In this paper, we study the single allocation hub location problem with capacity selection in the presence of congestion at hubs. Accounting for congestion at hubs leads to a non-linear mixed integer program, for which we propose 18 alternate mixed integer second order conic program (MISOCP) based reformulations. Based on our computational studies, we identify the best MISOCP-based reformulation, which turns out to be 20–60 times faster than the state-of-the-art. Using the best MISOCP-based reformulation, we are able to exactly solve instances up to 50 nodes in less than half-an-hour. We also theoretically examine the dimensionality of the second order cones associated with different formulations, based on which their computational performances can be predicted. Our computational results corroborate our theoretical findings. Such insights can be helpful in the generation of efficient MISOCPs for similar classes of problems.