Earning Points Without Applying for Credit Cards Through Purchases

Someone asked me the other day if there is a way to earn points without applying for credit cards.  I’ve written about this already, but here’s it rehashed.

 

One of the most simple ways you can earn points is through using shopping portals from point programs to make your online purchases.

If you don’t want to churn credit cards, that’s fine! If you don’t even want to try a new credit card, this will still work. This is one little extra step you can add to all your online purchases that will help you rack up miles!

But how do you know where the best deals are for the website you are shopping on? What if you don’t even care what website you are purchasing from?

That’s where EVReward comes into play. You can either type in your website directly or browse through the site.

Let’s first say I would like to buy a new laptop from Best Buy. I’ve already priced it out and know which one I want.

I go to EVReward and type out Best Buy onto that first screen.

a screenshot of a coupon

Then EVReward gives me options:

a screenshot of a loyalty program

(If you click on the picture, it will give you real time results, which may be different from the picture above.)

If you have absolutely no cash back or loyalty credit cards at all, it looks like the BigCrumbs cash back program is the best for you to use. I like how EVRewards highlights them and separates out by program.

For all of the rebate programs and the Frequent Flier programs, you only need to log-in through their portals to access the store and no matter which credit card you use, you will receive the bonus points. The same is true for Ultimate Rewards points, oddly. These are tied to the Chase Freedom, Ink, and Sapphire cards, and you can receive points after logging in even if you use a different credit card.

Last I tested (which was a while ago), Discover needed to be purchased with a Discover Card. I don’t use Citi or Mastercard enough to say for them.

So how do you find these shopping portals?

It’s usually in the Earn Miles section and sounds like a mall of some sort. Here’s for the US Airways portal:

a screenshot of a travel website

Discover has a big “ShopDiscover” button at the top of the screen. But if you have any trouble finding your airlines “shopping mall”, feel free to comment and we’ll try to help you out.

Another site you can use is CashBackMonitor.com.  It isn’t as pretty as EVRewards, but is very straight forward.

If I click G to search for Gap, I get:

gapdotcom

But how do you stay on top of the best deals going on?

In addition to searching for each of your every day purchases, you can take advantage of stack-able specials.

I recommend following Frequent Miler for these.  He not only keeps tabs on the best deals going on, he also tests them all out himself.

He keeps a list of his experiments in his laboratory.

(I also recommend following his Quick Deals for deals that probably won’t last long).

 

 

About Jeanne Marie Hoffman

Former bartender, still a geek. One equal part each cookies, liberty, football, music, travel, libations. Stir vigorously. +Jeanne Marie Hoffman Jeanne on Twitter

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3 comments

  1. I’ve noticed that EVRewards doesn’t always have an up to date list. I would say if the company is listed for miles, but not the airline you prefer, double check directly with the shopping portal. Same goes for if the company is not listed at all. I’ve had times when the company wasn’t listed, but they were in portals. So before you pull the trigger on purchases, do some extra legwork if EVRewards initially comes up blank.

  2. I’ve tried purchasing items through the Chase Ultimate Rewards Portal using cards that do not belong to Chase and have never rec’d points for the items. Am I the only one?

    • Jeanne Marie Hoffman

      I get it for my purchases through the UR, even when I use my US Airways card. Strange! I do receive it sometimes weeks later though.

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