Capital One Entertainment: What You Need To Know

While points and miles enthusiasts often focus on redeeming miles for business class flights or luxury hotel stays, loyalty programs and credit card issuers are increasingly expanding their lifestyle and experiential offerings. Capital One has emerged as one of the frontrunners in this space with Capital One Entertainment.

Capital One cardholders can use their Capital One Miles to access tickets to concerts, professional sports games, shows, and more. Sometimes it even unlocks exclusive access opportunities or unique redemptions that you can’t find anywhere else. 

In this guide, we will break down everything you need to know about Capital One Entertainment, how to maximize your earnings, and whether redeeming your miles for a concert is actually a good deal.

What is Capital One Entertainment?

Capital One Entertainment is a ticketing platform available exclusively to Capital One credit cardholders. Powered by Vivid Seats, the portal offers access to over 500,000 events worldwide, including major league sports, like the MLB, NFL, and NBA, Broadway shows, and concerts.

The real value of Capital One Entertainment lies in the Cardholder Exclusives. Capital One often partners with organizations and events to offer exclusive presales, packages, and curated experiences that can be redeemed with Capital One miles at a very reasonable rate. Fan favourites in the past have been amazing MLB tickets, the iHeartRadio Music Festival, and the James Beard Foundation. 

My personal favourite use case for Capital One Entertainment is their MLB Cardholder Exclusive Tickets. For just 5,000 Capital One Miles, you can get up to 4 tickets behind either one of the dugouts, which is an amazing value.

How To Redeem Capital One Miles For Entertainment Purchases

Capital One Entertainment provides a lot of flexibility in terms of how to get tickets through their platform. If you choose to pay cash, you will earn 5 Capital One Miles per dollar spent on your purchases. 

As the platform is also a general ticketing service, there is a good incentive to use it to book your next concert or sports game, even if it isn’t a Capital One Exclusive. Always remember to double-check other ticketing platforms to make sure you’re getting the best price, because there are other credit cards that have increased earning rates on entertainment purchases in general.

Regardless of using cash or Capital One Miles, you will need to login into the Capital One Entertainment platform either directly (entertainment.capitalone.com) or through your Capital One banking page and then clicking the Entertainment button underneath your points balance.

Once logged in, you will see the landing page with all of the featured and exclusive events that are available to you. Scroll around until you see something that catches your eye. Sometimes Capital One will also email you ahead of time for some special ticket sales open early to cardholders, so keep your eyes peeled for those. I even remember getting an email for the coveted Taylor Swift Era’s Tour!

Once you find an event you are interested in, click on it, and it will give you options for how to buy your tickets. Sometimes the Cardholder Exclusives are “Pay with rewards only,” but your mileage may vary.

The Best Ways To Earn Capital One Miles For Entertainment Purchases

As Capital One Entertainment is only available to cardholders, it makes total sense that the only way to earn Capital One Miles is through one of their credit cards. Note that we are specifically talking about US Capital One credit cards, not the Canadian ones. If you don’t already have a US credit card, check out our guide on how to gain access to US credit cards to get started. 

The Capital One Venture X Rewards Card continues to be one of my favourite US credit cards and will always have a home in my wallet. For most Canadians, this will likely be the best way to earn Capital One Miles using its base earning rate of 2 Capital One Miles per dollar spent, no foreign transaction fees, a $300 USD annual travel credit, and global airport lounge access.

Check out our review and guide on how to get the Capital One Venture X Card as a Canadian to learn more about one of my favourite credit cards of all time!

Conclusion

Capital One Entertainment is a powerful tool that often flies under the radar. While we often try to save our hard-earned points and miles for fancy business class flights or luxurious hotel stays, there is a case to be made to use them towards great experiences. 

In an era where major concert tickets sell out in seconds, having access to cardholder-only pre-sales and exclusive VIP sections is a massive perk. If you are a Capital One cardholder, it is well worth checking the portal regularly. Looking for more ways to use your points for experiences? Check out our guides on Hilton Honors experiences and Marriott Bonvoy moments to learn more about more unconventional yet powerful ways to redeem your points.