Travel rewards credit cards allow you to earn miles each time you make a qualifying travel or everyday purchase. Once enough miles have accumulated on your account, you can redeem them for travel-related expenses like flights, hotel stays, rentals or vacation packages.

Capital One "miles" operate as a highly flexible currency with three primary ways to redeem for travel in 2026. The simplest method is the "Purchase Eraser": you buy travel (flights, hotels, Uber, etc.) on your card as usual and then "erase" the charge from your statement using miles at a rate of 1 cent per mile within 90 days of the purchase. The second way is booking through the Capital One Travel portal, where your miles also have a 1-cent value, but you benefit from price-drop protection and price matching. The third, and often most lucrative, method is transferring miles to 15+ airline and hotel partners (like British Airways, Avios, or Turkish Airlines), usually at a 1:1 ratio. This allows you to book premium cabin seats that might otherwise cost thousands of dollars for a fraction of the miles. Unlike some competitors, Capital One miles never expire as long as the account is open, and there are no blackout dates when using the "eraser" method.