If you hold a Capital One miles-earning card and have a Belk store nearby, there's a targeted Capital One Offer worth checking right now. Eligible cardholders can earn 16x Capital One miles (or 16% cash back on cash-back cards) on in-store purchases at Belk, with a limit of three activations. The offer expires one week after activation, and based on current reports it needs to be activated before February 23.

That's a strong earning rate on its own. But what makes this deal genuinely interesting is what Belk sells inside its stores.

Why This Belk Deal Is Worth a Trip

Belk locations have historically stocked gift card racks with third-party cards, including Amazon, Best Buy, and eBay cards, as well as Visa and Mastercard gift cards. That changes the math considerably. Instead of earning 16x on a clothing purchase, you could potentially stack that rate on gift cards you'd actually use or liquidate for points.

The terms do state that gift card purchases are excluded. That said, enforcement for in-store purchases at retailers like Belk tends to be inconsistent, and there's a reasonable case that the exclusion was written primarily to block online Belk gift card purchases (which are processed through a third-party platform called CashStar, not Belk's own system). In-store third-party gift cards process like any normal retail transaction.

That's not a guarantee. You're taking on some risk that the bonus won't post on gift card transactions. Decide your own risk tolerance before going all in.

What You Need to Know

The Capital One Offer allows up to three activations per card. If you're targeted for this offer across multiple Capital One cards, each card gets its own three uses. There's also no disclosed maximum on the dollar amount you can earn 16x on per transaction, though undisclosed caps are always possible.

To find and activate the offer, log in to your Capital One account and scroll down to "Activate shopping offers." Click "View all offers" and search for Belk. Activate before heading in-store.

Note that Capital One Offers is a separate program from Capital One Shopping. Capital One Shopping is open to anyone. Capital One Offers is a card-linked offer program exclusive to Capital One cardholders and requires activation through your account dashboard.

Which Cards Are Eligible

This is a targeted offer, meaning not every Capital One cardholder will see it. If you hold the Capital One Venture X, Capital One Venture, or Capital One Spark Miles for Business, it's worth logging in to check whether you're targeted. Cash-back cardholders like those with the Capital One Quicksilver would earn 16% cash back instead of 16x miles.

The 16x rate is especially valuable if you're earning transferable Capital One miles on a card like the Venture X. Capital One miles transfer to more than 15 airline and hotel partners, including Air Canada Aeroplan, Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles, and Avianca LifeMiles, where redemption values can easily exceed 1.5 cents per mile. At that valuation, 16x on a $500 gift card purchase would be worth $120 or more in travel.

Act Fast

The offer expires February 23, so time is short. Check your Capital One account today. If you're targeted and have a Belk within reach, this is one of the better in-store earning opportunities to pop up recently.

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