Editor’s Note: This deal is now expired.
If you’re an Amazon shopper and you have a Capital One credit card, you may be in luck. Capital One credit cards earn miles or cash back that can be redeemed in many ways. One of those options is to pay for items at Amazon through its “Shop with Points” program, though you’re typically better off redeeming your Capital One rewards for travel or cash back — you’ll get more value for them that way.
But if you’re targeted for this offer, which was recently updated and extended, it may be worth using your rewards on your next Amazon purchase. That’s because right now, eligible Capital One credit card holders can save $10 on a purchase of $30, or $20 on a purchase of $40 or more when using your Capital One miles or cash back at Amazon through June 4.
Not everyone with a Capital One credit card will be eligible for this offer, but to find out if you’re targeted — and to learn how to apply the discount to your upcoming Amazon order — follow these steps.
How to save money at Amazon with your Capital One credit card
To start, you need to have an eligible Capital One credit card. These include the Capital One VentureOne Rewards Credit Card, the Capital One Quicksilver Cash Rewards Credit Card and the Capital One Savor Cash Rewards Credit Card, just to name a few.
If you have an eligible Capital One credit card, you’ll need to link it to your Amazon account and enroll in the “Shop with Points” payment option. You can click on this link to add your card to Amazon and the “Shop with Points” program, or look for it under the “Your Account” tab on Amazon’s website.
Once your Capital One card is linked, you’ll need to activate the offer by clicking on this link. Since this is a targeted promotion, you might see a message that says you’re not eligible for the offer. However, if you’re not lucky right now, keep on checking back every so often, as Amazon often targets additional people in batches.
Also, if you just linked your Capital One card to “Shop with Points,” it can take up to 24 hours for the system to update, so you’ll need to wait a day in that case before confirming if you’re eligible.
But if you do see either the $10 off $30 or $20 off $40 offer after clicking on the promotion link, you’ll need to enroll in it by clicking the “Activate now” button. Once you’re enrolled, all products that are sold and shipped by Amazon will qualify for the offer. And, even though the offer doesn’t apply to Amazon gift cards, it can be used for many other retailer gift cards, such as Lowe’s and Airbnb.
Once you’ve activated the offer, you can go ahead and shop at Amazon as you normally would. When you’ve added at least $30 in items to your Amazon cart (or $40 in items if you were targeted for the $20 discount) and you’re ready to check out, you’ll need to select your linked Capital One credit card as your payment method and choose to apply miles or cash back to your purchase.
Now, although there are a number of differences across Capital One’s various credit cards, the biggest distinction is the type of rewards you earn — cash back versus miles.
For Capital One cards that earn cash back, $1 in cash rewards is worth $1 in redemption value on Amazon. This is the same return as simply opting for cash back, so you can apply as much or as little cash back as you want.
But for Capital One cards that earn miles, you’ll have to redeem 125 miles for every dollar spent on Amazon. This means you’re redeeming at only 0.8 cents per mile, significantly lower than the value you can get from other redemptions. Frequent flyer website The Points Guy values Capital One miles at 1.85 cents apiece since they can be redeemed at a higher rate for travel purchases, or transferred to many partner airlines and hotels for even more value.
Fortunately, there’s good news: You only need to use 1 mile at checkout for the promotion to apply. You can then pay for the rest of your purchase with your Capital One credit card and still get the entire discount, which will appear on the right side of the checkout screen once you apply your miles or cash back.
One word of caution: Often, Amazon will automatically apply enough miles or cash back to fully cover the cost of the purchase. So if you only want to use 1 mile, you’ll need to manually enter “$0.01” in the “Apply Capital One rewards” box. Of course, you can use as many miles as you’d like if you’d rather redeem rewards for your purchase.
Get up to $20 off some great Amazon products
With Amazon serving as a go-to shopping site for many households these days, this promotion is the perfect way to save some additional money, especially since so many products qualify. Let’s take a look at some real-life examples of how this promotion can be used on your next purchase.
In CNN Underscored’s recent roundup of the best printers of 2021, we chose the HP Envy Pro 6455 as our favorite overall printer. It’s not cheap at $149.89 as of this writing, but you can snag this formidable and reliable unit for a more reasonable $129.89 plus taxes and shipping if you’re targeted for the $20 Capital One discount.
Or, if you’re excited about Apple’s new AirTags and want to grab a handful of them all at once, a four-pack of AirTags currently costs $99 at Amazon. But if you’re targeted for the $20 off $40 Capital One offer, you can bring the price down to $79 before taxes and shipping. You can even apply the discount if AirTags aren’t currently in stock — just lock in the savings now and they’ll ship when they’re available.
You can even pair this discount with Amazon’s daily deals or any of Amazon’s category-specific money-saving offers, such as saving $20 when you spend $60 on select beauty products.
Don’t have a Capital One credit card?
Even if you don’t have a Capital One credit card — or if you aren’t targeted for this particular promotion — there are similar Amazon offers going on right now for those with Discover cards, Chase credit cards and American Express cards. This means there’s a chance you might be able to still save some money on your next Amazon purchase. Also, remember to check back regularly on all of these offers to see if your card gets targeted for one or more of them down the line.
And continue to be on the lookout for similar Amazon credit card promotions, as they seem to pop up quite often these days, and there’s no limit on the amount of money you can save with Amazon using different offers over time simply by redeeming your credit card rewards. This means you’ll want to keep your credit card enrolled in Amazon’s “Shop with Points” program in case you’re eligible for another offer at a later date.
With so many Amazon promotions currently available, there are tons of ways to save money right now by using credit card rewards. So if you’re looking to take advantage of this Capital One offer, make sure to use it before it expires on June 4, and save money at Amazon today!
Read CNN Underscored’s guide to the best credit cards for Amazon purchases.
Get all the latest personal finance deals, news and advice at CNN Underscored Money.
