I found out that sharing Capital One miles is pretty straightforward to do and can transfer over to anyone, which is the most flexible process out there.

Let’s face it. Earning enough miles for award travel can be tough these days with frequent devaluations, especially if you’re looking to book for a family. What would be nice is if you could combine those miles together to redeem that award. Many award programs charge money to transfer their points from one person to another, but bank programs allow it for free. The rules vary by bank, so let’s go through them each.

Rules for sharing Capital One miles with others

It’s not widely advertised, but you can transfer Capital One miles to anyone for free.

• Both the giver and the recipient need to have cards that earn Capital One miles.
• The giver needs to call Capital One at the number on the back of their card. There is no way to do this online or via chat/email.
• The recipient’s name and 16-digit credit card number are needed for the transfer.
• Transfers are instant and cannot be undone.
• There is no known transfer limit (either a minimum or a maximum).

As you can see, it’s quite easy sharing Capital One miles between accounts. And while you can transfer to anyone, there needs to be a lot of trust involved. I don’t know about you, but I wouldn’t hand over my credit card digits over to just anyone to get miles.

Once the miles are in the recipient’s account, the recipient can do whatever they want with the miles. If you want them back, the original recipient will have to repeat the process above.

How other banks handle sharing miles and points with others

You might wonder how the other banks handle sharing miles and points with others. So let’s briefly touch on everyone else.

• American Express: You can only transfer Membership Rewards (MR) points directly to the award program of an authorized user of an MR-earning card.
  • That authorized user must have been on the account for at least 90 days.
  • Transfers are only allowed directly to the award program. You cannot transfer MR points directly into an authorized user’s MR account.
• Bilt: You cannot transfer points to anyone else.
• Chase: You can transfer Ultimate Rewards (UR) points to someone in your household or another business owner.
  • You can only designate one authorized user to receive points.
  • Transfers can give UR into the recipient’s UR account, or to the recipient’s loyalty program directly if they are also an authorized user.
• Citibank: You can transfer Thank You (TY) points to anyone’s account but they will expire within 90 days.
  • There is a maximum of 100,000 TY points transferred or received per calendar year.
  • Any TY points once transferred cannot be transferred again. The same goes for any taxable TY points

As you can see, most other banks allow the transfer of points to others. Generally there isn’t the complete freedom to do whatever you want because of the concern for points brokers and fraud. These programs implement rules that try to minimize that behavior, but then impede the desires of those acting in good faith.

Perhaps the most freedom of these other banks is Citibank, which allows TY points to be transferred to anyone just like Capital One. However, Citibank also places a rather severe restriction that points expire in 90 days. That’s rather customer unfriendly, especially if you’re just intending to save the points from expiring if you intend to cancel your card.

My experience sharing Capital One miles

I had an incredibly easy process sharing Capital One miles with a friend. Before calling, I obtained my friend’s 16-digit credit card number before calling the number on the back of my card.

Once on the phone, I told the automated system that I wanted to transfer points to another member, and it proceeded to connect me with a customer service agent. After confirming basic information of my account, I mentioned I wanted to transfer points to another Capital One member.

The agent then asked me for the recipient’s last name and 16-digit credit card number, along with the number of points to transfer. And that’s it. The agent read off a few disclosures to confirm the transfer cannot be undone, and the points showed up instantly in my friend’s account. The call took only four minutes of my time, including the time it took to work through the automated system.

The only thing that’s a bit lacking in the process is a receipt of the transaction. I can see the points were removed from my account but it’d be nice if I was emailed a receipt in the event I forget.

Pretty simple process, and I’m glad to have helped out a friend.

Suggested reading:

• Review: Capital One Lounge DFW
• Everyone Gets Free Point.Me And You Might Not Know It
• The Complete Guide to Foreign Transaction Fees