You know how important it is to have a good credit rating (or to want to improve it), which starts with sound credit card management. With the holiday season fast approaching, you’re no doubt looking to save money on shopping, gifts and meals. But what about taking advantage of this time of year to earn points with your holiday spending? In this article, we share the best points hunter tips to help you earn points and miles faster.
The holiday season is a time for gathering with family and friends, whether at home or in a restaurant.
Do what I do for your holiday spending: offer to pay the bill on your credit card, and ask everyone to give you their share in cash, Interac transfer or cheque. Not many people are points hunters… but you are! It’s a great way to earn points on your holiday spending.
Here’s a card that lets you rack up points fast at restaurants and grocery stores: 5 Privilege Points per dollar, or 5% cash back, 5 Aeroplan points, and so on. It’s the American Express Cobalt® Card, of course.
But there are also other excellent restaurant credit card choices, such as the American Express® Gold Card from Scotiabank®*, the National Bank World Elite Mastercard and the MBNA World Elite® Rewards Mastercard® Credit Card (Quebec). Find out more:
Buying gift cards with a credit card is a great opportunity to earn points on your holiday spending. Generally speaking, gift cards can be used in three ways:
More and more surveys show that people prefer to receive money rather than a gift. The gift card is therefore a happy medium: we know that the recipient likes this or that store… but we prefer to leave it up to him to choose the gift that will really please him. And you can earn points on your credit card by giving away a gift card from a grocery store, drugstore or gas station!
Another use is to accumulate the most points for a purchase at another store. As part of your holiday budget, you could use gift cards to pay for purchases at stores (SAQ, Amazon, Home Depot, etc.) that wouldn’t have offered you a large number of points. It’s a great way to earn points on your holiday spending.
Finally, you can purchase gift cards with a credit card to reach the spending level required to trigger a credit card sign-up bonus.
Credit cards often require that a certain spending level be reached in order to offer a welcome bonus. Most often set at $500 of spending in the first three months, this level can be higher ($1,000 or even $5,000 for certain corporate cards).
Buying gift cards for stores you’re used to visiting regularly (gas, grocery stores, etc.) is a way of “triggering the bonus early”. You’re simply “pre-empting” spending that you would have done anyway in the weeks or months ahead.
While buying gift cards is a great way to earn points on your holiday spending, be sure to pay off your credit card balance before it’s due.
Would you like to lighten your holiday spending instead? By opting for a cash back credit card like the CIBC DividendMD Visa Infinite* Card, you can get several hundred dollars back on your holiday spending by taking advantage of the welcome bonus.
Are you a Costco fan when it comes to savings? Do double duty by using the CIBC DividendMD Visa Infinite* Card welcome bonus, which allows you to earn up to 10% cash back in your first few months by using our tip for using a Visa credit card at Costco.
The following three credit cards allow you to accumulate a large number of points or cash back not only during the holiday season, but throughout the year:
In addition to these three cards, there are a number of other interesting cards that can also be used to purchase gift cards at drugstores and gas stations. These include the American Express® Gold Rewards Card, with its 2 points per dollar.
Gift cards offer countless possibilities. Here’s a short list of gift card ideas to earn points on your holiday spending:
As you can see, there are plenty of gift card options for the holidays and other times of year! The list goes on…
For your online purchases, there’s a trick to getting even more rewards or cash back. To do this, you need to use online shopping portals. They’re a great way to earn points for your holiday spending.
The best-known portals are :
Take Aeroplan eStorewhich is a platform for Aeroplan Members who want to earn points fast. By going through this portal (before shopping at over 250 partner brands), you’ll earn at least 1 Aeroplan point per dollar spent. This way, you can spoil yourself and maximize the purchase of an iPhone or laptop, for example.
Keep your eyes peeled this holiday season! Cashback or points multipliers are common on online shopping, as are promotional offers. The latter even begin in November, with Black Friday offers.
In short, the hunt for points and miles is on this holiday season! Of course, you’ll need to stick to your budget and manage your credit cards carefully. However, it’s a very lucrative time of year, allowing points hunters to earn points on holiday spending: shopping, gifts, meals, and much more.
You can take advantage of this time of year to earn points with your holiday spending. Our best tips apply not only to your online purchases, but also to your spending at grocery stores and restaurants. What’s more, buying gift cards and using online portals help you earn more rewards.
For this year’s holiday season, Canadians’ average spending is expected to reach $1,853, according to a new report from PwC. This figure includes gifts, travel and entertainment. So, the average Christmas budget per child will depend on the breakdown of spending in each category.
Although holiday budgets are on the rise year after year, Canadian consumers are not buying more this year. Indeed, Canadians are aware of the rising prices of the products and services they buy on a regular basis. According to a new report by PwC, consumers aren’t just looking for low prices for their holiday purchases; they’re coveting quality items and/or second-hand products.
Savings are here:
