The Secret Way To Collect Points/Miles While Stuck At Home

While you are staying at home, you can dream of your next big trip AND rack up the miles/points needed to get there. So if you are not flying, how can you collect points/miles?

It's easy and a habit you should get into all the time. Otherwise, you are leaving lots of miles/points on the table instead of using them to go on fabulous trips. 

The Secret: online shopping portals 

Yep, online shopping portals. Southwest, American, United and Jet Blue offer shopping portals. Chase and Citi also offer them. There are a few cashback ones too, but I am going to focus on points/miles here. 

But what are shopping portals? Online shopping portals are a collection of merchants like Home Depot, Target, Walmart, Blue Apron, Old Navy and more that offer extra points/miles for your purchase if you access them through the airlines' marketplace. By using the portal when you make your purchase, you earn points/miles plus if you use a point-earning credit card to make the purchase you can double dip. If you want to get really crazy, look for American Express offers and you can triple dip. Fun! 

So how do shopping portals work exactly?

For example, you want to buy a new outfit at Macys.com. I always check cashbackmonitor.com to compare the offers from the different portals. You may want to stick with one airline or you may just want to go with the best offer. That will depend on your travel goals.  

Find the portal you want to use, login to your frequent flier account, click on marketplace or shopping, find the retailer you want to shop with and click on it. The website will tell you that your purchases are being tracked. When you are ready to make your purchase, be sure you did not accidentally open another window and kill the tracking. It will take about 4-6 weeks for your points to post to your account. 

Bam! Easy!