If You're Not Using These 2 Credit Card Hacks This Holiday Season, You are Missing Out on Savings
I love using credit cards to earn rewards when I'm shopping for holiday gifts, but one of my favorite tricks is combining them with shopping portal offers so I can "double dip" and earn even more money back.
My family goes out of our way to earn more rewards on holiday shopping since we have two kids to buy for, plus gifts for family and friends. We also shop for new holiday decor almost every year, and we fork over a pretty penny for ingredients to make a nice holiday meal.
While credit card shopping portals are useful all year long, they can be especially lucrative over the holidays when you're spending additional funds on holiday gifts like clothing, household items and electronics. Here's how I use them to save big on Christmas presents.
What is a credit card shopping portal?
A shopping portal is a just website that lets users earn bonus rewards at select online stores. Many credit card issuers offer shopping portals -- American Express, Chase and Capital One, for example -- and taking advantage of any relevant deals can help you earn even more rewards back on items you were already going to buy.
Take the Chase Ultimate Rewards shopping portal ("Shop Through Chase") as an example. The portal lists a range of online retailers that let Chase credit card members earn 1X to 15X additional Ultimate Rewards points on eligible purchases.
Screenshot by Holly Johnson/CNET
To use the portal, you just log into your credit card account, navigate to the shopping portal from your account, and then choose a participating store and use an eligible credit card for the purchase. The bonus points or cash back will be added to their rewards account on topofyour card's standard rewards.
What type of deals can you find?
Credit card shopping portal deals vary by issuer and can change over time. Most rewards shopping portals include offers for dozens of participating stores. The Chase Portal, for instance, tends to offer anywhere from 1X to 15X more points for each dollar spent.
Some popular stores you can find deals at through Chase's portal include: Old Navy, Office Depot and Adidas.
Screenshot by Holly Johnson/CNET Screenshot by Holly Johnson/CNET
Ratuken, which lets users earn American Express Membership Rewards points, has deals from stores like Walmart, Temu, Ulta and Expedia.com.
Screenshot by Holly Johnson/CNET
Delta SkyMiles Shopping offers deals from stores like Kohl's, Nike, Apple and CVS.
Screenshot by Holly Johnson/CNET
Shopping portals are free to use, but it's never a good idea to grab a deal just because it's active. Instead, I get the most money back from the deals by purchasing items I already planned on buying through these portals. I'm able to earn my normal credit card rewards rate plus the additional points, cash-back or miles offer from the portal. It's win-win.
Tips for earning more rewards from shopping portals
Here are some other tips to make sure you make the most of credit card shopping portals.
Compare offers from different shopping portals
If you're aiming to maximize rewards with credit card shopping portals this year, you should make a list of rewards currencies you're interested in and which portals apply. From there, you can compare their bonus rewards offerings each time you need to make a purchase.
Let's say you're planning to buy some holiday gifts at Lululemon, for example. If you took the time to check right now, you would find that Shop through Chase is offering an additional 3X points for each dollar spent.
Screenshot by Holly Johnson/CNET
However, Rakuten is offering 10% cash back on Lululemon purchases, which can be earned as Amex Membership Rewards points.
Screenshot by Holly Johnson/CNET
In this situation, it would make sense to skip earning extra Chase points on your purchase and shop instead through Rakuten to earn American Express Membership Rewards points.
Stack shopping portal rewards with 'offers' programs
In some cases, you can stack shopping portal rewards with offers programs, including Amex Offers, Capital One Offers and Chase Offers. Offers programs can also be used to earn more rewards on their own, both during the holidays and throughout the year.
For example, my Chase Offers account shows there's a Lululemon offer for 10% cash back on eligible purchases (up to a maximum of $16) right now.
Screenshot by Holly Johnson/CNET
This offer could be added to the card account and used in addition to bonus rewards earned with Shop Through Chase.
Always pay with a rewards credit card
When you can, shop with a rewards credit card. That way, you can earn rewards or cash back with your card andbonus rewards by shopping through a portal.
Never overspend to earn shopping portal deals
While earning more rewards with shopping portals is usually a good idea, it's also easy to blow your budget when shopping for the holidays. Overspending is never a good idea, but it's particularly dangerous when you're using a credit card. Spending more than you can afford to pay back in full each month could lead to hefty interest charges and late fees.
I recommend snagging shopping portal deals only when they align with your budget and holiday gift list. Use your credit card to shop only when you have the cash in your account to cover your purchases. Then make sure you have a plan to pay your bill in full.
If you do decide to carry a balance over the holidays, you could consider applying for a new credit card that offers an introductory 0% APR on purchases for a limited time.
Cards with these offers let you pay down new spending while avoiding interest charges for up to a year or longer, after which you'll be charged the card's regular variable APR. But do this only in a pinch -- if you can't pay off the balance before the introductory APR period expires, you could find yourself falling into a credit card debt cycle.
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