Travel Hacking Part 4: Utilizing ‘Shop Through Chase’

On my Instagram this week, I mentioned that I was finally ready to start booking our Canada trip for this October and it’s probably one of the most expense trips that we’ve gone on so it’s pretty intimidating. That being said, I’m really excited to finally start using all the points I’ve been accumulating over the past year. Now the, hands-down, best way to earn points is from the start up bonuses and most of our points came from the bonuses provided from the Chase INK and Chase Sapphire Preferred. But, I also earned around 50,000 points from everyday purchases this past year. Don’t be fooled, I definitely did NOT spend $50,000 to earn those points. One HUGE plus to utilizing the Chase Ultimate Rewards platform is the ‘Shop Through Chase’ points that are available. At the end of the day, 1 point for everyday purchases and 2 points on travel and dining are only okay options when trying to earn points. But, in my opinion, you’d have to save up for forever in order to earn enough points for a ‘free’ vacation. If you’ve run out of bonus points to earn then utilizing Shop Through Chase is a great alternative.

When you log into the Chase Ultimate Rewards site, navigate to the ‘Earn Bonus Points’ icon.

From here, you’ll see a variety of retailers and the bonus points you can earn by shopping at the corresponding retailer.

When you select the retailer you’ll be given a link to navigate to that retailers website.

The important thing here is that you’re still purchasing through that retailer, you’re just utilizing Chase’s link to go to that retailers website. It’s also a good way for the seller to track how much traffic they are getting through Chase. But this link is how you earn bonus points with Chase. Yes, it’s a little bit of a hassle have to go to Chase Ultimate Rewards every time you want to buy something online, but, in my opinion, the bonus points are well worth it. There are currently 280 stores on the platform and it’s growing!

Below are a couple of examples of how I utilize various websites for my everyday purchases:

Sheri’s Berries – 12 points per $1 spent
We all have extended family members who’s birthdays we forget and never know what to get them. For me Shari’s Berries is my solution for this. It’s similar to Edible Arrangements in that you can select from multiple ‘baskets’ and have them sent to a home or business. The best part is that I can schedule the day and time that I want for it to be delivered. What I like about Sheri’s Berries versus Edible Arrangements is that they give sweets and less perishable foods. Roughly, I spend around $40 a person and I have around 6 people that I send them to which is $240 a year, give or take. Then I also send baskets of $80 to 3 households for Christmas, so another $240. That’s $480 a year that I’m spending and gaining 5,760 points ($480 *12 points per dollar)! That’s 5,280 MORE points than what I would have earned if I hadn’t used ‘Shop Through Chase’.

Walmart – 2 points per $1 spent

For me, there is a Walmart right down the street and I do most of my grocery shopping here. However, I don’t have a credit card that gives me points on groceries, which sucks because most of my monthly budget is food. But since Walmart is offered in this program. I can purchase Walmart gift cards through Walmart.com and earn 2 bonus points instead of 1! You can also purchase other retailer gift cards and earn bonus points! Just a small look hole in the system.

1-800PetMeds – 5 points per $1 spent
Heartgard is around $90 for a 12 month supply (depending on the promotion) which means that I would earn 90 points if I just purchased these through 1800petmeds.com. However, by simply going to Chase Ultimate Rewards and clicking on the link from ‘Shop Through Chase’, I can earn 450 points ($90*5 points per dollar) on a purchase that I have to make regardless, every dog does needs the heart worm preventative. So this is 360 more points that I can earn just by going through a couple additional steps.
The NExGard flee and tick prevention is around $230 for a 12 month supply so I would earn 230 points if I purchased through 1800petmeds.com. But with Chase I would earn 1,150 ($230 *5 points per dollar)! this is a whopping 920 more points that I can earn just by clicking another link. I would have had to spend $1,150 in order to earn 1,150 but instead I only spent $230.

PetCo – 3 points per $1 spent
Chloe eats around 30 lbs of dog food a month, which is $50 at PetCo. By using Shop Through Chase, I’m able to earn 150 points ($50 * 3 points per dollar) a month, or 1,800 points a year. Versus the 600 points ($50 * 1 points per dollar * 12 months) that I would have earned if I was just earning 1 point per dollar spent.

The ultimate points with using Shop Through Chase is to earn bonus points on purchases that you would be making regardless, not just spending money to earn more points, even though it is tempting.

Honourable Mentions, but not for everyday purchases:
LOFT – 4 points per $1
Container Store – 3 points per $1
Tory Burch – 8 points per $1