Taking advantage of transfer bonuses is one of the best ways to use your credit card points, but it's been months since we've seen a great bonus for Capital One cardholders. That's finally changing.
Travelers with cards like the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card and the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card can get a 2 0% bonus when transferring Venture Miles to Air France/KLM Flying Blue , a great mileage program to get from the U.S. to Europe using fewer points. This new bonus runs through July 31, so you've got until the end of the month to take advantage.
Not sure where to start? Read our guide on Capital One transfer partners and how to make it happen!
Using transfer partners like Air France/KLM is one of the best ways to use Capital One Venture Miles for even more value. And these transfer bonuses make it even better – think of it as a way to get some free airline miles. Transfer bonuses to Air France seem to crop up once or twice a year.
No matter how appealing a 20% bonus might be, you should never transfer credit card points willy nilly. This is a one-way street: Once you send your credit card points to an airline account, you can't get them back . That means you'll want to have a purpose for these miles.
Fortunately, there are some great ways to put this bonus to use…
Best Ways to Use This Bonus
We'll never turn down some free Flying Blue miles.
This is the combined mileage program for Air France and KLM, and it's one of the best ways to book flights with SkyTeam airlines including Delta, Korean Air, and Air France or KLM, of course.
One beauty of transferring Capital One miles is that the bank allows you to fine-tune your transfers in increments of 100 – so long as you transfer at least 1,000 miles. That means you can really dial in how many Venture Miles to transfer rather than having a few hundred miles stuck with Air France/KLM after you book one of these great redemptions.
Fly Air France or KLM to Europe
With low rates and fairly solid availability to actually book these flights with your miles, this is one of the best ways to book business class to Europe.
Whether you want to get to Paris-Charles de Gaulle (CDG), Amsterdam (AMS), or connect almost anywhere flying business class to Europe for just 55,000 to 58,000 miles each way. With this transfer bonus, you’d need as low as just 45,900 Capital One miles to make it happen.
You can also book economy awards to Europe using Air France and KLM miles – including one-way trips from several U.S. cities for less than 20,000 miles. But Flying Blue also passes on some hefty cash surcharges on award tickets that make it less appealing for economy prices, while it can easily be worth paying $228 or so for a one-way business class ticket for Europe.
Finding flights at these low rates may require some flexibility, as you won't find them one very single date. Luckily, Air France and KLM allow you to easily scroll through up to a month's worth of flights to find the best deals. Flying Blue typically tacks on about $200 for a one-way business class award to Europe – and about $380 or more for the way back. That's a small price to pay for $6,000-plus flights.
It’s a great ride across the Atlantic ocean whether you’re flying with Air France or KLM.
Read our full Air France business class review !
Book Discounted Promo Rewards
Every month, Flying Blue unleashes a set of discounted routes it calls Promo Rewards . They can be a doozy.
In months past, we've seen one-way economy flights to Europe drop as low as 11,000 miles and business class bookable for 40,000 miles or less. Unfortunately, July's rendition of Promo Rewards doesn't feature any U.S. routes.
But keep your eyes peeled for August in case we see stellar deals like this one make a comeback…
Fly to Taipei in Business Class
One of the best ways to get to Taiwan – or connect elsewhere in Southeast Asia – is in China Airlines' spiffy business class seats. And using Air France/KLM Flying Blue miles is the best way to make it happen.
Whether you fly from San Francisco (SFO), Los Angeles (LAX), or all the way from New York City (JFK), you can get to Taipei (TPE) for just 87,500 Flying Blue miles.
Factor in this 20% transfer bonus, and you'll need to transfer just 73,000 Capital One miles. Not bad for a 15-plus hour flight in seats like these, right?
Photo courtesy of China Airlines
Bottom Line
Transfer bonuses are great – it means you need fewer points to book your next getaway. And a 20% bonus when transferring Venture Miles to Air France/KLM Flying Blue is an excellent one for Capital One cardholders.
Just be sure you know how you'll put those miles to use before transferring them to Air France/KLM. And come up with your game plan before this transfer bonus ends July 31.
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