Capital One MilesOne mystery
 

I have had a couple friends tell me that their Capital One MilesOne card allows them to accumulate miles on its own account then, like Diners Club, transfer them to an airline of their choice.

Every offer that I have seen for this card including the online one that has the exact card pictured that my friend had, indicate otherwise. According to the offers, the "miles" are not really even miles but points in its own program that can only be redeemed directly for a flight (with a price cap) when enough of them are accumulated. There is even a Q&A section that says that "because if the flexibility of the MilesOne program, miles cannot be combined with those earned on an airline."

Does anyone have an explanation?

Have your friends ever successfully accomplished such a transfer? Or are they just explaining their idea of the way it works? That could explain a lot...

I think the terms of the offer are correct. I suspect your friends have confused the ads that say "you can get a ticket on any airline," which is true within the price cap, with being able to transfer points to the airline's program. In fact, the bank buys the airline ticket for you. The airline gets sells a ticket (at a discounted contract price, which is why you usually have to go through their designated agency). Their program never enters into it.

One good side of this is that "award" tickets under this sort of program usually earn airline miles. Other than that, the amount of credit card purchases needed for an award flight may be less than the number of airline miles you'd need for the same award, so if your spending and travel fall into the right pattern (lots of credit card charges, little other mileage-earning activity, want economy advance purchase awards) a program like this can be a good idea. For most frequent flyers, who earn the bulk of their credits as flight miles on an airline's program and often want premium-cabin or upgrade awards, it's not.

Have any of them actually done a transfer? If not, they may be mistaken.

Try this. Go to http://www.capitalone.com. Note that the "Miles One" link says Earn miles on your favorite airline. Click it.

The page it takes you to says ANY major airline. Click the Program Benefits link.

That page says:
The Best Way to Earn Airline Miles... Like many other travel programs, you earn one mile for each dollar you spend on purchases with your MilesOne card†. But what makes this program unique is its flexibility. With the MilesOne program, you'll discover the advantages:

Choose any airline—travel on any major U.S.-based domestic or international airline...

It's only when you to click the "Questions" page or the "terms and conditions" that you discover that your MilesOne miles can't be transferred to any actual airline. It's easy to see how a less saavy consumer could be misled/confused.

The card in question does not allow points transfers to other programs.

Points in the program can be redeemed for tickets on a variety of airlines.

Unfortunately, these tickets are generally capped at a specific dollar value.

So you can buy a domestic ticket for $250 without problem.

However, that's not what I use miles for -- and in general that's not what I believe miles are most valuable for.

* Last minute domestic tickets which would otherwise involve full fare. I've often spent 40k miles for a first class award when a coach ticket would have cost $2000.

* International business and first class awards. Fly to SYD in C for 90,000 miles instead of paying $7000.

* Upgrades -- until recently a domestic upgrade on United was only 10,000 miles. This meant that 10,000 miles was equivalent to the HK49s awarded to 1K flyers -- confirm a transcon in F at time of ticketing off of any fare. Sounds like a good deal to me! Unfortunately it's now 15,000 miles each way. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/frown.gif Similarly, international upgrades (on AA from any fare... on UA from HoMeBoY fares..)

The Capital One card does not allow any of those things!

Please see:
Best Credit Card for Miles
Cheapest Credit Card with Miles
What is the best airline credit card deal?

And many others...

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More Room Throughout Coach: the Website of Free Miles and Free Markets

Once I read the fine print of one of these CC applications, I got wise and promptly discarded the subsequent CC applications with similar programs.

I have never heard of a CapitolOne credit card that offers something different or better than other cards. All of their cards have very high interest rates or annual fees. IMO, that company has nothing to offer me.

yorock

My brother uses the MilesOne card and he likes it overall. It does offer Zone pricing, so he has used 18,000 miles for tix from BOS to MCO more than once. When those tix are more than $220, like at school spring break, he is happy. Otherwise he buys the tix. Annual fee is $19. He accrues miles on the MilesOne reward ticket purchased by MilesOne.

He flies maybe twice a year.

For a couple of years, I have been urging him to get the Delta Skymiles Amex (that is who he tends to fly) and cancel when the fee comes due, or get a Starwood AMex, or Hilton Amex or Visa, but he doesn't want to make the change. He might get hit with the $50/ $80 annual fee and then he would feel bad.

I remember seeing somewhere that MOST people, certainly not FTers, are oathe to get rid of their first credit card. That is one reason college students are targeted so heavily, to get them loyal.

And he certainly isn't going to spend all the time all of YOU obsessed FTers spend looking for miles. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/wink.gif

Well thanks for your responses, sorry I did not get back to this site to check them earlier. Yes he claims that he has requested points to transfer to an airline program to "top off" accounts. After reading the info, I wonder if he did it in a dream because I only see the same things that you all do.

For me that card, based on the offers I have seen, is not desirable. Cheap domestic roundtrips are not what I am after - I prefer international trips or even coach domestic trips (such as open jaws, etc.) that may price out over $1,000 that I want/need to take, which this card obviously cannot do. I also want my miles from a card to combine with miles earned in other ways. But I guess it works for some.

So far I am liking the Starwood card I signed up for a couple months ago.... thanks to those on this site who have recommended it - good call.