How to Earn Extra Points and Cash Back With Shopping Portals

There are many ways to earn frequent flier miles, American Express Membership Rewards, or Chase Ultimate Rewards points beyond just credit card spend. One of the easiest and most overlooked is shopping through shopping portals.

How shopping portals work

Shopping portals are sites you click through on your way to an online store, which credit you a rebate on top of whatever you’d normally get from your credit card. Rakuten (formerly Ebates) is one of the most popular. Once you have an account, you search for the store you want to shop at — Macy’s, for example, regularly runs 10% back, in addition to any coupons you might already be using. Some portals give straight cash back (Mr. Rebates), some give frequent flier miles (the American Airlines shopping portal), and some give transferable points (the Chase Ultimate Rewards shopping portal). Rakuten lets you choose cash or Amex Membership Rewards points, generally valued around 2 cents each — so a $100 Macy’s purchase at 10% back is either $10 cash or 1,000 points worth roughly $20.

Common mistakes that cost you the rebate

• Ad blockers and privacy extensions. These frequently block the tracking pixel that credits your click-through, so the portal never knows you shopped. Disable them for the portal and the retailer’s site before you buy.
• Opening new tabs mid-shop. Navigating away and back, or opening the store in a second tab after clicking through, can break the tracking cookie. Shop in the same tab from click-through to checkout.
• Switching devices. Clicking through on your phone and finishing the purchase on your laptop usually won’t track. Complete the purchase on the same device you clicked through on.
• Using an outside coupon code. Some retailers void the portal rebate if you apply a coupon that didn’t come from the portal itself — check the portal’s own listing for valid codes first.

Comparing portals before you buy

A good starting point is cashbackmonitor.com — enter the store you’re shopping at and it shows what every major portal is currently paying. Rates change often, so check right before you buy rather than relying on what you remember from last time.

If you sign up for a Rakuten account through my link below, you’ll earn a bonus after your first qualifying purchase: sign up for Rakuten here. Get in the habit of checking a portal before every online purchase, and your mileage balance will grow faster than you’d expect from something this easy.