Credit cards are a great way to earn some bonus cash, with most of the market-leading rewards and travel cards offering some sort of sign-up incentive.
Many of the banks offering these credit cards have incorporated their own online cash back shopping portal for more opportunities to earn a little extra. Simply buy stuff online, and receive benefits in the form of rewards, points or cash back.
We’ve compared all of the best cash back shopping portals provided by the top credit card issuers. We’ll compare the 3 best, namely, Discover Deals, Chase Ultimate Rewards, and Barclays RewardsBoost.
Collectively, the three credit card rewards programs work very similarly, but there are a few key differences, which we will explore.
Chase Ultimate Rewards®
With many of Chase Bank’s travel and rewards credit cards, you will earn points that you can redeem through Chase Ultimate Rewards, and points will not expire. From travel to food, and more, you can earn points and cash back.
Just do the following to start earning points:
- Sign In. To start browsing your shopping options with Chase Ultimate Rewards
- Search. Search through their many great offers; you will find savings and various cash back opportunities
- Purchase. Select your purchases, and pay for them with your Chase credit card
- Earn Points. By spending with your card, you earn points, which accumulate along with the points you earn for other credit card usage
The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card and Chase Sapphire Reserve® are two of the best rewards credit cards from Chase and will earn you Ultimate Rewards points.
*Chase Bank is also great with offering sign-up bonuses for their Checking and Savings accounts that you can find here.
Barclays RewardsBoost
Once you have a rewards credit card from Barclays, all you need to do is log into the Barclays RewardsBoost site to start earning rewards on top of the rewards you already earn through using your card.
- Search. By simply searching on their easy-to-use site, you can find hundreds of deals, products and free shipping options
- Shop. Choose from over 700 stores, where you can purchase goods and services
- Earn Points. For every dollar you spend, you will earn points or rewards
There are ways to earn extra rewards as a Barclays member, and you are, in fact, saving while shopping for goods you would normally have bought anyway.
Discover Deals
Similarly, Discover offers rewards and savings with many of their cards. Again choose the one that suits you, and shop with the merchants you would normally shop with, or discover new ones. Discover Deals is Discover’s rewards shopping portal.
If you are a Discover cardmember, you don’t need to sign up further. You simply follow these steps to receive your points:
- Log in. Once you are logged in to the Discover site with the details they will send you, you can start your searching
- Search. Through their hundreds of retailers, offering specials and savings on general and special items, you will find your favorites and new favorites
- Buy. Use your Discover credit card to pay for the goods, and save with their special deals
- Earn cash back bonuses. By spending with your Discover card, you will earn points, which equate to cash back, and can be used further for more savings
What Are The Key Features Of All 3 Rewards Programs?
Chase Ultimate Rewards Features
- Your points will not expire with Chase Ultimate Rewards, as they may with other credit card reward programs. That is if you don’t misuse the program, fail to pay your credit card installments, or declare bankruptcy. So, pretty much any very grievous situation will see you losing points, otherwise you’re good to go.
- Your rewards or cash back do depend on what credit card you chose upfront. Each card package offers a tier-style rewards program.
- You can redeem your Ultimate Rewards points for various rewards, such as gift cards (so pay it forward to someone, or buy something nice for yourself), cash back (real cash into your account), and travel discounts.
- The points are calculated like this: 1 point = 1 or 1.5 cents (varies depending on redemption option)
- The % of discount you receive, as mentioned, is based on the type of credit card you choose:
- Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
- 1 point for every $1 spent
- 2X points on dining out and travel spend
- Chase Sapphire Reserve®
- 1 point for every $1 spent
- 3X points on dining out and travel spend
- Chase Freedom®
- 1% cash back on the bonus category when you spend $1500 and up
- 5% cash back on the rotating bonus categories, for up to $1500 spent per quarter
- Chase Freedom Unlimited®
- 1.5% cash back on all spending no matter what type
- Ink Business Cash® Credit Card
- 1% cash back on all spending
- 5% back on cable or telecom services and office store purchases, if you spend up to $25,000 for the year combined
- 2% cash back on all fuel and restaurants spends, also up to $25,000 for the year combined
- Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card
- 1 point for every $1 spent
- 3X points per $1 spent on first $150,000 in a year period, when you spend on internet services, advertising purchases, travel, shipping purchases, social media sites, and search engines
- Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
You could actually purchase Ultimate Reward Points in the past, but Chase has stopped for now, so points have to be earned via spending only.
Redeeming points is very simple, and you would just use your points to buy goods, whether it be for travel, or gift cards. Some folks have two different card types, and transfer their points to the higher redeeming card to maximize their points.
You can transfer your points to one of Chase’s partner programs – this way you can get that little bit extra out of your program, and up your point accumulation.
Here are the partner programs that Chase are connected with:
A quick example of how you can save by booking your travel arrangements through the Chase Ultimate Rewards site shows you just why you should be doing this every time:
- Example 1 – Marriott Rewards. Booking a room at one of the standard Marriott hotels could cost you in the region of $140. You could book this room for 7,500 Marriott Hotel Points equating to a value of 1.86 cents per point.
- Example 2 – Southwest Airlines. A 3-day weekend booking flight between say Fort Lauderdale and Los Angeles would cost around $400. If you use your points it would cost 17,000 points, which is a value of 2.35 cents per point. Another great way to save on that weekend away.
As you can see, there is value in using your points. So, it makes sense to build those points up for something worth it.
The information related to the Chase credit cards have been collected by MoneysMyLife and has not been reviewed or provided by the issuer of this card.
Barclays RewardsBoost Key Features
- If you are a Travel Rewards member you get Travel Statement Credit access
- Your earnings do not expire, unless your account closes
- Your earnings rates do not change by amount or time, like some other banks rewards programs
- Barclays RewardsBoost offers over 700 stores to choose from
- There are no membership fees for Barclays members, and no limited time trials
- Your shopping rewards are sent straight into your Barclays account, so there is no unnecessary transferring of points or rewards from one platform to another
- By using your Barclays to pay for purchases, instead of another credit card, you will earn extra rewards
- Barclays’ RewardsBoost program often has clearance offers, based on the current season. This way you can benefit from season specific specials, for example Christmas specials, Easter specials, winter or summer specials, etc.
Discover Deals Key Features
- Discover Deals was launched in 2014 and after several years it has seen some great success
- Shopping online through the site, which is encouraged, will earn you an extra 5 – 20% cash back, as opposed to shopping outside of the online offerings
- Discover offers hundreds of online stores for your shopping pleasure
- Shopping online gains you point-of-sale coupons, bonus cash back offers, and quite a few other deals exclusive to Discover members only
- Discover also offers, to members only, sales offers that go on special for limited time periods. By tapping into these specials you essentially maximize the points rewarded to you
- A free mobile application, downloaded to your phone, makes buying easier online and is a great way to not miss out on those “window” specials. You can always be close to the best deals with the app on your mobile phone
- Discover has also included an analytics behind the scenes, where they analyze your past purchases, and send similar deals your way by notifications.
- Current Discover members, who have enjoyed ShopDiscover and Discover Extras, their current rewards programs, will be pleased to know that these two reward programs will be coupled into Discover Deal. This way past customers will not be losing out on past rewards earned
- Discover has an easy to use category listing on the left of their page, for easy searching and purchasing
- Discover offers a few different credit cards, and there are those that earn you more points than others
Bottom Line
Planning that trip away for the family can be a daunting one, especially when you look at the cost of accommodation, flights, food, and all those nice extras. And, most of us will reach for our credit card, giving the repayments a blind eye. But, if you choose the right bank and the right credit card, you can be cashing in on huge benefits via their Rewards Programs.
Every program has their benefits, so be sure to choose the one that sits well with you and your lifestyle. You could be enjoying a cocktail or two in the Caribbeans in the next year if you play your cards just right.
These credit card rewards/cash back shopping portals are a great option when paired with a respective credit card. The other option would be a general online cash back shopping portal that is irrespective of any credit card rewards program.
READ MORE: SEE THE BEST BANK BONUSES HERE AND THE BEST INVESTING BONUSES HERE.
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