How You And A Friend Can Each Get $30 FREE For Online Shopping

If you follow my blog at all, you know how much I love online shopping portals. These are just FREE money and yep, I love FREE money. You can check out my last post on how to rack up miles fast with online shopping. 

But did you know that besides racking up miles fast, you can also get cashback?

Yep, that's right. Think couponing meets the internet. Stop looking for discount codes and promo codes, just shop the right way and get rewarded. 

Starting April 20th, one of my favorite cash back shopping portals, Rakuten.com (formerly Ebates), is offering $30 to new customers and $30 to the person who referred the new customer. What a win-win! 

How do shopping portals work?

Here's a visual for you about how shopping portals work. I sent flowers to a friend last week for her birthday. Instead of clicking straight to a flower delivery website, I logged into my Rakuten.com account.  There are about 2,500 retailers associated with this marketplace so you should find what you are looking for from Target to Home Depot. I looked at all the flower delivery companies and chose one that offered 48% cashback, yep, you read that right. When I clicked on the link, Rakuten.com took me to the flower company website and I proceeded to make my purchase. Rakuten tracks my purchase and credits me back 48%. Wow! 

You do need to make sure you don't disrupt the tracking by clicking on other windows etc. 

It takes a few days or weeks to see the cashback and then every 3 months, Rakuten will send you a "big fat check." 

This new promotion is only good for two weeks, it ends on May 1st so tell lots of your friends. There is no limit on how many people you can refer. And if you are new to Rakuten, use our link to join and then share your referral link with your friends. 

Southwest Extends The Companion Pass Expiration and More

Woohoo! Great news, Southwest Airlines just announced that it is extending all Companion passes that were set to expire at the end of the year until June 2021 due to COVID-19. 

The Southwest Companion Pass is one of the best travel perks around. It is a buy one, get one FREE ticket on any Southwest flight for two years. To earn the pass, you have to collect 125,000 Southwest points. So this is a big deal! 

Southwest Extends The Companion Pass Expiration and More

Other benefits that Southwest announced today:

• Extending current A list and A list preferred status through June 2021
• All Southwest Reward members will receive 15,000 tier qualifying points 
• All Southwest Reward members will receive 10 flight credits towards A list or A list preferred status
• All Southwest Reward members will receive 25,000 Companion Pass qualifying points 
• All Southwest Reward members will receive 25 flight credits towards the Companion Pass

Great job, Southwest! 

Did you Find Your AA.com Shopping Portal Mystery Offer?

Great news! American Airlines launched a mystery bonus offer on its shopping portal today. Every member will get a bonus 500 miles when you spend $125 on qualified purchases between 4/14/20 and 4/20/20. 

To unlock your mystery bonus offer, log into your Advantage Shopping Account and click on the box on the right. When you do that, it will reveal your offer. Most members will receive 500 bonus miles, in fact, so far, I haven't heard of any other offers. 

If you don't know how shopping portals work, check out my previous post on how to rack up miles fast by shopping online. 

Why You Might Want To Cash In Some Points

Hopefully, you were able to get your points/miles refunded back into your account if your flights were canceled due to Covid-19. Or maybe you were about to book a trip and are now sitting on a pile of points/miles.

Most points/miles are only worth something if you use them to book a hotel room or flight with that particular company, but some points can be traded in for cashback.

Chase Ultimate Rewards points are one of my favorites due to the flexibility to transfer them to a variety of hotels and airlines plus using them as currency in the travel portal.
But another benefit is that you can trade them in for cashback.
Right now, that could be more valuable than travel.

If you already have a Chase Sapphire Reserve or Preferred, FREEDOM, FREEDOM Unlimited or Ink Business Preferred, you are earning Ultimate Reward Points on every purchase. Depending on the card and the category, you earn at different rates.
But you can trade them in at 1:1 just by logging into your Chase.com account and clicking on Ultimate Rewards. 

You will see your rewards balance and how much those points will net you in cash back. You can choose how many points you want to cash in, which could equal a nice chunk of change. Now, you can get better than 1:1 redemption if you use them to book flights, hotels and, car rentals through the travel portal or if you transfer them to an airline.
But if you need the cash or you don't see yourself traveling anytime soon, this might be a good idea.
If you don't have any points, but you are looking for cash. You could apply for one of these cards, spend the minimum, get the bonus and cash in the points. 
The Chase FREEDOM Unlimited has a bonus $500 cash back right now for new card holders, the Preferred is offering 60,000 bonus points and the Reserve is offering 50,000 bonus points. At 1:1, these bonuses are worth $500-$600 cash back. 
If you do not have one of these cards yet, please use my referral link and help support this blog.
If cash back and travel are not your thing right now, you can use the points to shop at the Apple store and other retailers, but this is not the best value.

How To Use Your FREE Door Dash Pass

If you have a Chase Sapphire Reserve or Preferred credit card, then you get a FREE Door Dash Pass as a perk. Since everyone is staying at home, this could be a huge savings for you. The Pass gives you FREE delivery from hundreds of restaurants if your order is more than $12. Plus if you have the Sapphire Reserve, you also get $60 credit in 2020 and another $60 credit in 2021. Who doesn't want $60 of FREE food right now?

So how do you access this benefit?

1. Create a Door Dash account

2. Enter you Chase Sapphire Reserve or Preferred credit card information in the payment section 

3. Pop up will ask if you would like to activate your pass

The pass is good for one year so mark the expiration date on your calendar. You will see a credit on your Chase account after you make your purchase. The $60 can be spread out over multiple transactions. If you use my referral link, you will get $15 off ($5 off each of your first 3 orders). 

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.