15 dream trips you can take with Capital One miles

Editor’s note: The redemption options outlined below reflect value and availability at the time of writing. Redemption value and availability are subject to change.

It’s hard to believe that The Points Guy is turning 15 years old this month. The site — along with all the fun and informative points, miles and travel content on our social and video channels — has come a long way since Brian Kelly started blogging about his travel hobby as a small side hustle during nights, weekends and breaks from his day job back in 2010.

While so very much has changed — not only at TPG as it grew from Brian’s small side project into the 100-plus-employee business it is today but also with rewards loyalty programs and the travel industry — in that time, Capital One miles have always been central to our points and miles strategy here at TPG.

In fact, one way Brian continues to earn many of the miles he has racked up over the years with his own endeavors and business spending is by using the Capital One Venture X Business card for some of his own everyday business purchases.

The card is currently offering an increased welcome bonus of up to 350,000 miles — you can earn 150,000 bonus miles after spending $30,000 on purchases in the first three months from account opening and an additional 200,000 bonus miles after spending $200,000 on purchases in the first six months from account opening. This offer ends June 9.

If you hit those spending marks to trigger the full bonus, you will end up with at least 750,000 Capital One miles from the bonus and the spending since the card earns 2 miles per dollar spent on purchases (and more on travel booked through Capital One’s travel booking site). Those 750,000 miles would be worth $7,500 when redeemed directly for travel purchases or potentially even more by leveraging the program’s various airline and hotel transfer partners.

So, whether you earn your Capital One miles like Brian does with his Venture X Business card or with one of Capital One’s other stellar cards, such as the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card or the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card, here are 15 dream-worthy ways to spend them.

Beaches and big cities in Colombia

Travel from the Washington, D.C., area to this South American gem for a gorgeous mix of culture and beach time — all possible using your Capital One miles in a few great, different ways.

If convenience is what you’re after, you could redeem miles directly through Capital One’s travel booking site at a rate of 1 cent apiece for airfare between Dulles International Airport (IAD) near Washington (and enjoy IAD’s Capital One Lounge thanks to the Capital One Venture X Business card) and mountainous Bogota’s El Dorado International Airport (BOG) or beachy Cartagena’s Rafael Núñez International Airport (CTG) starting at around $400 or 40,000 miles for economy on various airlines, including American Airlines and Delta Air Lines.

Or, you could transfer Capital One miles on a 1:1 basis to Avianca LifeMiles, the frequent flyer program of Colombian airline Avianca. Instead of paying around $650 for an itinerary from Washington to Cartagena and returning from Bogota, you would need just 16,320 miles plus $138 in taxes and fees in our test searches, which is some pretty terrific savings.

In Bogota, you could put your miles to use by transferring them to Choice Privileges at a 1:1 rate so you can redeem 12,000 of them per night (instead of paying around $120) to stay at the upscale Radisson Bogota Metrotel in the city’s tony Chapinero district, where some of Bogota’s best boutiques and restaurants are.

Then it’s off to sunny Cartagena, where you might want to splurge on a stay at the historic Sofitel Legend Santa Clara Cartagena, housed in a magnificent former convent from the 17th century. Room rates there start at around $349 per night. You can save some money, though, by transferring Capital One miles to Accor Live Limitless at a 2:1 ratio and then redeeming them in parcels of 1,000 points for 20 euros ($22) off your stay.

Alternatively, you could just book through Capital One’s travel booking site and redeem your miles at 1 cent apiece for a stay at Casa Pestagua, a Relais & Chateaux-affiliated boutique hotel in the historic city center with rooms starting at around $420 (or 42,000 miles) per night. It is part of the Capital One Premier Collection, so those with Venture X Business cards are eligible to book and receive perks like availability-based upgrades, free daily breakfast for two and up to $100 in statement credits for on-property charges.

It might depend on how many travelers are with you and how long your trip is, but you can turn around 100,000 Capital One miles into a fabulous adventure of at least five to six days.

(White) Lotus pose

Think set-jetting is just for the glitterati? Think again.

You can visit one of the tropical Thai islands, where Season Three of “The White Lotus” was filmed, while sticking to a budget — and your miles can help. When there is award availability, you could transfer just 84,000 Capital One miles to Singapore KrisFlyer and book a round-trip ticket in economy on Singapore Airlines from Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) or San Francisco International Airport (SFO) to Phuket International Airport (HKT). Instead of paying $900 in cash, you’d be on the hook for only $65 in taxes and fees, plus the miles spent.

Once there, you could use Capital One miles transferred to Wyndham Rewards to book a stay at the seaside Wyndham Grand Phuket Kalim Bay for just 12,000 points per night (instead of around $150 in cash).

Alternatively, you could stay at one of the actual filming locations for “The White Lotus,” Anantara Mai Khao Phuket Villas, which is part of Capital One’s Premier Collection, for just under $300 per night and enjoy all of those Premier Collection perks. By booking via Capital One’s travel booking site, you’d earn 10 miles per dollar spent on your stay, or you could redeem miles directly for the stay at a rate of 1 cent apiece.

Jet-set to Europe in Lufthansa’s new business class

Lufthansa is currently rolling out its stellar new Allegris business class, with lots of customized individual seat types, even in the same cabin. (Some are better for colleagues or companions traveling together, while others are great for solo business travelers.) You could take that next business (or leisure) trip in style and arrive rested.

This new business-class seat is flying between Munich and Chicago, San Diego and San Francisco (plus Charlotte starting in August). Be one of the first aviation aficionados (AvGeeks) to experience this stylish new cabin for yourself. You just need to transfer Capital One miles to Air Canada Aeroplan, and all it takes is just 70,000 miles each way between (most of) the U.S. and Munich when awards are available. Taxes and fees can be up to $400 in each direction, but tickets can cost upward of $8,000 if paying with cash, so you are still getting to experience all that luxury at a discount thanks to using your miles.

A grand time in Grand Cayman

Although often a short distance, flights between U.S. airports and Grand Cayman can be expensive — typically over $400 round-trip from many airports, but more often in the $700-$800 range.

However, you can save a small fortune and take the whole family (or a group of colleagues as an incentive) to the Caribbean paradise from 24,000 British Airways Avios (transferred from Capital One on a 1:1 basis) plus around $114 in taxes and fees per round-trip ticket from Miami International Airport (MIA) or 36,000 Avios plus the same taxes and fees from Dallas Fort Worth International Airport (DFW). Both options are for flights operated by American Airlines.

Once there, you can spend your days scuba diving, sunning on Seven Mile Beach and swimming with manta rays.

Magic in the Maasai Mara

Want to consider a true splurge?

You could transfer Capital One miles to Virgin Red and redeem them for a no-expense-spared stay at one of Sir Richard Branson’s safari lodges in Africa. Mahali Mzuri is a lavish camp in Kenya’s wildlife-rich Maasai Mara National Reserve. There, you can redeem Virgin Red points for stays starting at two nights for 330,000 points (extra nights start at 165,000 points).

That’s a lot of points, but it sure beats paying common rates of nearly $3,000 per night! Plus, if you earn the Venture X Business card’s full welcome offer of up to 350,000 miles — 150,000 miles after spending $30,000 on purchases in the first three months from account opening and an additional 200,000 miles after spending $200,000 on purchases in the first six months from account opening — you’ll have more than enough miles for a memorable safari.

Yes, those spending requirements may sound high, but if your small business can use a credit card for the majority of its expenses, these numbers might be more within reach than you think.

Splurge on Spain

Capital One miles convert to British Airways Avios at a 1:1 rate, making it possible to transfer miles to British Airways Club partner Club Iberia Plus to redeem for Iberia flights. Why the double transfer? Great question.

It’s because with Club Iberia Plus, business-class award tickets on off-peak dates (think: during the fall and winter when most folks aren’t traveling) can cost as low as 34,000 Avios each way from airports like New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) and Boston Logan International Airport (BOS) to Adolfo Suárez Madrid-Barajas Airport (MAD) and Josep Tarradellas Barcelona-El Prat Airport (BCN), so you are getting to Europe in style at a steep discount.

If headed to Barcelona, check out the all-new, swanky SLS hotel by the Marina (it just opened April 1), where room rates start at around $250 per night — but you can shave some dollars off that price by converting Capital One miles to Accor Live Limitless points and redeeming them in batches of 1,000 points for 20 euros ($22) in value off your hotel bill.

Yay for Cathay

One of the most exclusive ways to fly is in Hong Kong-based airline Cathay Pacific’s decadent first class between Hong Kong and the U.S.

Although award availability is extremely difficult (if not sometimes impossible) to come by when trying to use partner miles, Capital One miles actually transfer on a 1:1 basis directly to Cathay Pacific’s own Asia Miles program. There, award availability is much better; all you need is 125,000 Asia Miles (plus about $150-$180 in taxes and fees) in each direction to experience nearly 15 hours of luxury, including caviar courses and free-flowing fine Champagne, when traveling between Los Angeles and Hong Kong.

Aloha, Hawaii

Turkish Miles&Smiles is a 1:1 Capital One airline transfer partner, and one of the all-time-best award chart sweet spots anywhere, when available, is redeeming just 10,000 Turkish Airlines miles each way for domestic economy award tickets within the U.S., including to Hawaii, on its Star Alliance partner, United Airlines.

That’s a fraction of what other programs will charge you and means you could (again, if you can find the availability) book 10 people round-trip tickets to the islands from the U.S. mainland with the 350,000-mile welcome offer from the Venture X Business card … and still have 150,000 miles left over!

Math can be fun. Perhaps this is just the opportunity you need to reward some high-performing colleagues for their hard work and to make the folks back home jealous with your real Zoom background of sandy beaches and crashing waves.

Put the vacay in Vacasa

Thanks to Wyndham Rewards’ partnership with Vacasa vacation rentals, you can redeem Wyndham Rewards points at a rate of either 15,000 or 30,000 points per bedroom, per night for some fabulous vacation rentals around the world.

The 350,000-mile welcome offer from the Venture X Business card would be enough for as many as 23 nights in a one-bedroom condo near some fabulous beaches and golf courses in Los Cabos, Mexico, or 11 nights in a stunning two-bedroom suite at any number of beach resorts perched on the jungle-covered mountainsides around Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.

Like Europe, but closer

Feel like a European getaway but don’t have the time for a full-blown transatlantic jaunt?

Try a visit to Quebec City this summer instead. Thanks to its zone- and distance-based award chart, Air Canada Aeroplan only requires as few as 6,000 miles each way, making it possible to get from Boston or New York City to Quebec City on Air Canada or United for as few as 12,000 miles round-trip instead of paying around $500.

That means you’ll have more miles to put toward your hotel stay at options like the boutique Hotel Royal William, Ascend Collection, which is part of Choice Privileges. Rates there start at 20,000 points per night (instead of around $250).

Or, you could live it up at the historic Fairmont Le Chateau Frontenac, which started welcoming guests in 1893 and was one of the original grand railway hotels. It has hosted heads of state and royals ever since and happens to be part of Accor Live Limitless, so you can transfer Capital One miles to the program on a 2:1 basis to help bring the cost of your stay down.

Colorado highs and South Carolina Lowcountry

With the Venture X Business card, you have access to both Premier Collection and Lifestyle Collection vacation rentals bookable through Capital One’s travel booking site, making it possible to stay in gorgeous locales like Aspen, Colorado, and Charleston, South Carolina.

Premier Collection and Lifestyle Collection rentals earn 5 miles per dollar spent on the booking, and you can redeem your Capital One miles for 1 cent apiece toward the cost. To think about it another way, if you hit the minimum spending requirement needed to earn the full 350,000-mile welcome offer (that’s a total of $200,000 on purchases in the first six months from opening your account) on the Venture X Business card, you’d have a total of 750,000 miles.

That’s enough to offset $7,500 in expenses on a rental on lush Kiawah Island, a Lowcountry destination less than an hour away from Charleston that’s known for its beaches and great golfing, or a mountainside chalet in Aspen, which you could make your home base for a ski vacation in winter or a hiking adventure in summer.

Have a g’day Down Under

Most folks think the major expense of a trip to Australia is the cost of just flying there.

However, once you get to the continent, domestic flights can also add up to become a large portion of your trip cost. That’s why it might make sense to convert Capital One miles to British Airways Avios and redeem them for otherwise costly short flights on the carrier’s Oneworld partner, Qantas (which is also a Capital One transfer partner, but its redemption rates are often not as advantageous).

Instead of paying about $300 for a flight from Melbourne to Cairns, one of the gateways to the Great Barrier Reef, you could spend just 11,000 Avios plus around $70 in taxes and fees when awards are available.

Want to fly from Perth up to Exmouth so you can swim with whale sharks along Ningaloo Reef? Those flights can cost around $1,100 round-trip. Fortunately, you only need a minimum of 18,000 Avios round-trip to cover the journey thanks to British Airways Club’s distance-based redemptions on partners. That can amount to massive savings and open up otherwise inaccessible destinations Down Under.

Say ‘Sawubona’ to South Africa

If you’ve ever wanted to watch the clouds roll down the golden sandstone face of Table Mountain as the sun rises over Cape Town, your best bet for getting there might just be transferring Capital One miles to Avianca LifeMiles. Then, you can redeem them for award tickets on Avianca’s Star Alliance partner, United.

It will cost you at least 55,000 miles each way in economy or 90,000 miles in business class between the carrier’s hubs at Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR) and IAD to Cape Town International Airport (CPT). From there, you can explore the beauty of South Africa’s rugged coast, venture inland to taste the vintages in the Cape Winelands or just spend a few days on the beach before heading out on safari elsewhere in the country or region.

Collect some fancy Delft houses on KLM

Among AvGeeks, one of the airline souvenirs of lore is KLM’s famous Delft houses, which the Dutch airline hands out as parting gifts to business-class flyers.

There’s one adorable miniature building design created for every year of the airline’s 105-year history … so we dare you to try to collect them all! The good news is that you’ll need just 60,000 Capital One miles transferred to Air France-KLM Flying Blue when available (instead of anywhere from $3,000 to $9,000) to fly between several U.S. airports and the airline’s hub in Amsterdam in order to pick up the next Delft house in your collection. Just be aware of taxes and fees on award tickets; they cost around $200 to $300 each way.

While on board, expect the airline’s signature amenities, including reverse-herringbone seats (some of which come with closing privacy panels), gourmet menus courtesy of famous Dutch chefs and functional amenity kits stocked with Marie-Stella-Maris skincare products. Once you have your tiny house in hand, you could spend part of your European sojourn actually trekking to the historical building in the Netherlands upon which it was based.

A sweet spot in ANA’s The Suite

Along with business-class suites called The Room, Japanese airline All Nippon Airways introduced all-new first-class fixtures dubbed The Suite back in 2019, and they remain among the most luxurious ways to fly in the world.

Aircraft equipped with cabins featuring The Suite have just eight of them aboard in a small cabin up front that features two rows of four seats, each in a 1-2-1 pattern. Designed by famed Japanese architect Kengo Kuma, The Suite has a muted palette inspired by Japanese luxury hotels, as well as up-to-the-minute tech features like 43-inch entertainment monitors. Passengers can also count on both Japanese and Western meals from Michelin-lauded chefs while on board.

Although award availability is hard to come by, when it does pop up, you can take advantage by transferring Capital One miles to Virgin Red and then redeeming 72,500 of them each way between the western U.S. and Japan or 85,000 Virgin Red points each way between the eastern U.S. and Japan.

Bottom line

With the Capital One Venture X Business card, the opportunities to earn Capital One miles on everyday purchases and travel-specific ones are nearly endless. So, too, are the potential chances to redeem them for fantastic trips around the world — for work or fun — thanks to the versatility of Capital One miles and the program’s many airline and hotel partners.