How to Maximize Points When Shopping Online

It’s never been easier to earn points and miles from the comfort of your own home than it is today.

And with a few tips and tricks, you can maximize your return even further when shopping online.

By taking advantage of multiple offers, you can double-dip on your earnings, making your spending go as far as possible while shopping online.

Let’s look at the best ways to maximize your points and miles when shopping online.

Use the Right Card for the Job

Few credit cards earn bonus points on “online shopping” as a spending category. But that doesn’t mean all cards are created equal when it comes to spending online.

Instead, you want to select either a card that earns bonus rewards on the specific item you’re purchasing online or a high return on non-bonus category spending.

Here’s an overview of some of the best general travel rewards credit cards for online shopping:

• Chase Freedom Flex®. Earn 5% cash back on rotating quarterly bonus spending categories, including online merchants, on up to $1,500 in combined purchases per quarter.

• Discover it Cash Back. Earn 5% cash back on rotating quarterly bonus spending categories, on up to $1,500 in combined purchases per quarter.
• Wells Fargo Active Cash® Card. Earn unlimited 2% cash back on all purchases.
• Blue Cash Everyday® Card from American Express. Earn 3% cash back on U.S. online retail purchases, of up to $6,000 in purchases per year (1% thereafter). Cash back is received in the form of Reward Dollars that can be redeemed as a statement credit or at Amazon.com checkout.

• Bank of America Cash Rewards credit card. Earn 3% cash back in one category of your choice, including online shopping (annual spending cap of $2,500 in combined purchases for the 3% and 2% cashback categories applies; earn 1% thereafter).
• The Platinum Card® from American Express. Get up to $100 in statement credits for purchases at saks.com, given in $50 biannual increments (enrollment required).

• Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card. Earn unlimited 2X miles on all purchases.

• Chase Freedom Unlimited®. Earn unlimited 1.5% cash back on all purchases.

• Citi Double Cash® Card. Earn unlimited 2% cash back on all purchases: earn 1% when you buy and 1% when you pay.

• The Blue Business® Plus Credit Card from American Express. Earn 2X points on everyday business purchases such as office supplies or client dinners, on up to $50,000 in annual purchases (then 1X points).

Equipped with one of these cards, you can earn a lucrative return on whatever you purchase online. While certain cards come with a spending cap for cashback rewards — such as the Chase Freedom Flex or Discover it Cash Back — other cards offer unlimited points, miles or cashback earnings.

Cards that earn a high return on non-bonus category spending can also come in handy for other offline purchases that don’t fall into specific spending categories, such as wedding expenses.

In any case, you can end up earning a high-value, transferable points currency by using one or more of these cards for online shopping, such as Amex Membership Rewards points, Chase Ultimate Rewards points or Capital One miles.

Use the Target Circle™ Credit Card at Target

If you spend more time shopping online at Target than other stores, consider applying for the Target Circle™ Credit Card.

The card earns you a 5% discount at Target stores and Target.com.*

You’re also eligible for free two-day shipping on thousands of items, all for a $0 annual fee.

The Target Circle Credit Card is a closed-loop card, meaning you can use it at Target only.

However, once you have the Circle Credit Card, you can upgrade it to the Target Mastercard version upon approval. The Mastercard version enables you to earn 2% on dining and gas purchases and 1% on all other purchases outside of Target.

* The following items are excluded from the 5% discount category:

• Prescriptions, over-the-counter items located behind the pharmacy counter and clinic services at Target
• Target Optical™ eye exams and protection plans (Target Optical products, such as glasses and contact lenses, are eligible for the 5% discount)
• Target GiftCards; Visa, Mastercard and American Express prepaid cards; Game On, DraftKings, and other sports betting gift cards; and Starbucks gift cards purchased at Starbucks locations within Target stores
• Previous purchases
• Target credit account payments, Target Circle Card Account cash reloads, Target Debit Card cash back and cash advances on the Target Mastercard
• Shipt and Target Circle 360™ membership fees
• Alcohol purchases in Indiana
• Wireless protection program purchases and deposits required by mobile carrier
• Gift wrapping services
• Taxes, shipping, delivery, handling and all other fees or charges
• Where otherwise prohibited by law

Apply for an Amazon Credit Card

Not all of us are fans of Target — but almost every single one of us shops on Amazon.

If you want to boost your rewards-earning potential while shopping online with Amazon, consider applying for one of the following credit cards:

• Amazon Prime Rewards Visa Signature Card
• Amazon Business Prime Card

While Amazon offers a total of six credit cards, the Amazon Prime Rewards Visa Signature Card from Chase and Amazon Business Prime Card from American Express are the most lucrative on offer.

The Prime Rewards Visa card is available to Amazon Prime members only. So while the card technically has a $0 annual fee, Prime membership costs $139 per year (if you opt for annual billing, otherwise it’s $14.99 per month). If you don’t have or want Amazon Prime membership, you could consider the Amazon Visa card, which is a closed-loop card for non-Prime members.

The Prime Rewards Visa card earns 5% cash back at Amazon.com, Amazon Fresh, Whole Foods Market and on Chase Travel purchases. This gives you a wide range of options for earning rewards when it comes to online shopping.

The card also earns 2% cash back at gas stations, restaurants and on local transit and commuting purchases (including rideshare), as well as 1% cash back on all other purchases.

It’s also free of foreign transaction fees, which could come in handy when traveling and spending abroad.

If you were to spend $2,780 per year using the Prime Rewards Visa card, you’d break even on the Amazon Prime membership fee.

In contrast, for small business owners, the Amazon Business Prime Card will be the most lucrative option for online shopping.

The card earns 5% cash back on U.S. Amazon Business, AWS, Amazon.com and Whole Foods Market purchases, on up to $120,000 per year. Alternatively, you can forgo the 5% cash back for 90-day financing on Amazon purchases. Financed purchases will not count toward the $120,000 spending cap.

The Business Prime card also earns 2% cash back on purchases made at U.S. restaurants, gas stations and on wireless phone services purchased directly from service providers.

Just as with the Prime Rewards Visa card, the Business Prime card requires Amazon Prime membership but doesn’t charge a separate annual fee. It’s likewise free of foreign transaction fees.

With either of these credit cards to hand, a frequent Amazon shopper can get a strong rewards rate on their online shopping expenditure.

Double-Dip with Shopping Portals

Online shopping portals are one of the few things in life that truly are as good as they sound — there is no catch.

By using an online shopping portal to complete your purchase, you can shop with thousands of your favorite retailers and double-dip with cash back, points and miles while doing so.

An online shopping portal aggregates thousands of merchants on its site, advertising special ongoing offers and rewards rates. By beginning your online shopping journey through the online shopping portal, you can then navigate to the retailer’s website and complete your purchase. Through doing so, you’ll earn bonus rewards simply for having used the online shopping portal to get there.

The retailers gain additional visibility through the online shopping portal. In return, they receive a commission that is shared with you — the consumer — in the form of cash back, points or miles. It’s a win-win-win situation.

As long as you have cookies activated on your browser and begin your search through the shopping portal, you can start earning a return on every cent spent.

Different types of online shopping portals exist, including:

• Airline online shopping portals
• Hotel online shopping portals
• Credit card online shopping portals
• Cashback online shopping portals
• Hybrid online shopping portals

You can take advantage of Cashback Monitor to work out which online shopping portal is best for your desired purchases. Cashback Monitor aggregates all shopping portal offers into one platform, which you can navigate easily to compare offers.

If you combine a solid credit card with an online shopping portal offer, you can double dip on your rewards earnings. For example, if an online shopping portal offers 3% cash back on purchases with Adidas, you could use your Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card to earn 2X miles on your new sneakers, in addition to earning 3% cash back on the purchase.

Alternatively, by using an airline shopping portal, you can earn frequent flyer miles on online shopping purchases with your chosen airline loyalty program. Some examples of airline shopping portals include:

• Alaska Mileage Plan Shopping
• American AAdvantage eShopping
• British Airways Executive Club eStore
• Delta SkyMiles Shopping
• JetBlue TrueBlue Shopping
• Southwest Rapid Rewards Shopping
• United MileagePlus Shopping

If Companion Pass season has arrived, you could shop online through the Southwest Rapid Rewards Shopping portal to earn points toward the coveted Companion Pass.

Card issuers such as Barclays, Capital One and Citi also offer their online shopping portals, enabling you to earn bonus rewards on your spending. However, while you need to have a credit card account with both Barclays and Citi to use their shopping portals, the same isn’t true for Capital One.

Anyone can begin using the Capital One shopping portal to earn a return on their spending. Keep in mind that the Capital One shopping portal allows you to redeem your rewards for e-gift cards only — that means you can’t withdraw them as cash back or transfer them to travel partners for redemptions.

Here are some of the most lucrative online shopping portals to consider using.

Rakuten

Rakuten is one of the most widely used online shopping portals available.

Formerly known as Ebates, it offers elevated rewards rates with more than 3,500 participating merchants. Just connect your Visa, Mastercard or Amex card and you can begin shopping and earning.

Rakuten is a hybrid online shopping platform, as it’s the only non-card issuer that offers the opportunity to earn credit card points in addition to cash back. Specifically, you can opt into earning Amex Membership Rewards points on your online shopping purchases.

Given that Amex doesn’t offer its own shopping portal, Rakuten is your best bet when it comes to earning Amex points on online shopping purchases.

Your rewards are deposited every quarter, as long as you have a minimum cashback balance of $5.01 or 501 Amex points. You’ll receive your rewards either through PayPal, a mailed check if you’ve chosen to earn cash back or directly in your Amex account if you’re earning Membership Rewards points.

Mr. Rebates

Mr. Rebates is another much-loved online shopping portal to help you double-dip in your earnings, and find competitive rewards rates with more than 3,000 online merchants.

You’ll receive your rewards within one to three days with a maximum processing time of 14 days. However, Mr. Rebates requires a minimum cashback balance of $10 to process a deposit.

TopCashback

TopCashback has some of the most lucrative offers on the market, with more than 7,000 participating merchants available.

It requires a cashback balance of just $0.01 and you can be paid using a bank transfer, PayPal or gift cards from popular brands such as Walmart, Amazon and Target.

Take Advantage of Card Issuer Offers

Amex Offers is one of the most popular savings schemes available.

Amex Offers are targeted cardmember offers that you can enroll in. They offer savings on dining, travel, entertainment purchases and more. The offer is typically a certain percentage or dollar amount of cash back after spending a minimum amount with a given participating retailer.

To use an offer, you need to add it to your linked card. Then, simply spend and earn. Keep in mind that offers have a limited timeframe in which they’re valid, so be sure to be prompt in using them.

While Amex Offers are the most popular, other card issuers such as Chase, Citi and Bank of America have their own savings schemes, enabling you to double-dip on your earnings.

Download the United MileagePlus X App

The United MileagePlus X app allows you to earn bonus United MileagePlus miles on a range of purchases, with just a few extra steps.

Once you download the app and link your frequent flyer account to it, you can begin earning extra miles.

United partners with a range of retailers from whom you can buy a variety of e-gift cards. When you purchase a gift card you’ll earn United miles on your purchase. You can then redeem the gift card for your original purchase.

If you link a credit card to the app that earns bonus category rewards on the item you’re purchasing, you can double-dip on your earnings. And if you link a co-branded Chase United MileagePlus card, the miles you earn on your gift card purchase will receive an additional 25% boost.

You can also earn bonus miles through purchases made with dining partners, featured apps and through the MileagePlus Shopping portal.

Earn a Percent on Every Cent Spent: Maximize Your Online Shopping Experience

Squeezing the most out of every purchase goes a long way when you’re consistent.

Using the right card, shopping through online shopping portals and taking advantage of card issuer offers are some of the top ways to get an additional return on your spending.

With this strategy in hand, you’ll be on your way to your next points- and miles-funded vacation much sooner than you think.