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2 ways to redeem Capital One miles are disappearing -- here's why you might not even notice

Chris Dong
Articles
Chris Dong was a reporter at The Points Guy, where he covered the intersection of credit card rewards and travel.
May 13, 2020
•
5 min read
Qatar Airways First DIA-FRA
2 ways to redeem Capital One miles are disappearing -- here's why you might not even notice
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Back in late 2018, Capital One added the ability to transfer miles for Venture and Spark cardholders. This opened the door to a number of airline and hotel partners, creating flexibility beyond fixed-value redemptions.

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However, as noted by Doctor of Credit and confirmed by a Capital One spokesperson, the rewards program will be losing two of its transfer partners, effective May 13, 2020. The partners you will no longer be able to transfer to are Qatar Airways' Privilege Club and Hainan Airlines' Fortune Wings Club.

The cardholders that are impacted by this change include anyone with the following Capital One products:

  • Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card
  • Capital One VentureOne Rewards Credit Card
  • Capital One Spark Miles for Business
  • Capital One Spark Miles Select for Business*

*The information for these cards has been collected independently by The Points Guy. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.

As with most Capital One partners, you had been able to transfer to Privilege Club and Fortune Wings Club at a 2:1.5 ratio (1,000 Capital One Miles = 750 Qmiles).

Does it matter to you?

Hainan and Qatar don’t offer particularly great value in their loyalty programs. Although there might be a specific route or a singular redemption that can net you a decent return, the overall process will be hindered by high fuel surcharges, difficult websites and customer service, and limited award availability -- or all of the above.

Related reading: Your ultimate guide to Capital One transfer partners

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While Qatar Airways might be best known for the impressive Qsuite business class seat, using Qatar's own mileage program isn't the most ideal way to fly it. Redeeming American AAdvantage miles for those flights is a much better choice (which is exactly what I did last year). As a point of comparison, for the exact same Qsuite business class flight from New York-JFK to Doha, American charges 70,000 AAdvantage miles while Qatar's Privilege Club would set you back 101,500 Qmiles.

Bottom line

While these are not the most lucrative or even well-known programs, it's always a loss when card programs remove redemption options. Thankfully, there are still great opportunities with Capital One's other transfer partners which can unlock a variety of valuable ways to burn your miles.

With Capital One, keep in mind you have plenty of other fixed-value options, too. For instance, if you're looking to save money in the short-term on things such as food delivery and streaming services, using Capital One's Purchase Eraser isn’t a bad idea.

Featured image by (Photo by Liam Spencer/The Points Guy)
Editorial disclaimer: Opinions expressed here are the author’s alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, airline or hotel chain, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of these entities.