The Ultimate Rewards Mall bonuses for June 2014 are out, and most notably missing is Kohl's, which used to reliably provide a 10X bonus and now is completely gone. Ultimate Rewards points, which took a huge hit after the United Award Chart Devaluation, have recovered a bit of their luster now that Singapore KrisFlyer is a Chase Ultimate Rewards Transfer Partner. I won't go out of my way to fly Lufthansa First Class, but I will to fly Singapore Suites on the A380.
But back to the Ultimate Rewards Mall–it can be a good bet when you're able to buy gift cards for 5X using your Ink Bold or Ink Plus, then get an additional Ultimate Rewards Mall bonus on top of that to earn bonuses in excess of 5X per dollar spent. After all, if it's 5X or less, you may be able to get a better deal on Amazon, and of course with Amazon gift cards bought at an office supply store with your Ink card, you can get 5X on all Amazon spend.
To get the full bonus I've outlined below, you need to have an Ink Bold or Ink Plus card and use it to buy the relevant store's gift card at an office supply store, such as Office Depot, OfficeMax or Staples. Then, log into the Ultimate Rewards Mall, click on the online store, 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. 11X for Nordstrom
11X: 5X from buying a gift card + 6X Ultimate Rewards Mall
Nordstrom: OfficeMax, Staples
2. 10X Points for Lowe's, JC Penney, Macy's, Sephora, Groupon
10X: 5X from buying a gift card + 5X Ultimate Rewards Mall
Get 10X Ultimate Rewards points by purchasing gift cards with your Ink card for 5X points, then going through the Chase Ultimate Rewards Mall for a further 5X.
Lowe's: OfficeMax, Staples
JC Penney: OfficeMax, Staples
Macy's: Staples, Office Depot
Sephora: OfficeMax, Staples, Office Depot
Groupon: Staples
3. 9X Points for iTunes
9X: 5X from iTunes gift card + 4X Ultimate Rewards Mall
Get 9X Ultimate Rewards points by purchasing gift cards with your Ink card for 5X points, then going through the Ultimate Rewards Mall for a further 4X.
Where to buy iTunes gift cards: OfficeMax, Staples, Office Depot
4. 8X Points for Bloomingdale's
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:
Bloomingdale's: Staples, Office Depot
5. 7X Points for Marriott
7X: 5X from using purchasing a Marriott gift card at Staples with your Ink Bold or Ink Plus, + 2X Chase Ultimate Rewards Mall bonus.
6X on AMEX Gift Cards with Barclaycard Arrival Plus World Elite MasterCard
Update: Unfortunately this offer is no longer available on the Barclaycard Shopping Portal.
Don't forget that you can also still earn 6X on AMEX gift card purchases with your Barclaycard Arrival Plus World Elite MasterCard (4X via the Barclaycard Shopping Portal + 2X on all purchases). Since the Barclaycard Arrival Plus already earns 2X on all purchases and you earn 10% of your miles back when redeeming for travel, you could earn the equivalent of 6.6% cash back when redeeming for travel, with this AMEX gift card offer.
For example, say you purchased a $3000 AMEX gift card. You'd earn 18,000 “miles” which equals $180 off any travel expense, plus get a 10% miles rebate of 1800 back in your account, the equivalent of $18. That amounts to 6.6% cash back. You can cash out AMEX gift cards using Amazon Payments. See Amazon Payments: Cash Out Gift Cards Bought to Meet Minimum Spend. While some have received the bonus miles even when using another card, you run the risk if something goes awry of not getting points if you don't use your Barclaycard Arrival Plus. I would also caution against using any discount codes for shipping (although you could get the AMEX Premium Shipping Free Trial for 90 days instead, to get free shipping of your gift cards).
Do you plan to take advantage of 6.6% cash back on AMEX cards or any of these Ultimate Rewards Mall bonuses?
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