Team Piece: How We’d Use 100,000 Capital One Miles

There have been a lot of great opportunities recently to earn a lot of Capital One miles. Let’s take a look at how the 10xTravel team would put those miles to good use.

Emily Jaeckel

Over the past few years, Capital One has stepped up its game by introducing new transfer partners and updating the point transfer ratios for existing partners. This means that Venture miles have become increasingly more valuable, and they are just what I want to use for a trip to Tokyo.

I’ve been eager to experience a business-class flight to Asia, and I can make it happen through Capital One’s transfer partners and taking advantage of partner bookings through airline alliances.

As recently as October 2021, Capital One improved its points transfer rate with Air Canada to a 1:1 ratio (it was previously a 2:1.5 transfer rate). This makes transfering my Venture miles to Air Canada much more valuable especially when considering it’s part of Star Alliance and I can book flights on partner airlines using Air Canada Aeroplan points.

When looking at Air Canada’s award chart, routes between North America and Pacific zones in business class on partner airlines range from 55,000 to 105,000 Aeroplan points depending on the distance. I would be flying from Seattle to Tokyo, and because this route is shorter than 5,000 miles in distance, it will cost 55,000 points for a one-way flight on a partner airline in business class.

It just so happens that All Nippon Airways (ANA) is part of Star Alliance as well, and it offers a pretty impressive business class product with lie-flat seats that I can book using Air Canada Aeroplan points. When searching on Air Canada’s website, I was able to find a nonstop business class flight from Seattle (SEA) to Tokyo Haneda (HND) for exactly 55,000 Aeroplan points.

I also found a return flight priced at 55,000 Aeroplan points, which technically puts me over the limit of 100,000 Capital One Venture miles at a grand total of 110,000 miles.

The cash price for this exact itinerary is $7,989, so I’m glad to be using 110,000 Venture miles instead.

Anya Kartashova

Because I’m under Chase’s “5/24” rule, I’m not exactly rushing to apply for any Capital One cards yet just yet. However, 100,000 Venture Miles is a lot of miles, and I could do some fun stuff with that large of a rewards stash when the time comes to apply.

For me, Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles is one of the most interesting transfer partners of Capital One, and the new and improved points transfer rate of 1:1 only deepens my curiosity.

Miles&Smiles has some killer deals when it comes to travel in a premium cabin. The program charges just 45,000 for a one-way flight from the United States to Istanbul, Turkey, on its own airline and the same redemption rate for a flight from the United States to Europe on any Star Alliance carrier.

From Istanbul, Turkish Airlines flies to more than 200 global destinations. Got an off-the-beaten-path country on your mind? Chances are Turkish flies there, and it’s a good option when booking flights to some unique places.

For example, last year, I flew from Karachi, Pakistan, to the States the day before Thanksgiving. I had a hard time finding award flights in economy class, and business class was my only option if I wanted to get home in time to celebrate turkey day.

At the time, I didn’t have access to Miles&Smiles miles and ultimately redeemed 75,000 Aeroplan miles for an Etihad flight to Chicago. However, I could have flown with Turkish Airlines for just 52,500 miles, and yes, Turkish had availability. It’s hard to beat these redemption rates to Central Asia.

My home country of Kazakhstan falls into the same region of Central Asia, according to the Turkish award flight region table, which means I’d need 105,000 Miles&Smiles miles to fly round-trip in business class.

So, with 105,000 Capital One miles (earned after meeting the minimum-spending requirement), I could fly in business class to Almaty, Kazakhstan, to visit my family. Hopefully, the country reinstates its visa-free regime soon, and the theory becomes more of a reality.

Anna Zaks

Capital One, for some reason, won’t approve me or my husband for any cards so I am extremely jealous of my friends who can get this offer. If I could get approved though, I have so many different ideas on how to spend 100,000 Capital One miles.

I fly to Europe and Israel often, so I’d transfer this great stash of miles to either Air Canada Aeroplan or Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles program to fly in business class to one of these destinations.

I like Aeroplan’s new award chart and its dynamically priced awards on Air Canada-operated flights. Usually dynamic pricing isn’t good for miles users (I am looking at you, United), but I’ve run quite a few award searches on Aeroplan and found a few business-class awards at rates that are lower than Aeroplan’s award chart. It’s so easy to move around Europe using one of the many low-cost carriers or the excellent rail networks that I’d look for the lowest rate I can find and fly to any major international airport in Europe.

Or I can fly to Israel in business class and have enough miles left over for an economy-class ticket to Europe or a couple of short domestic trips.

Turkish Airlines also has a great award chart for flights to Europe and Israel. I’ve flown Turkish Airlines a few times and love their business class. A one-way flight from the U.S. to Israel will set me back just 47,000 miles. The surcharges are higher than on Aeroplan, but the award rates are so advantageous.

Flying to Europe is even cheaper, as you can get there with just 45,000 miles in business class. It’ll cost me the same to fly to Istanbul or other places in Turkey, so I might go there instead of Europe. I’ve been to Istanbul twice, and there’s still so much to discover. I can’t wait to go back.

Turkish Airlines flies to so many destinations, and, as Anya already mentioned, you should definitely learn more about the program if some of the less-traveled places are on your bucket list.

I actually flew from Tashkent, Uzbekistan, to the United States on an award ticket booked with just 52,500 miles a couple of months ago. There aren’t a lot of options of getting to Central Asia with points and miles, but thanks to Turkish Airlines’ extensive network, we can get there pretty easily.

So, if I ever do get approved for a Capital One card, you’ll find me booking a trip to one of these destinations as soon as the points hit my account!

Jeffrey Lucas Jr.

So, here’s the deal. Venture Miles are the miles I use for my uncreative redemptions.

Although Capital One has recently upped its transfer partner game, I have points with plenty of other programs that allow me to transfer for flights. What makes Venture miles so valuable to me is their loose definition of “travel.”

Squeezing into a hotel room is typically unpleasant for a family of seven, so we find ourselves in vacation rentals on most of our trips. Venture miles are our “go-to” points for these redemptions.

With 100,000 Venture miles, I could offset the cost of renting a vacation house on a site like Airbnb or HomeAway, for up to $1,000. If my wife and I both got a bonus of 100,000 miles, that’s $2,000 toward a vacation rental!

Because purchases from vacation rental websites normally code as travel, I can simply get reimbursed for the purchase at a ratio of 1 cent per mile.

While this isn’t a sexy redemption, it gets my family a comfortable place to spread out for free.

I always try to pay the down payment for a vacation rental with my Chase Sapphire Reserve® so that I get travel interruption insurance if weather or sickness derail our plans. Then I pay the remainder of the cost of the rental with my Venture card, reimbursing the purchase with my Venture miles.

I may not be known as the most creative or highest cent-per-point redeemer, but Venture miles keep my family and me traveling in comfort.