Capital One airline and hotel transfer partners: How to maximize your miles

Historically, you could only redeem Capital One miles at a fixed value. But in 2018, Capital One added transfer partners as an additional redemption option for some of its cards. Capital One has since added additional transfer partners, including the recent readdition of JetBlue TrueBlue.

In this guide, we’ll introduce the Capital One transfer partners, describe how to earn Capital One miles and then walk through each of the hotel and airline transfer partners so you can decide which ones to learn more about.

Capital One transfer partners overview

Here’s each of the Capital One transfer partners and the ratio at which you can transfer Capital One miles to each partner:

• Aeromexico Rewards: 1:1 transfer ratio
• Air Canada Aeroplan: 1:1 transfer ratio
• Air France-KLM Flying Blue: 1:1 transfer ratio
• Accor Live Limitless: 2:1 transfer ratio
• Avianca LifeMiles: 1:1 transfer ratio
• British Airways Executive Club: 1:1 transfer ratio
• Cathay Asia Miles: 1:1 transfer ratio
• Choice Privileges (only U.S.-based accounts): 1:1 transfer ratio
• Emirates Skywards: 1:1 transfer ratio
• Etihad Guest: 1:1 transfer ratio
• EVA Airways Infinity MileageLands: 4:3 transfer ratio
• Finnair Plus: 1:1 transfer ratio
• JetBlue TrueBlue: 5:3 transfer ratio
• Qantas Frequent Flyer: 1:1 transfer ratio
• Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer: 1:1 transfer ratio
• TAP Air Portugal Miles&Go: 1:1 transfer ratio
• Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles: 1:1 transfer ratio
• Virgin Red: 1:1 transfer ratio
• Wyndham Rewards: 1:1 transfer ratio

Related: Cashing in Capital One miles? How to get the maximum value when redeeming miles

How to earn Capital One miles

Some, but not all, Capital One credit cards earn Capital One miles. Here’s a summary of some currently available cards that earn transferable Capital One miles:

Once you have a card earning transferable Capital One miles, you can convert cash back from your other Capital One cards into transferable miles. So, if you’re looking to boost your stash of Capital One miles, it might be worth pairing one of the above cards with some of our favorite Capital One cash-back cards, such as the Capital One Savor Cash Rewards Credit Card.

Related: The best time to apply for these popular Capital One credit cards based on offer history

Best Capital One transfer partners

TPG’s March 2025 valuations peg the value of Capital One miles at 1.85 cents each. But the value you’ll get from your Capital One miles depends on how you redeem them. So, to help you get a high value from your miles, we’ll discuss some of the best Capital One transfer partners in this section.

Air Canada Aeroplan

The Air Canada Aeroplan loyalty program saw significant changes in 2020. Since then, the Aeroplan award chart has listed award ranges for Air Canada flights and fixed rates for most partner awards. However, starting March 25, Aeroplan will use a new award chart showing only starting rates for award flights operated by Air Canada and select partners, including United Airlines, Emirates and Etihad Airways.

Although dynamic award pricing can be positive in some cases, it’s likely to be negative for many travelers in this case. However, we won’t know exactly how bad dynamic pricing for select partners will be until Aeroplan implements it on March 25. You may still find instances where a dynamically priced award provides decent — but likely not outsize — value.

However, we’re still listing Aeroplan as a top transfer option since you may still find sweet spots with Aeroplan partners that use fixed award pricing. Plus, Aeroplan doesn’t pass on carrier-imposed surcharges, meaning you can use the program to book Star Alliance award tickets with relatively low taxes and fees. And based on the Aeroplan stopover policy, you can book a stopover on a one-way award for just 5,000 points. But you’ll need to pay a partner booking fee of 39 Canadian dollars (about $27) per ticket for awards with partner-operated segments.

Related: You can once again share Aeroplan points with up to 7 family members — here’s how

Avianca LifeMiles

Avianca LifeMiles is known for offering cheap redemption rates on Star Alliance partner flights and not passing on fuel surcharges on partner awards.

However, several award pricing increases over the last year and an increasing lack of partner award availability have made the LifeMiles program less broadly useful. In August 2024, LifeMiles increased award prices in all cabins between North America and Europe and in first class between North America and Asia. Then in February 2025, LifeMiles increased prices on many awards — including another increase for economy and business-class awards between North America and Europe.

Avianca LifeMiles can still be useful for some awards, such as flying Lufthansa first class. However, finding Lufthansa first-class award space on a specific flight can be difficult, so you’ll usually need to book within a few days of departure and be flexible regarding your route and exact travel date.

Thanks to a generous pricing structure for mixed-cabin awards, you might be able to drop that price even further. If you’re flying in long-haul first class and connecting to or from another destination, your connection will likely be in a lower class of service. Avianca refunds you the difference, meaning adding a connection can make your flight cheaper.

Avianca LifeMiles can also still be useful for domestic travel on United. If you can find availability, economy awards within the U.S. usually cost between 7,500 and 15,000 LifeMiles each way, plus taxes and fees.

Related: Is an Avianca LifeMiles+ subscription worth it?

British Airways Executive Club

There are many reasons why you should care about British Airways Avios. One major reason is the British Airways distance-based award chart. For example, you can book off-peak business-class flights from select U.S. cities to Madrid or Barcelona for 34,000 Avios plus $117 in taxes and fees one-way.

You can also redeem Avios for American Airlines and Alaska Airlines award flights. Award rates are much higher after a no-notice devaluation in July 2024, but they may still make sense for some flights.

You can also transfer British Airways Avios to Qatar Airways Privilege Club, Finnair Plus, Iberia Plus and Aer Lingus AerClub, most of which have sweet spots you can enjoy.

Related: With 5 airline loyalty programs using Avios, here’s why I focus on British Airways Executive Club

Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles

Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles has plenty to love about it. The program still uses award charts and provides an elusive but appealing sweet spot: United-operated flights between the U.S. and Hawaii for just 10,000 miles one-way in economy.

Fuel surcharges can be problematic if you want to fly select Star Alliance carriers. But you won’t be charged fuel surcharges on United-operated flights, and fuel surcharges are somewhat reasonable on Turkish-operated flights. You can also sometimes get good value when redeeming for Turkish-operated promotional award flights.

Related: 5 Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles sweet spots you can use to maximize your transferable rewards

Virgin Red

Virgin Red is the loyalty program for the Virgin family of brands. Among other things, you can use Virgin points to book flights through the Virgin Atlantic Flying Club program and cruises with Virgin Voyages.

Virgin Atlantic switched to dynamic award pricing for its flights in October 2024, but many travelers were happy with the changes. Flying one-way from the U.S. to Europe in economy from 6,000 points plus $73 is pretty amazing.

You can still get good value when using Flying Club to book partner-operated awards. For example, you can fly from the U.S. West Coast to Japan in All Nippon Airways business class for 52,500 points one-way (plus taxes and fees), although you’ll need to call to book. And you can still get solid value on some Delta Air Lines-operated awards with Virgin Atlantic Flying Club.

Related: Is the Virgin Red Rewards Mastercard worth it?

Mid-tier Capital One transfer partners

Several of Capital One’s transfer partners fall into what we’ll call the mid-tier group. These programs can offer solid value in the right context, but it’s by no means a guarantee. Run the numbers for your bookings before transferring Capital One miles to these programs.

Air France-KLM Flying Blue

Flying Blue, the loyalty program of Air France, KLM, Transavia, Aircalin, Kenya Airways and TAROM, uses dynamic award pricing. The program offers a limited number of saver-level awards on its flights, but it increased the starting rates for these awards earlier this year with no notice. The silver lining: The program has promised to offer more award availability at its lowest saver rates.

Even after the increases, you can use Flying Blue to fly from the U.S. to Europe in economy starting at 25,000 miles one-way.

Flying Blue also offers monthly Promo Rewards that let you book select award flights at a discount.

Related: Flying Blue stopovers: Extend your trip and book an additional flight at no extra cost

Accor Live Limitless

Hotel chain Accor uses a fixed-value redemption scheme in its Accor Live Limitless program. So, transferring miles from Capital One will always represent a solid — though by no means aspirational — value. Accor Live Limitless allows you to redeem 2,000 points for 40 euros (about $42) off of a stay.

Given the 2:1 transfer ratio, you’d need to transfer 4,000 Capital One miles to get $42 off your stay. Meanwhile, you could get $40 from the same 4,000 Capital One miles if you redeemed your miles for recent travel purchases using Capital One’s fixed-rate redemption option. While it’s only a $2 difference, you’ll get a slightly better value by transferring your miles to Accor if you want to stay at an Accor property.

Cathay Pacific Asia Miles

Because Cathay Pacific Asia Miles uses distance-based award charts, this program can be expensive if you want to fly Cathay Pacific to or from the U.S.

However, although the Asia Miles changes in late 2023 caused many premium-cabin award rates to increase for Cathay Pacific flights, some economy rates dropped. For example, you can fly one-way in economy from Los Angeles to Hong Kong for 27,000 Asia Miles plus 977 Hong Kong dollars (about $132) in taxes and fees.

Booking British Airways flights with Asia Miles may let you pay lower carrier-imposed surcharges. The Asia Miles program can also be useful if you want to try out Cathay Pacific first class, as Asia Miles sometimes has access to more Cathay Pacific award space than partner programs. However, Cathay Pacific first-class award space between the U.S. and Hong Kong is extremely difficult to find right now.

Related: 9 amazing first-class seats you can book with points and miles

Emirates Skywards

Emirates Skywards can be useful if you want to book one of the carrier’s premium cabins. The award rates aren’t cheap, especially after several devaluations. But Emirates Skywards is one of the best ways to book or upgrade to Emirates first class.

Emirates Skywards also partners with several other airlines, meaning you can redeem Emirates miles for flights on select partner airlines.

Finnair Plus

Finnair Plus uses Avios as its award currency. However, unlike other Avios programs (which use distance-based charts), Finnair Plus uses a zone-based chart. This zone-based chart creates some Finnair Avios sweet spots. Plus, you can sometimes avoid paying as many surcharges when you book through Finnair instead of British Airways.

Related: Transfer Avios to and from the Finnair Plus loyalty program

Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer

Several devaluations have marred Singapore KrisFlyer over the last few years. But if you want to book Singapore Suites or first class, you’ll want to use Singapore KrisFlyer.

You may also often find good value when you redeem KrisFlyer miles for Singapore Airlines’ Spontaneous Escapes.

Related: How does Singapore Airlines’ KrisFlyer waitlist work for award flights?

Qantas Frequent Flyer

Qantas Frequent Flyer offers dynamically priced Classic Plus Rewards for flights it operates. But you’ll usually get better value booking Classic Flight Rewards that use distance-based charts.

These distance-based charts mean long-haul flights from the U.S. to Australia are usually prohibitively expensive. But you can travel from the East Coast to Europe in economy for as little as 20,300 points plus taxes and fees. However, the high taxes and fees make this option not very compelling.

The Qantas Frequent Flyer program will undergo sweeping changes on Aug. 5. At that point, we’ll see whether the program becomes more or less valuable.

Wyndham Rewards

TPG’s March 2025 valuations only peg Wyndham Rewards points at 1.1 cents each. But it’s certainly possible to get more value when redeeming Wyndham points.

Using the three-tier Wyndham Rewards award chart for expensive nights can also offer high value. One example is the Days Inn by Wyndham New York Chinatown, where you can book a deluxe room with a queen bed for 15,000 points per night.

If you had paid cash for the above night, the rate would have been $403.97, including taxes and fees. So, if you booked an award stay on this night, you’d get a redemption rate of 2.69 cents per point. If you have an eligible Wyndham credit card, you can even get a 10% points discount on redemptions for free nights.

Related: The 12 best Wyndham hotels in the world

Capital One transfer partners to avoid

Between expensive award charts, bad transfer ratios, hidden fees and programs that are difficult to navigate, you’ll likely want to avoid some of the Capital One transfer partners. However, just because we don’t usually recommend transferring Capital One miles to these programs doesn’t mean they don’t have any redeeming qualities.

Aeromexico Rewards

Aeromexico Rewards offers two award types: one that follows an award chart and one that uses dynamic award pricing. Only Aeromexico, Delta Ail Lines, KLM or Air France flights are available at dynamic award rates.

However, if you search for award flights online, you’ll often only find Aeromexico-operated flights. Especially once you consider the taxes and fees and the booking fee (even when booking through the website), the Aeromexico Rewards program often won’t be your best option.

Choice Privileges

You can find a lot of value in the Choice Privileges program. For example, you can book nights for 8,000 points in Tokyo.

But, since TPG’s March 2025 valuations peg the value of Choice points at 0.6 cents per point, transferring Capital One miles to Choice Privileges at a 1:1 ratio usually won’t make sense. Instead, consider buying Choice points during a sale or signing up for a Choice Privileges credit card to earn Choice points.

Related: Unique ways to redeem Choice Privileges points

Etihad Guest

Despite not being a member of any major alliances, Etihad Guest has many partners, including American Airlines and Air Canada. So it can sometimes be tempting to book awards through Etihad Guest.

However, Etihad Guest made some negative changes in June 2024. And two of these changes would keep me from transferring Capital One miles to Etihad Guest. First, Etihad Guest miles expire after 18 months unless you take a flight operated by Etihad or a partner airline. Second, award cancellation charges are punitive, with a 25% mileage penalty if you cancel more than 21 days before departure and a 75% penalty within seven days of departure.

EVA Air Infinity MileageLands

Capital One already partners with several other Star Alliance programs — Avianca LifeMiles and Air Canada Aeroplan — that are usually better for booking awards, so there’s rarely a reason to bother with EVA. EVA’s award chart is usually more expensive, and the program is often difficult to navigate.

JetBlue TrueBlue

Capital One recently restored JetBlue as a transfer partner. This new transfer option would normally be welcome news, but the 5:3 transfer ratio makes JetBlue TrueBlue a poor option for transferring your Capital One miles.

TPG’s March 2025 valuations peg the value of JetBlue points at 1.35 cents each. So, with the 5:3 transfer ratio, our valuations estimate you’d only get 0.81 cents per Capital One mile transferred to JetBlue.

Related: JetBlue now allows Blue Basic award redemptions — and tickets are as low as 700 points

TAP Air Portugal Miles&Go

TAP Miles&Go has award charts. But in practice, you’ll see other (often higher) rates when you do an award search. For example, here’s the lowest fare for a one-way economy award flight from New York to Lisbon on a randomly selected date:

You can occasionally buy TAP miles for under 1 cent per mile during sales. So, even if you want to book an award flight using TAP miles, transferring Capital One miles likely won’t be your best option for earning TAP miles.

Bottom line

Some excellent Capital One transfer partners can almost single-handedly carry the value of Capital One miles.

However, not every transfer partner will provide outsize value, so remember to compare the cash price of your ticket or hotel stay before transferring Capital One miles. Sometimes, buying a paid ticket (or stay) and then redeeming Capital One miles at a fixed value to cover your recent travel purchase will yield better value.