[Now through 4/30/21] Capital One adds restaurant delivery & streaming redemptions at $0.01 each

Update: Capital One has reached out again to let us know that they’ve extended this promotion until April 30, 2021.  Also note the following other temporary Capital One benefits that have been extended through the same date:

• Savor cardholders can continue to earn 4% cash back (3% for SavorOne) on streaming service subscriptions
• Spark Miles and Spark Miles Select cardholders can continue to redeem miles for eligible phone services, restaurant takeout and food delivery purchases

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Capital One has today announced a new redemption option for Capital One® Venture® Rewards Credit Card and Capital One® VentureOne® Rewards Credit Card holders: miles can now be redeemed for eligible restaurant delivery, takeout and streaming service purchases. That will include DoorDash, Uber Eats, Postmates, purchases made directly with restaurants, cafes, and fast-food chains, and eligible music and video streaming services, including Netflix, Hulu, Spotify, Disney+ and Kindle Unlimited. That’s pretty good news for those looking to redeem miles at a value of $0.01 each.

I’m excited about this development — not because I want to redeem my points this way or because I think it adds huge value but rather represents an effort by Capital One to be remarkably nimble in terms of responsiveness to a rapidly changing environment. Obviously people are spending more on delivery services than ever before and I’m sure that plenty of people have started paying for various streaming services they didn’t have before. This is what Capital One had to say about the change in an email to Frequent Miler:

Capital One remains committed to offering our customers a variety of options for redeeming their rewards. We understand that our customers’ day-to-day lives have changed, so we’re continually looking at providing value in new and different ways.

Capital One “miles” can ordinarily either be transferred to Capital One airline partners or they can be redeemed for $0.01 each toward travel purchases. The new ability to redeem for restaurant/delivery services and streaming services opens up some easy ways to redeem points for a cash value on the everyday expenses people are incurring. I’m not terribly excited about using Capital One miles at a value of $0.01 each since I value transfers to partners (and the weird Marriott redemption thing that I’ve been grandfathered into and am crossing my fingers returns when gift card redemptions come back). Still, for a lot of people, this makes the welcome bonus and everyday earnings at least a little bit more valuable. Since the Venture card earns 2 Capital One Miles per dollar spent, it essentially offers 2% back toward travel and now restaurant/delivery/streaming services. That’s a positive change.

It’s also worth noting that Capital One allows you to redeem miles to cover purchases from the previous 90 days, so while the capability launches today you should be able to redeem against previous purchases.

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