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Let’s say you chose a travel credit card and applied for a Venture Rewards card in the somewhat recent past. Between scoring your welcome bonus and maximizing your spending rewards, you’ve amassed a nice pile of 100,000 Capital One Miles.
You know that your Miles are best spent on travel–where you can get up to 2 cents per point (CPP) in value out of them–but where should you go? How can you convert 100,000 Capital One Miles into an unforgettable experience for both you and a companion?
While the possibilities are virtually endless, here are three ways I would personally spend 100k Miles with zero regrets!
1. Eat poutine, work it off in Jasper National Park, Canada
If you’ve read our guide to redeeming Capital One Miles, you’ll know that your best overall transfer option–in terms of maximizing per-Mile value–might be Air Canada. Simply put, Capital One Miles are only worth about 1 CPP on their own–but if you transfer them to Air Canada, their value can skyrocket to nearly 2 CPP if you find the right flight.
Case in point, you can fly from Atlanta to Calgary for as little as 25,000 Aeroplan points round-trip if you don’t mind squeezing into Economy class. If you and your partner would like a little more legroom, you can both fly Premium Economy round trip for as little as 80,000 points total.
In either case, you’ll have at least 20,000 Capital One Miles left over that you can transfer to Wyndham Rewards–and use to book shockingly affordable nights in Calgary.
Calgary itself has plenty to offer, with a World War II museum, a massive equestrian farm and plenty of walkways/biking trails snaking along the Bow River.
But the main attraction for this part of the world is Jasper National Park. A UNESCO World Heritage Site simply oozing with natural beauty, some say JNP is the #1 reason to visit Canada overall.
Though it’s a 4.5-hour drive from Calgary via rental car (longer via bus), the drive won’t feel like a chore since you’ll be passing through Banff National Park on the way. Heck, you can even make Banff your final destination, if you don’t mind its reputation for being slightly more crowded and touristy.
While your 100,000 Capital One Miles may not cover 100% of your great Northern adventure, it can certainly cover the vast majority of it if you’re creative. Keep in mind that the Capital One Miles you convert to Air Canada Aeroplan points can also be used to book hotels and car rentals–possibly at an even higher rate than you’d get booking through the Capital One travel portal.
And if poutine isn’t your thing, you can also redeem your freshly-minted Air Canada Aeroplan points for flights on a partner airline. Fortune Recommends’ Senior Editor Dia Adams recently used them to visit Panama.
2. Embark on a culinary odyssey of Chicago (inspired by a certain show)
Once your Capital One Miles become Air Canada Aeroplan points, you can redeem them “across the whole network” of 55 total Star Alliance member airlines. From Croatia Airlines to Air Mauritius, there are dozens of international airlines here waiting to whisk you away to a memorable, Mile-funded adventure.
But critically, one of those Star Alliance airlines is United–meaning the door just swung wide open for you to redeem Capital One Miles for select U.S. domestic flights.
I say “select” because United typically only lets you book saver-level award tickets through its partners. To complicate things further, the airline doesn’t give you an easy way to search for flights with saver-level tickets still available.
What you can do, however, is head to Air Canada's booking page, type in a few dates and destinations and see if a United option pops up. It’s not an elegant solution, but it does feel a bit like a treasure hunt.
To illustrate, I threw out some dates and found a United flight from Atlanta to Chicago for just 10,000 Aeroplan points (plus fees) each way. That gives us 80,000 Miles left over to book a nice hotel through Capital One Travel (there aren’t a lot of high-end Wyndham options in Chi-town), and start making the most important reservations of all: dinner.
If you haven’t yet seen The Bear on Hulu, it’s an exquisite, hyper-realistic drama about the food industry that also serves as a potent advertisement for the Chicago culinary scene. The on-screen characters frequently visit local Michelin-starred restaurants, sampling deep dish pizza, flaky salmon and jus-soaked kobe beef as we watch from home, fighting the urge to lick our TV.
So why not make their fantasy your reality? You won’t have to look hard to find a list of all the eateries featured in The Bear, from the world’s first Michelin-starred Filipino restaurant (Kasama)...
…to the humble-yet-legendary Mr. Beef, which helped inspire the show in the first place.
There’s also no wrong time of year to visit Chicago. Go when it’s warm, and you and your partner can walk along the stunning Lakefront Trail. Visit in the winter and well, the lines may be shorter and you can shiver off the calories.
3. Sample the world’s freshest coffee in Bogotá
While Air Canada certainly gives you plenty of ways to maximize your Capital One Miles, let’s not write off some of Capital One’s other transfer partners where the getting can be just as good.
For example, Avianca–the official airline of Colombia–offers flights from major U.S. cities to Bogotá starting in the high teens (plus fees). That means you and your partner could fly to Shakira’s homeland for as little as 70,000 Miles round trip.
Flanked on all sides by mountains, Bogotá is known for its stunning vistas, historic sites, vibrant colors and incredible nightlife. There’s even a well-rated tour where you can be a coffee farmer for a day, learning firsthand how the beans are harvested–and sampling the end result.
When it comes to lodging, you can always book from a variety of hotels via Capital One Travel at a rate of 1 CPP. But before you do, consider that Wyndham does have a presence down there–in fact, with 30,000 Miles to spare after booking your Avianca flights, you can book the Wyndham Bogotá for up to four full nights. Four.
But with so much coffee to drink and 2am dancing to do, I wouldn’t plan on spending much time in the hotel to begin with.
The takeaway
From the world’s most authentic coffee to riverside walks in Calgary, beef sandwiches in Chicago to rooftop salsa lessons, there’s a litany of unforgettable experiences to be had with just 100,000 Capital One Miles. While you may need a little cash to fill in the gaps (airline fees, tour guide tips), the Miles will get you most of the way–pun intended.
Alternatively, you could keep saving your Miles and plan something even longer and more lavish next year. With a 75,000-Mile welcome bonus and awards up to 10X per purchase, the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card can get you to 200,000 Miles much faster. Check out our full review and why despite its hefty $395 annual fee, one of my fellow contributors can’t let it go.
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