(EXPIRED) 12% cash back at Apple today only [12/9/19]

Earlier today, we reported on several airline shopping portals offering increased mileage payouts on Apple purchases. If you’re more interested in money than miles, you may prefer shopping portal uPromise, which is offering 12% cash back on Apple purchases today only (with the same restrictions — see below). While my first reaction is that I’d gladly take 10x AA miles or 8x Alaska miles over 12% cash back, I’m sure there are plenty of people who would be happy with a nice cash return on Apple purchases.

The Deal

• Earn 12% cash back on Apple purchases 12/9/19 only through shopping portal uPromise
• Direct link to this deal

Key Details

• Products not eligible for rewards are 16-inch MacBook Pro, AirPods Pro, gift cards, gift wrap, Bose products, Apple Developer Programs and shipping.
• Orders purchased on the Government or Military and Veteran’s Stores are not eligible for additional rewards.
• Apple sells and ships products to end user customers only; you may not purchase for resale.
• Eligible only to a customer for up to five (5) units per eligible product, except iPhone, in which case only two (2) units within a thirty-day (30-day) period are eligible.
• Not eligible on purchases made with coupon or discount codes that are not found on [the shopping portal].
• Not eligible on gift cards, gift certificates or any other similar cash equivalents.
• Purchases made with a gift card may be ineligible.

Quick Thoughts

Given the price point of many Apple products, getting 12% back can quickly add up to a pretty significant savings. Keep in mind the exclusions noted above in terms of specific items and max quantities. However, if you were considering buying an iPhone or eligible Macbook, this quantity of cash back could make a difference.

As noted above, my first reaction is that the miles are more valuable to me than the cash because I generally use AA and Alaska miles to get at least 2c per mile in value (potentially much more depending on how you value premium cabin flights). However, I’ve written in the past about how much we pay for our miles. If you choose AA miles or Alaska miles over 12% cash back, you’re essentially paying 1.2c per mile for AA miles or 1.5c per mile for Alaska miles. While either would be considered an excellent price for those currencies, I’m still not convinced I would actually be a buyer at those levels since I have cheaper ways to generate the miles. I’m not an Apple person and won’t be taking advantage of this deal, but I think that if I were faced with an Apple purchase, it would come down to whether I need the miles now or the cash back presents the discount that makes the purchase worthwhile.

However you approach it, this is definitely a deal worth considering if you’re in the Apple ecosystem and considering a purchase. In the past 15 months, Cashbackmonitor only lists one time that the payout at Apple has been greater than 5% (it was 10% from Giving Assistant for two days in May). The uPromise portal is one of the portals that is not listed at Cashbackmonitor (we recently wrote about that in Miles and money you may be missing).

Want to learn more about miles and points? Subscribe to email updates or check out our podcast on your favorite podcast platform.