Capital One introduces Amazon Shop with Points for select cards
Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.
Credit card issuers are constantly working to add different ways for cardholders to redeem their cash back and rewards points. These options can provide flexibility to cardholders, but may also encourage cardholders to spend their rewards at a sub-par value.
In December 2018, Capital One added transfer partners to its miles-earning cards. The addition of these transfer partners raised TPG's valuation of Capital One miles from 1 cent each to 1.85 cents each. Now, as of Dec. 12, 2019, Capital One has added another redemption option to many of its miles-earning and cash back cards: Amazon Shop with Points.
Generally, we don't recommend using your points or miles on Amazon, since there are usually more valuable redemption options. But, some cardholders value simplicity over maximization, so let's consider whether this is a redemption you should consider. Eligible customers of the following Capital One cards can now use Amazon Pay with Points:
- Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card
- Capital One VentureOne Rewards Credit Card
- Capital One Savor Cash Rewards Credit Card
- Capital One SavorOne Cash Rewards Credit Card
- Capital One Quicksilver Cash Rewards Credit Card
- Capital One QuicksilverOne Cash Rewards Credit Card
- Capital One Spark Cash Select for Business
- Capital One Spark Classic for Business
- Capital One Spark Miles for Business
- Capital One Spark Miles Select for Business
- Journey Student Rewards from Capital One (no longer available)
The information for the Capital One Savor Cash Rewards Credit Card, Capital One Spark Cash Select, Capital One Spark Miles Select card has been collected independently by The Points Guy. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.
Further reading: The best Capital One credit cards
Eligible customers can use rewards to cover part or all of an Amazon order. A Capital One spokeswoman provided the following information when asked about redemption rates:
When using cash-back cards at checkout, $1 in cash rewards is worth $1 in redemption value on Amazon. When using miles cards at checkout, 125 miles are worth $1 in redemption value on Amazon.
So, for a cash-back card you're mainly losing the opportunity to earn cash back on your purchase when you use points. For example, if you used your Capital One Quicksilver Cash Rewards Credit Card to make a $100 Amazon purchase, you'd earn $1.50 in cash back on the purchase. But, if you redeemed $100 of cash rewards to make the purchase, you wouldn't earn any rewards.
Since 125 Capital One miles are worth $1 in redemption value on Amazon, you'll get a value of 0.8 cents per mile if you redeem your Capital One miles though Amazon Shop with Points. However, TPG's valuations peg the value of Capital One miles at 1.85 cents each if you plan to transfer your miles to partner airlines. You also can easily redeem Capital One miles toward travel purchases at a flat rate of 1 cent each. So, if you have a Capital One miles-earning card you likely won't want to redeem your miles though Amazon Shop with Points.
Further reading: The best cards to use for Amazon purchases
But, regardless of whether you plan to redeem cash rewards or miles through Amazon Shop with Points, it's worth enrolling your Capital One cards in case there are periodic promotions similar to those offered for Chase, Citi and American Express enrolled cards where you can get a particular amount off of your order when you use at least one point.
If you have an eligible Capital One card in your Amazon account, Amazon will automatically enroll your card account in Shop with Points. You'll receive a confirmation email once your card account is enrolled, and your Capital One rewards will then be available for use on purchases on Amazon.com. If you want to discontinue using Shop with Points once you are enrolled, you can un-enroll at any time by visiting your Amazon Shop with Points account page. You can also set whether your rewards are applied automatically at check-out — I recommend setting this to off unless you want to automatically use your rewards.
If you have a Capital One card that earns transferable miles, check out the following guides for more information on how to use your miles:
- Best ways to maximize Capital One miles
- To transfer or not to transfer: What to do with Capital One miles
- How to redeem Capital One miles at a fixed value
- How to transfer Capital One miles to airline partners
- Best ways to redeem Capital One miles for domestic flights
- Best ways to redeem Capital One miles on Oneworld, SkyTeam and Star Alliance airlines