Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals and stacking opportunities [2021]

Many 2021 Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals have already gone live and many more will develop in the coming days. If you are reading this post in email form, I recommend clicking through to see it on the site. That’s because this post will receive a lot of updates in the coming days, so it is worth clicking through to see what is new.

Given many ways to leverage credit card benefits and bonus categories and/or spending offers and stack with shopping portals and the other tools we use to increase rewards, many readers will be tracking opportunities to save money while maximizing return on spend. This post will be our master list and ultimate resrouce that gets updated frequently over the coming days as we find more deals that may be of interest to readers, with the latest deals in each section being added to the top of the corresponding section. I recommend bookmarking this post and checking back over the coming days as we will continue to update it through Cyber Monday.

Note of course that not all deals advertised as “Black Friday” or “Cyber Monday” deals are really deals at all and when you’re spending money you’re not really saving anything (except arguably in cases where you can lock in a discount on something for which you would ordinarily buy more). Many of the discounts offered this week aren’t any better than discounts you could have found two weeks ago or will find two weeks from now. Still, if you weed through the hype, you can often find some solid deals, particularly with stacking opportunities as various corners try to court your holiday spend.

Post structure

Immediately following this section are several general resource sections regarding high-level stacking techniques and opportunities to keep in mind when looking at deals and then after that are the main deal sections that will see constant updates over the coming days.

There are three types of deals we intend to post in the “Deals” section this week:

1. Deals that would appeal to travelers. This might be hotel or flight related or travel-related products like noise-canceling headphones or luggage. We may also include discounted gift cards for restaurants, etc.
2. Deals that may be good for resale. Some readers generate points through the purchase and resale of products, so we’ll include some deals that may not seem directly relevant to readers but could be good ways to generate points if you have resale avenues. Keep in mind stacking opportunities like discounted gift cards, portal rewards, etc.
3. Deals that are so strong they can’t be ignored for one reason or another. Speaks for itself.

We’ll try to divide those up until categories below by Gift Cards, Merchandise, Travel, Random & Shopping Portals and let you decide for yourself whether they are things you want/need or want to resell. Note that there will likely be some cross-pollination in terms of deals that aren’t strictly Black Friday deals but will work in tandem with sales. For instance, if eBay lists a gift card sale for Lowe’s, we’ll include it here this week since you can likely stack that with Lowe’s Black Friday deals.

Best shopping practices

As always, keep in mind some basic shopping best practices:

• Shop in one browser, buy in another. When using shopping portals and coupon sites, it’s pretty easy to inadvertently click in the wrong place and have your click “stolen” by a portal you didn’t intend to use (i.e. you clicked through an airline portal to Macy’s, but then you clicked a button to reveal a coupon code from some other site that also led to Macy’s and it caused the airline portal to lose the tracking cookie). For this reason, I do my shopping around and coupon testing in one browser (for example, Firefox). When it’s time to buy, I open a brand new window in a different browser (Chrome) to make my purchase. I start at my chosen portal, click through to the site from which I’m buying, fill my cart, apply any coupons, and check out in one fluid sequence. I rarely ever have a purchase fail to track this way.
• Use the right credit card. We’ll always try to make a suggestion when one seems relevant — for example, we’ll probably mention the Chase Ink Cash card if the deal is at an office supply store. Still, it’s worth keeping in mind what you have in your wallet and which of those cards would be most advantageous for you from a points-earning perspective. See our Best Category Bonuses page for a reminder as to the best cards to use.
• Keep credit card purchase benefits in mind. This is truly part of using the right card. Keep in mind that many rewards credit cards have purchase benefits like extended warranty. Some offer purchase protections against damage, theft, or guaranteeing a minimum return period (that may be longer than the store would accept). Price protection is gone from most (but not quite all) credit cards at this point. While paying with discounted gift cards might yield more savings, you would forgo protections like these – so consider each when making those decisions. See Best Credit Card Purchase Protections for more detail.
• Buy first, think later? A popular mantra on deal sites like Slickdeals is “Buy first, think later”. That is to say that the hottest deals will be gone so quickly that you don’t really have time to consider them. Thanks to return policies, 24 hour free cancellation periods, etc, it can be pretty easy to live by that mantra in many cases. But be sure to check the fine print — is there a restocking fee? Does this travel agency charge a fee for refunds? Do I really want/need this and/or am I going to take the effort to sell it? It might be a great deal, but that doesn’t make it great for you.

Finally, don’t forget any current shopping portal bonuses that can add to the deal.

Extreme stacking tips

Extreme stacking savings on holiday purchases can help increase savings and rewards for spend.

There are many ways to stack deals and we will highlight key opportunities where applicable, but these are key opportunities and links to consider for maximizing return:

• Current Amex Offers

• Chase Offers

• Credit Card Benefits

  • Business Platinum: $200 Dell rebate July-December
  • Personal Platinum card: $50 Saks Fifth Ave rebate July-December
  • Chase Pay Yourself Back: While the Sapphire Reserve’s main categories (dining, Airbnb and Away Travel) may not make for widely-applicable stacks, keep in mind that many cards are offering temporary bonuses for Apple redemptions and the Freedom cards are offering 1.1cpp for warehouse club purchases (See: Ultimate Rewards Apple, gift card, and more redemption bonuses for November 2021).

• Shopping Portals

  • Use CashBackMonitor.com to compare rates.
  • Rakuten is offering increased rates (including 12% / 12x Membership Rewards points per dollar spent at many retailers). Keep in mind that Rakuten is also currently offering a bonus of $40 or 4,000 Membership Rewards points for both sides when you refer someone and they spend $40 or more through Rakuten within the first 90 days.

• Gift Cards

  • See our Instant Gift Card Deals resource page for ways to earn extra rewards or get discounts for gift cards that can be used right away

• Card-linked programs

  • The Dosh app, Google Pay, Rakuten in-store offers, JetBlue card-linked offers and many more. See our full resource page called Card-Linked Programs & The Networks They Run On (AKA Which Programs Stack) or Beauty In The Eye Of The Cardholder: Stephen’s Top 6 Card-Linked Programs for an abbreviated read.

• Visa Savings Edge

  • card-linked offers for business credit cards

• Mastercard Easy Savings

  • card-linked offers for business credit cards

• Best category bonuses

• Q4 2021: Quarterly Bonus Categories For 5% Cards

  • Notable increases (note quarterly cap is $1500 per quarter on most cards):
    • Chase Freedom Flex: 5x Walmart.com and PayPal
    • Discover: Amazon.com, Walmart.com, Target.com

• Temporary spending bonuses

  • Amex +4 referral bonus. Stackable with category bonuses, authorized user bonuses, etc.
  • Chase Freedom Flex: is also offering a bonus 5% on your top category through 12/31 (See: Chase Freedom Flex: Earn 5% On Your Top Category Through 12/31/21 (Possible Stack For 9%)
  • Many Chase co-branded cards are offering 5x spending opportunities.
  • Bilt Rewards card: 5x on all eligible purchases on 11/26 only. See this post for more detail.
  • Point Debit Card:
    • 10x / 10% back at Costco, Whole Foods, and Trader Joe’s. 5% back at Best Buy, Amazon, Sephora, Etsy, and many more. See this post.
    • 3,000 points (worth $30) back when you use your card 7 days in a row before 12/24 and spend at least $200 total.
    • Note also that you can currently get a free year of Point when you join by 11/26 and spend $200 by 12/5. You can instantly fund your account with an existing debit card to utilize these deals for Black Friday. See this post for more.

General Discounts at Amazon, Walmart, Costco, and Sam’s Club

A couple of key general discounts / stacks come to mind in addition to those seen above:

• Amazon.com
  • Get up to 50% off when using 1 Membership Rewards point (my offer yields up to $60 off of $120)
  • Get 40% off (up to $40) when using 1 Discover Cashback point. Direct link.
• Costco.com: The Point Debit Card is offering 10% back up to $50 back on $500. If you’re new to Point, it is possible to sign up for the debit card today and fund your account immediately with an existing debit card to use this deal. See more in this post.
• Walmart.com:
  • 5x/5% back with Chase or Discover quarterly bonuses.
  • +5x with Amex Offer.
  • Walmart+ membership with Platinum card.
  • Free 90-day Walmart+ trial
• Sam’s Club Membership: There was a profitable in-store deal that ended on Wednesday 11/24, but the better deal for many people may still be the Uber deal where you can buy a membership (for $45) and get a $10 monthly Uber Eats credit for a year ($120 in credits). Stack with an Amex Offer for $25 back and Dosh for 15% back ($6.75) to pay a net $13.75 for a one-year membership to Sam’s Club and $120 in Uber credits.

The Deals

With all that out of the way, here are some currently-available deals that might be of interest as per my reasons outlined above. As noted at the outset, I will add to this post throughout the rest of this week and into Cyber Monday, with the most recently-added deals to be added at the top of the list.

Our affiliate links below where relevant.

Amazon.com

• Samsung S21 Ultra ($899.99), S20 FE ($549.99), and wireless chargers ($24.99 or $34.99) are all on sale at Amazon. Direct link.
• LeapFrog Learning Friends 100 Words Book (Frustration Free Packaging), Green for $9.29. Direct link. My kids have both really loved this thing.
• Amazon.com: Get up to 50% off when using 1 Membership Rewards point (my offer yields up to $60 off of $120). Update: Many of us are now seeing $80 off of $160.
• Amazon Warehouse Deals: Up to 20% off open-box / pre-owned items. Discount shown in cart. Direct link.
• $10 off when you change your default payment method to an eligible Amex (targeted). Link to check if you’re targeted.
• Save $25 when you buy $100 worth of Makita products. Direct link.
• Increased offer of a $200 gift card upon approval for Amazon Prime members with the Amazon Prime Rewards Visa. That might make sense for 5% back at Amazon and some opportunities for 10% back. More about the card on our card page.
• Kindle Paperwhite for $104.99
• Fire HD 8 Kids tablet, 8″ HD display, ages 3-7, 32 GB, Purple Kid-Proof Case for $69.99. Direct link. My son has this tablet and loves it. We’ve loaded it with educational games and videos and this keeps him entertained on long drives. I like that it is the same thing as the non-kids version just with a kidproof case and an easy built-in kids profile in addition to the normal functionality.
• Introducing Fire HD 10 Kids Pro tablet, 10.1″, 1080p Full HD, ages 6–12, 32 GB for $119.99. Direct link. I’ve found the smaller 8″ size to be perfectly good, but this might make sense if you want more screen real estate.
• Fire HD 10 Plus tablet, 10.1″, 1080p Full HD, 32 GB, latest model (2021 release). Direct link. If you don’t need the kidproof case, this is the same thing as above for less. Also available for the same price at Target and Best Buy.
• Fire HD 8 Plus tablet, HD display, 32 GB, latest model (2020 release), our best 8″ tablet for portable entertainment for $54.99. Direct link. I’ve given previous models of this device to family members with basic Internet browsing needs and it has worked well for them.
• Ring Floodlight Cam Wired Plus with motion-activated 1080p HD video, White (2021 release) for $139.99. Direct link. Also available at Lowe’s.
• Google Fi Simply Unlimited SIM Card Kit. This kit comes with the SIM card and a $60 bill credit. If you are new and stick with Google Fi, you get an additional $30 credit after two months. Available at Amazon and Best Buy.

Black Friday Gift Card Deals

• $10 off of $50 via the Slide app (stacks with 4-5% off everyday on gift cards).
• 20% bonus on Fairmont gift cards from 2pm-5pm Eastern time 11/26 only. Direct link.
• Buy $25 or more Instacart, save 16% with code INSTACART at Amazon. Link to gift cards.
• Buy $50 GAP, save $11.00 with code GAP21 at Amazon. Direct link.
• Buy $50 Dominos, save $10.00 with code DOMINOS21 at Amazon. Direct link.
• Load $20 or more to a new Starbucks eGift card, get a $5 eGift card. Limit 1 per person (through 11/29). Direct link.
• 5% off Virtual Visa Gift Cards with promo code BLACKFRIDAY2021 11/28/28 (then code CYBERSALE 11/29). Direct link (our affiliate link). Limit $750.
• GrubHub: Buy a $20 gift card, get a bonus $10 gift card. Direct link.
• 15% off redemptions for Apple, Spafinder, and more via the Citi ThankYou portal
• Lowe’s: Buy a $100 e-gift card, get a bonus $10 e-gift card free. 11/25-11/25. Limit 2. Direct link.
• 15% off Lowe’s Gift Cards (including variable-load up to $500) in-store at Dollar General Thanksgiving Day only (11/25). See the ad here.
• 20% off Chipotle, Panera, and more at Dollar General (in-store).
• 20% off Xbox gift cards ($25 denom) at Dollar General (in-store)
• $500 Hawaiian Airlines gift card for $449.99 at Costco. Direct link.
• $500 Southwest Airlines gift card for $449.99 at Costco. Direct link.
• $500 Alaska Airlines gift card for $449.99 at Costco. Direct link.
• $100 DoorDash for $90 at Newegg. Direct link.
• $100 Instacart for $85 at Sam’s Club. Direct link.
• Kroger has many digital coupon gift card deals. See this post at GC Galore for more info.

Merchandise

• 72% off prescription glasses (including transitions and sunglasses) at Goggles4u.com with promo code FRIDAY72. I’ve been ordering from this site for years. With a code like this, I can usually get prescription glasses with anti-glare coating for about $12-15 a pair or prescription sunglasses with polarized lenses for less than $50. The quality isn’t going to far exceed expectations, but at these prices I typically buy 4 or 5 pairs and don’t get too upset when I lose or break a pair.
• 10% back at Lowes (up to $20 back) via the Ibotta app. Excludes gift cards, generates, and lumber. Link to more info.
• 10% back at Best Buy (up to $20 back) with some notable exclusions in the Ibotta app. Link to more info.
• Three Hamilton Beach small appliances + $15 in Kohl’s Cash for about $20 after rebate.
• Rakuten is offering increased rates at many retailers for Black Friday including 12x Dell and 15x Saks Fifth Avenue. Direct link.
• Air Pods Pro from $144 at Meijer
• Snow Joe SJ625E Electric Single Stage Snow Thrower | 21-Inch | 15 Amp Motor for $129.00. Great stack if you’re targeted for 50% off with 1 Membership Rewards point! (I tested and it took off $60 for me). Direct link. Also available at Walmart.
• 50% off Lego sets 11/25 only at Big Lots. Direct link. Stack with a Chase Offer for 10% back. Some for shipping, some fort store pick up.
• Stacking deals to get nearly-free Toastmaster small kitchen appliances at Kohl’s. In years past I often found reselling these to be an easy holiday hustle. Donating them can also be a nice way to do some good and pick up some cheap credit card spend.
• Sigma lenses are on sale at Adorama. This should stack with a current Amex Offer. I wrote a few years ago about buying a lens for a safari (through a holiday sale like this) and reselling it for a small profit after my trip (See: Buy to rent: Enjoying travel gear without buyer’s remorse.)
• Extra 20% off on Dyson for existing owners via call or chat (must have a registered Dyson product).
• DJI Osmo Mobile 3 Smartphone Gimbal Combo Kit for $69 after $50 coupon applied in cart at B&H Photo. Direct link.
• Stadia Premier for $22.99 from the Google Store. Direct link. Get 10% back if you did the Google One deal.
• Free Stadia Premier with a game purchase of $29.99 or more. Direct link.
• Google Fi Simply Unlimited SIM Card Kit. This kit comes with the SIM card and a $60 bill credit. If you are new and stick with Google Fi, you get an additional $30 credit after two months. Available at Amazon and Best Buy.
• Le Creuset dutch ovens on sale at Costco. Direct link.
• Barrington 10-Player Poker Table, No Assembly Required for $153.90 at Walmart. Direct link. Ah, to re-live my youth. If only it came with 9 players with deep pockets and weak skills.

Keep in mind that we will continue to add to this post. New deals will be added at the top of each section.

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