How to use shopping portals to earn free travel

If you’re reading this blog, you likely shop online. Did you know that you can use shopping portals to turn your online shopping into free travel? It only takes seconds, but if done strategically, it can earn you a free flight or a free night (or more) at that dream destination.

Here are the numerous options for shopping portals.

Rakuten

You may have heard the ads for Rakuten and wondered if it was legitimate. As a user for several years, I can tell you it is! Rakuten advertises itself as a cash back site, and in 2022, I earned $178.67 in cash back from shopping through Rakuten.

If you have an American Express card that earns Membership Rewards points, however, you can have the cash back deposited into your American Express account. Is it worth it if you don’t have an American Express card? Of course! More cash in your pocket means more money to spend on travel!

So how does it work? Participating stores have a cash back amount (2%, 5%, etc.) assigned to the store. When you log onto the site, a notification will pop up asking if you want to activate the cash back. Activate, and then shop as you normally would. Recently I made a purchase of $73 at Office Depot. It was a 2% cash back store, so I earned 146 points from that purchase. Points are deposited into your account quarterly.

Want to try Rakuten? Sign up using our link and earn 3,000 American Express points (or $30) when you make your first purchase.

Rakuten also has elevated times throughout the year, often aligned with holidays, where you can earn 10% cash back (or more) at participating stores.

Airline Shopping Portals

The major airline providers in the U.S. (American Airlines, Delta Airlines, Southwest Airlines, and United Airlines) all have shopping portals when you shop online. Similar to Rakuten, when you install the plug-in, a notification will pop up when you’re on an eligible store. Activate, and shop as you normally would. Points will generally load within a few days but it varies based on which airline portal you shop through.

We fly United the most, so we have United as our chosen airline shopping portal. Year-to-date, we’ve earned over 1,700 miles by shopping through the United portal.

We recommend installing at least one airline portal in addition to Rakuten because not every shopping portal has the same stores. Even if they do both offer rewards on the site, you can choose either the higher amount, or the currency you value more. Note that you cannot activate both Rakuten and an airline portal.

Shop through Chase

Chase is our preferred credit card provider, so we’d be remiss not to mention Shop through Chase. This is a way to earn elevated Ultimate Rewards when you shop online. It’s fairly simple – log into your Ultimate Rewards site, click on Shop & Earn Bonus Points, and search for the store you’re interested in. Click shop, make your purchase, and wait for the points. It’s that easy!

Depending on which travel currency you value, it can be worth it taking the few extra seconds to compare Rakuten, your preferred airline provider, and Chase to determine where you can earn maximum points.

Summary

Using shopping portals when you’re shopping online is a simple way to up your travel hacking game without much effort. You are already making these purchases – take one extra step and earn points & miles for those future trips. There’s no right or wrong way to do this. Pick your favorites and watch the points roll in!