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When I was glancing at this morning’s portal alerts, I noticed that cash back at HP.com has increased to 20% back via Ebates. This would stack with the $75 back on $350 or more Amex Offer for a really nice savings on a computer or the many accessories sold by HP.
This rate matches the 15-month historical high as seen at CashBackMonitor.com:
Again, it stacks perfectly with the current widely-available (on business cards) Amex Offer for $75 back on $350 or more:
Don’t forget that Amex business cards are eligible for Amex OPEN Savings, which would net you 5% back as a statement credit or 1 extra Membership Rewards point per dollar. You can adjust your preference here.
Double dip?
Reports of successful double dips are definitely mixed in our Laboratory. That said, several members of our Frequent Miler Insiders group have reported successfully receiving miles on gift card purchases through the United Airlines shopping portal. I purchased gift cards through United this week (United is offering 10 miles per dollar). On top of 10 miles per dollar, United’s portal is offering 1500 bonus miles on $350 in purchases (before tax). I received the emails that the purchases tracked; others have reported receiving the miles deposited in their United MileagePlus accounts. My gift cards arrived about 2.5 hours after I placed my order, though some people have reported delivery taking a few days.
If interested in trying a double dip, I would suggest purchasing a gift card through MileagePlus Shopping and then using the gift card through Ebates. The most recent report in our Laboratory indicates that an order placed using gift cards and paying the balance with a credit card correctly tracked for full Ebates cash back on the entire order price.
Reader finds?
I’m in the market for a new laptop. I was planning to either purchase through HP or Lenovo to take advantage of the current Amex Offers. I’m hoping to have a chance to sit down and take a closer look at HP laptops later today, but if readers make any great finds, let me know in the comments.
Bottom line
Stacked with $75 back on $350 and a potential double dip, 20% cash back at HP is great. I happen to be in the market for a laptop, so this one is attractive to me from that perspective — but HP also sells a number of accessories like headphones, Bluetooth speakers, gaming mice, etc. There are plenty of items that could be a solid deal and probably even decent for resale if you’re stacking what is essentially 20% back via Amex Offer plus 5% back Amex OPEN savings plus 20% back through Ebates — and if you’re also earning 10 miles per dollar (and a one-time 1500 mile bonus on $350) on top, that’s icing on the cake. Whether you’re looking to stack savings or earn a couple of bucks while you rake in some spend/rewards, HP is worth a look today.
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Ebates no longer 20% back – now, it’s only 8%
Yup — see the comment above you. We marked it expired this morning 🙂
When I click the Beatles link it shows 8% cashback (not 20%)…
Yep, an increased rate like that usually only last for a day or so. Turns out this was good yesterday only. I’ll mark this expired.
HP makes really good laptops, particularly mid- and higher-end ones. I have the Spectre x360 and highly recommend it. Or get the Envy 13 if you don’t need the 360-degree hinge. Also recommend getting the Intel 8th-generation Core processor – i5 is the best value. Early reviews are finding these significantly faster (40-50%) than the seventh generation, which is a big jump (typically performance goes up around 15% for each processor generation). Regardless of processor though, get a solid state drive rather than traditional spinning hard drive – it makes a HUGE difference in how fast your computer feels, because data storage is the biggest performance bottleneck. Happy shopping!
How quickly do you get the gift cards?
Hey Nick,
My son just ordered a laptop off the HP site. Thank you for sharing this info.
One thing I noticed is that the HP site doesn’t always display all the choices–if you ask for the sale choices, it may filter out some others that are equally (or more heavily) discounted. HP maybe puts items into the “sale” category that it wants to move quicker (?). Bottom line: view ALL items in the category you are considering.
FWIW, I considered 3 that were 369-429, and settled on a 17″ display (important criterion for me). Note too that you can try discount code GREET17, but that it does not work on every laptop.
Also, I did not try the United portal trick (but I *did* refer my son on ebates so that he can get $10 and I can get $25)
Any way to stack with Slickdeal rebate?
No. You have to go through the Slickdeals link for that rebate. Personally, I don’t think the rebate is very good – the max that gives you is less than 18%, and that’s based on a perfect purchase from a limited number of items.
EBates terms exclude printers – does anyone know if that’s enforced? Am in need of a new all-in-one. Thanks in advance.
@Lela – very good point. Purchasing with gift card would not give you the purchase protections afforded by some credit cards. But, an extra 10% discount from the double-dip isn’t something to dismiss quickly. Guess it comes to how much you value the purchase protection, ie how much would you pay for that purchase protection. I imagine different answer for each person.
What is a 10 miles per dollar and 1500 miles deal?
Click the link in the post. You’ll see the words “1500 miles on a $350 purchase” are a hyperlink. That’ll take you to the United shopping portal promo in question. The MileagePlus shopping portal is offering 10 miles per dollar at HP right now and that stacks with that linked promo (though the promo is only good on a single purchase).
I don’t think it’s a good idea to buy a gift card for use in purchasing electronics, particularly computers BECAUSE, buying such items directly with certain credit cards will DOUBLE your warranty and may also give you damage protection and price protection. I would think that using a double dip strategy by buying gift cards to by a computer/ tablet, etc, would NOT offer such protection & purchase benefits.
You’re right that you would lose purchase protection and warranty benefits. It’s definitely something to consider. Personally, I’ve never had an electronic item fail during the warranty or extended warranty period. I’d consider taking the savings from this and buying an extended warranty through something like SquareTrade if concerned. I think you’d still come out pretty well ahead.