What is reward redemption?

You can easily redeem Capital One Venture miles through the Capital One website, mobile app or customer service phone line. That’s fairly standard. What’s unique is that you can redeem Capital One Venture miles either before a trip, to book your accommodations, or to pay for travel expenses after the fact. You can charge any type of travel to your Venture card and then use your miles to pay once the purchases post to your account. You can also redeem Venture miles for gift cards and other non-travel rewards, but you’ll get half the value if you do that.… read full answer

Capital One Venture’s redemption process is one of its major perks. But there definitely are some do’s and don’ts to be aware of if you want to get top dollar for your miles. So let’s take a closer look.

Here’s how to redeem Capital One Venture miles online:

1. Log into your account on Capital One’s website.
2. Click on your rewards balance.
3. Choose your redemption method. The options are: “Redeem travel purchases,” “Book a trip,” “Get gift cards,” “Get an account credit,” “Get a check by mail,” and “Transfer Rewards.”
4. Follow the instructions for the option you’ve chosen.

As you can see, there’s a lot of different ways to redeem Venture miles. And with 2 miles for every dollar spent, along with a 50,000-mile initial bonus, they’ll build up fast. It’s also useful to note that you can redeem through the Capital One app too. Just log in with the same user name and password, click “Redeem Rewards” at the bottom, and select one of the options.

Here are the options for redeeming Capital One Venture miles:

• Redeem travel purchases: 1 cent per mile
  Capital One shows you what travel expenses you’ve made in the past 90 days, and you can use your miles to “erase” some or all of the cost from your credit card statement.
• Book a trip: 1 cent per mile
  The Capital One travel booking tool is powered by Orbitz, so you should have access to most major airlines, hotels and rental car companies.
• Get gift cards: 0.5 cent per mile
  90 stores are represented, including Bed Bath & Beyond, Lowe’s, AMC and Best Buy. Gift cards for as little as $10 are available for many stores. But the denominations vary by store.
• Get cash back: 0.5 cent per mile
  You can get a deposit into your checking or savings account or receive a check by mail. You can also set up automatic cash redemption when you reach a certain number of miles.
• Transfer miles: Value depends on the partner
  If you have another Capital One Venture or other travel rewards credit card account, you may be able to transfer your rewards to it.

The most convenient part about redeeming Capital One Venture miles is that you don’t have to decide to use them before making a purchase. You can use the so-called purchase eraser to pay for any type of travel expense charged to your card in the last 90 days. Capital One isn’t stingy about what it considers travel, either. It includes everything from hotels, airlines and cruises to Airbnb and Uber. That flexibility, combined with Venture’s top-notch rewards value, makes it one of the best cards available to frequent travelers.

How much 40,000 miles are worth depends on the airline or credit card you earn them from and when you book your flight. On average, 40,000 miles are worth about $400. But it can vary widely. For example, 40,000 AAdvantage miles are worth roughly $456 in American Airlines airfare. With United, 40k miles get you $416 in flights. And 40k Delta miles are worth $532.… read full answer

Here’s how much 40,000 miles are worth by airline:

1. Lufthansa: $916
2. Southwest: $616
3. JetBlue: $572
4. Delta: $532
5. American: $456
6. United: $416

Credit card miles that aren’t tied to a particular airline typically get you a penny each. But how you redeem your miles is really important, too. For example, the Capital One Venture Card’s 50,000-mile initial bonus is worth $500 when used for travel but just $250 when redeemed for cash.

You need 100 Capital One miles for every dollar that a flight costs. Each mile is worth one cent when spent on travel. So if your flight costs $200, you’ll need 20,000 miles. That’s a pretty standard rate for reward redemption.

Because not all flights are equal (in terms of distance, seating, time of year, etc.), their dollar cost varies a lot. So credit card companies can’t charge the same number of points or miles for every flight. Instead, they use an exchange rate between their points or miles and the dollar cost of the flight. In this case, it’s 100 Capital One miles for $1 in airfare. And just to be clear, Capital One doesn’t offer any points cards. But miles work the same way.… read full answer

If you don’t have a Capital One miles card yet and are interested in one, there are two good options, Capital One Venture and Capital One VentureOne. Both cards require good credit, but their terms are a bit different. Venture gives you 2 miles per $1 on all purchases, with a 50,000 point initial bonus and a $95 annual fee. VentureOne gives you 1.5 miles per $1 on all purchases, with a 20,000 point initial bonus and no annual fee. So you have to choose between a higher earning rate and fee or a lower earning rate and no fee.

If you do already have a Capital One miles card, you can redeem your miles by logging in to your Capital One account here. You can use your points to book travel (flights, hotels, cruises, etc.) or pay for travel expenses after the fact with Capital One’s “purchase eraser” tool. The number of Capital One miles needed to pay for a recent flight will be listed when you select “Redeem Travel Purchases.” You’ll be able to use your miles for any flight from the past 90 days.