How Many Capital One Points Do You Need for a Flight? (2024)

You need 100 Capital One miles for every dollar that a flight costs. Each mile is worth one cent when spent on travel. So, if your flight costs $200, you’ll need 20,000 miles. That’s a pretty standard rate for reward redemption.

Because not all flights are equal (in terms of distance, seating, time of year, etc.), their dollar cost varies a lot. So, credit card companies can’t charge the same number of points or miles for every flight. Instead, they use an exchange rate between their points or miles and the dollar cost of the flight. In this case, it’s 100 Capital One miles for $1 in airfare. And just to be clear, Capital One doesn’t offer any points cards. But miles work the same way.

If you don’t have a Capital One miles card yet and are interested in one, there are two good options, the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card and the Capital One VentureOne Rewards Credit Card. Both cards require good credit or better (a credit score of 700+), but their terms are a bit different.

Capital One Venture gives you unlimited 5 miles per $1 spent on hotels, vacation rentals and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel, 5 miles per $1 spent on Capital One Entertainment purchases through 12/31/25, as well as 2 miles per $1 on all other purchases, with a 75,000 miles (you'll have to spend $4,000 in 3 months from account opening to get it) as initial bonus and a $95 annual fee. Capital One VentureOne gives you unlimited 5 miles per $1 spent on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel, and 1.25 miles per $1 on all other purchases, with a 20,000 miles initial bonus (you need to spend $500 in 3 months from account opening to get it) and a $0 annual fee. So, you have to choose between a higher earning rate and fee or a lower earning rate and no fee.

If you do already have a Capital One miles card, you can redeem your miles by logging in to your Capital One online account. You can use your points to book travel (flights, hotels, cruises, etc.) or pay for travel expenses after the fact. The number of Capital One miles needed to pay for a recent flight will be listed when you select “Redeem Travel Purchases.” You’ll be able to use your miles for any flight from the past 90 days.