Three Trips You Could Book Using 120,000 Capital One miles

If there’s one thing we learned from our recent newsletter poll, it’s that…

… y’all have range.

When we asked how you’d rather use these Capital One miles, here were the numbers:

52%: “One trip, but stretch my points as far as humanly possible”
27%: “Give me one luxury flight”
21%: “Multiple weekend getaways, please”

So, in honor of democracy, we’re breaking down three real trips you can book with a BIG stash of Capital One miles — one for each camp. Whether you want great value, one boujee seat in the skies, or to disappear every other Friday, you’re covered.

And here’s the important part… The welcome offer is just the starting point.

Here’s a very normal, very achievable scenario over your first year:

• 75,000 miles from the welcome offer

• 8,000 miles from the $4,000 minimum spend (2x on everything)

• 20,000 to 30,000 miles from ongoing everyday spending

• 10,000 anniversary miles after your first year

That puts you right around (or above) 120,000 miles, which is enough to book any of the trips below with some wiggle room.

Trip One: Multi-city Europe Trip For Two

Each month, Flying Blue (the loyalty program for Air France and KLM) posts a "Promo Rewards" list with 25% off select transatlantic routes.

That means you can fly from cities across the U.S. to Europe for as few as 18,750 miles in economy (and sometimes they even discount business class).

Capital One transfers to Flying Blue 1:1, usually instantly.

Here’s how this would work in real life:

• Book NYC → Barcelona for 18,750 miles (plus about $120 taxes per person)

• Take a cheap cash flight or train from Barcelona to Amsterdam (around $60)

• Fly AMS → NYC on the return for another 18,750 miles (and around $95 fees)

Total: about 75,000 miles for two round-trip tickets to Europe
Remaining balance: 45,000 miles

These promo rewards are some of the best deals on the market, and sometimes even include solid premium economy and business class deals.

You could then transfer some of those remaining miles to Accor (at a 2:1 ratio) and shave up to €450 off your hotel bill, or use the extra 45k for transportation, a side trip to Lisbon, or saving for future travel.

When to book: Flying Blue releases promos monthly, and usually allows for travel over a six-month period. And don’t worry – whenever a new batch of deals comes out, we’ll tell you about them. 😉

Trip Two: Lufthansa First Class to Europe

You could also break this into two business-class trips instead. If you read “luxury flight” and felt physically seen, here's how this works.

First: Fly Lufthansa First Class to Europe

• Transfer Capital One miles to Air Canada Aeroplan at 1:1

• Book Lufthansa First Class for 90,000 miles one-way (East Coast to Frankfurt or Munich)

• Taxes are only $57 USD from the U.S., which is bonkers.

What you get:

• A personal chauffeur to your plane (yes, really)

• Caviar service… 😋

• Bedding setup similar to a literal hotel

• Access to the First Class Terminal (if you’re flying out of Frankfurt)
  (and heads up — the car service to your plane is only when departing from certain airports, not the U.S.)

Lufthansa only releases First Class award seats within about 14 days of departure (sometimes less than that). For example, I just found the example above for a flight departing tomorrow.

That means you need flexibility… or, alternatively, a very chill boss.

Then: Fly Virgin Atlantic Premium back

You’ll still have about 30,000 miles left, which is enough to transfer 1:1 to Virgin and book one-way Premium Economy from London to the U.S. on an off-peak date.

It won’t be caviar, but it will be very comfy…

And maybe you prefer reliability over the boujee-ness? You could book a round-trip in business class through a program like Flying Blue, which charges around 60k each way between many U.S. cities and Europe.

Trip Three: Three Trips in Six Months

If you’d rather have several short trips to look forward to instead of one big one, this strategy works well, especially for the U.S., the Caribbean, and Mexico.

Capital One transfers to JetBlue, Turkish (for United-operated domestic flights), and British Airways (good for American Airlines pricing in off-peak seasons).

Let’s loosely split the 120k miles into about 40k per trip.

NYC to Denver for skiing (book with Turkish miles on United)

• Capital One transfers 1:1 to Turkish Miles&Smiles

• United-operated domestic flights booked using Turkish miles cost just 10k miles each way (even to Hawaii 🏝️)

• You’ll search and book through Turkish

  • You need to search on this page, and can read more about the process in this newsletter

This will cost you about 20,000 miles total for a round trip (plus taxes around $50).

If you found some really great cash fares, you could also use some of these miles to cover a fun boutique hotel in a ski town.

For example, Denver is a hub for Frontier and offers some crazy cheap flights to/from cities like Las Vegas.

You could book a round trip from Las Vegas for $58, offset that with just 5,800 Capital One miles, and then book a sick hotel like the Gravity Haus Breckenridge.

During peak season, you can find nights for just under $400. In this case, the welcome offer could help cover about three nights at a really cool and unique property.

Weekend in Nashville

• Look up cash fares — if it’s around $200 to $250, just swipe your Venture X and cover it afterwards using miles

• This is a great option vs transferring when the value is low

This example would cost you about 23,000 miles round trip (retroactively, or 46,000 miles for two people round trip).

Cancun Getaway

Alrighty, here are two options:

1. Transfer to Flying Blue and book Delta-operated routes for as little as 14,500 miles each way (about 30,000 miles round-trip)

2. OR, pay cash and cover if the fares are reasonable

At this point, you’ve used roughly: 20,000 (Denver), 23,000 (Nashville), and 30,000 (Cancun) = about 73,000 miles

That leaves you with nearly 50,000 miles to:

• Cover hotels, rental cars, and other random travel

• Transfer to a program like Rove for hotel discounts

• Save for another trip (!!!)

For example, you could use some of those miles to book a hotel through Rove, and earn solid points back on your stay.

Here’s one option I found about an hour from Cancun for just $273.23 per night. You could use those 50,000 miles to cover (most) of a two-night stay. But, you’d also rack up 20,568 miles from that same stay — enough to book the same property for another night.

That $300 annual travel credit from the Venture X can also offset hotels or taxes on one or two of these trips. Game-changer!

How to Earn and Maximize Capital One miles

The Venture X makes this unusually easy.

• Earn 75,000 bonus miles when you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening, equal to $750 in travel.

• Earn 2x miles per dollar on every purchase, and up to 10x on travel

• $300 annual travel credit through the Capital One portal

• 10,000-mile anniversary bonus every year

• Access to Capital One Lounges and Priority Pass (enrollment required)

Also worth noting: Transfers are instant to most airlines, which makes booking flash deals much smoother than with some competitors.

Pro Tips for Booking With Capital One miles

Transfer vs. Use as Airline Miles

If you want maximum value, transfer your miles to airline partners, especially during award promos (like Flying Blue) or for high-cost flights (like Lufthansa First Class).

That’s typically where you’ll get 2 or more cents per mile in value.

But if you’re overwhelmed, short on time, or don’t want to hunt for availability, booking directly through the Capital One Travel portal is totally fine for simple trips.

Pairing Points From Multiple Programs

If you’re short on miles for an award (it happens!):

• You can pair Capital One miles with miles from other programs like Chase Ultimate Rewards, American Express Membership Rewards, or even Bilt Rewards, but only by transferring them to the same airline.

• If the airline doesn’t accept mixed program transfers, consider booking one leg with Capital One miles and the return with another program.

• For cash costs (taxes, surcharges, positioning flights), use the $300 travel credit or cover it using miles at one cent per mile after the fact.

Portal vs. Airline Booking

• Use the Capital One Travel portal when the cash price is competitive, flights are simple (non-stop, no special cabins), or you’re booking hotels and rental cars. You’ll still earn 2x to 10x miles — yay!

• Avoid the portal when you’re targeting premium cabins, partner sweet spots, or advanced routes. Those are almost always better when booked through partner airlines with transferred miles.

Cover Travel Purchases at One Cent Per Mile

Don’t sleep on this one — it’s one of the easiest strategies in the game!

Swipe your Venture X for any qualifying travel purchase (flights, hotels, trains, etc.), then go back into your account and “cover” the charge using miles at one cent per mile.

It’s not the highest value, but it’s fast, flexible, and great for random travel expenses that don’t justify a points transfer. Think boutique hotels, last-minute taxes, or transportation on your trip(s).

When in Doubt…

1. Check the cash price

2. Check the award price (including taxes)

3. If the value is less than 1.25¢ per mile, consider covering the purchase

4. If the value is more than 2 cents per mile, transfer miles and get on it

And if the value is more than 5 cents per mile, take a photo, send it to your group chat, oh… and make sure you mention it in the lounge, also. 🙂

Bottom Line

There’s no “right” way to use 120,000 miles… only a right way for you.

If you want to explore four cities and be a little scrappier with your miles, chase Flying Blue promos, or something similar. If you want to be fed caviar in the sky and post about it aggressively, choose Lufthansa First. If you’re already planning your next three “ooo sorry I’m out of office” emails, break it into some weekend trips.

However you use them, the Venture X welcome offer unlocks opportunities that many premium cards complicate with multiple credits and fine-print craziness.

If you’ve been waiting for the right moment, 75,000 miles and six months to earn them is that moment.