Shopping

If you are the type of person who loves to shop, like my friend Kathy, and travel then you will be happy to learn about how you can earn bonus miles (or points) by shopping online!

Most airline and hotel reward programs have an online shopping portal where you will get X amount of miles for every $1 you spend. You will have to use the portal to visit the online store where you wish to shop from – this way the portal provider get their commission and you will get your miles added to your account.

I’ve used the Delta and American shopping portal quite often. Last winter I earned over 3,000 miles by just spending $300 on a few Christmas gifts, they also offered bonus miles if you spent over a certain amount. The miles usually post once a month to your rewards account, sometimes they won’t and you will have to harass the company to give you the miles or you will refrain from ever using them again – I’ve done this about three times with the American portal, you must wait 30 days from the date of purchase to make a claim for missing miles.

Check the portals often, they usually always have deals and offers for bonus miles. Some stores like Best Buy, JCP, Sears and a few others let you pick your purchased item up in the store (sometimes same-day) and you just pay online so you earn your miles and get the product on the same day!

Miles/Points Earning Stores:

American Airlines: AAdvantage e-Shopping Portal

Delta Airlines: SkyMiles Shopping

United Airlines: MileagePlus Shopping

Southwest Airlines: Rapid Rewards Shopping

Hilton HHonors: HHonors Shop

Marriott: Shop My Way

All you have to do is visit the above-mentioned stores, enter your rewards program number and start shopping via their website. Like I said before, this is a great way to earn miles/points while shopping for things you would regularly buy at the store.