The Capital One mileage program has just added three new transfer partners — Japan Airlines Mileage Bank, Preferred Hotels & Resorts I Prefer, and Qatar Airways Privilege Club. While there’s value to all of those, in this post I’d like to focus specifically on Japan Airlines, as this is a unique partner for the program.
Transfer Capital One miles to Japan Airlines at 4:3 ratio
The Capital One mileage program has just added Japan Airlines Mileage Bank as its newest transfer partner. Capital One miles convert into Japan Airlines miles at a 4:3 ratio, so you get 750 Japan Airlines miles for every 1,000 Capital One miles transferred.
However, through October 18, 2025, we’re seeing a 30% transfer bonus between the two programs, meaning the transfer ratio is temporarily 1,000:975, so that’s pretty close to 1:1.
Keep in mind that many popular Capital One cards earn 2x miles per dollar spent, so you could be earning well over one Japan Airlines mile per dollar spent.
Of the four major transferable points currencies, Capital One is the only one to partner with Japan Airlines Mileage Bank, so that’s exciting. However, Bilt Rewards also partners with the program.
Is transferring Capital One miles to Japan Airlines worth it?
Japan Airlines Mileage Bank is a useful, niche frequent flyer program. I’ll work on a more detailed post about the value of the program. I haven’t historically written much about it, given how hard these rewards have been to come by.
When it comes to actually redeeming for travel on Japan Airlines, I’d say the program is sort of valuable:
- Japan Airlines releases the same award space to its own members as it does to partner program members, so that doesn’t provide much of an advantage
- Redemption rates through Japan Airlines Mileage Bank may be a little lower than through partner programs, but given how hard it is to accrue the points, that’s not necessarily the reason you’d want to redeem through the program
- One advantage of Japan Airlines Mileage Bank is that you get access to award space 360 days out, right when the schedule opens, which is ideal in terms of accessing first and business class awards, especially given that the airline consistently opens award seats when the schedule opens
Japan Airlines Mileage Bank also has lucrative redemption rates on other airlines, including oneworld partners, and select non-oneworld partners, like Air France, Emirates, etc. For example, below is the distance based business class award chart.
There’s also a oneworld award chart, if you’re traveling on two or more oneworld airlines, with the benefit of multiple stopovers being allowed.
One thing to keep in mind is that Japan Airlines Mileage Bank has restrictions on who you can redeem for. You can only redeem miles for family members, who you are related to by marriage or blood. So if you’re going to participate in Mileage Bank, you’ll definitely want to read up on some of the technicalities before making a transfer, as this isn’t as straightforward as some other programs.
So yeah, I’d say there’s quite a bit of value to be had, potentially, and I’m happy to see the program increasingly partnering with transferable points currencies. However, the transfer ratio not being 1:1 is less than ideal.
Bottom line
Capital One has added Japan Airlines Mileage Bank as a transfer partner, which is exciting, as Capital One is the first of the four major transferable points currencies to partner with the program. The catch is that the transfer ratio is 4:3, though for an introductory period, you can take advantage of a 30% bonus, getting you close to a 1:1 transfer ratio.
I’m always happy to see unique transfer partners added, so I’d consider this to be pretty exciting.
Could you see yourself transferring Capital One miles to Japan Airlines Mileage Bank?
