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Some decent deals pop up on OpenSky. Combine these deals with 50 MyPoints per dollar and you’ve got a sweet deal…
A couple of months ago, an online store called OpenSky ran an incredible promotion through the MyPoints portal. For a brief time, they offered 150 points per dollar for up to $500 in purchases. At the time, there was a lot of confusion over whether the points earned were really MyPoints (which would be good) or OpenSky points (which would be bad). The final conclusion was that the 150X deal was indeed for MyPoints. Once we were convinced of that, many of us jumped in and bought up to $500 worth of overpriced stuff because the value of 150 points per dollar made the purchase basically free. For more information about this prior deal, please see “MyPoints 150 points per dollar! Maybe. (Update 3).”
Since that time, OpenSky has continued to offer 50 points per dollar through the MyPoints portal:
I never mentioned this deal in my blog because OpenSky items tend to be so overpriced that even 50X wasn’t enough to convince me to buy.
Cyber Monday Deals
Today, the 50X offer looks more appealing. OpenSky is offering Cyber Monday deals for some items at prices that are actually competitive:
I price checked several of these deals and found that quite a few really are good deals. I looked up the current prices on Amazon.com and found that some were cheaper on OpenSky!
Even better, OpenSky is offering free shipping all day.
Step by step
Here’s how to get the deal and cut your costs even more:
- Join MyPoints: MyPoints is an online shopping portal in which you can earn points when shopping. Those points can then be traded for gift cards, cash, or United Airline miles. If you use my referral link to sign up I’ll earn extra points if you make purchases (and I’ll appreciate that!).
- Join OpenSky: If you’re new to OpenSky, you’ll get a $20 credit when you join. If you use this link I will earn a credit too (and I’ll appreciate that too!). Wait until you receive an email about the credit before making your OpenSky purchases.
- Go to MyPoints and find OpenSky: To make sure you get 50 points per dollar, you need to start by logging into your MyPoints account. If you’ve already browsed to OpenSky, I recommend closing all browser windows first, and starting over just to make sure you get credit. To find OpenSky, look for the “Alphabetical Brand Index” near the top of the MyPoints screen, and click on the letter “O”.
- Shop OpenSky: Hover over the top menu items and look for Cyber Monday deals. In some cases, you can find them by selecting “see all collections”.
- Post to Facebook: Some (all?) OpenSky items include the option to save an additional $5 by spamming your friends on Facebook. Look for a little ad like this on the right of the screen:
What are MyPoints worth?
The value of MyPoints vary greatly by how you redeem them. Here are some examples:
- Redeem for cash (via PayPal): 8900 MyPoints can be exchanged for $50 in cash. In this case, each point is worth just over half a penny (.56 cents each).
- Redeem for miles: 10,100 MyPoints can be exchanged for 5000 United MileagePlus miles. In this case, each point is worth about half a mile (.495). With the fair trading price of United miles at 1.31 cents each, this means that each MyPoint is worth .65 cents (65% of a penny).
- Redeem for gift cards: Some gift cards cost less in MyPoints than others. For example, 11,850 MyPoints can be exchanged for a $100 gift card at Macy’s, Express, Banana Republic, and several other retailers. In this case, points are worth .84 cents each. With other gift cards (LL Bean, Pottery Barn, Marriott, etc.), MyPoints are worth a bit less.
If you conservatively say that each MyPoint is worth .65 cents, then this 50X deal is equivalent to a 32.5% rebate on anything you purchase today at OpenSky. Alternatively, if you like United miles (and who doesn’t?) you can think of it as earning 24.75 miles per dollar!
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Carlos: That’s great! MyPoints had (has?) a separate deal in which you can get double points on your first purchase. This must have been your first purchase, so you got 150X x 2 = 300X!
On CyberMonday I spent $330 and somehow now I have 101k in my account. Cool I’ll take em.
Carlos: Thanks, very helpful chart for MyPoints award redemptions!
I did the calculations..
$100 Express for 11,850 $100 Express for 11,850 1
$100 Williams for 12,600 $100 Williams for 12,600 2
$100 Marriott for 12,600 $100 Marriott for 12,600 3
$50 Groupon for 6,850 $100 Groupon for 13,700 4
$25 Macy for 3,450 $100 Macy for 13,800 5
$50 JCP for 7,000 $100 JCP for 14,000 6
$50 Target for 7,600 $100 Target for 15,200 8
$50 Walmart for 7,600 $100 Walmart for 15,200 9
$25 Hyatt for 4,000 $100 Hyatt for 16,000 11
$25 Visa for 4,600 $100 Visa for 18,400 13
$50 Paypal for 8,900 $100 Paypal for 17,800 12
My MyPoints for this deal posted on 12/4. Just FYI
Points havent posted I emailed them last week. ughhh a lot more emails comin ur way
My Opensky purchases are arriving at home. Now just need to wait ’til after Xmas to see if the points post.
Bayguy,
Bummer. I hope it works out for you.
looks like amex rewards points = .50 for each points.
FM: THANK YOU!! <– OFFICE DEPOT QUESTION.
I just login into my amex gold for small business, I have completed the 10k spending requirement today. I have 84750 rewards points….
what is the best way to utilize this point?
wait and transfer it to airline?
CHRIS: Yes, transferring MR points to airline miles can give you the best value. In general it’s best to keep the points as MR points until you have specific travel you want to book. That way you have the freedom to convert your points to the airline or alliance that has the best availability for the trip you want. Once exception is that often Amex offers bonuses for transfers to miles. If you know you can make use of those miles it can be worth it to take advantage of those transfer promotions
Rob,
I am having the exact issue with UR now. I bought $100 Sears egift card Oct 24 and they denied points. I sent a secure message with screenshot and its now sent to next tier. Keeping fingers crossed.
FM,
I recently noticed a change on the UR portal saying as of 11/01/12 Sears Gift Cards no longer earn points on the UR portal. Do you or anyone else have experience with a purchase post 11/01/12 to see if the points posted? Your sears double dip may be gone.
Fm: side question…
I want to buy something online..from office depot.
I saw on ink ultimate rewards mall, office depot is 5x extra.
If i buy 100 worth of product, do i get 5x from ultimate mall + 5x ink bold or just 5x?
thks!
CHRIS: You will get 10X total.
Completely unrelated item. Just recently made a purchase at a walmart neighboorhood market with an Amex card. Normally codes as grocery, but shows up as a super center now? Anybody else having an issue with this?
Just bought slightly over $100 worth to hit the 5200 mypoints threshold for 2.5k transfer to United.