Yesterday I wrote about the fantastic offer for the Chase Freedom card right now that has doubled their sign up bonus! While I highlighted some of the awesome benefits this card offers, there’s even more that you could get from that one, or just any card you use during your holiday shopping. Chase cards are my favorite and I have three of them which allow me to combine all my points together to use for travel. While travel is top priority for me and miles are worth more than the regular 1 cent per dollar on cashback, some others prefer to keep things simple and just go for cashback. Whatever your strategy is, read on for some extra benefits this holiday season.
First of all, there are a LOT of shopping portals out there which allow you to get extra rewards. Upromise is one that I use often when buying gift cards from Staples to upload to my Bluebird account (UPDATE: Bluebird no longer exists as an option). Upromise offers an extra 5% cahsback on all purchases at Staples.com. However, there are times when I do other shopping online and would rather earn extra miles than cashback. In those cases I use the Chase Shopping Portal. Sometimes the Chase Shopping Portal even offers higher cashback options than Upromise as well.
Anyone with a Chase Credit Card has access to this portal. You can reach it by going through their Ultimate Rewards section and then selecting, “earn points”, “shopping”. You then can type in any website you’re looking to make a purchase from (Groupon is my favorite to use for this). If they are linked with Chase’s shopping portal, you’ll see their logo come up and the amount of extra points you can earn per dollar. Recently, Chase was offering 7 points per dollar spent through Groupon! A good deal for anyone out there looking to make some purchases anyway. By simply clicking on the link to Groupon and using your Chase Credit Card to pay, you’ll earn 7% rewards on the purchase. With Chase, these rewards can be used for travel or cashback, depending on which cards you hold and your preferences.
The Chase Freedom card currently has the 4th quarter 5% bonus categories including Amazon.com purchases and department stores like JCPenney, Macy’s and Kohl’s. Anytime you use your Freedom Card at those stores or online from October-December 2014, you automatically earn 5% cashback. However, if you go through the portal on top of that, you’ll earn 10% cashback! If you’re planning on doing Christmas shopping online at all, this is the prime time to become familiar with these benefits!
Feeling a little overwhelmed on which portal to use? Can’t keep track of the details of which one has the highest offer? No problem. Evreward.com is the answer. Evreward compiles a list of all shopping portals they can locate so when you type in the store you’re interested in, they’ll give you a complete list. You can make your decision from there of where you want to purchase through.
Lastly, I should also mention Chase Freedom’s sister card, Discover It. This is a very similar card in that it offers 1% cashback on all purchases and 5% on categories that rotate each quarter. It also has no annual fee and a side perk is that it includes an update on your credit score each month- a great benefit to have especially for beginners just starting out. I have a Chase Freedom Card and Pablo has the Discover It. The only downside of this card is that it can’t be combined with other points to use for travel. If you’re just looking for cashback, it’s a great option! And if you get declined for the Chase Freedom card, many people can still get approved for this one. So it’s another option to consider as well and Discover does have a shopping portal too. If the Discover It is a card you’re interested in.
While the Discover It card doesn’t have a public link to earn $150 sign up bonus, you can find the link for that here: http://milestomemories.boardingarea.com/discover-it-150-bonus-returns/. Otherwise, you won’t get any bonus for signing up.
Summary: Use shopping portals for any online shopping you do. It’s free extra money! Evreward.com can help you determine which portal is best for your needs
Chase Freedom is an excellent starting card with a $200 bonus right now! The main benefit is that points from this can be combined with other travel Chase cards so you can use them for miles instead of just the regular cashback.
Discover It: Use the private link above to earn $150 for signing up. While this card is only good for cashback earnings, it’s a great start if you’re declined for the Chase Freedom card or just need to get some more credit cards. It also includes your credit score on a monthly basis for free which I highly recommend.
Fire Round the World 