The Complete Guide to Shopping Portals

Black Friday is quickly approaching with the remainder of the holiday season, and while there are still some who wake up in the early hours on Friday to hit the stores, many of us have fully transitioned to online shopping.

In either case, if you aren’t taking advantage of shopping portals that you can use both online and in the store, then you are missing out on earning both cashback and extra points for your next vacation.

Here are some of our favorite ways to get back from most of your purchases.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

• Online Shopping Portals
• In-Store Shopping Portals
• Credit Card Offers
• Which Credit Cards to Use
• Military Considerations
• Bottom Line

ONLINE SHOPPING PORTALS

If you’re making any purchases online, the best thing you can do is go through an online shopping portal first. These portals are affiliated with certain airlines, hotels, or other reward programs. They will earn you extra points, miles, or cash back purchases that you plan to buy anyway. You want to earn points in the shopping portal based on your preference for which airline, hotel, or transferable currency goals you currently have or the one you want to increase your points total.

Suppose you were to purchase something at Best Buy’s website. Instead of first going to Best Buy’s website, you would want to go to one of the shopping sites listed in a shopping portal aggregator like CashbackMonitor.com. Type in the store’s name, in this case, Best Buy, in the search bar and quickly compare the current reward rates from the various shopping portals since they may change daily and could disappear entirely.

Click on the loyalty program you wish to shop through for that store, and you will be sent directly to the website. All you have to do is buy the product, and within a few weeks, you will have earned bonus points or miles along with your purchase.

Most of these shopping portals offer Chrome extensions installed directly into your internet browser to make it even easier. In addition, they will notify you when you visit a website that’s eligible for an extra reward and let you activate the bonus without having to click back to the shopping portal’s website.

Rakuten (referral link included) is offering one of the best sign-up offers currently. The site offers a $40 bonus for all new members after making their first purchase within 90 days of signing up. The offer may be better than any bonus miles or cashback you’d earn with a different site.

While you can use a shopping portal aggregator for every website you purchase something from and compare the bonus rates, my favorite strategy is to have two Chrome Extension Buttons installed on my internet browser. One of them is for the airline I travel on the most and the other Rakuten as they allow you to earn Amex Membership Rewards instead of cashback.

Below is a list of some popular loyalty shopping portals from which you can earn points and miles.

• American Airlines AAdvantage eShopping.
• Delta Air Lines SkyMiles Shopping.
• JetBlue TrueBlue Shopping.
• United MileagePlus Shopping.

IN-STORE SHOPPING PORTALS

Rakuten (referral link included) is so beloved by points and miles enthusiasts because you don’t have to shop online to earn points. Instead, you can link as many credit cards as you like to stores that offer in-store cashback offers, and when you use that credit card, you will earn points. It’s a “set it and forget it” experience.

While not necessarily an in-store shopping portal, I will often use the United MileagePlusX app as an in-store shopping portal. First, download the United MileagePlusX app from your favorite app store on your phone and when you physically enter a store, search for the store name under the search bar in the app. At that point, purchase a gift card for the exact amount of your purchase and have the cash registrar scan the bar code once it appears. Just like that, you’ve “double-dipped” by earning miles on whichever credit card you used and bonus United Airlines miles.

I often use the United MileagePlusX app for movie tickets to Regal and AMC, replenish my DoorDash and Chipotle credits, Airbnb, The Home Depot, Papa Johns, Sephora, and Bath & Body Works. You can usually earn up to 5x United Miles for every dollar you spend.

CREDIT CARD OFFERS

AMEX OFFERS
If you carry any American Express credit card in your wallet, you can take advantage of Amex Offers. First, you’ll need to log in to your Amex account online or in the Amex app to see which offers you have been targeted for since they vary from card to card. Then, be sure to add the offers you are interested in onto your card, as some are only available for a limited time. Something else to watch out for is if you add an offer to one card, you cannot add the same offer to another card. So be sure to offer the card you wish to use when purchasing.

Read the offer details for each promotion so you know exactly how to trigger the purchase terms, as some offers require the minimum spending to be a single purchase, while others are for cumulative expenditures. Also, be sure to take note that the offers are for purchases bought online or in-store. You don’t want to miss out on a deal that will trigger the statement credit because you incorrectly used the wrong method to buy the product.

CHASE OFFERS
Similar to Amex Offers, Chase also offers statement-credit opportunities when you use your registered credit card to make a purchase. But, again, you will need to log in to your Chase account either online or on the app to see for which offers you are eligible. (Note: Some accounts will show more offers than others, and some might not display any offers at all).

SIMPLYMILES
SimplyMiles is the newest way for American Airlines AAdvantage members to earn miles when shopping with their favorite brands in-store and online. Simply Miles is open to AAdvantage members who reside in the U.S. and also hold a valid Mastercard. Signing up for SimplyMiles is quick and easy. Just log in with your AAdvantage number and link one or more of your Mastercard credit cards. The program works very similar to Amex and Chase’s offers, except you earn American Airlines AAdvantage miles instead. If you have a valid Mastercard, this is a great way to beef up the number of miles in your account while purchasing items you already planned to buy.

WHICH CREDIT CARDS TO USE

When you’re spending a lot of money, it’s essential to choose the best credit card. Why earn 1% cashback when another card might reward you with a whopping 5% cashback (or more)? Here are some bonus earning opportunities you can reap by spending strategically with the right card at specific merchants.

Use cards like those found below.  Some links include referral codes:

Capital One Venture Rewards Card: Earn up to 2x on everything
Citi Double Cash Card: Earn up to 2x on everything
Chase Freedom Unlimited: Earn 1.5x back on everything
Chase Freedom Flex: Earn 5x back at Walmart and PayPal this quarter

MILITARY CONSIDERATIONS

Many stores offer military discounts, but many do not offer discounts when purchasing items online. However, if you use a shopping portal, you can often receive more back than using a military deal in a store. Better yet, for those stores that offer a military discount, you can usually stack the discount with those offered through the shopping portal and earn even more points or cash back.

The initial setup of using shopping portals does require a few extra steps that may seem like a hassle to save a few dollars, but when you are on your next vacation, that was wholly paid for using the points and miles you earned doing these extra steps it’ll be worth it.

For instance, Target typically only offers a 1% discount on shopping portals. If you combine that with a credit card that provides 1.5x or 2x returns in either cashback or reward points, this would net you a 3x return that you would not have earned otherwise.

Many of these shopping portals offer elevated bonuses to incentivize you to use their shopping portals during the holiday shopping season. Some will add bonus miles for more money than you spend, and I’ve seen some rates go as high as 40x to purchase from their portal. So if you can hold off on a large purchase for the best discount you can find, you can grab those significant returns without breaking a sweat.

BOTTOM LINE

As the holiday shopping season nears, it is the perfect time to plan out how to maximize your savings and use them for your next vacation.

1. Check the online shopping portals using a shopping portal aggregator.
2. Download the Rakuten and United MileagePlusX app to your phone
3. Add any Amex, Chase or SimplyMiles offers to your credit cards
4. Use the best card for every purchase providing the most points, miles, or cashback.

Saving money is extremely important to military members who may be on a fixed income. Earning bonus points or additional cashback will bring you closer to enjoying a well-deserved vacation during block leave or just getting home to see family instead of spending the holidays in the barracks. Many of these tips and tricks are “set it and forget it” steps that you don’t have to think about after, so there is no reason you can’t take advantage of a shopping portal. There is no risk to downloading an extension to your toolbar, and when an offer is available, you activate it. It takes but a few minutes.

Following these tips, you’re sure to save even more money this holiday season on all of your purchases.