[Update 4/30/20: Gift card redemptions with Capital One are back, though FM points out that they lowered the redemption value from 1 cent per point to .8 cent per point. (Hat tip to DDG)]
Frequentmiler reports that Capital One has removed gift card redemption options from their credit cards. A lot of Capital One cards get 1:1 for cash redemptions, but some cards like the Venture only allow 1:1 cash redemptions when redeemed against travel purchases; otherwise, you only get half. Redeeming for gift cards instead is temporarily not an option.
Since a lot of people don’t have many travel charges, they might be interested in swallowing the bullet and redeeming for gift cards instead at a rate of 1:1 or close to it. That is not possible for now. Remember, there are many things which might qualify as a travel charge, such as Uber or EZPass (data points needed).
We’ve seen various loyalty programs remove gift card redemption options. Those were probably trying to avoid the cash outlay of the redemptions as travel companies are particularly hard hit in this economy. We haven’t seen any banks make such a move until this Capital One change. It’s possible in their case they are just trying to avoid the manual fulfillment part, not that they are lacking cash (at least I hope not). Or perhaps they are trying to keep their numbers inflated a bit for quarterly earnings.
