The Ultimate Rewards Mall is showing some changes for the beginning of 2012. Here is what I’ve found so far:
Sears drops to 4 points per dollar
Not only is Sears planning to close many Sears and Kmart stores, but they’ve also dropped the Ultimate Rewards Mall bonus points down to 4 points per dollar (previously 6). In the past 4 or 5 months, the bonus point amounts changed several times (10X, then 5X, then 6X, then 10X for one day, etc.) so I’d recommend waiting, if you can, before making Sears’ purchases to see if the bonus amount jumps up again.
Magazines.com jumps to 40 points per dollar
Magazines.com was previously 35 points per dollar so this isn’t a huge jump, but it’s an amazing bonus. The terms and conditions say that book purchases are not allowed, but you can get around that by buying a magazines.com e-gift card and then buying books with the gift card. I can confirm, though, that double-dipping doesn’t work for book purchases. However, with magazine purchases it might be possible. I just tried it tonight and will report back once I see what happens with my Ultimate Rewards activity. If we can find a reliable double-dip (that is a way to get 40X points for both buying and using gift cards) then we would get an unbeatable 80 points per dollar. Add in the Chase Sapphire Preferred card’s base points and 7% annual bonus, and you would get an unbelievable 86..67 points per dollar. That would mean that you could buy UR points for only 1.15 cents simply by buying magazines! Do I really think this will work? No. Am I hoping? You bet!
Barnes and Noble drops from 8X to 7X
Still a great deal even though the double dip doesn’t work here.
Staples is giving 5 points per dollar
If you have the new Chase Ink Bold you can get 5 points per dollar for office store purchases and then another 5 points per dollar by going through the UR mall!
Others worth noting:
- Groupon is back to 12X (from 15X in December)
- Kohl’s is still at 10X!
- J Crew is at 5X
- Target is at 5X
- Home Depot is at 5X
Have ideas or questions about double-dipping? Please join the gift card churning conversation on Milepoint.
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[…] (typeof(addthis_share) == "undefined"){ addthis_share = [];}In a recent post (Ultimate Rewards Mall Updates) I reported that, through the Ultimate Rewards Mall, Magazines.com is currently offering 40 points […]
Let us know about magazines.com double dip. I am anxiously awaiting!