Rack Up Miles Fast By Shopping Online

Hopefully, you are not running around to all the stores like we used to right now to find the items you need. Instead, you are discovering the joys of online shopping. You can peruse the aisles of the store from the comfort of your home and slippers. Use coupons. Just push the button and a few days later, your purchase arrives on your doorstep. Amazing! 

Rack Up Miles Fast By Shopping Online 

Now, in case you are new to online shopping or even if you are a seasoned internet shopper, there are some ways to maximize your savings. The most important is to use a shopping portal when you shop online. Why? You ask. Because you want to squeeze every last mile/point or cashback you could be getting with each purchase. It's like going to a store and not using a coupon. Yikes! 

One day, travel will go back to the way it was and you want to be ready with lots of points/miles. 

Let's run down the list of available shopping portals to choose from depending on your goals. A good habit is to check cashbackmonitor.com before you purchase online. You just enter a retailer and this website will show you which portals it is listed on and how much each one is offering in points/miles or cash back. There can be a huge variation between online portals so don't skip this step unless you are loyal to one airline. 

All the major airlines have online shopping portals; United, Southwest, American, Delta, and Jet Blue. Plus Wyndham Hotels and Chase Ultimate Rewards offer portals. And then there are the cashback portals from companies like Rakuten. If you use my referral link, you will get $10 FREE cash back on your first purchase. 

Rack Up Miles Fast By Shopping Online 

It's easy to use a portal. Login to the portal using your airline, hotel or regular information, then find the store you want to shop at and click shop now. You will be shown a cashback percentage or points/miles awarded per dollar spent and then be taken to the retailer website. Shop just like you normally would and the portal will keep track of how much you spend. It takes about 6-8 weeks for the points/miles or cash back to post to your account. You can even double dip and use a credit card that gives you miles/points or cashback too. 

Look for bonus points/miles offers from the portals as well. 

This a good way to top off an airline loyalty account or keep those points/miles from expiring. 

Earn Bonus American Airlines Miles By Donating To The Red Cross

American Airlines announced this morning that any donation you make to the American Red Cross will earn you bonus miles on American Airlines. 

Many airlines partner with the American Red Cross, but American Airlines appears to be the first and only one to offer bonus miles for donations. 

American Airlines has done this before. Just a few months back, the company offered 10x miles for donations earmarked for the victims of the Nashville tornadoes. 

Not a huge surprise that the airline is once again offering 10x miles for any donation over $25 to help with the Covid-19 pandemic. 

Make sure you use your Advantage account information when you donate. 

Bonus miles post in 6-8 weeks. 

Hurry, Delta Bonus Credit Card Offers End April 1st

I know it pains me too to look at an airplane right now. Our family should have been at a condo overlooking the beach in Chile this weekend. But, instead of being down and having a pity party, let's collect those points/miles so that when we can travel again, we are ready. 

Delta Bonus Credit Card Offers

Right now, Delta American Express is offering giant mega bonus of 60-100,000 miles for bonus offers on a variety of their cards. All the offers end on April 1st so if you are in a position to apply now is the time. We don't know what the next offer will be, but this is one of the highest offers we have seen. 

All the cards award you 60-80,000 miles when you meet the minimum spend about $2,000 to $3,000 depending on the card you choose and the rest of the miles on your first anniversary. You can only apply for these cards once per lifetime, but there are several to choose from. The annual fees range from $95-$550 and are not waived. Some include a credit on Delta, Global Entry credit, FREE lounge access, FREE checked bags, priority boarding and more. You can compare benefits here and see what works best for your travel plans. 

Why I like Delta

The great thing about Delta miles is that they never expire. Even though Delta is shrinking during the COVID-19, it tends to offer some spectacular deals on flights with award flights starting at just 10,000 miles. 

How To Extend FREE Hotel Night Certificates

Just a few weeks ago, I was in Sedona, AZ looking at the beautiful red rocks. Amazing how the world has changed in just a few weeks. I stayed at the Best Western Sedona Arroyo Roble in order to take advantage of the stay 2 nights, get 1 FREE promotion. It worked and within a few weeks, Best Western sent me a certificate for a FREE night at any Best Western. 

I had planned to use it to visit colleges in April. But as we all know everything has changed. 

Don't figure that your hotel certificates will just go unused. 

I called Best Western and bam, they agreed to extend the certificate. They actually asked me to call back after it expires and said they will extend it at that point. 

I also had to move some flights around and Delta charged me a change fee. Now that you can reach someone at the airlines, I called back and bam, they waived the fee and refunded me. 

Marriott is next on my list. I have a certificate that expires in May. 

Use Your Chase FREEDOM card to buy groceries

Since travel is very limited right now due to the Corona Virus, the best thing you can do is figure out how to stockpile points for later. One of the best ways is to utilize the rotating categories on your Chase FREEDOM card. This no-fee card earns 5x points in rotating quarterly categories. 

The categories can include gas stations, supermarkets, Amazon, streaming services and more. 

Registration is now open for 2nd quarter, categories include grocery stores, fitness clubs and gyms. FYI, the 5x is not good at Target or Walmart.  

You register here. If you don't have this card yet, you can use this link to apply. This is one of my go-to cards because there is no annual fee and you earn 1% back on everything. Right now, if you spend $500 in the first 3 months, you will get $200 cashback. Pretty sweet! If you have a Chase Sapphire Reserve or Preferred, then you can use the Ultimate Rewards points for travel. If you don't you can use them for cashback.

Another Secret Way To Earn Points/Miles While At Home

Don't give up on collecting points and miles while you are stuck at home. It's time to develop the new habit of using portals when shopping online to rack up the points/miles. Online shopping portals which I covered in my last post are a great way to get bonuses on the shopping you are doing anyway. But there are more ways to do earn points/miles without flying. 

Here are a few ways to do it:

1. Use Rocketmiles.com to book hotels and earn miles/points on a variety of airlines. Look for hotels with bonuses of up to 10,000 points. A quick search shows hotels in New Orleans, LA in November with bonuses of up to 15,000 points for 2 nights. The points will take about two weeks to post. 

2. You can book a rental car and earn miles on a number of airlines

3. You can dine at restaurants or take food out and earn miles on Southwest, Jet Blue, United, Alaska, Delta or American. Remember to dine within 30 days of opening your dining account and post a review to get a new member bonus. Plus opt into email communication to get more points. 

4. You can even earn points for taking surveys at some airlines but this is pretty slow. 

Look for the points/miles to post in about 4-6 weeks. 

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!