As the holiday season approaches, searching for the perfect gifts can almost feel like a full-time job. Between tracking down deals and managing your budget, it’s a lot so why not make your spending work for you?
As a points and miles enthusiast since 2015, I’m on a mission to make sure that I’m always maximizing spending to get the most points with as little effort as possible.
And I can’t think of a better opportunity than holiday shopping. You’re already spending the money, so let’s get those travel rewards!
In this post, I’ll teach you the best strategies to maximize your rewards during the most wonderful (and often the most expensive) time of the year.
From choosing the right credit card to navigating online shopping portals, I’ll guide you through practical tips to not only save money but also travel more—for less.
Choose the Right Credit Card
The first step to maximizing your holiday shopping is choosing the right credit card to swipe while you shop. Remember, you don’t want to use a debit card for everyday purchases, especially on your holiday shopping.
Don’t do it!
Credit cards are not only safer and more rewarding, but you may also get some valuable purchase protection or extended warranty options.
But the main reason is because you want to earn the maximum amount of rewards possible.
However, not all credit cards are created equal, especially when it comes to earning travel rewards.
So let’s take a look at the factors you should consider when planning your holiday shopping.
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Earn a New Welcome Bonus
Probably, the easiest way to take advantage of the money spent on holiday shopping is by applying for a new credit card for a welcome bonus.
All the travel rewards credit cards I recommend always have great welcome bonus offers. These are my current favorites:
- Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card: Earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.
- Chase Sapphire Reserve®: Earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.
- Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card: Earn 75,000 bonus miles when you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening
- Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card: Earn 75,000 bonus miles once you spend $4,000 on purchases within 3 months from account opening.
- Or check out CardMatch™ for the best offers personally for you!
One welcome bonus offer could get you business-class flights for less than $300 or roundtrip economy flights to Europe.
If that’s not your speed, what about booking an all-inclusive luxury ranch for $0?
I also love business credit cards for this!
Business credit cards usually have higher minimum spending requirements but with very lucrative welcome bonus offers.
Applying for business credit cards can be intimidating especially if you feel that you don’t have a “legitimate business”.
But honestly, you may be surprised to learn that you are eligible for business credit cards.
Here are some of my favorites that always have great welcome bonus offers:
- Ink Business Cash® Credit Card: Earn up to $750 bonus cash back intro offer. Earn $350 when you spend $3,000 on purchases in the first three months and an additional $400 when you spend $6,000 on purchases in the first six months after account opening.
- Ink Business Unlimited® Credit Card: Earn $900 bonus cash back after you spend $6,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.
- Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card: Earn 90,000 bonus points after you spend $8,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.
- Capital One Venture X Business: Earn 150,000 bonus miles after you spend $30,000 in the first 3 months from account opening
And what about those annoying annual fees? Well, although they may be annoying, they may also be worth it.
The credit cards that have the best welcome offers are likely going to come with annual fees.
So think of it this way, if someone came to you and said “I’ll give you $1,000, but you need to give me $95 first.” what would you say?
I would say, hell yea! Sign me up.
Hence the reason I have so many great credit cards that continue to bring me value year after year.
Should you get a new credit card?
If you know that you have a significant amount of holiday spending coming your way it can be a good idea to apply for a new credit card and snag a lucrative welcome bonus.
If you can meet the minimum spending requirement easily, it’s a no-brainer, seeing as that’s one of the biggest hurdles when it comes to applying for new credit cards.
The next biggest hurdle is the impact on your credit score, but the short answer is that as long as you’re being responsible the number of credit cards you have alone is of little impact to your score.
With that being said, you don’t need to go crazy applying for credit cards! You just need to be strategic about which ones you get and how you use them.
Bonus Categories
Now, if you decide that getting a new credit card welcome bonus is not the right move for you, that is totally ok!
One of the major don’ts about applying for a new credit card is doing it without a plan to meet the minimum spend.
But even if you just don’t feel comfortable with applying for a new credit card right now, there is nothing wrong with that.
If you already have a core group of credit cards, then the next best thing to a welcome bonus is to maximize your bonus categories.
Many credit cards offer bonus points or cash back for specific types of purchases. So during the holidays, you want to use the cards that offer increased rewards on categories like department stores, online shopping, or even groceries.
Here’s why maximizing bonus categories is so important:
- Let’s say you plan to spend $1,000 at a specific store.
- If you use a credit card that earns you 1% or 1x then you’ll earn $10 or 1,000 points on that one purchase.
- Now, if instead, you used a credit card that earns you 2% or 2x, then you’ll earn $20 or 2,000 points on that same purchase.
2,000 points may not seem like a lot, but trust me it all adds up.
You could book a domestic one-way flight for as little as 6,000 points with some airline miles currencies.
For some credit cards, the bonus categories can change quarterly or the same all year round. I like to earn at least 1.5 or 2x (depending on the type of points currency) for every $1 I spend.
So, if I can’t earn that with a credit card bonus category then I’ll use a credit card that gives me a flat earning rate for all purchases.
I like the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card and the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card because not only do they earn 2x on every purchase, every day but they also earn flexible points that can be used for travel!
Important Note: If you applied for a new credit card to earn a welcome bonus you should disregard bonus categories.
Your priority is to hit the minimum spending requirement first. Once you do that, you can maximize bonus categories.
And hey, maybe your new credit has the best earning rate for that purchase anyway!
The welcome bonus is just a bonus after all. You’ll still get the normal earning rates for the credit card.
Redeem Credit Card Offers
Another way to earn more with your core group of credit cards is to redeem credit card offers.
Many credit cards partner with retailers to provide special promotions, such as extra cash back or bonus points when you spend a certain amount.
You can find these offers on the banking app.
The thing about these offers is that you have to manually activate them before you make a purchase. Otherwise, you’d miss out.
Some people like to browse these offers and plan their shopping around what is offered.
But, I like to be lazy about it.
I use a tool like Cardpointers to auto-add these offers so that I don’t have to browse through each one and activate them myself. You’ll need the browser extension for this feature.
Cardpointers also help me to figure out which of my cards is the best one for each purchase I make. I think it’s a great tool for the lazy budget traveler!
Don’t fall for the Store Credit Cards
This is a big trap really any time of the year, but especially during the holiday season!
Do not waste your time with store credit cards.
I know that it’s tempting to sign up for store credit cards when you’re promised a significant discount on your holiday purchases, but this is what holds you back from amazing rewards.
While saving 10%, 20%, or even 30% on a large purchase might sound appealing, these cards are not as rewarding as they may seem.
The biggest mistake that people can make in the points and miles world is not realizing that not all rewards are created equal.
I mean, sure if you’re spending $100 at the store and you can get 50% off that purchase by applying for the store credit card that sounds like a great deal.
But when you consider that earning a new welcome bonus with that same purchase could give you $1,000 in value, it’s small potatoes.
Things to consider:
Yes, they are real credit cards – this means that you will get dinged on your credit report.
Counts towards 5/24 – for some reason, people don’t realize that a store credit card will count toward your 5/24 status. If the credit card shows up on your personal credit report then it counts toward 5/24.
You miss out on a lucrative Welcome Bonus: Don’t waste a hard inquiry for a lame discount. If I’m going to have a hard inquiry on my report, I want to make sure I’m getting great bang for my buck.
The fact is that the welcome bonus offers from travel rewards credit cards are way better than store credit cards.
Limited Usability and Rewards: I think the best types of rewards are for travel, but they need to be flexible. Travel Rewards credit cards with banks like Chase, Capital One, or American Express give you many opportunities for redemptions. But store credit cards limit you to their specific store.
Higher Interest Rates: Since we pay offer our credit card statement balance in full and on time, this doesn’t really matter, but it’s still a ding against them.
Fewer Additional Benefits: The benefits I get from travel rewards credit cards far outweigh anything I could get with store credit cards. My credit cards give me benefits like travel insurance, no foreign transaction fees, airport lounge access, and more.
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Use Online Shopping Portals
Online shopping portals can be a goldmine for earning extra points, miles, or cash back over and above what you’d earn from your regular spending.
Here’s how you can use these portals to your advantage:
What is a Shopping Portal?
Shopping portals are websites that partner with retailers to bring them shoppers.
The shopping portal earns a commission for each shopper they bring to the stores and they share that with the consumer (you).
Using a shopping portal is at no cost to you and using them can offer you valuable rewards in the form of cashback, points, or miles.
Here are just a few examples of shopping portals:
- Airlines: American Airlines, Delta, Southwest, United, etc.
- Hotels: Wyndham Rewards Shopping
- Non Travel: Rakuten, BeFrugal, TopCashback, etc.
- Credit Cards: Shop Through Chase® (must be a current cardholder)
When you choose a shopping portal, you’ll be earning the reward currency for that specific portal. So as with anything, be selective about which shopping portals you use.
You don’t want a lot of money in all different types of currencies. It’s like if you have $10 in Canadian and $10 in USD. You don’t have $20.
It’s the same logic with rewards. You don’t want a little in a lot of different types of currencies. You want a lot in very few types of currencies.
Hot Tip: Use a website like Cashback Monitor to see what shopping portals are offering.
How Shopping Portals Work
Log In to the shopping portal you want to use or use their browser extension.
Select a Retailer: Choose a store and activate the offer. If you’re already on the store website, make sure you are using the browser extension for the shopping portal and you activate the offer.
Keep in mind that each offer may have certain terms and conditions so you’ll want to review that when activating.
Shop as Usual: Once the offer is activated, you’ll just shop and check out as usual!
Earn Extra Rewards: Once you make the purchase, you can track it within the shopping portal and wait for your rewards!
Hot Tip: These rewards are in addition to any points, miles, or cash back you earn from your credit card. So make sure you’re using a credit card that earns you the most with that specific retailer.
Don’t Forget to Stack!
The real trick to stacking is combining all these strategies together.
Here’s an example:
- You activate a credit card offer that is eligible for this purchase.
- You use a shopping portal to earn money on your purchases.
- You also, use a credit card that earns you a new welcome bonus.
That’s a 3-way stack!
Add in deals like Black Friday or Cyber Monday and you’d make that a 4-way stack!
Here’s a list of more apps that you can stack with:
- Fetch
- United MileagePlus X
- Fluz
- Dosh
Remembering to stack ensures that every dollar you spend works harder for you!
Let’s go shopping!
Yes, it’s a bummer that you have spent so much money on holiday shopping, but it doesn’t have to be!
Let’s turn that around and think about how many opportunities to make the most of that spending by getting us closer to an almost free trip!
So before you do your shopping answer these questions:
- How much do I plan to spend?
- Is that enough to meet a new minimum spend?
- Am I ready for a new credit card?
- If not, which credit cards will earn me the most on my shopping?
- Can I stack on these purchases?
If you do that, you’ll be well on your way to maximizing your holiday shopping with points and miles!
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