topic Re: shopping portals in Credit Cards

shopping portals

mongstradamus — Sat, 17 May 2014 20:26:47 GMT

I was just curious when most people do some online shopping thru shopping portals what do they use? It seems to me for best over all value looks like shopdiscover is the best one. I was comparing some stores on both UR mall and shopdiscover, it seems like shop discover seems to be an lot better. Usually 5% compared to 2 points per dollar for Chase UR.

Am i missing something ? Other than the fact that you can convert UR points for travel and transfer to airline and hotel partners, is there any other upside to using Chase UR mall?

Re: shopping portals

Anonymous — Sat, 17 May 2014 20:31:02 GMT

ShopDiscover often has higher rates than other credit card portals, but people will use UR Portal if they value points highly enough (so 2 points valued at 3c each for example is better than 5%)

But there are many other shopping portals out there, like TopCashBack, BeFrugal, BigCrumbs, Lucky Rewards, ebates etc, that, on a particular day for a certain merchant, will beat all the credit card malls. Then there are the airline ones, for those that value miles.

Re: shopping portals

NikoD — Sat, 17 May 2014 20:36:47 GMT

And there is Upromise. If you also use the Upromise CC you get 10% back at most of their stores.

Re: shopping portals

parakleet — Sat, 17 May 2014 20:46:07 GMT

I always go through a portal and a lot of the times, shopdiscover can't be beat. But I also regularly use topcashback, mrrewards, and Ebates. Come to think of it, I havent used the UR mall but I'm also not saving up for travel right now.

Re: shopping portals

mongstradamus — Sat, 17 May 2014 20:54:08 GMT

@parakleet wrote:
I always go through a portal and a lot of the times, shopdiscover can't be beat. But I also regularly use topcashback, mrrewards, and Ebates. Come to think of it, I havent used the UR mall but I'm also not saving up for travel right now.

I have been using cashmonitor and then choosing the portal that way, but i usually see shop discover at the top of the list, so was just wondering what everybody else uses. I guess shopdiscover is where its at . Wanted to get some ur points but looks like shopdiscover is just an better deal

Re: shopping portals

14Fiesta — Sat, 17 May 2014 20:56:48 GMT

@mongstradamus wrote:
I was just curious when most people do some online shopping thru shopping portals what do they use? It seems to me for best over all value looks like shopdiscover is the best one. I was comparing some stores on both UR mall and shopdiscover, it seems like shop discover seems to be an lot better. Usually 5% compared to 2 points per dollar for Chase UR.

Am i missing something ? Other than the fact that you can convert UR points for travel and transfer to airline and hotel partners, is there any other upside to using Chase UR mall?

I can only speak from experience with Discover's mall, but I think they offer a wide array of options. Last time I looked a few weeks ago, the rates for cashback were between 5-25% depending on the merchant. I opted to buy some needed stuff from a merchant that was in the "10%" cashback category, and Discover was quick at crediting me the money. They were added to my cashback bonus balance on the very next statement.

Re: shopping portals

Anonymous — Sat, 17 May 2014 21:11:32 GMT

@14Fiesta wrote:
@mongstradamus wrote:
I was just curious when most people do some online shopping thru shopping portals what do they use? It seems to me for best over all value looks like shopdiscover is the best one. I was comparing some stores on both UR mall and shopdiscover, it seems like shop discover seems to be an lot better. Usually 5% compared to 2 points per dollar for Chase UR.

Am i missing something ? Other than the fact that you can convert UR points for travel and transfer to airline and hotel partners, is there any other upside to using Chase UR mall?
I can only speak from experience with Discover's mall, but I think they offer a wide array of options. Last time I looked a few weeks ago, the rates for cashback were between 5-25% depending on the merchant. I opted to buy some needed stuff from a merchant that was in the "10%" cashback category, and Discover was quick at crediting me the money. They were added to my cashback bonus balance on the very next statement.

They have a lot of major merchants, but certainly not all. With the large number of malls and stores today, finding the best deal on a particular generally available product takes too long! (So I can buy it at X for $10, and Portal Y offers 4% cashback buying at X. It costs $11 at Z, but Portal A has 10% cashback for that. so. Five hours later you have worked out how to save 50 cents!)

Among a certain segment, American Express Gift Cards are a common thing to purchase, and the portals are constantly competing for the best rate there (currently Barclays and LuckyRewards at 4%)

Re: shopping portals

-NewGuy- — Sun, 18 May 2014 00:03:52 GMT

I use the UR Mall and will use the Barclay one as well. If the return is twice as good at Barclay's then I'll use that. Otherwise I'll stick with UR.

Re: shopping portals

mongstradamus — Sun, 18 May 2014 00:18:40 GMT

@-NewGuy- wrote:
I use the UR Mall and will use the Barclay one as well. If the return is twice as good at Barclay's then I'll use that. Otherwise I'll stick with UR.

Interesting after i return from my trip i am going to try and use UR exclusively to see what kind of numbers i get. Hopefully by then i will have decided if IT will just be SD and used for occasional shopdiscover purchases

Re: shopping portals

Anonymous — Sun, 18 May 2014 00:20:02 GMT

@-NewGuy- wrote:
I use the UR Mall and will use the Barclay one as well. If the return is twice as good at Barclay's then I'll use that. Otherwise I'll stick with UR.

Is this because you value URs at 2c each?

Re: shopping portals

withaspark — Sun, 18 May 2014 01:01:35 GMT

Start at evrewards.com or cash monitor and let it tell you what each portal is offering. Then choose which portal is offering the best rebate based on what programs you participate in and how much you value each point currency.

Re: shopping portals

-NewGuy- — Sun, 18 May 2014 01:47:11 GMT

LTL, more or less with a kind of twist. I know that I Can get more than 2 cents per point from UR. But at anything less the flexibility of arrival miles makes that more valuable to me. A lot of the biggest values for UR points, international cabin travel, isnt feasible for me since with kids we never have a chance to leave the country. Now, I can still get more than 2cpp from Hyatt, United, and BA to Hawaii, but the freedom to use arrival miles on ANYTHING travel related adds to their value. For my situation at least.