21
Nov
After last year’s discover that 70% of Black Friday deals are available at the same price online as in stores, it seems awfully silly to me to fight the crowds at the mall. Granted, I’m not much of a shopper and I don’t like to flip through the racks finding the perfect item when a three-word search could find me the same item in seconds online. If you’re like me and would prefer to do your online shopping in the comfort of your pajamas, make sure you start your purchases at an online shopping portal. Not only will you still get in on holiday sales and bargains, but you can earn miles and points for your time.
So what exactly is a shopping portal? Essentially, it’s a website that offers you a reward for starting your online purchase at their site. Many websites that refer you to online retailers earn a commission on each sale that is generated. Shopping portals refund a portion of that back to you, giving you an additional 1-20% in savings on every purchase. That adds up to some real money (especially with the holidays coming!), so before to shop around.
Please be advised that the use of coupons and other discounts might exclude you from being eligible to receive your shopping portal bonus. As a rule of thumb, usually coupons advertised on the retailers page (i.e. Free Shipping for orders over $99) will not negate the bonus but targeted offers emailed directly to you will. I always start at a shopping portal, just in case, but don’t be surprised if your order doesn’t qualify if you used a great coupon.
Shopping Portals to Earn Airline Miles and Hotel Points (because free travel can be worth more than cash!):
Air Canada: Aeroplan EStore (BONUS: Until December 20, shop with 2 eStore retailers and earn 2X the miles, shop with 3 retailers and earn 3X the miles and shop with 4 eStore retailers to earn 4X the miles; Like them on Facebook for up to 5x miles
American: AAdvantageEshopping.com (BONUS: Earn 500 bonus miles for each $250 spent, up to 2,000 bonus miles in total)
Amtrak: Amtrak Guest Rewards
Choice Rewards: Choice Privileges Mall
Delta: Skymilesshopping.com
Frontier: Early Returns Mall
Hawaiian Airlines: Hawaiian Airlines eMarket (Only portal I know of offering 1 mile per dollar at Amazon.com)
Hilton HHonors: Hilton HHonors Earnings Mall
Marriott Rewards: Shop My Way
Priority Club: Priority Club Shopping (BONUS: Earn a one-time 500 point bonus with any $250+ purchase made through their shopping portal)
Southwest: Rapid Rewards Shopping (BONUS: Earn a one-time 500 point bonus with any purchase made through their shopping portal and paid with your Southwest credit card)
United: Mileageplusshopping.com (BONUS: Earn 500 bonus miles for each $250 spent, up to 5,000 bonus miles in total)
US Airways: Dividend Miles Shopping Mall (BONUS: Spend $150, earn 300 bonus miles; Spend $250 for 500 miles; Spend $500 for 1,000 miles)
Shopping Portals to Earn Cash Back (‘cuz Cash is King)
Big Crumbs: Offering $1.40 per Alaska Airlines reservation, higher than the competition.
Chase: Ultimate Rewards Shopping (One of my favorites due to rebates posting quickly and consistently and the ability to convert Ultimate Rewards points into airline miles or cash, depending on your needs)
Citi: Thank You Shopping
Discover: ShopDiscover (Often the highest cash back rebates available compared to competition, assuming you have a Discover card)
Ebates: Offering cashback at Amazon on rotating categories
ExtraBux
Mastercard: Mastercard Marketplace
Mr. Rebates: One of my favorites because they seem to offer rebates where others may not (including American Airlines, JetBlue, and a whopping 15% currently at IHG hotels)
ShopAtHome: Some of the highest cashback rebates available; when it’s not, you can apply for a 110% “best rebate” price match guarantee
TopCashBack: Cash out with no minimum (other sites can require $5-20 in rebates before being paid)
Wandering Aramean: Set up by a fellow blogger, this is travel-focused and a great way to earn cash rebates for airfare, hotels, and some sightseeing tours.
I don’t have a lot of shopping to do this holiday season, but I’ll be taking advantage of discounts in every way I can. Combine these rebates with a rewards-earning credit card and some great sales, and hopefully you won’t break the bank.
Please note that some of the cashback sites include referrals to me if you join using my link. I appreciate your support of this blog, but understand if you’re more comfortable signing up directly. As always, feel free to share your referrals in the comments below (and sign up using other readers’ links!).
The Deal Mommy said,
Couldn’t agree more. I have a post scheduled to run saying the same thing. The creep into Thursday is frankly insane!
Kay said,
I’m a fan of shopping portals . It’s taken a bit of trial and error to figure out which portals require a lot of point chasing or fail to credit my account period. I usually use the Priority Club portal, because the points post consistently within a week or two of my purchase. Since I can occasionally snag a fabulous breakpoints deal with Priority Club, the few thousand miles I collect through shopping portals are actually redeemable. Marriot’s Shop My Way portal will sometimes post points several months after I make a purchase. Points just posted this week for a purchase I made on August 24. Yes, that’s right! August 24! Three months after the purchase! Following up with Shop my Way is futile. Becky, I remember reading that you gave up on the Hawaiian Airlines portal. Which portals consistently post points for you? I’d be interested in expanding my portals repertoire, but I’m hesitant to get bogged down with another inconsistent portal.
New Girl in the Air said,
@The Deal Mommy, I agree – Thursday at 8pm does not count as Black Friday! I’ll be passing and spending time with my family instead.
@Kay, My top 3 “go-to” portals (unless someone else offers a higher bonus) are Mr. Rebates, Ebates, and Ultimate Rewards. Mr. Rebates often posts the same day (you can’t cash out that quickly, since they have a waiting period to account for potential returns), but at least your account is credited easily and in a timely fashion. I use Ebates a lot for IHG purchases, since I have found some really high rebates through them, and Ultimate Rewards is a great go-to that posts easily.
I have had bad luck with all Cartera-run portals, including United (points post but bonuses never do), American, Hawaiian, etc.
Jon said,
Don’t forget the UPromise shopping portal, where they will give you 5% cash back for many merchants.
Kay said,
Thanks Becky! I’ll need to check those out. I just got an Ink Bold card, so I could try the UR portal instead of Priority Club. The points wind up in the same place anyway if you transfer. Is it possible to “stack” Mr. Rebates or Ebates with the UR portal?
New Girl in the Air said,
@Kay, no way to stack, sorry!
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