You can now redeem Capital One miles for food delivery & streaming services

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Capital One has added new ways for cardholders to redeem their Venture miles.

In light of people staying home and putting travel plans on hold until pandemic concerns subside, Capital One has added three new categories where you can redeem your miles at a fixed-value. Starting today, April 16, 2020, through June 30, 2020, you’ll also be able to use the Venture purchase eraser feature on takeout, delivery and streaming services. For Spark Miles business cardholders, you’ll be able to use the business purchase eraser feature for takeout, delivery and phone services.

I confirmed with Capital One that the redemption rate would be the same as for travel at 1 cent per point. Capital One® Venture® Rewards Credit Card, Capital One® VentureOne® Rewards Credit Card, Capital One® Spark® Miles for Business and Capital One®Spark® Miles Select for Business cardholders are able to use these new redemption categories. The only difference is that business cardholders will be able to redeem for phone services rather than streaming services.

The information for the Capital One Venture, VentureOne, Spark Miles and Spark Miles Select cards has been collected independently by The Points Guy. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.

Eligible delivery services include DoorDash, Uber Eats, Postmates and more, and eligible streaming services include Netflix, Hulu, Spotify, Disney+, Kindle Unlimited and more (so, if you haven’t binged Tiger King because you don’t have Netflix, now is definitely time to jump on that bandwagon). You can also use your miles on takeout when you purchase directly with restaurants, cafes and fast food joints.

For Spark Miles and Spark Miles Select cardholders, you can redeem for delivery services, takeout and phone services. Eligible phone services include providers such as Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile and more, and services such as mobile phone bills, payments and purchases. Internet, Wi-Fi and landline services won’t apply.

Related reading: Maximizing rewards points for non-travel redemptions 

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 travel using the purchase eraser feature.

How to redeem miles for food delivery, takeout or streaming services

This benefit is essentially just an extension of the existing purchase eraser feature. You’ll use your Capital One Venture or VentureOne 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 van redeem miles on eligible purchases made within the past 90 days just as you would for a travel purchase.

Related reading: How to redeem Capital One miles at a fixed value 

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 are hoping to save money in the short-term on things such as food delivery and streaming services, using the purchase eraser isn’t a bad redemption option.

Related reading: 5 easy strategies to save money on food delivery and takeout

Bottom line

We love to use points and miles to book incredible travel experiences. But with all of us staying home to help stop the spread of the novel coronavirus, cards that offer alternative redemption options are more valuable than ever.

Related reading: The best credit cards to use for food delivery services

“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.”

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.