Capital One’s ultra-premium card, the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card, offers a pathway to earn travel rewards. You’ll earn miles on every purchase that never expire as long as your account is open and in good standing.
Brilliantly, there are only a few things you’ll need to remember to maximize your rewards and get closer to your dream redemptions. These tips for earning and redeeming Capital One miles will have you maximizing your miles in no time.
Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card
Capital One’s most premium travel card is packed with extras that put it firmly in competition with other upscale credit cards, but at an annual fee that leaves the others far behind.
- Annual fee lower than others in its category
- Annual travel credit through Capital One Travel and anniversary miles alone could justify the annual fee
- Miles are easy to earn and easy to use
- Lack of domestic airline and upscale hotel travel partners
- Capital One lounge network in its infancy
- Lack of hotel status benefits
- Earn 75,000 bonus miles when you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening, equal to $750 in travel
- Receive a $300 annual credit for bookings through Capital One Travel, where you’ll get Capital One’s best prices on thousands of trip options
- Get 10,000 bonus miles (equal to $100 towards travel) every year, starting on your first anniversary
- Earn unlimited 10X miles on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel and 5X miles on flights booked through Capital One Travel
- Earn unlimited 2X miles on all other purchases
- Unlimited complimentary access for you and two guests to 1,300+ lounges, including Capital One Lounges and the Partner Lounge Network
- Use your Venture X miles to easily cover travel expenses, including flights, hotels, rental cars and more—you can even transfer your miles to your choice of 15+ travel loyalty programs
- Elevate every hotel stay from the Premier or Lifestyle Collections with a suite of cardholder benefits, like an experience credit, room upgrades, and more
- Receive up to a $100 credit for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck®
Earning Capital One Miles
Meet the Requirements To Earn the Welcome Bonus
When you’re starting from zero, a credit card’s welcome bonus is the most efficient way to build your balance. With the Venture X card, this is especially true: New cardmembers will earn a 75,000 bonus miles after spending $4,000 on purchases within the first three months of account opening.
Though spending that amount of money won’t necessarily come naturally, it’s worth striving toward (if you’re even one penny short, you’ll miss out on the bonus miles entirely). Time your application for when you anticipate meeting the spending requirements and if needed, make other strategic purchases to meet the threshold.
Use Your Card for Everyday Purchases
The Venture X earns 2 miles per dollar on all eligible purchases, 5 miles per dollar on flights booked through Capital One Travel, 5 miles per dollar on Capital One Entertainment purchases through 12/31/25 and 10 miles per dollar on hotels and rental cars when booking via Capital One Travel. For general merchandise and everyday purchases that normally don’t earn extra miles, this can help you hit your earning goals at twice the speed.
Because you’ll earn at a competitive rate on all purchases, this is an ideal card to keep in your wallet. It’s an especially logical choice for that reluctant spouse who doesn’t want to remember which card to use on which purchase because authorized user cards can be added for no additional cost. Earning 10 miles here or 100 miles there adds up faster than you may think, especially compared to other travel cards that only earn at half the rate.
Book Your Trips Through Capital One Travel
Every time you book qualifying trips through Capital One Travel, you’ll earn miles at an elevated rate. Venture X cardholders earn extra miles when booking flights, hotels and rental cars through the platform.
Since the card comes with a $300 annual credit for bookings made on Capital One Travel, everyone should familiarize themselves with the program. The website works the same way as any of your favorite online travel agencies, making it an easy and intuitive way to maximize Capital One miles while enjoying other customer benefits.
Add an Authorized User to Your Account
The Venture X allows you to add authorized users to your account at no additional fee, a benefit you may already want to take advantage of to share airport lounge access and other card perks. With two or more people charging expenses to the same account, you’ll end up with both sets of rewards all in one place for extra convenience. You can also combine miles with another person, even if you have entirely separate accounts.
Don’t have anyone you trust enough to add as an authorized user? You can refer friends to get their own account instead—for each qualifying referral, you’ll earn up to 100,000 bonus miles when they’re approved.
Combine Your Points with a Second Capital One Card
Though the Venture X works well as a standalone card, adding a second Capital One card to your portfolio can help maximize your miles within a single program. For example, the Capital One Spark Miles for Business* also earns 2 miles per dollar on every purchase and 5 miles per dollar on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel but allows you to keep your personal and business expenses separate.
When you’re ready, you can combine your Capital One miles between two or more miles-earning cards to make your preferred redemptions.
Redeeming Capital One Miles
Earmark Your Miles for Travel
Though you can redeem your miles toward cash back, gift cards or Amazon.com purchases, you’ll get a larger return by redeeming your miles for travel.
For years, Capital One has advertised easy redemptions—and they back that up with travel rewards that don’t have blackout dates, restrictions or other limitations. When you make your reservations through Capital One Travel, you’ll have the option to redeem points to pay for your purchase at a rate of 1 cent per mile.
Travelers who book directly with a travel provider instead of through the Capital One platform can still redeem miles to cover their purchase. After the transaction posts, you can redeem your miles to effectively cover the transaction. Purchases that classify under the travel category, such as vacation rentals and cruises qualify.
Transfer Miles to Travel Partners
The ability to transfer miles to Capital One’s travel partners sets the Venture X apart from other 2% cash-back cards. By transferring miles to a partner frequent flyer account, you can top off the miles you’ve earned through other methods and book travel under the rules and costs of their program. In some cases, especially if you prefer luxury travel, this can result in a better yield on your miles.
Currently, Capital One has more than 15 transfer partners, featuring airlines worldwide and a few hotel programs. Most partners feature a 1:1 transfer ratio and the vast majority receive transfers instantly, which means you can accumulate miles with Capital One and only move them when you need them for extra flexibility.
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Bottom Line
Maximizing Venture X rewards requires approaching things from both the earning and redemption side but most of it is easier than you think. Minimal effort is required to make the most of your Capital One miles with this refreshingly simple card.
