Earn bonus points and miles: How to maximize shopping portals for Black Friday deals

One of our favorite things about the holiday season is sales: Black Friday travel deals, Tuesday hotel deals and, of course, lots of discounts at various retailers. If you’re thinking of taking advantage of any holiday sales, don’t forget that you can use shopping sites to earn extra points, miles or cash back on your purchases.

For the uninitiated, shopping portals are online hubs associated with loyalty programs that allow you to earn rewards for shopping at various retailers. Here’s what you need to know about using online shopping sites this holiday season.

Related: Best vacation spots for family fun on the holidays

How to use shopping sites

Shopping sites are very easy to use. Simply sign up for each site using your loyalty account number, and when you’re ready to shop, click through to the merchant’s site before making your purchase. This allows you to earn points and miles for using the portal in addition to any rewards you would normally earn with the credit card you use to make purchases.

You can simplify this process by downloading a browser extension for each portal. This will automatically notify you if the site you are shopping from is eligible for rewards without clicking through to the portal website.

You may find that the most difficult thing about shopping sites is choosing which one to use for a given purchase, especially since the rewards vary from one portal to another and often change daily or hourly. A shopping portal aggregator, such as Cashback Monitor, can help you search for the store you want and quickly compare rewards offered across portals.

Related: Beginner’s guide to airline shopping sites: How to earn bonus points and miles

Popular shopping sites

Almost all major airlines have a shopping portal, as do some credit card issuers, and there are third-party sites that allow you to earn rewards as well. Here are some popular ones among TPG employees:

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How to test offers

When you check the offers of the shopping portal, you will see that the fees are often very different. For example, Shop Through Chase currently offers 6 Chase Ultimate Rewards points for every dollar spent at Bloomingdale’s. Based on TPG’s November 2024 estimate of Top Rewards points at 2.05 cents each, this would yield nearly 12% more return than any other Bloomingdale’s offers, which you can combine with regular rewards with your rewards credit card. However, Instant Rewards purchases only give 1 point per dollar spent at Bloomingdale’s, while Rakuten gives 10% cash back.

Also, remember that shopping sites sometimes offer bonuses to let you stretch your rewards further – especially around the holidays. This usually awards a chunk of bonus points or miles when you spend a certain amount. Minimum spend is usually cumulative at any of the participating portal merchants, so you can use multiple purchases within the promotional window to earn the bonus. Even if the portal doesn’t offer many points or miles per dollar spent, the bonus can make it a more profitable option.

While most shopping sites only offer rewards for online purchases, a few programs allow you to earn bonus points and miles for in-store purchases. For example, Mileage Plan Shopping currently offers 2 miles per dollar spent in store and 0.5 miles per dollar spent online at CVS. To earn in-store rewards, link your credit card to the portal and activate individual store offers.

To maximize your purchases, check your Amex Offers and Chase Offers. These programs offer cardholders discounts and other bonuses for shopping at certain merchants. Amex Offers are available on almost any American Express card, including personal and business cards; Chase Offers are currently only available to selected credit and debit card holders. Since offers vary by cardholder and credit card, log in to your online account to see which offers you’re eligible for.

For example, here are some current Chase Offers that may be useful during Black Friday and Cyber ​​Monday shopping (note that offers may be targeted):

• Dell: Earn 5% cash back on all Dell purchases up to a $100 cash back limit.
• Adidas: Earn 10% back on your Adidas purchases when you spend $100 or more, including taxes and after any discounts.
• Ulta Beauty: Earn 10% cash back on all online purchases up to the $11 cash back limit.

Choosing the best credit card for your purchases

In addition to finding the best deals and earning bonus points for shopping online, using the right credit card is essential to maximizing your savings and rewards. Not only will it help you earn more points and miles for your purchases, but some cards will cover you in the event of price drop, theft or damage.

In general, you will want to choose credit cards based on where you will make the most money and what type of protection you value most. Here are some of TPG’s top recommendations for Black Friday and holiday deals:

• Blue Cash Everyday® Card from American Express: You can earn 3% cash back on US online purchases (up to $6,000 in annual purchases, then 1% cash back), making this a great card to buy your holiday gifts.
• Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card: This card earns at least 2 miles per dollar spent on purchases, so it’s good to use it on in-store and online purchases that won’t earn you bonuses in certain categories on your other rewards credit cards.
• Prime Visa: This card is very useful for Prime members to earn 5% on Amazon and Whole Foods purchases.
• Discover it® Cash Back Credit Card: This card can be a great option if your shopping business includes Amazon or Target. Earn 5% cash back when you activate up to $1,500 spent on quarterly rotating categories, currently amazon.com and Target (through December 2024).
• Chase Freedom Flex®: Earn 5% cash back on purchases of up to $1,500 in rotating installments each quarter. Bonus categories for the fourth quarter of 2024 include PayPal, which can help you collect more rewards on more online purchases.
• Citi Double Cash® Card (see rates and fees): This card earns 2% cash back on purchases: 1% on purchases and 1% on paying off your debt. Even better, if you hold a Citi Strata Premier℠ Card (see rates and fees) or the Citi Prestige® Card (no longer accepting new applicants), you can transfer your cash back rewards to Citi’s transfer partners and often get a better value from them.

Information for the Discover it Cash Back and Citi Prestige cards has been independently compiled by The Points Guy. The card information on this page has not been updated or provided by the card issuer.

Bottom line

There are several ways to double- or triple-dip your rewards earned during Black Friday and Cyber ​​Monday sales, and using a shopping portal is one of the easiest. Additional points and miles can be added over time, especially if the portal offers additional points or miles for every dollar spent at your preferred retailer or a chunk of bonus points or miles when you spend a certain amount. Besides increasing your rewards balances, using the shopping portal is also an easy way to keep your points and miles that don’t expire.

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