BigHabitat
Level 2 Member
Easy come, easy go… A few days ago I gave the heads up on a fantastic Southwest portal opportunity, a 9x portal bonus on Sears. Since the terms and conditions allowed you to buy gift cards, you could lever this up to 18x portal points plus whatever points for your credit card (perhaps even 5x if you had a category bonus for Sears).
And now the Southwest Portal has suddenly removed the 9x Sears bonus and it is now a lowly 3x.
If you are like me, you may be sitting on some Sears gift cards which you reloaded but didn’t have the chance to spend yet. So what now?
Option #1: Continue to shop at Sears
Given the SW portal slash, you may want to adjust your portal strategy to use up your gift cards. Here are the current bonuses:
Best options are ShopDiscover (10% cash back) or a nice 6x at Alaska Airlines or 4x through US Air.
Option 2: Take advantage of 6X at Kmart through the Southwest Portal
OK, I get it. You’re hell bent on getting the Southwest Companion pass. And why wouldn’t you be?
Well the good news is that while slashing the Sears payout, the SW portal upped Kmart to 6x. And of course those newly reloaded gift cards are also good at Kmart.
But what to buy? At first glance there aren’t many compelling deals on electronics and such
How about some virtually free after points TV stands?
No wait, I’m serious. Hear me out.
If you search for Alphaline stands, you will these three stands that are free or nearly free after points back. Now what would you do with TV stands?
Whats the rub? 1) You are receiving Shop Your Way points, which will eventually have to be liquidated, and 2) the points back often have a limited time to use them. Now I’ve never had Shop Your Way points expire because if you are patient there are usually some things to buy at Sears or Kmart that I can resell or occasionally use myself.
Some other high point back specials:
And now the Southwest Portal has suddenly removed the 9x Sears bonus and it is now a lowly 3x.
If you are like me, you may be sitting on some Sears gift cards which you reloaded but didn’t have the chance to spend yet. So what now?
Option #1: Continue to shop at Sears
Given the SW portal slash, you may want to adjust your portal strategy to use up your gift cards. Here are the current bonuses:
Best options are ShopDiscover (10% cash back) or a nice 6x at Alaska Airlines or 4x through US Air.
Option 2: Take advantage of 6X at Kmart through the Southwest Portal
OK, I get it. You’re hell bent on getting the Southwest Companion pass. And why wouldn’t you be?
Well the good news is that while slashing the Sears payout, the SW portal upped Kmart to 6x. And of course those newly reloaded gift cards are also good at Kmart.
But what to buy? At first glance there aren’t many compelling deals on electronics and such
How about some virtually free after points TV stands?
No wait, I’m serious. Hear me out.
If you search for Alphaline stands, you will these three stands that are free or nearly free after points back. Now what would you do with TV stands?
- Who cares, they are basically free considering you are getting 90%+ of the value back in points, plus 15x total portal bonus if you bought gift cards with the 9x bonus.
- Use them yourself or give to friends
- Resell on Craigslist
- Donate to a charity (goodwill, salvation army),preschool whatever for their silent auctions. Consult your tax adviser on an appropriate value to claim (you do have a receipt for the full price you know…)
Whats the rub? 1) You are receiving Shop Your Way points, which will eventually have to be liquidated, and 2) the points back often have a limited time to use them. Now I’ve never had Shop Your Way points expire because if you are patient there are usually some things to buy at Sears or Kmart that I can resell or occasionally use myself.
Some other high point back specials:
- Alphaline™ 6′ USB2.0 A/Male to B/Male 28/24 AWG Cable ($9.99 with $8.99 back in points)
- Mach Speed Eclipse 180G2 4GB MP3 Player w/ Camera, FM Radio – Red ($24.99, $20.50 back in points)
- Mach Speed Eclipse Touch 2.8″ Media Player Silver (IN STORE ONLY – $34.99 with $30.50 back in points);
- Sony Portable Boombox w/ Bluetooth® ZS-BTY50 (IN STORE ONLY – $124.99 with $100 back in points) – this one actually may be resellable!