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Note: Some of the offers mentioned below may have changed or are no longer be available. You can view current offers here.
United, American, Delta, and Southwest are all offering bonuses for shopping through their portals. The bonuses are in addition to what you’d already be earning by shopping through the portal. Shopping portals allow you to earn miles by making your normal online purchases through your favorite online stores. Just by starting at the loyalty program’s portal and using its link to your favorite online retailer, you can get extra miles for your purchases.
With each back to school promotion, the more you spend, the higher your return is. If you have kids gearing up for school in the fall, or just need to make a purchase from what is probably categorized as a back to school retailer (think Apple, Nike, etc.) be sure to take advantage of at least one of these portal bonuses.
Tiers
- Spend $150, earn 500 miles
- Spend $350, earn 1,500 miles
- Spend $600, earn 3,000 miles
The bonus offer expires August 18.
American
Tiers
- Spend $150, earn 500 miles
- Spend $300, earn 1,000 miles
- Spend $500, earn 2,000 miles
The bonus offer expires August 18.
Delta
Tiers
- Spend $150, earn 500 miles
- Spend $350, earn 1,000 miles
The bonus offer expires August 3.
Southwest
Tiers
- Spend $125, earn 250 points
- Spend $300, earn 900 points
- Spend $550, earn 2,000 points
The bonus offer expires August 18.
Condition for All Offers
- You must spend money online at the designated “back to school” retailers. Common retailers include Nike, Apple, backcountry, and Kohl’s.
- You do not have to meet the spending threshold for the bonus with one purchase. As long as you spend the required amount before the offer expiration date, it can be with as many separate purchases necessary.
Choosing a Portal to Shop Through
Which portal to choose depends on how much you plan on spending, with what retailers, and how much you value each mile. Specific retailers through specific portals also offer further details and promo gifts, so consider those factors as well when running numbers.
Of course, none of those numbers may matter if you have an upcoming redemption that requires just a top off of miles. In that case, 1,000 more of any mile could be a lot more valuable than 3,000 miles you have no plans for.
Bottom Line
If there are purchases you were already planning on making online, making them through shopping portals is a super easy way to rake in extra miles for almost no effort. Retailers offer varied bonuses per dollar spent all year long, not just before school starts. If you ever have a large online purchase planned, always check a site like evreward.com to compare options and see which portal you should use.
At the moment, you can earn (on top of those per dollar spent bonuses) up to 3k bonus miles by doing back to school shopping through the major American carriers’ shopping portals. This extra bonus lasts through August 17 for United, American, and Southwest. Delta’s back to school promo lasts through August 2.
Have miles on the verge of expiration? Shopping portals are also a way to stir up a little activity in your account, re-setting your miles’ lifespan.
Just getting started in the world of points and miles? The Chase Sapphire Preferred is the best card for you to start with.
With a bonus of 60,000 points after $4,000 spend in the first 3 months, 5x points on travel booked through the Chase Travel Portal and 3x points on restaurants, streaming services, and online groceries (excluding Target, Walmart, and wholesale clubs), this card truly cannot be beat for getting started!
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The comments section below is not provided or commissioned by the bank advertiser. Responses have not been reviewed, approved, or otherwise endorsed by the bank advertiser. It is not the bank advertiser’s responsibility to ensure all questions are answered.
On evereward, still shows you can get marriott points through mycard portal (which I understand to be closed). Is there any place to get points via shopping to keep Marriott points alive? If I went for a meal at a marriott (without a room/stay) is there a way to get that spending to post to Marriott. TIA.
Not 100% sure but I’ve read that Marriott is(was?) a shopyourway.com partner. If that doesn’t work, you can always buy 1k points for $12.50.
[…] It’s not surprising Alaska is offering a bonus for shopping through their portal as all the other major American carriers are already running shopping portal promotions. […]