One of our favorite things about the Christmas season are the sales: Black Friday Cruise Deals, Travel Tuesday Hotel Deals and of course a lot of discounts at various retailers. If you are thinking of taking advantage of any Christmas offers, don’t forget that you can use shopping portals to earn extra points, miles or cash back on your purchases.
For the uninitiated, shopping portals are online hubs affiliated with loyalty programs that allow you to earn rewards for shopping at various retailers. Here’s what you need to know about how to maximize shopping portals this holiday season.
Related: The best vacation destinations for family fun
How to use shopping portals
Shopping portals are extremely easy to use. Simply register on each portal using your loyalty account number, and when you’re ready to purchase, click on the portal to be taken to a retailer’s site before making your purchase. This allows you to earn points and miles through the portal, in addition to any rewards you would normally earn with the credit card you use to make your purchase.
You can simplify this process by downloading each portal’s browser extension. This will automatically notify you when a site you’re shopping on is eligible for rewards, so you can activate them without even clicking on the portal’s website.
The hardest thing about shopping portals may be choosing which one to use for a given purchase, as rewards vary from portal to portal and often change daily or even hourly. TO shopping portal aggregatoras Refund Monitorcan help you search for the store you want and quickly compare the rewards offered across all portals.
Related: The Beginner’s Guide to Airline Shopping Portals: How to Earn Bonus Points and Miles
Popular shopping portals
Almost every major airline has a shopping portal, along with some rewards credit card issuers, and there are third-party sites that allow you to earn rewards as well. Below are some popular among TPG staff:
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How to evaluate offers
When evaluating shopping portal offerings, you’ll notice that payments tend to vary widely. For example, TrueBlue Shopping currently offers 9 points for every dollar spent at Lululemon. Since we valued JetBlue points at 1.45 cents each in our November 2025 report ratingswhich produces a return of approximately 13%, which you could accumulate with regular earnings and statement credits on your rewards credit card. However, United MileagePlus Shopping, Rakuten, and Shop Through Chase only offer 2 points or miles per dollar spent at Lululemon.
Also, please note that Shopping portals occasionally offer bonuses. to allow you to take advantage of your rewards even more, especially during the holidays. These typically award a large number of bonus points or miles when you spend a certain amount. The minimum spend is usually cumulative at any of the portal’s participating retailers, so you can use multiple purchases within the promotion period to earn the bonus. Even if a portal doesn’t offer many points or miles per dollar spent, a bonus could make it the more lucrative option.
Although most shopping portals focus on online shopping, some allow you to earn points and bonus miles for purchases at select retail stores. To earn in-store rewards, you must link your credit card to the portal and activate in-store offers individually.
To further maximize your purchases, check your Amex Offers and Chase Offers. These programs offer cardholders discounts and other bonuses for making purchases at specific merchants. Since offers vary by cardholder and credit card, log into your online account to see which offers you’re eligible for.
For example, here are some current (targeted) Chase deals that may come in handy during Black Friday and Cyber Monday shopping:
- Adidas: Through November 30, earn 10% cash back on your Adidas purchase, up to a maximum cash back of $50.
- Sony Electronics: Through December 6, earn 5% cash back on your Sony Electronics purchase, up to a maximum cash back of $50.
- Lululemon: Through December 7, earn 10% back on your Lululemon purchase, up to a maximum cash back of $30.
Choose the best credit card for your purchases
In addition to getting the best deals and earning bonus points through shopping portals, using the right credit card is key to maximizing your savings and rewards. Not only will it help you earn the most points and miles for your purchases, but some cards will even cover you in case of price drops, theft or damage.
Generally speaking, you’ll want to choose credit cards based on where you’ll spend the most and what type of protection you value most. Here are some of TPG’s top recommendations for Black Friday and holiday deals:
Discover it Cash Back and Citi Prestige card information has been collected independently by The Points Guy. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.
In a nutshell
There are several ways to double or even triple your profits during Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales, and using a shopping portal is one of the easiest. Extra points and miles can add up over the long term, especially if a portal offers extra rewards at your preferred retailer or a vacation bonus when you spend a certain amount. In addition to increasing your rewards balances, using a shopping portal is also an easy way to prevent your points and miles from expiring.
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