Shopping Portals
Shopping Portals Explained
Shopping portals are a MUST for anyone wanting to earn more points without spending more money. They allow you to earn additional points on purchases you are already making, on top of your credit card points. This is what we call “points stacking” or double (or triple) dipping on points. Most shopping portals are free to sign up for and are absolute game changers for earning points. If you're not using them, you're likely leaving points, miles, or cash back on the table. Here’s how they work: you to earn additional rewards simply by clicking through a portal before making a purchase online. In many cases, you can stack portal rewards with your credit card rewards and loyalty program earnings, making them one of the easiest ways to maximize your rewards without spending extra money. Here are some of my favorite portals and honestly, I use some of them weekly.
Rakuten
Rakuten is my favorite shopping portal and one of the easiest ways to earn additional rewards on things you were shopping for anyways. Instead of going directly to a retailer's website, you simply start your shopping trip through Rakuten and earn cash back or, you can earn points instead (which is what I do), if you have an eligible American Express card or Bilt account and selecting that as your payout option.
Rakuten partners with thousands of retailers, including popular stores like Macy's, Sephora, Best Buy, and many travel companies, like Viator, Avis, Hertz, Expedia, and sooooooo many other. Since you're earning rewards on purchases you were already planning to make, it's one of the simplest ways to earn even more points, or cash back. I personally use Rakuten regularly (like almost daily) and always check it before making an online purchase.
They also have “in-store” shopping options for some of the retailers they partner with, AND restaurant options where you’ll automatically earn cash back or points (depending on how you have your account set up) simply by dining at participating restaurants and using one of the cards you have linked to Rakuten.
If you don’t have a Rakuten account yet, you can sign up for FREE through my link below and you’ll get $50 cash back (or 5,000 points if you link an eligible account) after making a qualifying purchase of $50 or more. . .so basically, a free $50 for signing up.
Get Rakuten HERE
Rove
Rove is not only a shopping portal, but rather a rewards platform where you can earn Rove miles by booking flights or hotels through Rove. Rove miles can then be used to book travel through their site directly or transferred to one of their many transfer partners!
But, Rove also has a shopping section that is similar to Rakuten where you click through the platform before making a purchase and earn Rove miles by shopping at participating merchants, on top of your normal credit card rewards. So another opportunity for double dipping on points earning!
What I like about Rove is that Rove miles are really easy to use and they have excellent transfer partners, making them a very valuable currency.
If you don’t have a Rove account yet, you can use my affiliate link below to get you 1,000 Rove miles just for signing up!
Check out Rove HERE
Other Shopping Portals
While Rakuten and Rove are two of my favorites, they're far from the only shopping portals available. Many airlines, hotels, banks, and loyalty programs operate their own shopping portals that allow you to earn additional rewards when shopping online.
Some popular examples include the American Airlines AAdvantage eShopping Portal, United MileagePlus Shopping, Southwest Rapid Rewards Shopping, Alaska Mileage Plan Shopping, Capital One Shopping, and several hotel shopping portals.
My advice to you would be, before making an online purchase, check a few of your favorite shopping portals to compare earning rates. One portal might offer 2 points/miles per dollar while another might offer 8 points/miles per dollar at the exact same retailer. And while one retailer may not be on a specific shopping portal, it might be on another, so it’s worth taking a minute to compare options.