How a Capital One transfer bonus got me $1,000 in flights for 45,000 miles

It's no secret that I love transferable credit card points. I've leveraged these currencies to book numerous premium-class flights and luxury hotel rooms for me and my family. They've even come to the rescue when things went wrong — most recently in salvaging a trip to Greece that was nearly derailed by a flight delay.

However, even when I'm not using them for business-class tickets to far-flung corners of the globe, these currencies can still keep an awful lot of cash in my pocket — especially when I can add a transfer bonus to the mix.

Here's how I took 45,000 Capital One miles and turned them into nearly $1,000 worth of flights for a long weekend trip.

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Capital One transfer bonus to British Airways

As we wrote about in early August, there are a number of current transfer bonuses from the major transferable points programs — including two from Capital One:

• 20% bonus on transfers to Air France-KLM Flying Blue.
• 20% bonus on transfers to British Airways Avios.

(American Express, Chase and Citi all run transfer bonuses periodically, too.)

One of my colleagues already got some phenomenal value using the first one for a flight home from Europe, but I had my sights set on the second one.

That's because British Airways partners with American Airlines, and I happen to live near an American hub — Miami (MIA) — with extensive service to the Caribbean and Latin America. Even better? British Airways uses a distance-based award chart, so these short flights require a comparatively small number of Avios, even though they frequently carry a high cash price.

In fact, nonstop flights that cover between 651 and 1,151 miles in distance come in at just 9,000 Avios each way. And that's exactly what I booked. Here's how I did it.

Finding award availability

My wife and I had been trying to figure out a trip for the Labor Day weekend. With only three days off work, we didn't want to stray too far from South Florida and thus spend a ton of time traveling. When I heard about the transfer bonus from Capital One to British Airways, I started zeroing in on American Airlines-operated flights out of Miami.

That's when I found nonstop flights to St. Croix (STX) in the U.S. Virgin Islands at times that aligned perfectly with our work and school calendars.

While the cash price — $336 — wasn't terrible, I noticed that the evening flight out of Miami and the afternoon one back home had saver-level award availability. This was key, as it meant that the flights should be available through partner airlines like British Airways.

Sure, I could've used 25,000 American miles per person, but I find AAdvantage miles to be much more valuable for long-haul, premium-cabin flights. I also knew that this route was a prime example where booking nonstop AA flights is actually cheaper using Avios.

So, instead, I opted to use the transfer bonus.

Related: Best sweet spots in the American Airlines AAdvantage program

Transferring my miles

The next step was to actually complete the transfer from Capital One. First, I did some quick math to figure out how many miles I'd need to transfer given the bonus.

At 9,000 Avios each way, that translates to a round-trip price of 18,000 per person. For three passengers (me, my wife and our daughter), that would come to 54,000 Avios all up.

Without a transfer bonus, the next calculation would be simple. Since Capital One miles transfer to the majority of partners at a 1:1 ratio, I'd normally transfer 54,000 miles — giving me exactly 54,000 Avios.

However, the bonus meant that I could transfer fewer miles and get the same number of Avios. In this situation, a 20% bonus meant that every 1 Capital One mile would get me 1.2 Avios. So, to calculate the number of miles I'd need to transfer, I'd divide the total number of Avios for the redemption by 1.2.

Here's the formula I used:

• 54,000 Avios ÷ 1.2 Avios per Capital One mile = 45,000.

In other words, I'd need to transfer 45,000 Capital One miles.

Related: Tips and tricks to get maximum value from your Capital One miles

Booking the flights

However, I didn't immediately do so. Why? Because the BA online search engine doesn't recognize St. Croix's airport code (STX).

I knew that these American flights should be bookable using Avios, but I didn't want to take any chances. After all, converting transferable rewards to airline miles or hotel points is irreversible. I wanted to make sure this redemption was doable before transferring — which I knew would be instant, based on our tests of Capital One transfer times.

So, I called the British Airways Executive Club customer service line, and after a short wait, I was connected to an agent. I provided the dates of my trip and the flights I wanted. You see, sometimes phone agents can put together an itinerary that you can book online. Indeed, she was able to verify the availability and price: 18,000 Avios plus $15.16 in taxes and fees per person.

Once I had this information — and while I stayed connected to the agent — I logged into my Capital One account and initiated the transfer. The process was very simple. I navigated to the rewards page and then clicked on the "Convert Rewards" icon:

Both of the 20% bonuses were featured prominently at the top, so I clicked on Transfer Miles next to the British Airways Executive Club offer:

From there, I entered my British Airways account number and on the following page, it showed that my 45,000 miles would be boosted to 54,000 Avios (with the 20% bonus):

As soon as I clicked "Complete Transfer," I let the phone agent know. She refreshed the account information on her end and sure enough, she immediately saw the 54,000 Avios.

A few minutes later, the three of us were ticketed on the exact flights we wanted.

Had we paid out of pocket, this itinerary would've set us back $1,008.18. When you remove the $45.48 in taxes and fees, my 45,000 Capital One miles got us $962.70 worth of flights — for a value of 2.14 cents per mile. That's higher than TPG's valuation and more than twice the value I'd get by using my Capital One miles at a fixed value for travel purchases.

That made the deal even sweeter? I was able to call American Airlines and switch the frequent flyer number on the reservation to my AAdvantage number. This means that I'll be able to enjoy the perks of my newly-minted Gold status, including the ability to select preferred seats and check a bag for free.

Related: What is American Airlines elite status worth in 2022?

Earning Capital One miles

You can replicate this exact strategy if you have a Capital One card that allows transfers to airline and hotel partners. Two, in particular, are favorites here at TPG: the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card and the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card.

Both currently offer 75,000 bonus miles once you spend $4,000 on purchases within the first three months from account opening, and you'll also earn at least 2 miles for every dollar you spend on each card. However, the Venture X comes loaded with extra perks, including:

• Up to $300 in annual statement credits for purchases through Capital One Travel.
• Unlimited access to Capital One, Priority Pass and Plaza Premium lounges.
• Complimentary Hertz President's Circle status*.
• 10,000 bonus miles every year on your cardmember anniversary.
• Up to $100 in statement credits every four years for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck.

To help choose which card is best for you, check out our Venture card comparison.

*Upon enrollment, accessible through the Capital One website or mobile app, eligible cardholders will remain at upgraded status level through December 31, 2024. Please note, enrolling through the normal Hertz Gold Plus Rewards enrollment process (e.g. at Hertz.com) will not automatically detect a cardholder as being eligible for the program and cardholders will not be automatically upgraded to the applicable status tier. Additional terms apply.

Bottom line

Transferable credit card currencies can get you outsized value for your rewards, especially when one is offering a transfer bonus. By using the current 20% bonus for converting Capital One miles to British Airways Avios, I was able to get nearly $1,000 worth of flights for just 45,000 miles.

While this was far from my most valuable redemption of all time, it's a perfect example of how knowledge is power in the world of travel rewards. I knew that nonstop flights on American Airlines represented a great use of Avios and when combined with the transfer bonus, this sweet spot got even sweeter.

Most importantly, I'll get the chance to make memories with my family in a destination we've never visited with minimal out-of-pocket expense — and that's probably the most valuable thing of all.