Starting Tuesday, consumers with a Capital One travel rewards card can transfer miles to several travel partner loyalty programs at a 1-to-1 rate, an improved rate for the Venture Rewards program, but one competing travel card rewards programs already offer. Capital One is also adding four new travel partners to its Venture Rewards program: Choice Hotels, British Airways, TAP Air Portugal, and Turkish Airlines. These travel program updates are part of a larger relaunch of the Capital One Travel program to give travelers more options, according to an email announcement sent to The Balance. The bank is partnering with Hopper (an online travel deal search tool) to update its travel rewards booking portal later this year, and will soon jump into airport lounges as well. The first Capital One Lounge at the Dallas-Fort Worth Airport (DFW) will open later this year, and a second will open at Dulles Airport (IAD) in 2022. Capital One cardholders will be able to access the lounges for a special rate (which will vary by card), and the general public will be able to pay for entry to enjoy the lounge amenities too, Capital One told The Balance via email. The addition of 1-to-1 miles transfer options (highlighted green in the above table) better aligns the Capital One Venture Rewards program with the American Express Membership Rewards and Chase Ultimate Rewards programs, and helps consumers save miles if they want to boost the balance of an airline or hotel loyalty account by making a transfer. Before, cardholders would only get 1 or 1.5 points for every 2 Venture miles transferred to a partner program. For example, 10,000 Venture Miles used to equal just 7,500 when transferred to the Wyndham Rewards program. Now, 10,000 Venture Miles can be turned into 10,000 Wyndham Rewards points. The new Capital One miles transfer partners may be welcome additions for cardholders who want to pad an international airline loyalty program account before booking their next trip overseas. All the new airline partner additions—and most of the existing partners—are international airlines. JetBlue is still the only major U.S. airline in the Capital One travel partner network. Competing loyalty programs, such as those offered by American Express and Chase, feature several domestic airline partners, including heavyweights like Delta and United Airlines.
