A survey that was put out last year indicated that 40% of internet users in the United States bought items online several times a month with 20% of those users shopping online on a weekly basis. In the last decade, online shopping has become a mainstay not only in the US but all over the world.
Airlines have taken note of this and partnered with many key online retailers to offer shoppers bonus miles with every purchase. The catch is that to earn the bonus miles, shoppers must be referred through the airline’s online shopping portal. When you go through this method, the airline earns a commission from the online retailer which then gets passed down to you in the form of bonus miles.
In this day and age, if you are not earning miles with your online purchases, you are leaving miles on the table. Most major airlines these days have an online shopping portal that offers a certain number of bonus miles with every dollar spent with their online retail partner.
A sampling of the American Airlines eShopping Portal that features 950+ online retailers
A sampling of British Airways eAvios Shopping Portal that features 800+ online retailers
As you can see, some retailers are offering a pretty good miles bonus when you go through their partner’s shopping portal. Since you were going to make the purchase anyway, why not earn some bonus miles with it? As a Points Banker, this is a complete win-win situation.
During peak shopping seasons (such as Christmas), portals may even offer increased earning rates which can prove very lucrative, especially if most of your holiday shopping was going to be done online to begin with.
If you are a part of several airline programs, you are probably wondering which one you should go through to earn the most amount of miles with your purchase. Luckily for you, Cashback Monitor and EVReward serve as a shopping portal search engine that ensures that you earn the most amount of bonus miles.
Thinking of getting a new Apple product soon? British Airways will give you 3 Avios per US$1 spent.
Bottom Line
If you are planning a purchase online in the near future, ensure that you check if your retailer offers bonus miles through an airline shopping portal of some kind. You can also find alternative retailers by using EVReward or Cashback Monitor if the retailer you were planning to purchase with doesn’t offer bonus miles with a portal of any kind.
Here are some shopping portals to get you started:
- American Airlines AAdvantage eShopping
- Delta Air Lines SkyMiles Shopping
- United Airlines MileagePlus Shopping
Which online shopping portals do you use to earn points?
I usually buy everything from Amazon but this method is tempting to get more points. Thanks KS for the breakdown, David. 😉