JC Penney 15X and Ultimate Rewards Mall Deals July 2014

The Ultimate Rewards Mall bonus deals for July 2014 are out, and you can earn 15X for JC Penney, via the Ultimate Rewards Mall 10X bonus and 5X earned through JC Penneys gift cards bought at an office supply store with your Ink Bold or Ink Plus. After the United Award Chart Devaluation, I decided to only earn Ultimate Rewards points if I could earn at least 5X points per dollar, which fortunately isn't too hard thanks to:

5X for All Amazon spend
5X for All Whole Foods spend and all Starbucks spend
5X for All Dining (if you bought gift cards for favorite restaurants last quarter with your Chase Freedom)
5X or more at many online stores with these Ultimate Rewards Mall bonuses

I'm more interested in Ultimate Rewards points now that Singapore KrisFlyer is a Chase Ultimate Rewards Transfer Partner even though I continue to focus on 5X or more points per dollar spent.

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 always 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 early in the month, to be sure points credit as you expect.

Note that if you're looking for Kohl's, Marriott, and InterContinental, they no longer (at least as of July 2014) participate in the program.

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

1. 15X for JC Penney

15X: 5X from buying a gift card + 10X Ultimate Rewards Mall

JC Penney: OfficeMax, Staples

2. 10X Points for Macy's, Sephora, Sears

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.

Macy's: Staples, Office Depot

Sephora: OfficeMax, Staples, Office Depot

Sears: Used to be at Staples, but haven't seen recently at my local stores. If you have some pre-existing Sears gift cards, this is a good time to use them.

3. 8X Points for Bloomingdale's, Groupon, iTunes, Lowe'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

Groupon: Staples

iTunes gift cards: OfficeMax, Staples, Office Depot

Lowe's: OfficeMax, Staples

4. 7X Points for Gap

7X: 5X from using purchasing a Marriott gift card at Staples with your Ink Bold or Ink Plus, + 2X Chase Ultimate Rewards Mall bonus.

Gap: Staples, Office Depot

Do you plan to take advantage of any of these Ultimate Rewards Mall bonuses?

Singapore KrisFlyer Now a Chase Ultimate Rewards Transfer Partner