How to Combine AmEx Points and Capital One Miles
Capital One and American Express are two of the most popular credit card issuers in the United States. Both offer a variety of cards with excellent rewards programs, making them a great choice for travelers and those who want to earn points for cash back or other rewards.
However, these two credit card ecosystems have no built-in shared point earning—if you earn points in one system, they cannot be transferred to the other. Unfortunately, this leaves many individuals with cards from both American Express and Capital One stuck trying to decide between different credit cards and often end up missing out on a lot of great travel redemptions. People frequently have enough points across their point ecosystems to go on incredible trips, but can’t go to book anything as their points are split between the two systems!
However, don’t worry: there is a way that you can use both your earned Capital One Miles and American Express points for the same travel reward. While you can’t combine the points within the bank systems themselves, you can combine them in the next best thing:
Shared Transfer Partners!
American Express and Capital One have a selection of travel transfer partners that overlap between the two banks’ rewards programs. This means that you can transfer your points/miles from both of the two card issuers to certain partner airlines and hotels to make the most of your total reward reserves.
If you’re new to redeeming travel with points/miles, one of the best ways can use your points from most credit cards is to “transfer them to a travel partner.” When you transfer your points to a partner, you move these points from your credit card account with the bank (e.g., Capital One, American Express) to the airline’s miles or hotel’s points.
Once you transfer your points, you can use them to book flights, hotels, and other travel expenses directly with the travel provider. You can also use these points/miles to upgrade your seat, improve your room, or book experiences like tours and activities. Since these points/miles typically transfer at a 1:1 ratio with Capital One miles/AmEx points, you aren’t losing any value when you make the transfer!
The value of your points will (of course) vary depending on the partner you choose and the redemption option you select. Typically, you can get better value for your points by transferring them to a partner instead of using them directly through the rewards program. You also don't need to stress about booking travel through a third party!
Now that the basics are out of the way, let’s break down the best transfer partners that are shared between Capital One and American Express:
For Domestic Trips: British Airways
If you’re hoping to fly domestically using your AmEx points and Capital One miles, you’ll run into an immediate issue: none of the shared transfer partners between these two banks are your typical domestic airlines (e.g., Delta, United). However, the best way to use these two point reserves to fly on domestic flights is to transfer them both to British Airways.
While BA Avios (British Airways reward mile) are not inherently valuable for international travel, they are extremely handy for booking flights on American Airlines. This process is extremely straightforward: to book an American Airlines flight using British Airways, you simply transfer your AmEx and Capital One points to British as normal and then click on the “book with reward miles” option when going to book your flight. You will see American flights under “flights with partner airlines” as an option to book (see below for an example from BOS to AUS).
An example American Airlines flight booked using British Airways Avios
Plus, with more domestic departures than any other airline, American Airlines is almost guaranteed to have a route that can get you where you need to go across the USA!
For UK Trips: Virgin Atlantic
If you’re hoping to fly to the UK from the USA using points, you’ll immediately notice high surcharges and fees across all point ecosystems. However, the airline that consistently has the best reward bookings for traveling from the US to the UK is Virgin Atlantic.
Virgin is a partner of almost every major point ecosystem, with the ability to transfer points to Virgin from Chase, American Express, Capital One, and more!
While Virgin only flies to the UK from a selection of US cities, the airline offers one of the cheapest ways to get to the UK using your points. Compared to many of the American airline options that fly to the UK (e.g., Delta, United), Virgin Atlantic is almost guaranteed to get you to the UK for fewer points than any other airline.
An example booking on Virgin Atlantic using miles
For Europe Trips: FlyingBlue (KLM / Air France)
If you’re hoping to travel more broadly from the US, using KLM & Air France’s point ecosystem, Flying Blue, is one of best ways to secure your travel. Air France and KLM offer some of the cheapest USA-Europe trips out of any airline. Air France and KLM fly to dozens of different popular destinations across Europe, including Paris, Amsterdam, Copenhagen, and more! As well, Air France and KLM are part of the Skyteam Alliance, made up of the following selection of European airlines:
Air Europa, Czech Airlines, Delta Airlines, ITA Airways, and Virgin Atlantic
Similar to Virgin Atlantic, the Flying Blue system can be utilized with American Express, Chase, and Capital One points; these shared ecosystems give you copious freedom as to which points you can use to book your next flight to Europe!
An example booking on Air France from Boston to Paris
American Express and Capital One also both frequently offer bonus point promotions for transfers to FlyingBlue—make sure to keep an eye out before combining your points!
For Other Trips: Air Canada Aeroplan
If you’re planning to travel to almost any other major travel destination, and particularly anywhere in Asia or Africa, then Air Canada’s Aeroplan reward ecosystem is going to be your best best. Both American Express and Capital One let you transfer your credit card points to Aeroplan miles at a fixed 1:1 ratio.
The biggest reason that we recommend Aeroplan for further international trips is twofold:
Aeroplan often offers excellent point/mile value on international flights, especially those flying from/to Canada
Air Canada is part of the Star Alliance, the biggest airline alliance in the world. With airlines like ANA, EgyptAir, Ethiopian Airlines, Etihad Airways, Gulf Air, Lufthansa, Singapore Airlines, United Airlines, and Turkish Airlines, which you can all book with your Air Canada points, booking across the Star Alliance is likely to get you a flight wherever you’re hoping to go!
For example, you can fly from LA to Istanbul (a 15-hour trip) for just 55,000 Aeroplan miles in economy and only 90,000 Aoerplan points by booking a Star Alliance flight through Air Canada!
An example partner flight booked on Air Canada using Aeroplan miles
Summary
Combining your AmEx Membership Rewards points and your Capital One miles is an incredible way to get more value out of your points. Not only does making use of both these point ecosystems help you fly for cheaper than you otherwise would have been able, but it also lets you potentially fly in more luxury!
While we have highlighted our recommendations for shared transfer partners between Capital One and American Express, we have compiled a full list of the airlines below:
We hope this article was helpful! If you’re interested in related topics, make sure to check out our guides on how to transfer Chase points to partners, including United and Southwest Airlines. As well, read about the banks with the best transfer partners or how to transfer American Express points to partners!