Everything You Need To Know About Capital One Offers (2024)

If you’re making a purchase online, there’s likely a way for you to save money by using a shopping portal and/or card-linked savings program. If you’re a Capital One cardholder, one of your options is to use Capital One Offers.

Capital One Offers is a not-well-advertised cash-back savings program exclusively for Capital One cardholders. It’s similar to other bank-operated savings programs like Amex Offers and Chase Offers. But, as you’ll see below, there are some key differences.

About Capital One Offers

Capital One Offers is a cash-back savings program for Capital One cardholders. By clicking through an offer on the Capital One Offers website when making a purchase online, cardholders earn statement credits. There are currently hundreds of merchants where you can save with Capital One Offers.

Offers are only available in the U.S. and only through the Capital One website or Capital One Mobile app. On the website, you’ll find a link to Capital One Offers on your account dashboard under “Credits for Shopping.”

Is Capital One Offers Different From Capital One Shopping?

Capital One Offers is similar but different from Capital One Shopping. The main difference: Capital One Shopping is open to all shoppers whereas Capital One Offers is only available to Capital One cardholders. Also, Capital One Offers will always link you to merchant websites to complete your purchase, whereas Capital One Shopping has a browser extension that allows you to start your shopping at partner merchant websites.

Also, unlike Capital One Offers, Capital One Shopping is well-advertised by Capital One. Odds are that you’ve seen an ad for Capital One Shopping—on TV or online. So, let’s dive into the details of the less-well-known Capital One Offers.

Cards Eligible for Capital One Offers

Capital One Offers are available on U.S.-issued, consumer credit cards. Your Capital One card needs to be open and in good standing to take advantage of this savings program. Business credit cards are not eligible for Capital One Offers. However, small businesses can use plenty of other savings programs.

Capital One doesn’t share a list of all of the personal credit cards that are eligible for Capital One Offers. So, you’ll want to check your Capital One credit card to see if the “Credits for Shopping” section shows on your account dashboard.

Capital One Offers works the same whether your Capital One credit card earns miles or cash back. Either way, you’ll earn statement credits on your credit card account. Unfortunately, there’s no option to earn bonus Capital One miles instead. That limits the upside potential for those that maximize Capital One’s airline and hotel transfer partners.

See our list of best Capital One credit cards if you’re interested in Capital One Offers but don’t currently have a Capital One card.

How To Use Capital One Offers

Capital One Offers works a bit differently than Amex Offers, Chase Offers and other bank savings programs. In most programs, cardholders need to enroll for an offer on the bank’s website. Then you simply make a purchase with your activated card consistent with the offer terms.

Instead, Capital One Offers is a shopping portal. When you click on an offer, Capital One transfers you to the merchant’s website to complete your purchase. That means you’ll need to click through Capital One Offers immediately before you make the purchase.

Technically, you have 24 hours to complete the purchase after clicking the link. However, to comply with the offer, you’ll need to use a qualifying card to make a purchase during the “same open browser session.” To be safe, it’s best practice to wait until you’re ready to buy before clicking through from Capital One Offers.

When you click “Continue to Merchant” on an offer, Capital One will open a new browser tab with the merchant’s website. Don’t close the Capital One tab yet. Instead, click back to that tab to note your “activated offer reference ID” for this site visit. This reference is useful to note in case the savings doesn’t automatically post to your credit card account.

Capital One Offers warns that it can take up to three billing cycles before a statement credit is posted to your credit card account.

Note that these statement credits aren’t a substitute for making a payment on your account. If you can’t pay your balance in full, you’ll still need to make at least the minimum payment on your credit card statement.

No Stacking Opportunities

There’s a big downside to how Capital One Offers is set up: You won’t be able to stack Capital One Offers with other savings programs.

With most Amex Offers and Chase Offers, the terms of the offer only require that you use your enrolled card. The bank then checks your posted transactions for eligible purchases. Because of this, cardholders can often click through a shopping portal to save twice: once through the shopping portal and again through the bank offers program.

However, because Capital One Offers acts like a shopping portal, you won’t be able to use another portal at the same time. That could significantly reduce the potential for savings.

Limits on Capital One Offers

Capital One Offers also limits how much cardholders can save through the program. Each eligible Capital One credit card is limited to a total of $1,000 in statement credits every three billing cycles. Beware of this limit if you’re a power user of Capital One Offers.

The terms specifically state that gift card purchases don’t qualify for cash-back earnings. Also note that your purchase must be denominated in U.S. dollars and shipped to an address in the U.S.

Types of Capital One Offers

This savings program comes with a wide range of offers. Currently, Capital One card has hundreds of offers.

Unfortunately, Capital One Offers aren’t grouped into categories or organized in any logical fashion. Thankfully, Capital One has a search function and a filter at the top of the page. You can enter a merchant name or a category of expenses—such as apparel, dining, home, travel and more.

Since Capital One Offers is set up as an online shopping portal, all offers are for online purchases. This means certain types of purchases typically made in-person aren’t eligible—such as purchases at restaurants and many types of travel purchases. You won’t save on these types of purchases through Capital One Offers.

Comparing Rates With Other Shopping Portals

Capital One Offers isn’t the only way to save on online purchases. There’s a bounty of shopping portals available. And you’ll want to make sure that another shopping portal isn’t offering a better deal for the same merchant.

One useful tool to compare shopping portal payout rates is Cashback Monitor. Unfortunately, Capital One Offers aren’t listed on Cashback Monitor. But, it can be helpful for comparing Capital One Offers with dozens of other shopping portals to see if it’s the best available rebate.

Bottom Line

Capital One Offers gives Capital One cardholders another option to save when shopping online. However, the program works more like a shopping portal than a bank savings program like Amex Offers, Chase Offers or BankAmeriDeals. Savvy online shoppers may do better by stacking online shopping portals and other bank savings programs or by going through another shopping portal.