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Update: Capital One miles transfers are back online.
The ability to transfer miles to airline and hotel loyalty programs has been “down for maintenance” on Capital One’s website since about September 23.
System issues happen from time to time, but they do not usually last for days at a time. And Capital One has been surprisingly quiet about the issue. I’d expect them to be proactively reassuring eligible Venture and Spark cardmembers who are missing out on the opportunity to secure award travel in the meantime.
It’s been clear to me that miles transfers would not go away suddenly and without notice. That’s a concern several customers reached out to me with, and I’d respond to each email. It struck me that the issue had to be technical or security-related. Something happened that the bank hasn’t shared. And it’s not related to the capability to actually transfer points to programs, since Capital One uses a vendor (Ascenda Loyalty) for that and other companies continue to use Ascenda’s platform successfully in the meantime.
I asked Capital One when to expect miles transfer to return, and they tell me the functionality “to be restored online within a week” after they’ve completed “mak[ing] system improvements.”
Capital One miles now transfer 1:1 to:
- Star Alliance: Air Canada Aeroplan, Singapore Airlines Krisflyer, Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles, Avianca LifeMiles, TAP Air Portugal Miles&Go
- oneworld: British Airways Executive Club, Cathay Pacific Asia Miles, Finnair Plus, Qantas Frequent Flyer
- SkyTeam: Air France KLM Flying Blue, Aeromexico Club Premier
- Non-alliance: Emirates Skywards, Etihad Guest, Virgin Red
- Hotels: Wyndham Rewards, Choice Privileges
Capital One miles also transfer at 2-to-1.5 into EVA Air Infinity MileageLands. And they transfer 2-to-1 into ALL Accor Live Limitless.
I have a strong balance, though continue to work to build it into the seven figures to match my totals with Chase and American Express. Their premium travel rewards card has been my go-to for unbonused spend for almost the last year, since it debuted. But I also believe Capital One needs to communicate more proactively and transparently with its customers when a key feature of its rewards proposition becomes suddenly unavailable, because members read concerns into silence and that breeds distrust.
The Capital One Lounge IAD will open in “Fall 2021”
My uncle Sam Brooklyn has a bridge for sale – cheap.
CapitalOne mileage earning rates on $ spend are great. Their card benefits, other than miles are terrible and the customer service is not great. CapitalOne through Visa Infinite is unbelievably bad at paying out, no matter the evidence to support your claim. (e.g. even having the vendor’s email stating a refund would be given still didn’t help me get the actual refund, and this was not an isolated example). So while the earning rates are great, I would simply advise people to consider the risks of something going wrong. When something does go wrong, and you need to make a claim on other benefits, Amex has by far the best customer service, followed by Chase. Ironically, despite also having many cards through Visa, Chase is not plagued by the same benefits issues as CapitalOne.
Humble brag was unnecessary.
Exactly why I don’t have a Capital One card. Their customer service has always been awful and the company is untrustworthy. I’ll stick with Chase and American Express. But enjoy the one Capital One lounge!
Excuse me, but how is this even possible? Are all customers just cattle, or sheep? Isn’t there any consumer advocacy anymore?
I’d find my job in jeopardy if i brought a system down for a day let alone weeks. Who got fired for this?
This is also affecting the $300 Venture X credit for Capital One Travel purchases. I bought a flight through that site on 9/16 and even though the credit usually posts within a week, I haven’t received the credit yet. Commenters on other blogs are reporting the same. Really poor form for Capital One to have no public explanation for this.
Had been considering getting a Capital One card but this is a major red flag.
i called capital one on 09/29, wasted 91 (!) minutes and each capital one rep keep transferring me to another rep. nobody knows anything about travel benefits for venture card (poor training about the products), they keep sending me to “capital one travel” (different program, which i don’t want to use ), and nobody knew that award platform was down for 6 days already. they recommending me to delete cookies, clear casher and reboot my PC. really??? finally, i was transferred to 10Th (!) rep, who was knowledgeable person, and did confirmed that they aware about “transfer miles to loyalty programs” issues and promised it will be fixed soon, but not sure when. why they not displayed a notice (at this transfer portal) accepting a problem and warn about ongoing repairs and save time of all consumers calls and all customer service people? plus i lost extra miles bonus for transferring points to my affiliated program, which expired on 09/30. also, i lost potential discount for reduced (up to 25% ) for award miles needed if i buy tickets until 09/30 . what a shame, capital one!!!
I need to transfer my Cap One points and of course, the system is still down. I stumbled upon this. Would a Class Action Lawsuit have something to do with their finances and perhaps this is connected in some way? I am just speculating please do not flame me. Notice the dates. “Capital One will pay $190 million as part of a customer data security litigation settlement to resolve claims it jeopardized customer information in a 2019 data breach. Consumers may file a Capital One settlement claim through Aug. 22, 2022.
According to the plaintiffs, their information would have been secured and protected if Capital One took reasonable cybersecurity measures. Their failure to protect consumer information directly put customers at risk for identity theft and fraud, the Capital One class action lawsuit contends.
Capital One hasn’t admitted any wrongdoing but agreed to pay $190 million to resolve the claims.
Final approval was granted Sept. 13, 2022.
The claim deadline has been extended to Sept. 30, 2022.
Their system is still down today (Oct 5th). Ridiculous!
I tried transferring over 2 weeks ago to SQ to book a trip and had to move AX points instead to secure 1st class seats.
If CapOne wants this VentureX card to be my daily go-to, they need to convince me I can trust them. Otherwise, I’ll take getting 0.5% less earn with Freedom Unlimited knowing UR is always open for business.
khatl, I would modify your assertion about Capital One’s earn rate being great. Some of its sign-up bonuses are attractive. Fine. Its 2X earn rate on foreign transactions without a fee is great. Truly.
I know you didn’t bring lounges but I feel a need to do so just to interject some humor. But, other than that, earn rates are NO BETTER than what are available at other card issuers. Period.
To add to UAPremierGuy’s comments, I’ve banked (checking and savings) with Capital One. Walking into a physical branch (in Midtown Manhattan), one finds absolutely NO relationship people. Tellers do the basics and nothing more. Have a question? Tellers point to online resources. Pretty sad.
Gary — Do you value Cap1 miles over Amex?
Amex Business Blue also has unbonused 2x spend, with annual cap.