Capital One extends limited-time perks on select cards through June 2021
Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.
Various card issuers have added limited-time card benefits during the coronavirus pandemic, including Capital One. Last year, Capital One added new ways for cardholders to redeem their Capital One miles. It later added an additional earning category on select cash-back rewards cards.
Capital One just announced an extension of these perks through June 30, 2021. Here's what you need to know.
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Expanded Capital One redemption options
In light of people staying home and putting travel plans on hold until pandemic concerns subside, Capital One added three new categories where you can redeem miles at a fixed value. Through June 30, 2021, you can take your Capital One miles and redeem them for purchases made in the past 90 days on food delivery and streaming services.
Further, Capital One Spark Miles for Business cardholders are able to redeem points for takeout, delivery and phone services through June 30. This benefit was also set to end on April 30, 2021.
Eligible delivery services include Doordash, Uber Eats, Postmates and more. Eligible streaming services include Netflix, Hulu, Spotify, Disney+, Kindle Unlimited and more. You can also use your miles on takeout when you purchase directly with restaurants, cafes and fast-food joints.
Most of the time, travel credit cards provide subpar redemption rates for non-travel purchases. It's good to see that Capital One is allowing the same fixed-rate redemption for these purchases as they do for using miles to cover travel purchases from the past 90 days.
Related: Maximizing rewards points for non-travel redemptions
How to redeem miles for food delivery, takeout or streaming services
This benefit is essentially just an extension of the option to cover travel purchases using your miles. You'll use your Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card or Capital One VentureOne Rewards Credit Card to make a purchase in one of the eligible categories. Once the transaction posts (within a few days, generally), you can then sign in to your rewards account and select "Cover Your Purchases."
From there, you can redeem miles on eligible purchases made within the past 90 days, just as you would for a travel purchase.
Keep in mind that the most potentially lucrative use of your Capital One miles will continue to be transferring to its hotel and airline partners when it makes sense. However, if you are hoping to save money in the short term on things such as food delivery and streaming services, using miles to "pay" for past purchases isn't a bad redemption option.
Related: Here’s how you can share your Capital One miles with anyone
Bottom line
At TPG, we love to use points and miles to book incredible travel experiences. But with so many consumers limiting their travel currently, cards that offer alternative redemption options are more valuable than ever. Many of us will continue to save up our travel rewards for future travel (such as a dream destination trip to Italy next year), but it's great to see Capital One add options for those who want or need to save money now.
"Capital One remains committed to offering our customers a variety of options for redeeming their rewards," said a Capital One spokesperson. "We understand that our customers' day-to-day lives have changed, so we're continually looking at providing value in new and different ways."
And remember that the Capital One Venture Card currently offers 100,000 bonus miles when you spend $20,000 on purchases in the first 12 months from account opening or still earn 50,000 miles if you spend $3,000 on purchases in the first 3 months.
Additional reporting by Katie Genter and Andrew Kunesh.
