With the internet, Black Friday is no longer limited to in-store deals only. You might even find some of the exact same deals in-store as you do online, and if that is the case – avoid the lines, make the purchase from home, and earn points and miles! Whenever you make a purchase online you should ALWAYS go through one of the online shopping portals – especially on Black Friday and Cyber Monday when many of the points/miles have been doubled, tripled, even quadrupled.
Using the online shopping malls is like a two-for-one – get the same good deal as in then store and then free bonus points/miles! There are many online shopping sites to go through, so it is important to figure out the best one for you and the store you are purchasing for. Almost all of the points and miles loyalty programs have online shopping sites. This is really easy and just involves is one extra step. So worth it for the FREE points/miles! Once you go to the online shopping site, search and select the store you are making a purchase at, and click the “Shop Now” (or similar) button. This will then take you directly to the store’s online site. Through internet cookies, the online shopping site will track how you accessed the site and then give commission to that source – in this case the commission is points and miles!
The key thing to know is that the shopping malls differ in the number of bonus points they give out for each store. It is important to take a look at and see which shopping site will give you the biggest bang for your buck. For example, the XX site gives 3x bonus at Best Buy, while American Airlines Advantage only gives 1x bonus at the same store. On Black Friday, however, many stores are really increasing their bonuses. Chase Ultimate Rewards site is giving 10x points at Best Buy. This means that if you purchase a $799 TV online, you will get an extra 7,999 Ultimate Rewards points – not too shabby for simply making an online purchase! I went through all of the online shopping malls today and did some research. I found that the Chase Ultimate Rewards mall is overall the best for bonus points followed by American Express Membership Rewards. For the airline specific programs American Airlines Advantage and Delta SkyMiles are the best.
Online Shopping Malls and Special Black Friday Point Bonuses
- Chase Ultimate Rewards: This program and shopping portal is limited to those who have a credit card with Ultimate Rewards access. There are a few credit cards within this program, but the more popular recommended ones include: Chase Sapphire Preferred, Chase Ink Bold, and Chase Freedom. The Ultimate Rewards shopping program in general has been very generous lately with some amazing bonus points offer, so I would highly suggest looking into it if you are a big online shopper – like myself! Online Shopping Site link
- American Airlines Advantage: In addition to the points received from the online shopping, you can also earn up to 2,500 miles (spend $75 and earn 750 miles; spend $150 and earn 1,500 miles; spend $250 and earn 2,500 miles). This promotion is through December 2, 203. You must have an AAdvantage account to use this shopping mall. Online Shopping Site link
- Delta Airlines SkyMiles: You must have a Delta SkyMiles account to use this shopping mall. Bonus 250 miles for every $115 spent. Online Shopping Site link
- US Airways Dividend Miles: You must have a US Airways Dividend Miles account to use this shopping mall. Online Shopping Site link
- United Airlines MileagePlus: Shop online with Mileage Plus Shopping and earn 500 bonus award miles for every $250 spent, up to 2,500 miles. You must have a United Airlines Mileage Plus account to use this shopping mall. Online Shopping Site link
- Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards: You must have a Southwest Airlines Rapid Reward account to use this shopping mall. Online Shopping Site link
- Amtrak Guest Rewards: You must have an Amtrak Guest Rewards account to use this shopping mall. Online Shopping Site link
- TopCashBack.com: My personal favorite cash back online shopping portal site. Overall, I’ve found that they have higher % of cash back and have also had great tracking and customer service luck. Online Shopping Site link
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What is the shopping portal that earns Membership Rewards points?
I don’t believe that portal is around anymore. It’s been gone for about a year.
Ebates also has some great payouts today! I just got a 10% rebate for Gap.