topic Rewards Programs/Apps that stack with Credit Card Rewards in SmorgasBoard

Rewards Programs/Apps that stack with Credit Card Rewards

Taurus22 — Tue, 09 Nov 2021 20:23:21 GMT

What type of "Alternative" Rewards Programs and Apps do you use to stack with your Credit Card Rewards?

Personally, I use Rakuten for most Online Shopping for various cashback rewards, per store. This stacks very well with both my BoA Customized Cash card (set for 3% Online Shopping) and my AOD 3% card. Rakuten redeems for true cashback into your PayPal account.

I also use Ibotta app on my phone for Grocery spend at Walmart Neighborhood Market. Every now and then I also get to use it at local grocery stores but mainly Walmart. Stacked with my Amex BCP (6% {4.4%} Grocery) I'm getting exceptional returns. This also pairs well with true 5% Grocery cards like Discover, Chase FF, etc. Ibotta redeems for true cashback directly to your PayPal account.

I also use Fetch app on my phone for Grocery spend, which allows me to double up on grocery returns with the Ibotta app. Fetch rewards can be redeemed in the form of Gift Cards for many different retail and online stores including Amazon, Walmart, Target as well as restaurants, coffee shops, day spas, eBay, etc. (You can even redeem for direct Visa gift cards, but the redemption value decreases for these.)

Occasionally, I use the Dosh app for a couple of local restaurants to stack with my credit cards. They also have Hotel/Travel offers. Some of the online offers can also stack with Rakuten if you're paying attention.

(Ex: If you shop Old Navy....Rakuten offers 4% cashback and Dosh offers 3%......so using your Dosh connected card via Rakuten online.....you can get 7% in addition to whatever cashback card you have that works best there)

Feel free to add any you use, or any tricks you might want to share for stacking rewards....

Re: Rewards Programs/Apps that stack with Credit Card Rewards

collics — Tue, 09 Nov 2021 20:48:43 GMT

Most recently, I've made sure to start using store/merchants apps on my phone.

Since I don't have a gas card, I downloaded every local gas station app and they all wisely accept Apple Pay. So without even thinking I'm 1. getting 2%-3% back from Apple 2. earning points or getting a discount on gas from that station 3. keeping my cards secure by not inserting it at the pumps.

Re: Rewards Programs/Apps that stack with Credit Card Rewards

Red1Blue — Tue, 09 Nov 2021 22:42:19 GMT

Interesting information. Thank you very much for sharing with us.

Re: Rewards Programs/Apps that stack with Credit Card Rewards

jmw1 — Wed, 10 Nov 2021 21:50:44 GMT

All this stuff is an inducement to spend more.

IMHO Ibotta isn't worth the time, effort, and money spent. After the new user period, they stop generic offers like 25 cents off any meat at any store and it's all overpriced store brand promotions so it's a money loser for me if I use Ibotta. If Uber becomes cheap again, I'll restart using Ibotta for the 75 cent discount.

The online store portals I do but there are so many product restrictions and the use of a coupon negates the portal rewards. I've experienced many clawbacks because of coupons.

Instead of spending time and effort trying to eeek out another 1% in rewards, I spend time looking at cutting items off of my shopping list and realizing that I didn't really need to keep X in the cart. One item could be 2% - 10% of my cart. Cutting spending is much more rewarding than Ibotta, Cartera, or Rakuten.