Here come the sales. And the crowds. And the flurry of plastic and cash in exchange for plastic goods and novelty knickknacks. For some, there’s nothing quite like the smell of commerce in the morning. But if you’re like me, you’d rather work overtime with an alligator clamped to your leg than drag yourself through the hoards of deal grabbers, their arms laden with shopping bags, their f glistening with Auntie Anne’s butter. But some of those deals are just too sweet to turn down, and if you didn’t already take advantage of the ol’ price protection trick, then you’re going to have to descend into the fray.
The other painful thing about a day spent at the mall – all those dollar signs sunk down the drain for the sake of holiday cheer. This sacrifice to the great, red-suited fat man will likely be even more painful as we all feel the squeeze of the economy. But you gotta do what you gotta do to save Christmas – and if you’re going to drop a wad, you may as well get the most credit card rewards possible while you’re at it.
When it comes to racking up reward points, there’s a good way to do it and a better way to do it. Check out some of these methods for getting more credit card rewards that won’t make a lick of difference to you at the register.
Sign, Don’t Pin!
One of the biggest mistakes you can make when wielding debit cards is to smack that “DEBIT” button and punch in your pin. Why? Because the vast majority of credit card companies will either withhold rewards from you or even dock you a small fee (like a quarter, but still) for choosing debit. But if the cashier asks you “Debit or Credit?” and you go with door number two – even if you don’t have a credit card – you’ll get rewards for your spending.
Seems weird, doesn’t it?
But it’s all about the interchange fees. When a merchant uses your PIN number to debit directly from your checking account, Visa doesn’t get jack. But when they have you sign and run your card as if it were credit, then the issuer gets 1% to 2% of the purchase value in interchange fees. Because it’s a breach of contract (and sometimes law) to charge you more for signing instead of pinning, it’s no skin off your back either way.
So, unless you’re shopping at a forlorn mom-and-pop shop that’s barely making ends meet, go ahead and choose credit and have Macy’s or Dillard’s contribute to your next free airline ticket.
Use the Force
I never understood why the credit card companies invented Blink, Paypass, Paywave and other contactless payment, but they all seem really pumped about it. Personally, I’ve never felt inconvenienced by having to maneuver my card into that little bitty slot and to be honest, I’ve actually been considering getting a radio wave blocking wallet since I discovered my cards have RFID chips. But the credit card companies are so hot to showboat their new toys that they often offer extra rewards if you zap instead of swipe. Look for the little radio wave logo near the card reader or some other indication that they take Blink, Paypass or Paywave. I know for a fact that they have them in almost every McDonalds and in many drug stores, such as CVS and Duane Reade. If you’re not sure if you have a chip, just take a look – it’ll usually say on the front somewhere. And if you’re not sure if it’ll work or not, just casually wave your card in front of the sensor when the cashier has his or her back turned. If it works, great! If not, then nobody noticed your failed attempt to use the force to pay for your Big Mouth Billy Bass.
Shop Online through Your Credit Card’s Website
Once the chaos of Black Friday (the shopping spree, not the Megadeth song) has subsided, then comes the nerdy consumer fest known as Cyber Monday. Aside from being the last vestige in the 21st century where the word “cyber” is used unironically, Cyber Monday is the second biggest day for retail commerce and arguably the biggest day for credit card transactions (unless you’re mailing money orders to Amazon). There are hundreds of juicy deals online during Cyber Monday, but most of us miss a vast opportunity to get tons of rewards and up to 20% cashback.
Here’s how:
Instead of popping on to BestBuy.com or Macys.com, pull up your credit card issuer’s website. Almost every credit card company has their own separate portal of merchant partners where you can get extra rewards, big cashback and special deals, just by clicking through from their website first. For Discover, it’s called Shop Discover and for Chase Freedom, it’s https://www.rewardsplusshopping.com. They have almost every retailer you’d purchase from otherwise, but you’ll be getting lots more points.
Using these three methods, you can triple the amount of rewards you rake in this shopping season.
Got any more ideas? Let us know in the comments.
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