Thanksgiving is here and the holidays will soon be upon us. That means I see some shopping in your future. Whether you like to brave the stores Thanksgiving weekend through the holiday season or shop from the comfort of you own home, there are a number of offers in which you can earn A LOT of bonus points.
Like so many stores, the loyalty program shopping portals offer many deals and opportunities to earn bonus points on Black Friday and Cyber Monday. If you are scared off by the crowds on Black Friday but still love a good deal with some bonus points to boot, use the portals to shop. These same portals also offer many deals on Cyber Monday. Stay in the peace and quiet of your own home and take advantage of an abundance of good deals with bonus rewards. (BTW-my house is rarely peaceful).
If you like to visit the stores instead, it is a win-win if you support your local businesses. Unlike in prior years, Amex doesn’t offer bonus points on shopping local on Small Business Saturday (this year November 24), however, they still promote shopping local. Savvy Amex card holders can still get double points shopping local by using an American Express Blue Business Plus Card, or shopping at their neighborhood markets and dining in their neighborhood restaurants using that new version of the American Express Gold Card (4x points at supermarkets and restaurants). I just got the latest version of the Gold card and plan on using it a lot this holiday season as I am accumulating Amex points for a possible trip to Japan. I want free flights!
Don’t have an Amex card but still want to shop local and earn extra rewards? Try using a card that offers more than a 1:1 ratio ($1 spent: reward) on all purchases. You can read about a lot of those cards here.
If gift cards are your gift of choice, consider purchasing cards at Staples, a supermarket or a drug store and use a credit card where you earn bonus points at those merchants. You can click the links above to learn more about which cards earn bonus points at those merchants.
Purchasing restaurant gift certificate? For extra bonus points you can use a card in the Sapphire family, either the Reserve (3x Chase Ultimate Rewards points at restaurants) or the Preferred (2x points at restaurants). New to the game for high restaurant rewards, you can break out your American Express Gold card (4X!), your American Express Business Gold Card (4X!)
For those of you with a Chase Freedom card, department stores, wholesale clubs and purchases made using Chase Pay are the 4th quarter 5X bonus categories. Discover it cardholders can earn 5% Cashback Bonus at Amazon and wholesale clubs.
Note, all of the above are only examples. Check out my site where you can see which cards give you bonus rewards at certain merchants.
The holiday season is the perfect time to test out some bonus earning strategies. After all, you are likely going to be shopping anyway. It may just require a few extra clicks or a little more thought when you are making those purchases. Ask yourself what rewards you would like to accumulate and work from there. It will be worth it when you see your rewards’ account balances really start to climb.
Happy Thanksgiving to you and your families and here’s to some lucrative shopping!!
