The 6 Best Capital One Transfer Partners — and Those to Avoid

Capital One miles are a favorite of many credit card holders. They can be redeemed like cash through the Capital One travel portal or in the form of statement credits toward travel at the value of 1 cent per mile or transferred to several travel partners.

But, what are the best Capital One transfer partners? And are there any you should skip? The short answer is yes. Here’s everything you need to know about the best Capital One transfer partners.

Capital One Miles can only be earned by those who hold Capital One travel credit cards. Depending on which card you have, you can earn between 1.25 to 2 miles per $1 on every day spending. The points can be redeemed through the travel portal or transferred to Capital One's list of partners.

If you choose to transfer these points to an airline loyalty program, you can possibly extract even more value from them. This would make the most sense if the value of the redemption is higher than the 1 cent per mile value when redeemed from Capital One directly.

It can help to first understand how Capital One rewards operate and the various credit cards that award them.

There are four personal credit cards and two business credit cards that earn Capital One Miles.

Here's a selection of popular Capital One travel cards, along with their perks.

If you're looking for a business charge card with higher rewards, you can consider the Capital One Venture X Business card (annual fee: $395), which earns 10 miles per $1 on hotels and rental cars and 5 miles per $1 on flights booked through Capital One Travel and 2 miles per $1 on everything else. The card has the following welcome offer: Earn 150,000 bonus miles once you spend $30,000 in the first 3 months from account opening.

All these cards earn between 1.25-2 miles per $1 on non-category spend, but also offer lucrative welcome bonuses that can instantly boost your points stash.

Not all transfers are created equal, though — it is important to know which from the Capital One list are the best transfer partners. Some should be avoided if you want to maximize transfer value.

» Learn more: Best Capital One credit cards

Capital One miles can be transferred to most partner loyalty programs at a 1:1 ratio with a minimum transfer of 1,000 miles (e.g., 1,000 miles transfer as 1,000 miles or points in the programs below). Here's Capital One's full list of transfer partners and ratios:

Note that when you transfer 1,000 Capital One miles to EVA Air Infinity MileageLands, you will only receive 750 miles or points within this program. ALL Accor Live Limitless is another transfer partner with Capital One, but you only receive 500 ALL points for each 1,000 Capital One miles moved into it.

Here are the top six Capital One transfer partners if you want to optimize the points you transfer over to an airline.

1. Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles

The Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles program is great for domestic redemptions with several sweet spots worth exploring. NerdWallet values Turkish miles at 1.1 cents apiece. The program still uses an award chart, which is a nice departure from the more confusing dynamic pricing model of other programs.

» Learn more: The guide to Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles

2. Air France/KLM Flying Blue

NerdWallet estimates that Flying Blue miles are worth 1.2 cents, giving great value for your miles. Flying Blue also has monthly promo awards that discount certain routes by up to 50%. That means you can sometimes find one-way travel from the U.S. to Europe as low as 11,250 Flying Blue miles.

» Learn more: A points collector’s guide to Air France-KLM Flying Blue

3. Air Canada Aeroplan

Air Canada’s Aeroplan points are a great way to book United flights within the United States — especially last-minute flights — and Star Alliance awards around the world thanks to a distance-based award chart.

Recent changes have brought updates to the program, including the opportunity to share miles with up to eight family members to get to an award faster.

If you’re looking for short-haul flights of less than 500 miles in distance within North America, Aeroplan only charges 6,000 points each way. That can be quite the bargain for last-minute, expensive flights. NerdWallet values Aeroplan points at 1.4 cents each, which means this is a solid transfer partner.

» Learn more: A guide to Air Canada’s Aeroplan rewards loyalty program

4. Avianca LifeMiles

Avianca is, like Singapore and Air Canada, a member of the Star Alliance. This means you can use Avianca LifeMiles to book flights on partners like United and Lufthansa among others. Based on our most recent analysis, NerdWallet values Avianca LifeMiles at 1.2 cents each, and the lack of fuel surcharges and low redemption rates make this an attractive transfer partner.

5. Singapore Airlines

Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer miles are easily attainable through various transfer partners.

NerdWallet values Singapore KrisFlyer miles at 1.5 cents each, although the airline recently raised redemption costs on awards — meaning you might need more miles. Great redemptions can still be had with some Singapore Airlines sweet spots.

6. Avios

Avios is the points currency for Aer Lingus, British Airways, Iberia and Vueling, and it is possible to move points between programs. Qatar Airways Privilege Club members also earn Avios and can move points between programs. This makes it easier to boost your balance for an award.

The program uses a distance-based award chart, which has several sweet spots. NerdWallet values Avios at 1 cent each, meaning 10,000 Avios points is worth about $100.

Other solid Capital One transfer options

There are several other smart ways to use Capital One miles for redemptions through partners.

• Cathay Pacific Asia Miles: Cathay Pacific uses a distance-based award chart that can vary in value depending on where you are going and whether you’re flying only Cathay Pacific or including additional Oneworld partners. Because the Asia Miles award chart is distance-based, your best redemption will be 7,500 miles for intra-Asia flights under 750 flown miles.

• Emirates Skywards: Emirates’ own miles are one of the premier ways to fly premium cabins on Emirates. The prices can be quite high, but if you want real bling on your next flight, Emirates is it. Check out some of our other Emirates Skywards sweet spots. Although, note that NerdWallet values Emirates miles at just 0.6 cent apiece.

• Etihad Guest: Etihad is another program with a quirky award chart with prices varying by airline that has some amazing redemptions.

• Qantas: Qantas also has a distance-based award chart, and flights under 600 miles cost only 8,000 miles to book. This can be a great option for last-minute short hops within the U.S. (flying on American Airlines) or in Australia itself.

We don’t recommend using miles for other Capital One transfer partners since the ratios are less favorable. If it’s the only travel option you have, then go for it. Just know that you could get more value elsewhere.

The transfer partners with the least advantageous ratios include:

• Accor Live Limitless.

• EVA Infinity MileageLands.

You can also redeem your miles for credit card statement credits, which is hardly the most valuable way to use them. Even so, it could save you cash in the short term. You would earn 0.5 cents in value per mile redeemed toward a gift card or toward credit card charges for travel purchases.

» Learn more: The best travel credit cards right now

This is an axiom for the points and miles world. Put your travel rewards credit cards to work for you by finding ways to extract the most value from your miles and points.

Sometimes, it makes more sense to pay for a trip in cash if you can use miles to offset the cost of a more expensive trip later.

Capital One miles and its transfer partners are a great example, and this advice over the best transfer partners could help you rise to the top of the award trip value chain.