[Edited: Offers and promotions vary from time to time, and have since changed.]

 

While the bulk of your points/miles collected will come from credit card signups, there are additional ways to keep adding to that pool.  Shopping, dining, and grocery expenses are just some ways you can earn points.  No, I’m not talking about the “x amount” you may get back when using a particular credit card – I’m talking about partnerships, deals/offers, shopping portals, and rotating bonus categories as additional avenues for earning points/miles for travel.

Here are some examples:

Airline Shopping Portals

American Airlines has a shopping portal, and you don’t need to have a co-branded credit card to earn points.  Start by opening an American Airlines AAdvantage online account, and then check out the American Airlines AAdvantage portal.  Here’s a list of all the stores where you can shop online from, and earn AA miles in the process. 

I wish I could say I was always mindful of this – I did some shopping at Sephora just today, and didn’t do it through this shopping portal!  I missed out on earning additional AA miles for travel – lesson learned for next time.  Notice how I could have earned extra miles too – ah!

 Delta also has an airline shopping portal here – SkyMiles Shopping

Promotional Offers

Delta recently teamed up with Instacart to offer ways to earn miles when customers link their Skymiles and Instacart accounts.  Instacart Express members can get special earning bonuses; we use Instacart regularly so I couldn’t appreciate this enough!  We already get free delivery thanks to our Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card, so earning Delta miles is even better.  Under “credits and promos,” in your Instacart account, you’ll be able to see that your accounts are linked and how many miles you may have earned.

You can also earn Marriott Bonvoy points with Uber by linking the two accounts.  In the Uber app, select “settings.”  Scroll to the “Rewards” section and select “Marriott Bonvoy.”  You can then link your Uber account to your Marriott Bonvoy account.

If you use Lyft, you can earn Delta SkyMiles by linking your two accounts and earn 1 mile per $1 on Lyft rides in the U.S.

Rotating Bonus Categories

If you have Chase Freedom (no longer available to new applicants) and/or Chase Freedom Flex®, you can now activate 5% cash back (or 5 points/dollar) on Q4 bonus categories: Walmart & PayPal.  Every quarter, there are different rotating categories.

Hotel Bonus Point Promotions

World of Hyatt is offering a “Bonus Journeys” promotion where you can earn double points on qualifying stays of 2+ nights at over 1,000+ hotels worldwide.  This includes participating MGM Resort destinations, Small Luxury Hotels of the World hotels and Lindblad Expeditions.  You can open a World of Hyatt account online for free – register by 11/15/22, then complete the stays between 9/15/2022 – 12/20/2022.

Hyatt is our hotel of choice, because award stays cost a lot less/night when compared to Hilton or Marriott, they have great customer service, and they also offer perks such as a family plan discounted rate.  Read more here on how you can save money and points when booking multiple rooms at select Hyatt properties around the world.

Hilton currently has a “Double Your Stay” promotion where Hilton Honors members can earn double points on all stays, plus 2,000 Bonus Points when checking out between Monday and Friday from September 6, 2022 – December 31, 2022.

Marriott Bonvoy has a Fall 2022 Global Promotion where registered Bonvoy members will earn 2,000 points per stay at eligible Marriott hotels.  The catch is that you won’t earn a bonus on your first stay.  We have a Marriott stay coming up at the end of this year, but it’s too bad it won’t count towards this promotion.

You don’t need to have any credit cards from these hotels; if you do carry any though, you have the chance to earn more points in addition to the ones from these promotions.  Just make sure you have registered online accounts with all the respective hotels mentioned, in case you do have any upcoming stays or planning any, during the aforementioned time periods.

This list is by no means conclusive; these are just a few examples.  You probably use many of these products/shopping sites/services regularly – so just a few clicks, and you could be well on your way to earning more points/miles.  It’s easy to overlook these opportunities, but every point and mile helps!