~5% Discount Shopping Online With These 2 Cards When You Use Points to Fly American Airlines

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Update 1:   One or more card offers in this post are no longer available.  Check our Hot Deals for the latest offers. 

Update 2:   Beginning July 23, 2017, Citi ThankYou points with the Citi Prestige card will be worth 1.25 cents each toward flights. 

You can get ~5% back (or more) for online shopping when you use the points you’ve earned towards flights on American Airlines through July 23, 2017.

The trick is to combine the best benefits of 2 Citi cards that currently have interesting sign-up bonuses.

I’ll explain how to stack discounts for online shopping.  But if that seems like too much work, I’ll show you an easier way!

I wrote about the new Citi AT&T Access More card and how you can earn 3 Citi ThankYou points per $1 you spend at AT&T, travel websites, and retail websites.

But did you know if you also have the Citi Prestige card, you can transfer the Citi ThankYou points earned from your Citi AT&T Access More card to your Citi Prestige account?

And then your points are worth 1.6 cents each when you redeem them for flights on American Airlines through July 23, 2017!  This could work out to getting ~5% back (or more) for online shopping!

How to Earn ~5% Back Online Shopping to Use for American Airlines Flights

Link:  Citi Prestige

Link:  My Review of the Citi Prestige

Link:   Citi AT&T Access More

Link:   My Review of the Citi AT&T Access More

Folks who have the Citi Prestige card can redeem their Citi ThankYou points at a rate of 1.6 cents per point for flights on American Airlines through July 23, 2017.  With other airlines, they’re worth 1.33 cents per point through July 23, 2017.

And if you have the new Citi AT&T Access More card, you’ll earn 3 points per $1 you spend at retail websites.

Note:  It’s not clear yet which retailers will count, because the card is so new.  But I’m hoping sites like Amazon, Walmart.com, and Target.com will count!  Remember, many online retailers sell gift cards to other stores!

Citi defines retail websites as:

Websites that sell goods directly to the consumer through an online website and include department store websites, specialty store websites, warehouse store websites and boutique websites.

By transferring the Citi ThankYou points you’ve earned from your Citi AT&T Access More to your Citi Prestige account, you could effectively earn ~5% back for shopping at online retailers if you redeem the points for flights on American Airlines!

Let’s look at an example.

1.   Spend $100 at Macys.com

Suppose you spent $100 on your Citi AT&T Access More card at Macys.com.  As an online retailer, you’d earn 3X points per $1 you spend, or 300 ThankYou points (3 x $100).

Then, if you transferred those points to your Citi Prestige account and redeemed them for flights on American Airlines, they’d be worth $4.80 (300 points x 1.6 cents per point).

So in effect, you’re getting ~$5 worth of airfare for a $100 purchase, or ~5% back!

But you can make the deal even sweeter by shopping through an online portal!

2.   Stack This Deal With a Shopping Portal

I checked evreward to see which shopping portals offer the best deals for Macys.com purchases.  Currently, the best offers are:

• 10% cash back through the ShopDiscover portal
• 6 American Airlines miles per $1 you spend through the AAdvantage eShopping mall

By going through a portal 1st, the same $100 spent at Macys.com could also earn you:

• $10 from ShopDiscover ($100 x 10%)
• 600 American Airlines miles ($100 x 6 miles per $1)

If you spent $100 at Macys.com through the ShopDiscover portal, your $100 purchase actually costs $90 ($100 – $10 cash back).

And for your purchase, you’ll still earn Citi ThankYou points worth $4.80 when you redeem them for flights on American Airlines.

That’s like getting ~5.3% back ($4.80 in airfare / $90 purchase) when you use your Citi AT&T Access More card for online shopping!

Note:   If you don’t yet have the Citi Prestige or Citi AT&T Access More cards, remember Citi only allows 1 card application per day, and 2 personal card applications every ~65 days.

No Time for Funny Business?

Certain business credit cards make it easier to get 5% at many retailers!

What I’ve outlined above is a good deal if you’re already interested in the Citi Prestige card for its Big Travel sign-up bonus and perks such as $250 in airline credits per calendar year.  And because you want the $650 phone you can earn with the AT&T Access More card.

But remember, it’s fairly simple to save 5% at many retailers!

You can buy gift cards to stores such as Macy’s, Home Depot, and Toys R Us at office supply stores such as Staples with a business credit card that earns 5X points!

These include:

• American Express Simply Cash
• Chase Ink Bold (no longer available)
• Chase Ink Business Cash Credit Card
• Chase Ink Plus

Note:  Making purchases directly with a credit card gives you benefits you might not get by using a gift card.  This could include extra warranty protection and Citi Price Rewind.

Bottom Line

You could earn ~5% back for online retail purchases if you have both the Citi Prestige and Citi AT&T Access More cards.

You’ll earn 3X Citi ThankYou points at online retailers with the Citi AT&T Access More card.  Then if you transfer the points to your Citi Prestige account, you can redeem them at 1.6 cents a point for airfare on American Airlines through July 23, 2017.  That’s worth ~5% back!

And by going through a shopping portal 1st, you’ll earn even more cash back (or miles and points!).

Remember, many online retailers sell gift cards to other stores, so this method could be used to earn ~5% back at lots of other retailers.