Capital One Points Can No Longer Be Redeemed for Gift Cards

Update: 4/30/2020: Capital One Rewards Can Now Be Redeemed for Gift Cards Again

Update: 4/2/2020 Capital One reached out and provided the following information: “Due to operational constraints from COVID-19, Capital One is temporarily unable to fulfill gift card rewards. We are working to restore this redemption option as soon as possible.”

Capital One has removed the option to redeem points for gift cards, sometime in the last few days. This seems to affect all Capital One cards. The other redemption options are still available, such as travel purchases statement credit.

This should be a temporary issue as noted on the website.

We have seen this from some airlines and hotels, as companies try to preserve cash. When points are redeemed for gift cards, companies will have to pay for those gift cards. This is the first credit card issuer that we see doing this though. As travel has virtually stopped, it makes sense that people are trying to cash out Capital One points for gift cards. You will normally get a better value than redeeming for statement credit. So I would guess that Capital One has seen a surge in gift card redemptions. As of now, the other issuers still have the gift card redemption option.

HT: Frequent Miler