When Capital One launched its Capital One Entertainment portal, there was some initial excitement. The launch came with some incredible deals for NCAA Men's Final Four tickets and concert tickets, and there was also the promise of good things to come.
While I was skeptical, I've been proven wrong with its deals on Major League Baseball tickets for all 30 teams.
Finding a great deal may require some elbow grease, but we'll walk you through the process.
Redeem Capital One miles for MLB tickets
Capital One Entertainment is a separate part of the main Capital One website. You can log in to your Capital One account to view your mileage balance as you shop.
I recommend logging in before starting your search, especially if you have a premium card like the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card. Some opportunities are exclusive to certain cards, though the current MLB offerings appear to be available to most Capital One credit card holders.
The current offer for MLB seats is two tickets for 5,000 miles each; the sections and dates available vary greatly, though.
Searching for cardholder-exclusive MLB tickets on Capital One Entertainment
Once logged in, you can view all of the current cardholder-exclusive offerings. Clicking on the "MLB Single Game Tickets" option will allow you to choose from 30 teams, including the New York Yankees, Boston Red Sox, Chicago Cubs and Houston Astros.
Once you select a particular team, you'll be presented with a view of available games. As of the publication date, games from May to September are available (Sept. 29 was the latest date we saw available).
For some popular teams, all of the home games may already be sold out, though we found good availability for away games.
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However, finding cardholder-exclusive seats can be challenging. Capital One has partnered with ticket exchange platform Vivid Seats to manage this arrangement.
Listings show cardholder-exclusive opportunities and what looks to be the complete inventory of seats available on Vivid Seats for a particular game. In many cases, the 5,000-mile seats may have already been claimed by other cardholders or were never made available.
When selecting a specific game, if there are cardholder-exclusive seats, they will be the only selection that pops up in your search, as shown below:
Another hint that you've got the right seats is that the seat selection screen will show a message indicating "Cardholder Exclusive Tickets by Capital One."
Tickets must be purchased in pairs, and four seems to be the maximum number of seats available for any one game. Once you select seats, the checkout process is easy, and there are no additional fees.
Related: Best Capital One credit cards
It's worth checking the cash prices of these tickets, but there are excellent deals. For example, a game between the Chicago White Sox and Boston Red Sox can be booked for 5,000 Capital One miles as a cardholder-exclusive event, and cash tickets purchased separately in the same section run for $125.68 each, giving you an excellent redemption rate of well over 2 cents per mile.
Redeeming Capital One miles for Vivid Seats MLB tickets
If no cardholder-exclusive seats are available for a specific game, you'll be shown the standard Vivid Seats inventory for the game. It's important to understand that redeeming Capital One miles for MLB tickets through Capital One Entertainment is not always a particularly valuable redemption opportunity.
If you're a die-hard Yankees fan, you could choose a home game against the Chicago White Sox with seats available in the Field Dugout.
You'll notice the text "Tickets Powered by Vivid Seats," which indicates that these are the standard cash prices charged by Vivid Seats, just converted to Capital One miles.
You'll get the same value for your miles across any ticket type in these examples: 0.8 cents each. Since TPG values Capital One miles at 1.85 cents each, this is a poor redemption option.
We tested the pricing on the Capital One Entertainment portal and Vivid Seats across numerous examples and found the same conversion rate on all tests. In addition to the ticket price, you'll still pay the service fees associated with ticket exchange platforms. We found the fees were a few bucks more with Capital One in many searches.
How to earn Capital One miles
Here's a list of some currently available consumer cards that earn transferable Capital One miles:
- Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card: Earn 10 miles per dollar on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel, 5 miles per dollar on flights booked through Capital One Travel and 2 miles per dollar on other purchases. Plus, you can earn 75,000 bonus miles once you spend $4,000 on purchases within the first three months from account opening; $395 annual fee (see rates and fees).
- Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card: Earn 5 miles per dollar on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel and 2 miles per dollar on other purchases. Plus, you can earn 75,000 bonus miles once you spend $4,000 on purchases within the first three months from account opening; $95 annual fee (see rates and fees).
- Capital One VentureOne Rewards Credit Card: Earn 5 miles per dollar on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel and 1.25 miles per dollar on other purchases. Plus, you can earn 20,000 bonus miles once you spend $500 on purchases within the first three months from account opening; $0 annual fee (see rates and fees).
If you're looking for a business card, here are some options that earn Capital One miles:
- Capital One Venture X Business: Earn 10 miles per dollar on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel, 5 miles per dollar on flights booked through Capital One Travel and 2 miles per dollar on other purchases. Plus, you can earn 150,000 bonus miles after spending $30,000 in the first three months from account opening; $395 annual fee (see rates and fees).
- Capital One Spark Miles for Business: Earn 5 miles per dollar on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel and 2 miles per dollar on other purchases. Plus, you can earn a one-time bonus of 50,000 miles once you spend $4,500 on purchases within the first three months of account opening; $0 introductory annual fee for the first year, then $95 after (see rates and fees).
- Capital One Spark Miles Select for Business: Earn 1.5 miles per dollar on purchases. Plus, you can earn a one-time bonus of 50,000 miles once you spend $4,500 on purchases within the first three months from account opening; $0 annual fee.
The information for the Capital One Spark Miles Select has been collected independently by The Points Guy. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.
Bottom line
Redeeming Capital One miles for MLB games can be an exceptional deal if you can find cardholder-exclusive seats to see your favorite team.
While some of the comparable ticket prices on Vivid Seats for the Capital One cardholder-exclusive seats aren't expensive, the absence of all the fees charged by ticket exchange platforms saves a family of four a pretty good chunk of money.
Redeeming Capital One miles for MLB tickets makes the most sense for folks with large or small mile balances. If you have tons of miles you won't burn through soon, there's no harm in redeeming a few here. And, if you're very far away from a dream trip, you can still get value by cashing in your miles for seats to watch your favorite MLB team.
Editorial disclaimer: Opinions expressed here are the author’s alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, airline or hotel chain, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of these entities.
