(No time to read the full article? Here’s a quick summary on maximizing rewards with online shopping: Check out CashbackMonitor.com; Join Rakuten with a special referral link and get easy money for joining; Then start racking up cash back with no extra effort; Join your favorite airline’s shopping portal (see below); and, Maximize your spending by getting a new credit card with a big signup bonus.
Travel Freely’s core approach is to maximize your rewards in the least amount of time. Using a shopping portal can add an extra step, but I encourage you to give it a try. Without too much extra work, you can earn additional points or cash back to your regular credit card spending – especially for online shopping. This can even stack on top of a large signup bonus!
The first caveat is that you’re not going to be racking up the amount of rewards points that a new credit card signup bonus will get you. That’s the easiest way to some major cash back or rewards points. However, you can rack up several thousand points a year without too much hassle if you get a system in place.
Easiest Way to Maximize Spending: Get a New Credit Card with a Great Bonus and Good Earning Value
If you haven’t gotten a new credit card lately, consider our top offers that could get you an easy $500-$1,000+ in cash back or rewards travel. Most people can comfortably hit these signup bonuses with everyday, monthly spending.
For example, if you spend $3,000 on your regular credit card you’ve had for years, you’re probably earning 1-1.5% in cash or points. If you get a new card, you’ll probably earn higher rates AND you’ll add $500+ in signup bonus value by spending the same $3,000. (Worried about your credit score? Read: How Free Travel Increases Your Credit Score)
Here are the top-ranked personal and business cards for those looking for a new card. These are chosen because of their signup bonus and ongoing earning value.
On to the Shopping Portals for Online Shopping…
Full disclosure: I’m an amateur when it comes to shopping portals, but people rack up lots of miles using them. So, I reached out to some experts to gather the best of the best in order to pass along some good advice and put my spin on it. Also, there are ways to earn additional points/miles through dining and hotel rewards portals, but this article focuses on shopping portals.
How do shopping portals work?
You’ll ultimately be making your purchase directly through the store, but before you go to your online retailer, you’ll want to begin at the shopping portal of your choice. Then you go to the store’s site via the shopping portal. Once you click through to your store’s site, browser cookies are used to track the source of your purchase. That’s how the sites connect the purchase to the portal. Many of the best portals, such as Rakuten and airline shopping portals, now have browser extensions, which allow you to skip the first step completely and go straight to your online store.
For example, if I want to make a purchase on Macys.com, I first go to my shopping portal and see if I can earn anything extra. The portal might say, “5% on Macys.com.” I just click that link and make my purchase at Macys.com. Then, the shopping portal will pay you 5% of your purchase!
This cash or rewards that you earn is on top of any points you earn with your credit card. Pretty cool, right?
Cash Back Shopping Portals
Probably the most well-known cash back portal is Rakuten. It’s really easy to use, and even has its own Chrome browser extension to let you know automatically if you could earn cash back when you’re shopping at a store’s site. If you’re interested in signing up, here’s my referral link that will get you extra bonus money.
While Rakuten is known for its cash back, they also have a partnership with American Express. This means, when you set up your account, you can opt to earn American Express Membership Rewards® points instead of cash back. Points are earned where $1 in cash back equals 100 Membership Reward points. (Note: You must have at least one eligible American Express Membership Rewards earning credit card that is currently open in order to earn Membership Rewards through Rakuten. You’ll be asked to link it to your Rakuten account.)
Skip the craziness of the mall and shop online to earn more rewards and cash back!
TopCashBack (my affiliate link) is another strong cash back portal with over 7,000 online retailers. When you use this portal, you have the option to receive cash back directly into your bank account, PayPal, or through gift cards.
Rewards Program Shopping Portals for Online Shopping
These portals earn points and miles towards a specific loyalty program.
Each major airline program has their own shopping portal. Some are even run by the same company. They look very similar and the same stores seem to have the same bonus miles offers. If you want to simplify these opportunities, I would choose the airline that you use most, and look at the value its portal could bring. Most of these airlines now have a Chrome browser extension that will automatically tell you if you could earn rewards when you’re shopping at a store’s site.
Throughout the year, many airline shopping portals also have bonus offers where if you spend a certain amount of money through the portal, you’ll receive extra bonus points or miles.
American Airlines AAdvantage Miles
AAdvantage eShopping Mall has over 1,200+ online retailers. You just need an AAdvantage membership number. If you have an American Airlines credit card, you can earn additional points.
Travel Freely member Lisa (Highlands Ranch, CO) says, “We earn over 70,000 miles per year just through the AAdvantage eShopping site. I shop at Walmart, Sam’s Club, Petco, Kohl’s, and sports stores like Fanatics. There are many hotel chains on the portal as well.”
Here’s an example of a browser extension for AA. It pops up automatically when you go to Macys.com.
Capital One Shopping
Capital One has a shopping portal that leads to good deals. Keep in mind that you must redeem your earnings as gift cards, which kind of stinks.
Delta Airlines Skymiles
SkyMiles Shopping has hundreds of stores listed.
Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards
Rapid Rewards Shopping is clearly one of the best portals for a couple reasons. Not only are Rapid Rewards points some of the best rewards out there, but the points earned also count toward the 135,000 point requirement to earn the Southwest Companion Pass.
Southwest specialist Lyn Mettler, author of FamiliesTravelFree, says, “One of my favorite times of the year to earn Southwest points is around the holidays, because that is when we do most of our shopping on ‘stuff.’ And it happens to come at a time when I am trying to earn my Southwest Companion Pass for the following year. By taking advantage of the Southwest Rapid Rewards Shopping portal, we are able to rack up points we can use for free flights on Southwest.”
United Airlines MileagePlus Shopping
MileagePlus Shopping earns United Airlines miles at 900 stores.
Chase Ultimate Rewards Mall
When you shop at the Shop Through Chase® portal, you can earn valuable Chase points known as Chase Ultimate Rewards®. Keep in mind that you’ll need to use the credit card associated with that account in order to earn the bonus points. If you have a Chase Sapphire Preferred® Credit Card or Chase Sapphire Reserve® Credit Card, this might be the portal for you.
For more about the best overall card for beginners, read Why We Love the Chase Sapphire Preferred.
It doesn’t get much better than Chase Ultimate Rewards. Use their shopping portal to earn extra points.
Easy way to compare portals
If you’re not quite sure, take a quick look at the site Cashback Monitor – it summarizes all available offers for both Cash Back portals and Rewards portals. You can search by store to see which portal has the best offer. Keep in mind that some offers can be misleading because they may not offer their highest deal for all items. That’s where I get frustrated and would rather avoid the mental energy.
Cashback Monitor shows you which portal gives you the best value.
In Summary
Overall, using a shopping portal is an easy way to earn bonus points or miles for purchases you’d be making anyways. It takes just an extra minute to go to the portal first and look for your store, and even less time if you already have a browser extension installed for the portal. This is an easy, hassle-free system to earn additional cash or rewards. If you are just getting started, I’d recommend starting with Rakuten, our top-rated portal.
Final point: Shopping portals are not the best way to earn the most points and miles in the least amount of time. But, they sure can add to the larger strategy of getting a new credit card with a great signup bonus. It’s easy to try and those points will start adding up without too much extra work.
