Discover Financial Services has introduced a permanent change to its Discover it Miles program to give cardholders additional flexibility when redeeming awards.

Discover it Miles members can now redeem miles to help cover the cost of restaurant purchases and gas station purchases, amid the changing landscape of travel due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

"The pandemic has transformed the way customers travel and we are making changes to our travel credit card to reflect that," Meera Sridharan,vice president of rewards and product strategy at Discover, said in a press release. "The Discover it Miles card has expanded redemption categories to be more relevant to consumers who are rethinking ways to travel while continuing to provide a simple way to earn rewards on every purchase."

The Discover it Miles card will continue to offer 1.5 miles on all purchases. Rewards never expire and cardholders will get an automatic match of rewards points after the first year.