Ultimate Rewards Mall November 2013 Deals

The Ultimate Rewards Mall November 2013 bonuses are probably a moot point for anyone with tons of United miles, given the massive United award chart devaluation announced yesterday that will take effect February 1, 2014. But if you need to top up your United accounts a bit for a pre-devaluation award, these could come in handy since Ultimate Rewards Mall bonus points post quickly relative to the other mileage malls.

As usual the most lucrative bonuses are for merchants such as Proactiv Solution (30X), Magazines.com (30X) The Wall Street Journal (20X), Nutrisystem (20X) etc. But you can increase the bonus you earn for some of the online stores by first purchasing a gift card with your Ink Bold or Ink Plus to earn 5X, then going through the UR Mall. As always, be sure to check prices, since you may find a cheaper price elsewhere. And you may find that getting 5X points on Amazon either with your Chase Freedom Q4 bonus (see Amazon 5X Points: Activate Q4 5X Bonus and Tips) or by buying Amazon gift cards at an office supply and a lower price is better.

You may also find better points offers through other online malls, but be careful: sometimes points don't post and it can be a pain to get it corrected. This is why if I typically go through the Ultimate Rewards Mall, even if the bonus isn't quite as high—generally points post quickly.

To get the full bonus below, you must have an Ink Bold or Ink Plus card and use this card to buy the store's gift card at an office supply store, such as Office Depot, OfficeMax or Staples, then click through using the Ultimate Rewards Mall and pay with the gift card. I recommend that you put at least a small amount of the purchase on your Ink Bold or Ink Plus credit card, to maximize your chance of earning points even for the part of the purchase using the gift card. And note that there is a small risk of not getting the points, so before you buy a huge amount this way, you may want to do a trial run with a smaller amount first.

Also note that in general gift card purchases are NOT eligible for points–only actual merchandise.

1. 15X Points for Kohl's

15X: 5X from Chase Freedom Q4 Department Store Bonus + 10X Ultimate Rewards Mall

Get 15X Ultimate Rewards points by either using your Chase Freedom (activate your Q4 5X bonus) or after you purchase a Kohl's gift card at OfficeMax or Staples then going through the Chase Ultimate Rewards Mall for a further 10X. There's currently a clearance sale at Kohl's

2. 12X Points for Sephora

12X: 5X from Sephora gift card + 7X Ultimate Rewards Mall

3. 10X Points for Gap, JC Penney, Macy's, Sears, Nordstrom

10X: 5X from using your Chase Freedom 5X Q4 department store bonus for JC Penney, Sears or Nordstrom, or a JC Penney, Macy's, Nordstrom or Gap gift card + 5X Ultimate Rewards Mall

Get 10X Ultimate Rewards points by purchasing JC Penney gift cards with your Ink card for 5X points, then going through the Ultimate Rewards Mall for a further 5X. Note that you can use Gap gift cards at any of the Gap group brands, including Banana Republic, Old Navy, Piperlime and Athleta.

Also note there is a $5 off $50 deal for Sears with code SEARS2013

Gap: Staples, Office Depot

JC Penney: OfficeMax, Staples

Macy's: Staples, Office Depot

Nordstrom: OfficeMax, Staples

4. 9X Points for Bloomingdale's and Banana Republic

9X: 5X from Bloomingdale's gift card + 4X Ultimate Rewards Mall

Get 9X Ultimate Rewards points by purchasing Bloomingdale's gift cards with your Ink card for 5X points, then going through the Ultimate Rewards Mall for a further 4X.

Where to buy the gift cards:

Bloomingdale's: Staples, Office Depot

Gap: Staples, Office Depot

5. 8X Points for Lowe's, Home Depot

Get 8X points total if you first buy gift cards for 5X using your Ink card, then go through the Ultimate Rewards Mall for a further 3X. 

Where to buy the gift cards:

Lowe's: OfficeMax, Staples

Home Depot: OfficeMax, Staples

6. 7X for Marriott

Marriott only offers 2X points in the Ultimate Rewards Mall, but if you can manage to find Marriott gift cards at Staples, you could get 7X points total. 

Plan to take advantage of any of these Ultimate Rewards Mall offers to earn a few more Ultimate Rewards points for a United pre-devaluation award? Other deals you think should be included?