Shopping to Maximize Points

When travel points collecting becomes a hobby you constantly think of ways to maximize each purchase.  I needed a new ceiling fan.  Most folks would hop in the car and head to a home improvement store of their liking, pick out a fan, pay using a credit card and happily head home. With a few minutes of effort a simple $200 purchase can generate 1400 points over the hop in the car method of shopping and I don't need to leave my home.

Let me explain....most everyone owns some sort of points per dollar rewards credit card, using one of those cards for a purchase would net 200 points simply by presenting the fan for payment.  I have several points earning credit cards and while many give you 1 point per dollar on a purchase like a ceiling fan, others can provide a whole lot more.  I carry a Chase Ink charge card and receive 5x the points for purchases at office supply stores or for paying my cell phone, cable TV and internet bills - given that those are my most expensive bills, it's a nice little point perk card to own.  Needing a new ceiling fan meant that I brought out the card, opened up my browser to locate Staples.com and purchased a $200 eGift card for Home Depot from Staples' online store.  I used my Ink card to pay and earned 1000 Ultimate Rewards points.  Those points are the best because they are transferable to several hotel and airline partners that I frequently use when I travel.  While 1000 points was nice, I knew I could earn more.  I then went to American Airlines shopping portal, logged in and indicated I wanted to make a purchase at Home Depot.  The portal showed that any purchase I made from Home Depot would earn me 2x the points, but they are American Airlines specific points.  I used my $200 egift card from Staples to pay for my purchase and netted 400 AA points.  1400 points, one $200 ceiling fan being delivered to my door for free.  Not a bad way to shop.

        

Everyday shopping can earn multitudes of points

What do you do when the credit card bonuses have been met and its six months before another round of applications can be submitted to earn points: go shopping.  I know, I said that earning these travel points would not have a person spend more than their means and I'm standing by that statement.  What I mean when I say go shopping is think about the way you shop.  Sure it's great to spend $1000 on normal everyday expenses in a 3 months time span and earn 50,000 points but you can't sustain your travel based on credit card bonuses alone.