How to Triple-Dip Points on Paid Flights With These 3 Cards

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Do you know how to triple-dip on paid flights?

You can get 3 types of points for your paid flights: airline miles, credit card points, and Orbitz Orbucks points.

Keep reading to find out how!

Orbitz Orbucks

Link:   Orbitz

Link:   Orbitz Orbucks points 

Link:   Orbitz Orbucks FAQ

As an Orbuck Rewards member you earn 1% back in Orbucks (1 Orbuck = $1) on flights booked with Orbitz which you can use to pay for eligible hotel stays.

A noteworthy exception are Starwood hotels.  These include: St. Regis, The Luxury Collection, W Hotels, Le Meridien, Sheraton, Aloft, and Four Points.

So booking a $400 flight gets you 4 Orbitz Orbucks points or $4 off an Orbitz hotel.

Triple-Dipping With Chase Sapphire Preferred

Link:   Chase Sapphire Preferred

Link:   My review of the Chase Sapphire Preferred

When you book your flight through Orbitz and pay with your Chase Sapphire Preferred, you earn:

• 2X Chase Ultimate Rewards points
• Airline miles
• Orbitz Orbucks points

So a ~$452 round-trip flight on American Airlines from Austin to New York on April 10, 2015, to April 12, 2015, would earn:

• ~904 Chase Ultimate Rewards points (~$452 X 2)
• 3,043 American Airlines miles
• ~$5 in Orbitz Orbucks points (~$452 x 1%) towards a hotel booked through Orbitz

Note:  Check Evreward to see if you can get a bonus Chase Ultimate Rewards points by going through the Chase Ultimate Rewards Mall (sign-in required).

Thrice as Nice With Barclay Arrival Plus

Link:   Barclaycard Arrival Plus® World Elite Mastercard®

Link:   My review of the Barclaycard Arrival Plus® World Elite Mastercard®

Using our example above, booking through Orbitz and paying with your Barclaycard Arrival Plus you receive:

• ~$9 cash back (~$452 x 2.1% back when redeemed for travel)
• 3,043 American Airlines miles
• ~$5 in Orbitz Orbucks points (~$452 x 1%) towards a hotel booking

Note:   Sometimes you can get extra Barclay points by going through the Barclaycard Rewards Boost Portal.

So if you go through the Barclays portal with its current payout of 2 points per $1 spent through Orbitz, you’d collect 1,808 Barclay Arrival points.  That’s because you get ~$452 x 4 points (2 Barclay points per purchase + 2 Barclays points via the Barclay Rewards Boost portal).

That gets you ~$18 closer to a statement credit on a $100+ travel purchase.

Flex Your Points Muscles 3 Times With US Bank FlexPerks

Link:   U.S. Bank FlexPerks® Travel Rewards Visa Signature® card

Link:   My review of the US Bank FlexPerks card

Your ~$452 round-trip flight on American Airlines, booked on Orbitz and paid with your US Bank FlexPerks earns:

• ~904 Flexpoints towards flights (2 Flexpoints per $1 spent X ~$452)
• 3,043 American Airlines miles
• ~$5 in Orbitz Orbucks points (~$452 x 1%) for a hotel payment

FlexPoints are worth up to 2 cents each so you’re getting ~$9 cash back and can be used to pay for airline tickets.

• 20,000 FlexPoints gets you a ticket worth up to $400
• 30,000 FlexPoints gets you a ticket worth up to $600
• 40,000 FlexPoints gets you a ticket worth up to $800

Bonus!  Triple-Dip With the AMEX Premier Rewards Gold

Link:   Premier Rewards Gold Card from American Express

Booking your ~$452 round-trip flight on American Airlines from our example on Orbitz and paying with your AMEX Premier Rewards Gold earns:

• ~1,356 American Express Membership Rewards points (~$452 x 3 American Express Membership Rewards points)
• 3,043 American Airlines miles
• ~$5 in Orbitz Orbucks points (~$452 x 1%) for a hotel payment

You earn 3X American Express Membership Rewards points on airfare purchased directly from airlines.  Because most tickets booked through online travel agencies are charged from the airline you get the 3X bonus.

Bottom Line

You can triple-dip when you book flights on Orbitz and use your Chase Sapphire Preferred, Barclaycard Arrival Plus, US Bank FlexPerks, or AMEX Premier Rewards Gold card.

Each flight earns airline miles, Orbitz Orbucks points, and either 2X Chase Ultimate Rewards points, 2X Barclay Arrival points, 2X FlexPerks points, or 3X American Express Membership Rewards points.

You may be able to get bonus points by going through the Chase Ultimate Rewards Mall or Barclaycard Rewards Boost portal depending on their current promotions.

Have you triple-dipped with Orbitz when booking flights?