[Update: Now through 9/30] Redeem Capital One miles for a new phone (or your bill) with business cards

Update: Capital One reached out yesterday to let us know that this limited-time redemption opportunity would be available until September 30, 2020. This is in addition to the same time extension on the consumer cards that we reported yesterday.

Last week, Capital One announced that Capital One® Venture® Rewards (and Capital One® VentureOne® Rewards) Credit Card Credit Card cardholders can now redeem miles for restaurants and delivery services. In related but separate news, we have learned that Capital One® Spark® Miles for Business and Capital One® Spark® Miles Select for Business cardholders also picked up new redemption options, which include restaurant and delivery services and also phone services. Capital One tells us that this category includes “mobile phone bills, payments and purchases” (bold mine). That could be a nice way to use your miles for a new phone.

New Redemption options for business cards

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.

However, Capital One® Spark® Miles for Business and Capital One® Spark® Miles Select for Business cardholders can now redeem Capital One “miles” at a value of $0.01 each towards:

• Eligible restaurant takeout and food delivery purchases
• Purchases made from eligible wireless phone service providers, such as Verizon®, AT&T®, T-Mobile® and select others. This category would include mobile phone bills, payments and purchases. Internet, Wifi, and Landline services are not eligible.

As we said about the restaurant and delivery charges last week, these changes are nice in that they give cardholders the option to redeem “miles” for things that may be more important for them right now than travel. The additional ability to redeem for a new phone or your phone bill gives a high-value option for redeeming miles earned from a welcome bonus or day-to-day purchases beyond the normal travel redemptions.

Keep in mind that Capital One allows you to combine miles between your own cards and/or transfer to anyone else with a Capital One card that earns miles, so you can easily combine miles. They also let you redeem miles for eligible purchases within the past 90 days and miles post within a few days of purchases posting to your account, so it’s possible to shift spending quickly when necessary to top off the miles for a redemption.

Just as I said last week, 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. That’s a positive thing for cardholders even if it won’t be my preferred way to redeem miles.

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