How To Maximize Credit Cards With Shopping Portals

If you’re looking for ways to earn more rewards on everything you buy, credit card shopping portals are an absolute no-brainer. Not only do shopping portals let you earn more points or cash back on everyday purchases, but they’re free for users and only require a few simple steps to get started.

The best part? Most major credit card companies have their own shopping portals that offer additional points, cash back, discounts or statement credits for purchases you’re planning to make anyway. Here’s everything you need to know to get the most out of credit card shopping portals, regardless of which rewards credit card you have.

How credit card shopping portals work

Credit card shopping portals are relatively easy to use since most issuers let you access them via your online account or mobile app. To begin, visit the shopping portal landing page, your credit card homepage or your rewards account and log in. From there, you can browse available retailers and stores to find promotions you’re interested in.

Once you find an eligible store with a deal you’d like to access, click on the link to the deal with that store to begin shopping. After completing your purchase, your issuer will track your purchase through the code embedded in the link you clicked to ensure you receive your rewards. Note that you should have cookies enabled on your browser so your purchases can be tracked correctly.

Why use credit card shopping portals?

You should use credit card shopping portals because there’s no cost involved in doing so, first and foremost, but also because they give you something else back for purchases you were planning to make anyway.

Credit card shopping portals allow you to earn extra rewards for very little extra work. You’re getting additional perks for something you’d be doing already, like buying household supplies, and it “takes just 15 seconds,” says Rossman.

Popular credit card shopping portals

Shop Through Chase

Chase offers the Shop Through Chase portal, where you can earn Chase Ultimate Rewards points for every purchase you make. This portal is available to cardholders of select Chase cards like the Chase Sapphire Reserve®, Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card, Chase Freedom Flex®* and other eligible cards.

Connect by logging into your Chase account and visiting the rewards section, then hovering over “Shopping & Experiences.” The Shop Through Chase portal can be found under “Shop & earn bonus points.”

Once logged in to Shop Through Chase, you’ll discover all sorts of stores, including office stores and department stores, as well as shops that sell beauty products, home goods, clothing, electronics and accessories. Sample offers include earning 5 points per dollar spent at Lululemon, 3 points per dollar spent at Dell Technologies, and up to 5 points per dollar spent at Neiman Marcus.

Another easy way to earn more rewards is to combine Shop Through Chase with Chase Offers, which are discounts that give you statement credits for making purchases at specific retailers. Chase Offers are targeted, and you’ll have to activate them within your online account space before making your purchase.

For example, if you have a targeted Chase Offer to get 5 percent back at Gap, make sure to activate that offer before visiting Shop Through Chase and clicking through to that same retailer to earn both cash back and bonus points when shopping. Also, note that Chase Offers come with expiration dates and earning caps. Make sure to read the fine print before completing your purchase.

Barclays Rewards Boost

Although Barclays points are less versatile than Chase Ultimate Rewards, they still have value. Shop the Barclays Rewards Boost portal to find deals like 6 points per dollar spent at Lululemon and 4 points per dollar spent at Home Depot.

Citi

The Citi Merchant Offers site allows Citi cardholders to earn cash back at hundreds of online stores. Sample offers at the time of publishing include 10 percent bonus cash back at Amazon or 5 percent bonus cash back at Lyft. Remember that rewards earned through this portal can stack up with any rewards earned with your Citi credit card.

Capital One

While Capital One Shopping is a separate cash back portal that isn’t connected to rewards credit cards from this issuer, you can use the portal to earn cash back on eligible purchases. However, the rewards you earn will be issued to your Capital One Shopping account, not directly to your credit card.

That said, Capital One does have an “offers” program similar to Chase Offers. This program lets you activate offers targeted to you and earn additional cash back or bonus rewards on eligible purchases. Current offers that could be available in your account include up to 5 percent cash back at Allbirds and 7 percent cash back at Ancestry.

American Express

American Express features targeted Amex Offers, where you can get statement credits for shopping at specific retailers or with various brands. In your account, you may see options like “Spend $500 or more, get $100 at Hilton Nevada locations” or “Spend $100 or more at Madewell, get $20 back.”

Again, make sure to read the fine print on these offers, discounts and point bonuses, as you may need to activate the offers before shopping. Although Amex doesn’t have its own shopping portal, you can earn even more Membership Rewards using Rakuten, described in more detail below.

Airline shopping portals

In addition to the major credit card issuers, you can also shop at airline credit card portals to earn frequent flyer miles. Here are some of the most popular ones:

One of the best perks of airline shopping portals is the opportunity to double dip. This means that you’ll earn a certain number of points or miles per dollar spent at retailers, as well as whatever credit card points you earn from the card you use to purchase.

Even better, if you can activate or add Amex, Chase or Capital One offers to your card, you may be able to stack those earnings for even more benefits, such as getting cash back, credit card points or airline miles just by making regular, planned purchases.

Additional credit card shopping hacks

• Skip the pay-with-points options when shopping
  

  Many retailers allow you to “shop” via their portals using your points to pay. However, redeeming points for shopping purchases rarely offers the best value for your points. Generally speaking, it’s best to earn points using shopping portals and then redeem them for travel or transfer them to travel partners to maximize your value.

• Compare portals
  

  If you know you need to shop at a specific retailer (like Saks Fifth Avenue or Apple), look for the retailer in various portals to see which offers the most bonus points. An easy way to compare portals is to use websites like Cashback Monitor and Cashbackholic, which can help you see the best offers when you know you want to shop at certain retailers. Or, if you’re set on earning a specific credit card point currency, stay within that shopping portal and search for deals at various retailers that might make sense for your upcoming spending.

• Search for third-party cash back (or Amex Rewards) options
  

  If it’s cash back you’re after, use sites like Mr. Rebates or Extrabux to access additional cash back options. But, considering Amex doesn’t have its own shopping portal, Rakuten can be a versatile option for earning either cash back or Amex Rewards points. According to our latest Bankrate valuations, Amex Rewards are worth up to 2.0 cents per point, so using Rakuten to earn Amex points when shopping can potentially double your return.

• Check back frequently for deals
  

  Targeted Chase or Amex Offers frequently change, so it’s worth revising your accounts regularly to ensure you’re making the most of them. Check your favorite shopping portals weekly so you know what’s available, as well as around the holidays or important shopping times for additional deals — like Black Friday, Small Business Saturday and Mother’s Day.

• Use the right rewards card
  

  If you’re shopping at a retailer that could fall into a bonus category, use the right card to earn those additional bonus points. Some cards offer bonuses for purchases from Amazon, grocery stores, travel sites or stores like Target or Walmart, so make sure to know which cards offer which bonuses and use the right ones to get those extra points. Some credit cards even have online shopping as a cash back category, so consider applying for one of these if that makes up a significant portion of your budget.

• Use the browser extension
  

  An easy way to maximize your issuer’s shopping portal is to install the issuer’s shopping browser extension. As you shop online, the extension will immediately alert you if there is an additional cash back offer available to you. This way, you don’t have to search for the specific retailer offer through the app or your online account. It’s a great way to boost your cash back while shopping without slowing you down.

The bottom line

At the end of the day, credit card shopping portals make it possible to earn extra cash back or rewards points each time you shop online. And if you’re going to make online purchases anyway, there’s really no reason not to take advantage of the extra cash.

The key to maximizing the benefits of these portals is knowing which ones you have access to based on the cards you hold and checking them regularly to take advantage of available deals. Then, log in to your account and click through to eligible stores every time you shop to maximize your rewards.

*The information about the Chase Freedom Flex has been collected independently by Bankrate. The card details have not been reviewed or approved by the issuer.