Capital One Miles, earned through cards like the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card and Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card, are a valuable flexible currency with numerous airline and hotel transfer partners. Understanding their expiration policy is straightforward.

Capital One Miles Expiration Policy

Capital One keeps it simple: Capital One Miles do not expire as long as your credit card account remains open and in good standing.

  • There is no inactivity requirement to keep your miles valid.
  • Miles earned will remain in your account indefinitely, provided the associated card account is active.

This user-friendly policy means you can accumulate Capital One Miles over the long term without worrying about losing them due to lack of activity. However, you could lose them in other ways.

Reasons You Could Lose Capital One Points

Misusing your account

If Capital One suspects fraud, abuse, or misuse of program privileges (such as selling rewards), they can close your account. Once that happens, all unused points are forfeited immediately.

Closing a rewards card

Closing a Capital One card that earns points will also cause you to lose any unused rewards tied to that account. If you want to hold onto your points, you’ll need to keep at least one eligible card open.

How to Keep Your Capital One Points

Fortunately, Capital One offers several ways to keep your rewards safe, even if you’re trying to cut down on annual fees or close a card.

Open a no-annual-fee card

If you’re ready to ditch a premium card but still want to preserve your rewards, consider opening a no-annual-fee option. Once your new account is active, transfer your points before closing your old card.

Popular no-annual-fee options include:

Keep in mind that only the VentureOne supports transfers to travel partners.

Transfer to travel partners

Several Capital One cards let you transfer miles to airline and hotel partners, often at a 1:1 ratio. This is one of the best ways to preserve and maximize your rewards if you’re planning travel.

Downgrade your card

Instead of closing your account, you can downgrade to another Capital One card that earns rewards. This way, your account remains open and your points stay intact.

Book through Capital One Travel

You can also redeem points directly through the Capital One Travel portal for flights, hotels, and more. This is a simple way to ensure your rewards get used before closing a card.

Redeem for past travel purchases

If you’ve already booked travel on your Capital One card within the last 90 days, you can retroactively apply points toward those charges at 1 cent per point. It’s flexible, though not always the most valuable redemption.

Cash back

Points can be redeemed for cash back as a statement credit or a check, but at just 0.5 cents per point this is a poor value compared to travel.

Entertainment experiences

Through Capital One Entertainment, you can use points for concert and sporting event tickets or even VIP packages. Points are worth about 0.8 cents each here.

Gift cards

You can redeem rewards for gift cards at retailers like Amazon, Target, Walmart, Best Buy, and Sephora. Values vary, but generally aren’t the best use of your points.

Online shopping

Capital One rewards can also be used at checkout with Amazon or PayPal once your accounts are linked. Expect about 0.8 cents per point in value.

Share with friends or family

One perk that sets Capital One apart: you can transfer rewards to anyone with a Capital One rewards card, even if they don’t live in your household. This makes it easy to pool miles for a bigger redemption.

Account Closure Considerations

The primary way to lose Capital One Miles is by closing your account:

  • Account Closure: If you close your Capital One credit card account, you will forfeit any remaining miles associated with that account.
  • Combining Miles: Unlike some other programs, Capital One generally does not allow combining miles between different card accounts before closure (though you can transfer miles to another person's Capital One Miles account).
  • Product Changes: If you product-change your card to a non-miles-earning Capital One card (e.g., a cashback card), you will likely forfeit your miles.

Before closing a Capital One Miles-earning card, ensure you have redeemed or transferred all your miles. Transferring miles to an airline or hotel partner is often the best way to preserve their value if you plan to close the account.

Official Policy

For the official terms and conditions, refer to Capital One's resources:

Maximizing Capital One’s Airline Transfer Partners

Capital One miles are some of the most versatile rewards currencies available. Capital One miles are worth 1.85 cents each, thanks to the exceptional value you can unlock by transferring to airline partners. Here are some of the best programs to focus on.

Air Canada Aeroplan

Aeroplan remains one of the strongest Star Alliance programs, especially for premium cabin redemptions. While United MileagePlus now prices dynamically, Aeroplan still publishes fixed award rates that open the door to outsized value.

  • Short-haul bargains: Flights under 500 miles cost just 6,000 Aeroplan points in economy.
  • Cross-country value: Business-class seats on transcontinental flights start at 25,000 points each way.
  • Europe in style: Fly business class to Western Europe from the U.S. Northeast for as little as 60,000 points one-way.

Aeroplan also has unique partnerships outside Star Alliance, including the ability to book Emirates flights.

Air France–KLM Flying Blue

Flying Blue provides excellent transatlantic opportunities, especially if you take advantage of its monthly Promo Rewards. Even without promotions, saver-level awards remain competitive:

  • 25,000 miles in economy
  • 40,000 miles in premium economy
  • 60,000 miles in business class

Since Flying Blue allows connections without increasing the cost, it’s a great way to reach not only Paris or Amsterdam but also the rest of Europe.

Finnair Plus

Finnair Plus may not be the first program that comes to mind, but it has a surprisingly valuable niche. Through its partnership with Alaska Airlines, you can book domestic flights within the U.S. and Canada for just 11,000 Avios in economy.

This flat pricing works regardless of distance, so whether you’re hopping from Portland to Seattle or flying across the country from Boston to Los Angeles, you’ll pay the same mileage cost. Taxes and fees are minimal, making this one of the most practical sweet spots in the Oneworld ecosystem.

Bottom Line

Losing your Capital One rewards usually comes down to either closing your card or misusing your account. The good news is that you have plenty of options to keep your points alive — from downgrading to a no-annual-fee card, to transferring to a travel partner, to redeeming them for cash, travel, or even experiences.

As long as you keep an eligible card open and use your rewards strategically, your Capital One points will stay safe and ready for your next redemption.

Disclaimer: Program terms are subject to change. Always consult the official Capital One documentation for the latest information. This guide is for informational purposes only.