 frequent flyer programs Capital One miles will transfer to:

  • Aeromexico (SkyTeam)
  • Aeroplan (Star Alliance)
  • Air France/KLM Flying Blue (SkyTeam)
  • Alitalia (SkyTeam)
  • Avianca LifeMiles (Star Alliance)
  • Cathay Pacific Asia Miles (Oneworld)
  • Etihad Airways
  • EVA (Star Alliance)
  • Finnair (Oneworld)
  • Hainan Airlines
  • Qantas (Oneworld)
  • Qatar (Oneworld)

Since the Capital One Venture earns 2X “miles” on all spend, that's equivalent to earning 1.5 airline miles, of the above frequent flyer programs, per dollar spent. Why is this not compelling?

5 Reasons I Won't Be Getting a Capital One Card, Even With the Miles Transferability

1. Better Earning with the AMEX Blue for Business 

The Capital One Venture card is $95 per year (annual fee waived the first year) but the AMEX Blue for Business is a no annual fee card that earns 2X AMEX Membership Rewards on all spend. And recall that Membership Rewards points transfer 1:1 to more airline and hotel partners, with the occasional transfer bonus, such as the 40% Transfer Bonus to British Airways Avios, Iberia Avios and Aer Lingus Avios, which expires November 15. Why a) pay more, b), earn fewer miles, which c) transfer to fewer partner programs? Just get the AMEX Blue for Business and you'll do better, for everyday spend.

 

2. Better Category Bonuses with the Chase Trifecta

With the trifecta of the Chase Sapphire Reserve (effective $150 annual fee, since $300 of the $450 fee is reimburse for travel spend, per year), the no fee Ink Cash and the no fee Chase Freedom you'll also come out ahead, at least if, as I do, you have significant travel, dining, phone, internet, Amazon, Whole Foods and grocery spend. That's because the Chase Sapphire Reserve earns 3X for all travel and dining (including things such as metro and other public transit, trains, taxis and Uber); the Ink Cash earns 5X on internet and phone bills, as well as office supply store spend, including Whole Foods and Amazon gift cards; and the Chase Freedom earns 5X on rotating categories such as grocery stores, Apple Pay, gas stations, etc. Because of this, most of my large spend items earn 3X-5X Ultimate Rewards points, which transfers 1:1 to airline miles. Again better than 1.5X per dollar. Meanwhile, the only category bonus for the Capital One Venture seems to be at Hotels.com, where you don't enjoy perks such as Four Seasons Preferred Partner, Virtuoso benefits, or any of the other luxury hotel preferred partner program benefits that TravelSort Clients enjoy.

 

3. Airline Transfer Partners Don't Include the Frequent Flyer Programs We Redeem With Most

In the past few months we've redeemed well over 600,000 AAdvantage miles, and have also redeemed United MileagePlus miles (which Chase Ultimate Rewards transfers to), Delta SkyMiles (which AMEX Membership Rewards transfers to), and British Airways Avios, which both Ultimate Rewards and Membership Rewards transfer to. The partners that Capital One has, with the exception of Aeroplan, are just not ones I use much for award redemptions, and that coupled with the low 1.5X earn rate (compared to 2X-5X on much of my regular spend) isn't compelling, as mentioned in the above points.

 

4. Capital One Pulls From All 3 Credit Bureaus

Most credit card applications result in 1 hard pull, say from Equifax or Experian or Transunion. Capital One pulls from all three. You could try freezing a couple of credit bureaus to prevent this, but you may not get approved.

 

5. There Are More Lucrative Credit Card Offers

Why waste 3 hard pulls with Capital One Venture, when for 3 hard pulls with Citi I could earn over 200,000 AAdvantage miles, using targeted mail offers? Even with the devaluations, I greatly prefer the AAdvantage award chart to Cathay Pacific Asia Miles and British Airways Avios for long haul first class and business class. Or, for the same $5000 minimum spend as the Venture, you could earn 80,000 more valuable Ultimate Rewards points with the Chase Ink Business Preferred Credit Card or 70K AAdvantage miles for just $4000 minimum spend with the CitiBusiness AAdvantage. Or get a better card for everyday spend, the afore mentioned AMEX Blue for Business.

What's your take–are you excited by the Capital One miles transferring to airlines coming in December, or are you, as I am, not impressed?

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Peggy
Peggy
5 years ago

I’m not impressed either, Hilary. Maybe the Capital One card will appeal to people who travel once or twice a year – people who are not yet into the miles and points game. At my urging, my husband earned 80,000 UR points with the Chase Ink Business Preferred card, and I’m anxious to get those transferred to my account – a needed jolt to my miles balance for my second RTW trip (which is now on the horizon).

Jason
Jason
5 years ago

You built a very strong case against this card. I have one question: Why is 3 hard pulls so bad? Does this hurt your chances in applying for other cards? Do all the other cards just do one hard pull?
Why would Capital One need to do 3 hard pulls? Does it give them more protection?
Thanks.