Southwest Shopping Portal: Maximize Earnings (Shopping Button) [2021]

The Southwest shopping portal is one of the best ways to rack up Southwest Rapid Rewards. In fact, at certain times, you could earn up to 20 Southwest Rapid Rewards for every per dollar you spend through the portal! But there are a few things that you should know about the portal to make sure that you’re maximizing your earnings and not missing out on any points.

This article will walk you through everything you need to know about earning Southwest Rapid Rewards when shopping through the portal, including things like special bonuses and using the shopping button.

What is the Southwest shopping portal?

The Southwest shopping portal is an online portal that allows you to earn Southwest Rapid Rewards when you make online purchases of all sorts.

There are over 800 stores to choose from, and here are only a few examples:

  • Macy’s
  • WalMart
  • Sam’s Club
  • Apple
  • Samsung
  • Nike
  • Under Armour
  • Neiman Marcus
  • Kohl’s
  • Walgreens
  • Staples
  • And many, many more…

You simply log-in to the portal, click through to your relevant store on the portal, and then check out as you usually would. You’re able to shop for the same products and the same prices as you normally would, but the only difference is that you’ll earn bonus Rapid Rewards from your purchase.

The amount earned depends on the rate (discussed more below), but this is an easy way to build up those Rapid Rewards in a hurry.

How do you sign-up for the Southwest shopping portal?

You’ll need a valid Rapid Rewards account number to shop and earn Rapid Rewards points with Rapid Rewards Shopping.

You can click here to enroll in the Rapid Rewards Program.

Make sure you know your Rapid Rewards account number so that you’ll be able to log-in.

How do you use the shopping portal?

Once you have a Rapid Rewards account, simply sign in to the portal. Then, you will have different options for browsing through the stores and different offers. Below is a breakdown of the different types of ways you can use the portal to find deals.

Top Stores

On the front page, you should see “Top Stores” which are some of the top-earning stores at the moment. These will change with the trend and bonuses being offered.

You’ll also see “Featured Offers” which are a number of offers that, in addition to points, will grant you discounts like an extra 20% off, free shipping, etc.

These could save you real money while also earning you points. Some will be in the form of a promo codes, so take note of these offers before leaving the Southwest portal.

Last minute deals

You can also search by last minute deals. Some of these will be expiring on the same day so you might have to act very quickly to take it advantage of them.

Search by categories

You can also use the toolbar to search the stores by category.

Some of the categories include:

  • Apparel and accessories
  • Babies, kids and toys
  • Beauty and Health
  • Books, music, and movies
  • Computers and electronics
  • Department stores
  • Entertainment
  • Flowers, foods, and gifts
  • Home, garden, and auto
  • Office and school
  • And others

The great thing about these shopping portals is that you can find just about anything you’d need, so you rarely have to ever go out of your way to earn points.

Click on the retailer

Once you’ve located your store you want to shop at, then you simply click on the button to take you to the store.

You should see a screen notifying you that you’re being taken to the online retailer. You can disable this screen but I like to keep it active since it allows me to confirm the earning rate at that store and also gives me a little added assurance that the portal is working properly.

Southwest Shopping Portal

Make sure that you’re aware that you won’t earn points for shopping in-store at these retailers. You must utilize the online shopping portal in order to earn the points.

The Rapid Rewards Shopping Button

If you have Google Chrome, then you can activate the Rapid Rewards Shopping Button, which will allow you to instantly activate point earnings at some stores. It will enable you to see what the current earning rates are for the website store you’re on.

I highly recommend the Button for those serious about earning Rapid Rewards.

Do take note that this is a browser extension. Sometimes those can cause privacy and/or functionality concerns for some people, so that’s something to consider.

Preparing to use the portal

Before you access the shopping portal, there are a few things you should consider doing to decrease the odds of your purchase not tracking properly.

Clear your shopping cart

If you’ve already been browsing online with the merchant and dropping items into your shopping cart here and there, you might want to remove those items first. (After you click through the portal and get back on the merchant’s website, you can add those items again.)

Turn ad blockers off

Make sure your ad blocker is off before you access the Southwest shopping portal. This could prevent necessary pop-ups and cookies from being used to track your purchase.

Enable cookies and javascript

Make sure you have enabled cookies and javascript. Some people also like to clear their cookies before they access the portal, but you could also just use an incognito browser to do the trick.

Also, you might want to disable your browser toolbars so that they don’t interfere with your tracking.

Other coupon codes don’t work

If you received coupon codes from different sources and you use them with your purchase, you will most likely forfeit your Rapid Rewards earnings. So, only use those other coupons if it’s a better deal.

How many points do you earn with the Southwest shopping portal?

The number of points that you’ll earn for your shopping will depend on the current rate being offered. These earning rates often fluctuate depending on the season and whether or not special promos and deals are being offered.

For example, right now in December 2019, there’s a “Holiday Shopping” promo. You can see the increased earning rates below:

Note that you won’t earn points on taxes, special handling charges, returns, freight, or shipping costs.

Comparing the best rates

Something that you should always do is compare Southwest earning rates to other online shopping portals for each particular store you want to shop at.

My number one website for doing this is Cash Back Monitor. Simply go that website and enter the online store you’re planning on shopping at, and you’ll be able to see the rates offered for various portals, as shown below.

If you have a Chase card that earns Ultimate Rewards, then be sure to consider going through the Chase shopping portal just in case the earnings are better since you can always transfer your Ultimate Rewards to Southwest.

Sign-up bonuses & spend bonuses

Before you sign-up for the shopping portal, you might want to hold off until a lucrative sign-up offer rolls around.

At various times in the year, Southwest will offer special spending incentives targeted at new members, so sometimes it’s a good idea to hold off until one of those come around.

If you miss out on such an offer, don’t worry, other spending incentives will come back around usually for back-to-school, Christmas, and other times of the year.

For example, one of the previous bonuses offered the following tiered bonus.

  • Spend $150 earn 500 bonus miles
  • Spend $500 earn 1,000 bonus miles
  • Spend $1,000 earn 3,000 bonus miles

Get notifications

The Rapid Rewards portal allows you to sign-up to receive emails when your favorite stores offer extra points. This is an easy way to save you time and allow you to maximize your Rapid Rewards earnings.

One of the easiest ways to favorite your stores is to go to this link and then find a group of stores you are interested in like department stores and select “favorite all.” Just make sure that you have activated alerts in order to receive the notifications.

The Southwest Companion Pass

Points earned from the Southwest shopping portal count towards the coveted Southwest Companion Pass, which allows a partner to fly for free with you for up to two calendar years!

This is excellent news because so many people find themselves only a few hundred points short of the Companion Pass.

However, it’s worth noting that the points earned through special spending offers don’t typically count towards the Companion Pass. 

When do the Southwest miles show up?

Rapid Rewards points will typically be posted to your account within six to eight weeks from the purchase date. 

Be sure to track your purchases and follow up if your points have been delivered or not. It’s always a great idea to keep track of details like the purchase date, purchase amount, order number, etc., so that if and when anything goes wrong, you are ready to handle it.

If you click on “My Account” on the shopping portal’s homepage, you’ll be able to view for your prior store visits and transactions so you can always check that your clicks are tracking properly.

If the points don’t show up, then use the automated customer service tools located in the Contact Us section of their website.

Keep Southwest miles from expiring

One of the best uses for the shopping portal is that it’s a great way to keep your Southwest points from expiring. Simply make a purchase and wait for your points to hit, and the clock should be reset for an additional 24 months.

Can I redeem Rapid Rewards for shopping?

No, Rapid Rewards points can only be redeemed at southwest.com for flights; you can’t redeem your Rapid Rewards for shopping through the portal.

Is there a limit to the points earned?

No, there is no limit to the number of Rapid Rewards that you can earn through the shopping portal.

The Southwest Dining portal

Don’t forget that Southwest also has the Dining portal where you can earn additional points at local restaurants. You absolutely want to take advantage of that portal too, if you’re trying to maximize your point earnings.

Additional tips for Southwest

If you’re looking for more tips on flying Southwest then I recommend you read my article here.

Final word

The Southwest shopping portal is a great way for anybody who likes flying on Southwest to earn extra Rapid Rewards. It can also be very useful in earning the Southwest Companion Pass or resetting the clock on your points’ expiration. With the new Google Chrome extension, it’s also more accessible than ever to utilize the portal and compare earnings between online merchants.

AAdvantage eShopping Portal: Maximize Promotions & Bonuses [2020]

The AAdvantage Shopping portal, known officially as AAdvantage eShopping, is one of the easiest ways to rack up American Airlines miles. You could earn up to 30 miles per dollar for your spend using the AAdvantage Shopping Portal.

But how do you use the portal, and does it offer the best promotions and rewards?

This article will show you how to use the AAdvantage eShopping portal and how to ensure you’re earning the highest amount of rewards in the process. I’ll also show how to avoid some common mistakes that could cost you some bonus points.

And finally, I’ll show you how to best use your AA miles, so no miles go to waste.

Interested in finding out the top travel credit cards for this month? Click here to check them out! 

What is the AAdvantage eShopping portal?

The AAdvantage eShopping portal is a website you can use to earn extra American Airlines miles when you shop online at over 900 stores.

You’ll be able to shop for all the same products at the same prices as you normally would, the only difference is that you’ll be earning additional AA miles in the process.

For that reason, I recommend anybody interested in earning American Airlines miles to give the shopping portal a shot.

Double dip on miles with AA credit cards

If you’re really trying to earn a lot of AA miles, you might also want to put your spending on an AA card.

There are a few different types of AA credit cards that offer some good perks and excellent welcome bonuses — sometimes up to 60,000 miles or more, which is more than enough to cover a roundtrip in domestic first class.

These are cards like the Citi AAdvantage Platinum Select, Citi AAdvantage Executive World Elite Mastercard, and Barclays Aviator. These cards come with low annual fees and offer some special perks when flying American like preferred boarding and free checked baggage. You can read more about these cards here. 

How do you sign-up for the AAdvantage shopping portal?

You can easily sign-up for the AAdvantage shopping portal here. 

You’ll need to be an AAdvantage member (a loyalty member for American Airlines) to sign up. If you’re not already an AAdvantage member, you can sign up for that program here.

If you are already an AAdvantage member, simply input your AAdvantage number and personal information and create a password, and you’ll have an account in seconds.

Note that your password for the shopping portal will be different from your password that you use to log-in to your AAdvantage account.

How do you use the shopping portal?

First, log-in to the AAdvantage shopping portal here.

On the front page, you’ll see a number of different deals you can scan through, but there are three different types of deals to be on the lookout for.

Bonus earning rates

The first is the bonus earning rates at different stores. You’ll know there’s a bonus going on because you’ll be able to see an earning rate crossed out and replaced by a higher number.

The front page will show you a number of these under the “Top Stores.”

For example, take a look at the image below, you’ll see deals like JC Penney with their original earning rate of 3 miles per $1 spent scratched out and replaced with the earning rate of 5 miles per $1 spent

Featured Deals

The portal also offers featured deals, which are additional discounts and promotions on products you can purchase. You’ll see a Deal of the Week and then also see a list of featured deals.

For example, you can see the deal for Kohls, which shows $10 off $25 below.

When you click on these deals you’ll often see additional deals, and if a promo code is required, you’ll see the code (along with an easy copy button for copy and paste).

You should be aware that you’re usually only allowed to use promo codes found on the AA shopping portal. If you find a promo code from an outside source and use it, you will usually forfeit your AA bonus miles.

Another thing you need to pay close attention to with these offers are the terms and conditions. They will often exclude certain items. Here’s just a small sample of the excluded items for earning AA miles for Kohl’s.

Not eligible on credit card sales made through coupon codes that are higher than 20%. Not eligible on portion of sale made with Kohl’s Cash or YES2YOU Rewards.

Not eligible on the purchase of Nutribullets, including 600-watt/900-watt Nutribullet Blenders (all colors).

Orders via Apple Pay are not eligible.

Always give those terms and conditions a good look because sometimes they have exclusions you wouldn’t expect to see or think about.

Special promotions /Offers

Shopping portals regularly offer special bonus promotions for your spending. These work the same way that credit card bonuses work — you spend X amount of money before a deadline, and you’ll be rewarded with extra miles.

These bonuses are often tiered, too. So you’ll be rewarded for spending more.

To find these offers go to the “Offers” tab near the top of the screen and you’ll be able to view all of the current offers. They usually come around for certain seasons like back to school, Christmas, etc.

Searching for stores

You can search for stores in several different ways.

At the top of the shopping portal, you’ll see the link for “Stores” and you can click on that to be taken to a screen to search stores by name or earn rate. You can also use the search bar on the right to enter a store’s name or even a product.

Browse stores and favorite

When viewing the stores, you’ll see a red heart to the left of the store’s name. That’s a button you can hit to favorite your store for easy review.

Search by category

You can also search for stores based on the following categories:

  • Women’s clothing
  • Men’s clothing
  • Shoes
  • Jewelry & accessories
  • Babies
  • kids & toys
  • Beauty & health
  • Computers & electronics
  • Furniture & decor
  • Home, kitchen & bath
  • Tools, auto & pets
  • Magazines & newspapers
  • Food & dining Flowers & gifts
  • Sports & outdoors
  • Department stores & outlets
  • Office & school supplies
  • Wireless & services
  • Travel & luggage
  • Hotels & accommodations

AAdvantage shopping store list

There are over 900 stores in the shopping mall, and many of them are popular stores you’d actually shop at.

Here’s an example of some of the stores you might find:

  • 1-800-FLOWERS
  • Apple
  • Barne’s & Noble 
  • Best Buy
  • Home Depot
  • Macy’s
  • Neiman Marcus
  • Nike
  • Marriott
  • Sam’s Club
  • Samsung
  • Staples
  • Target
  • Under Armour
  • WalMart
  • The list goes on and on…

AAdvantage eShopping button

The AAdvantage eShopping button is available for Google Chrome and will make it easier for you to earn bonus points when shopping.

All you have to do is activate the button, and you’ll be able to easily use the button to earn miles when shopping at stores online without having to log-in to the portal. You’ll also be able to quickly see the earning rates for stores, even from your Google searches.

If you put a lot of value on convenience, then the AA shopping button is perfect for you.

You can get the AAdvantage button here.

Track your purchases

If you log-in to your account and then click on “My Account”, you’ll be able to do a few things like view your recent earnings and transactions.

Sometimes your purchases might not track properly and it will be up to you to monitor your purchases to make sure that you end up with miles.

Get alerts

Once you set your favorites, click on “My Account” and then make sure to enable email notifications so that you’ll be notified about special deals for your favorite stores.

Preparing to use the portal

Before you ever even access the shopping portal, there are a few things you should consider doing to decrease the odds of your purchase not tracking properly.

Clear your shopping cart

If you’ve already been browsing online with the merchant and dropping items into your shopping cart here and there, you might want to remove those items first. (After you click through the portal and get back on the merchant’s website you can add those items again.)

Turn ad blockers off

Make sure your ad blocker is off before you access the AA shopping portal. This could prevent necessary pop-ups from showing or interfere with your tracking.

Enable cookies and javascript

Make sure you have enabled cookies and javascript. Some people also like to clear their cookies before they access the portal, but you could also just use an incognito browser to do the trick.

Also, you might want to disable your browser toolbars so that they don’t interfere with your tracking.

Does the AA shopping portal offer the best rates?

I highly suggest that you check out sites like Cash Back Monitor to ensure that you’re receiving the best bonus rate on your purchases.

In case you weren’t aware, there are shopping portals out there for many different airlines like Southwest and banks like Chase.

You can read more about how to use Cash Back Monitor here. 

Keep your AA miles from expiring

One of the best uses of AA miles is to do some shopping to keep your AA miles from expiring. By only purchasing a single item and earning some miles, you’ll be able to extend out the expiration deadline of your miles. (Remember, miles expire after 18 months of inactivity.)

The AAdvantage Dining program

Did you know that there’s also an AAdvantage Dining Program?

When you go out to eat, you might be missing out on lots of additional AA miles. The dining program works similar to the shopping portal. You create an account and then add a credit card to your account.

You can then search for restaurants in your area, and then once you use your credit card that’s on file you’ll not only earn credit card points, but you’ll stack AA points on top of those.

Read more about the AAdvantage Dining program here. 

How to best use your AA miles?

It’s not enough to just earn a lot of American Airlines miles with your credit cards and shopping. You want to know how to maximize those points once you earn them.

AA has many options for using your miles to get virtually anywhere in the world. However, AA moved to dynamic pricing, making the award chart less consistent. Think of the award chart as a baseline. Depending on the time of the year and demand, the redemption price might be higher or lower than the published award chart. Luckily, there are a lot of sweet spots, and you can sometimes save up to 50% when redeeming miles when there is an AA web special.

Read more about how to best use your AA miles here. 

For your reference, you can refer to this award chart below.

Main Cabin    
To:MileSAAverMileSAAverAAnytimeAAnytime
Off PeakLevel 1Level 2
Contiguous 48 U.S. states–Not available125002000030000
Contiguous 48 U.S. states (≤ 500 miles)^–Not available75002000030000
Canada (≤ 500 miles)^–Not available75002500040000
Canada & Alaska–Not available150002500040000
Hawaii20000225004000050000
Caribbean12500150002750037500
Mexico12500150002750037500
Central America12500150002750037500
South America Region 117500200003500050000
South America Region 2–Not available300005500075000
Europe22500300004750065000
Asia Region 132500350006250080000
Asia Region 232500350006500085000
South Pacific–Not available400007000090000
Business / First
To:MileSAAverMileSAAverAAnytimeAAnytime
Off PeakLevel 1Level 2
Contiguous 48 U.S. states*–Not available250004500055000
Contiguous 48 U.S. states (≤ 500 miles)^–Not available150004500055000
Canada (≤ 500 miles)^–Not available150005000065000
Canada & Alaska*–Not available300005000065000
Hawaii*–Not available400006750090000
Caribbean*–Not available250005000060000
Mexico*–Not available250005000060000
Central America*–Not available250005000060000
South America Region 1*–Not available300006500090000
South America Region 2–Not available57500110000150000
Europe–Not available57500110000135000
Asia Region 1–Not available60000120000155000
Asia Region 2–Not available70000140000175000
South Pacific–80000175000195000
First
To:MileSAAverMileSAAverAAnytimeAAnytime
Off PeakLevel 1Level 2
Contiguous 48 U.S. states–Not available500008500095000
Canada & Alaska–Not available5500090000105000
Hawaii–Not available65000107500130000
Caribbean–Not available5000090000100000
Mexico–Not available5000090000100000
Central America–Not available5000090000100000
South America Region 1–Not available55000105000130000
South America Region 2–Not available85000160000190000
Europe–Not available85000140000175000
Asia Region 1–Not available80000170000200000
Asia Region 2–Not available110000180000210000
South Pacific–110000220000260000

Final word

If you do any kind of online shopping and you’re not using a shopping portal, there’s a high chance that you’re leaving points on the table. And if you’re missing out on seasonal promotions, you might be missing out on a ton of points.

Quadruple Dipping with the United Shopping Portal, MPX

It is always a good idea to try to stack your earning opportunities as much as possible. One way to do this is to utilize different types of shopping portals. And in this short and sweet article, I’m going to show you how I recently quadruple dipped while earning United miles.

The product

The product in question that I purchased was a Houston Texas polo shirt. I found a great deal at Kohl’s ($32 for a $65 polo) and decided to go ahead with the purchase but first I wanted to go through a shopping portal. 

So I first checked Cashback Monitor to see what the earning rates were for the different portals. If you are not familiar with that website you can find a full review of that here. 

I found that the United Shopping Portal was earning 2 miles per dollar spent at Kohl’s and decided to jump on it. However, I knew that Kohl’s was also on the MPX App and so I decided to double dip right off the bat. 

Dip #1

The first step was to click through the United Shopping Portal to qualify for the 2 miles per dollar spent at Kohl’s. 2 miles per dollar isn’t exactly very special compared to some flash deals that go out but for a purchase I didn’t want to wait on making, it was good enough for me. 

I first made sure to do some things like disable my ad blocker and other actions to ensure that I would earn points. If you want to find out more about how to maximize the shopping portal and what you do before making a purchase, click here.

With the shopping portal I earned a total of 65 United miles. 

Dip #2

The second step was to purchase a eGift card on the MPX app with my Chase Freedom Unlimited. This allowed me to earn 1.5 Ultimate Rewards for a total of 67 Ultimate Rewards. Since United is a transfer partner with Chase, this was like earning additional United miles. 

Dip #3

Dip number three also came from the purchase of the gift card on the MPX app. In this case, I was able to earn three United Miles per dollar spent. But since I am also a United card holder I was able to earn an additional 25% bonus. So in total I earned 163 United miles via the MPX purchase. 

I used the gift card to purchase the polo shirt through the MileagePlus Shopping Portal to double on United points. Sometimes when you use a gift card to make the purchase some people might have issues receiving points but I’ve never had any issues myself. Just remember YMMV. 

Dip #4 

For the fourth dip, I earned 33 Yes2You Rewards with Kohls. Once you earn 100 Yes2You Rewards, you will receive five dollars in Kohl’s cash which I believe expires in 30 days, so these rewards have limited practicality for me but it still nevertheless was a quadruple dip. 

Total United earnings

In total I potentially earned 295 United miles. At a valuation of 1.6 cents per point, that’s the 10.5% return. Not bad for a purchase on a shopping portal that didn’t even have a special bonus rate going on. I probably could have ended with more in cash back but I was more interested in earning miles because I have plans to put them to use and actually get much more than 1.6 cents in value.

YouTube

Final word

When it comes to retail stores there are plenty of ways to save money. You can purchase discounted gift cards or you can also try to purchase gift cards at office supply stores and earn 5X if you have a card that does.

One reason why I really like the MPX app is that you can purchase a gift card for the exact amount but you need. Therefore, you are not left with any wasted money on a gift card or tempted to spend more than you initially set out to do. You also can generate the gift card instantly which is very convenient.

So don’t forget when online shopping that there are often ways to triple or quadruple dip and be on the lookout for those.

United MileagePlus X (MPX) App Guide (Triple Dip) [2019]

One of the great perks of being a United loyalist is that you can use the United MileagePlus X (MPX) App in order to boost your earnings when doing shopping or eating out at restaurants.

The MPX App is essentially a combination of a shopping portal + dining portal that allows you to earn additional United miles (and even Membership Rewards) on your purchases.

In some cases you can even triple dip for maximum value — keep reading to find out how.

What is the United MileagePlus X App?

The MileagePlus X App is an app that allows you to purchase eGift cards that can immediately be used at various restaurants and retailers (and online stores). After you link a credit card to your App and input the needed amount for the purchase, it supplies you with an instant gift card code that can be scanned or entered in manually by the merchant.

So it’s like a an app that instantly spits out a gift card for merchants.

It allows you to earn bonus rates such as 5X United miles on top of other bonus rates discussed below. For that reason, it’s a very valuable tool for miles and points collectors.

 

How do I download the App?

Your log-in information will be the same that you use for your United MileagePlus log-in. If you don’t have a MileagePlus account, now is the time to create one.

How does the United MileagePlus X app work?

To generate the eGift cards you’ll want to select the MileagePlus eGift Cards tab, where you’ll be able to search for other cards. You can also see where to search for the MileagePlus Dining and MileagePlus Shopping portals as well. 

Once you click on that section, you’ll see the merchants nearby listed within the app. If you click on a merchant you can find them on a map and also search for other locations. 

When you’re ready to pay you simply click on “Continue to pay now.” The MPX App allows you to enter specific amounts for your purchases for many merchants. That way you avoid putting anything extra on your credit card. Note that some merchants may require you to add balances in increments of $25, $50, $100, $250, and $500. Others may give you a range from $15 to $200.

Searching for online merchants

If you’d like to search for online merchants, simply click on the “Online merchants” tab from the eGift Cards page.

Stacking with online merchants

You can stack your earnings with United my using the MPX App to purchase gift cards for merchants that are also a part of the MileagePlus Shopping portal. That means you can double dip on United miles with a lot of your purchases (and triple dip with credit card points — more on that below).

This is actually endorsed by United, so you shouldn’t have a problem getting points with this method.

Searching by catalog

Searching by catalog allows you to browse the merchants by categories like food, entertainment, shopping, etc. I often have to use the search by catalog feature because sometimes I can’t get the app to show the merchant by location. 

How to make a purchase on the United MPX App?

You first need to make sure that you have a card linked up to your account. You can add a credit card by going to: eGift Cards -> My Account -> Credit Cards. This will allow you to add credit cards but if you want to delete cards, you’ll be taken to the United website to manage those.

Triple Dipping with the MileagePlus X App

The MPX App will have you earning United miles in a hurry. If you also hold a Chase United credit card, you’ll earn an additional 25% on your United miles. This is even the case if you downgraded to a no annual fee version. And this extra 25% is added even when you use other non-Chase/United credit cards!

Which brings me to the biggest tip of all. If you have the The Platinum Card® from American Express, you want to use this card as your default credit card. That’s because the MPX purchases will likely code as an airline purchase and earn you 5X on your purchases. 

Update: 5X on MPX with the Platinum Card appears to not work anymore.

However, sometimes the MPX App will still code as the type of merchant you’re buying from. So for example if you purchases a gift card for a restaurant with the MPX App using your Sapphire Reserve, you could earn 3X!

The United MPX App — just like shopping portals — sometimes offers bonus earning rates for certain merchants. For example, recently we saw bonuses for up to 10X with the MPX App. 

But recall that you can double dip by using the United Shopping portal. This means you’d actually be able to triple dip!

Managing your MPX account

If you go to the eGift Cards screen, you’ll see a tab for “My account.” This is where you will manage your credit cards.

MileagePlus X App FAQs

Can I use United miles for purchases?

  • The MPX App isn’t just for earning miles, you can also use them at these merchants. In the payment screen, click ‘Tap to select’ and choose ‘Use award miles’ as your form of payment.

Can I buy gift cards with the MPX App?

  • No. you cannot purchase merchant’s gift cards.

What happens if the merchant can’t scan the barcode?

  • On a number of occasions, merchants have struggled to scan the barcode. The solution is to ask them to manually enter the gift card number and PIN (if the PIN is needed). 

What is the maximum I can use at merchants?

  • Each merchant will have its  own policy regarding the minimum and maximum dollar amount allowed in each purchase through MileagePlus X. You should be able to see this on the App when viewing that merchant, as shown above.

When will the United miles hit my account?

  • One of the cool things about the MileagePlus X App is that the miles hit instantly, so you should seem them in your MileagePlus account pronto.

Can I get a refund?

  • As a general rule, gift cards are nonrefundable. Returns, credits, or exchanges will be governed by the merchant’s policies. So you’ll probably be stuck with something like a store credit in the event that you want to return an item.

You can read more FAQs here.

Final word on the MileagePlus X App

Should I Buy Southwest Points? (Rapid Rewards) [2019]

A lot of people wonder whether or not they should purchase Southwest Rapid Rewards. In this article, I’ll walk you through some factors to consider and talk about why that might or might not be a good deal. I’ll also show you how you can purchase Southwest points and also initiate transfers to other people.

Should I buy Southwest points?

Generally, buying Southwest points does not offer you a great value proposition but there are some instances where you might consider purchasing them. Below, I’ll talk about when it might make sense to purchase Southwest Rapid Rewards.

Tip: Use WalletFlo for all your credit card needs. It’s free and will help you optimize your rewards and savings!

How much are Rapid Rewards worth?

Before ever purchasing any type of miles or points it makes sense to figure out how much are those miles or points worth.

The value of Southwest Rapid Rewards are tied to the price of the airfare based on the following rates:

  • Business Select: 78 points per dollar
  • Anytime: 78 points per dollar
  • Wanna Get Away: 76-78 points per dollar

Those rates are based on the base fares so you can actually get a bit more value from your points when you factor in all of the fees and taxes. I generally find that I get about 1.4 to 1.6 cents per point when I redeem my Rapid Rewards for flights (factoring in the fees).

Here are a few examples I pulled up for redemptions:

  • HOU -> MDW: $148 or 9,700 points (1.47 cents per point)
  • HOU -> LAX: $150 or 9,796 points (1.48 cents per point)
  • FLL -> LAX: $153 or 9,433 points (1.56 cents per point)
  • OAK -> LAX: $65 or 3,677 points (1.63 cents per point)

With that said, it’s possible that the value for your redemptions could be lower or higher than that range but I think that estimating the value of Rapid Rewards at about 1.4 to 1.6 cents per point is a safe bet in many cases.

So now you can proceed with a baseline value in mind when choosing to purchase Rapid Rewards.

How much do Rapid Rewards cost?

Rapid Rewards are usually set at an established price. They will cost 3 cents per point at the lowest level of 2,000 points but once you get at 10,000 Rapid Rewards and beyond, they will cost you 2.75 cents per point.

  • 2,000 points for $60 = 3 cents per point
  • 10,000 points for $275 = 2.75 cents per point
  • 20,000 points for $550 = 2.75 cents per point
  • 30,000 points for $825 = 2.75 cents per point
  • 40,000 points for $1,100 = 2.75 cents per point

As you can tell, these prices are substantially higher than the value attached to Southwest points in most cases. Thus, you won’t be getting a good deal when you purchase Rapid Rewards in many cases. So unless you just need to top-off a Rapid Rewards balance, I don’t think that this is usually that great of a deal.

Just pay cash?

You always want to consider how many Rapid Rewards you’ll be earning if you just paid cash for the airfare.

Let’s use one of the examples shown above to see how this would work out:

  • HOU -> MDW: $148 or 9,700 points (1.47 cents per point)

In this example, let’s say you already had 5,700 Rapid Rewards in your Southwest account and just needed 4,000 Rapid Rewards to make the booking for 9,700 total points so you purchased 4,000 Rapid Rewards for $120.

Well, the price of the ticket is only $148 and so you if you just paid $28 extra you’d get to keep your 5,700 Rapid Rewards and you’d also earn 888 Rapid Rewards since Wanna Get Away fares earn you 6 points per dollar spent (6 x 148 = 888).

So that leaves two scenarios:

  • Spend $148, book your ticket, and have 6,588 Rapid Rewards left in your pocket
  • Spend $125, book your ticket, and have no Rapid Rewards left in your pocket

The second scenario also involves purchasing 4,000 Rapid Rewards for 3 cents per point and then redeeming for half of that amount so I would not be attracted to that option.

So you always want to think about the efficiency of just paying cash for a ticket versus purchasing points.

Credit card spend points

You also have to factor in the amount of points you will learn from credit card spend. When you purchase Southwest points they are processed by Points.com and so you are not typically going to earn bonus points such as those for travel with your credit card.

However, if you are purchasing airfare from Southwest you can earn as much as 5X with certain cards like the Amex Platinum. In the above example if you had used the American Express Platinum Card you would have earned 740 Membership Rewards on the $148 airfare. At a valuation of 1.8 cents per point that would be like getting $13 back.

So again purchasing points in that situation would have been considerably less lucrative than just paying cash for the airfare.

Promos

The cheapest time to purchase Southwest Rapid Rewards is whenever they are running a promotion.

Southwest is known to offer promotional offers for purchasing their points. For example, you might be able to receive a 30% or a 40% bonus when purchasing Southwest Rapid Rewards. In these cases, it can make a bit more sense to purchase points but they still are not usually the best deals that you can come across.

Here are some price examples from a recent 30% bonus offer from Southwest:

  • 3,000 Points: $63.00 (reg. $90.00)
  • 4,000 Points: $84.00 (reg. $120.00)
  • 5,000 Points: $96.25 (reg. $137.50)
  • 10,000 Points: $192.50 (reg. $275.00)
  • 15,000 Points: $288.75 (reg. $412.50)
  • 20,000 Points: $385.00 (reg. $550.00)
  • 25,000 Points: $481.25 (reg. $687.50)
  • 30,000 Points: $577.50 (reg. $825.00)
  • 40,000 Points: $770.00 (reg. $1,100.00)
  • 50,000 Points: $962.50 (reg. $1,375.00)

How to buy Southwest points

To purchase Southwest points you can go to the Southwest webpage here.

After you click on “Buy Points,” you’ll be able to select the number of Rapid Rewards that you want to purchase and then you’ll be prompted to input your credit card details.

Transferring Southwest Rapid Rewards Cost

You can also transfer Southwest Rapid Rewards to others. However, you cannot do this for free.

Southwest will charge you 1 cent per point to make a transfer.

So if you want to transfer 2,000 Rapid Rewards, it will cost you $20. Simply follow this link and then fill in the information, including the recipients name and Rapid Rewards number and you can initiate the transfer process.

If there is an ongoing promotion you might be able to take advantage of that promotion as well so that could be a cheap way to transfer your points to someone else.

Since transferring is so expensive I would just recommend you to make a booking for someone else using your points. 

Gifting Rapid Rewards

If you want to gift someone Southwest Rapid Rewards, it’s going to cost you the same amount as purchasing them outright and any ongoing promotions might apply to your situation as well.

Here are some of the gifting rates for your reference:

  • 2,000 points for $60 = 3 cents per point
  • 10,000 points for $275 = 2.75 cents per point
  • 20,000 points for $550 = 2.75 cents per point
  • 30,000 points for $825 = 2.75 cents per point
  • 40,000 points for $1,100 = 2.75 cents per point

Donating Rapid Rewards

Finally, you can also donate your Rapid Rewards and it will not cost you anything to donate them.

Here are some of the charities that you can donate to:

  • All Hands Volunteers
  • American Red Cross
  • Dream Foundation
  • Honor Flight Network
  • Make-A-Wish
  • Ronald McDonald House Charities
  • Student Conservation Association
  • Team Rubicon
  • The Mission Continues

Things to know

Minimum thresholds for promos

If purchasing for a promo, there may be a minimum points threshold that needs to met. For example, the terms might state: “A minimum 3,000 points purchase threshold must be met on a per transaction basis in order to qualify for the discount.”

Blocks of 1,000

Points must be purchased in blocks of 1,000 and a daily maximum of 60,000 points can be purchased by a Member with no annual maximum.

No refunds

Transactions are non-refundable and non-reversible, so make sure that you know what you’re doing when you decide to purchase points.

No A-List or Companion Pass

Purchased/gifted/transferred points do not count towards A-List, A-List Preferred, or Companion Pass qualification. This is a big one as some might expect to meet those elite levels or obtain the Companion Pass with purchase points but that’s just not possible with Southwest.

Processing time

Southwest states to “allow 72 hours for points to post to the applicable Rapid Rewards account.” This means that if you’re in a time crunch purchasing points for a last minute flight might not work out.

Can you purchase points with travel funds?

No, you cannot purchase Southwest Rapid Rewards with travel funds or with vouchers. Those need to be used exclusively for the cost of airfare and not for buying points. If you want to learn more about travel funds then you can click here.

Final word

Purchasing Southwest Rapid Rewards is often not the best idea because you’re purchasing points at a price that’s twice as high as the amount of value you might be getting from them. However, if you need to top-off your points or if you’re able to jump on a good promo, it might not be the worst idea ever. I’d still recommend that you just consider paying cash for the airfare though since you’ll earn Rapid Rewards and probably earn more points with a solid travel rewards credit cards.

AAdvantage Dining Program Guide: (Locations, 1,000 Point Bonus, Review) [2018]

The AAdvantage Dining program is a terrific way to boost your mileage earnings. It allows to you to double up on the rewards you’re already earning via your credit card spend and is an easy way to prevent your miles from expiring. But you need to know how the program works to maximize your earnings.

So here’s a detailed review and guide to the AAdvantage Dining program including how to find nearby locations and maximize bonuses. 

What is the AAdvantage Dining program?

The AAdvantage Dining program will earn you American Airlines miles for eating at certain restaurants. While there are many great AA credit cards that will earn you miles quicker, this is a great way to supplement your earnings.

The AAvantage Dinging Program is part of a broader rewards program called The Rewards Network.

The Rewards Network has been around for 30 years and has over 15 million members. The program offers you opportunities to earn miles and points with different airline and hotel loyalty programs when you visit any one of the 11,000+ restaurants, bars, and clubs that are part of the network.

(The Rewards Network also partners with Alaska, Southwest, Spirit, Delta, JetBlue, and United.) 

Rewards Network airline partners.

How do you sign-up for the AAdvantage Dining program?

Signing up is very easy but you should know a few things.

All you need to do is provide your by providing your:

  • Name
  • Address
  • Phone number
  • Email address
  • AAdvantage account number

Tip: Use WalletFlo for all your credit card needs. It’s free and will help you optimize your rewards and savings!

No membership fees

There are no membership fees so enrolling in the program is 100% free. You will need to eventually add an active credit card or debit card so that you can earn points, however.

Signing up is quick and easy!

Sign-up bonuses

It’s important to know that AAdvantage Dining typically offers some type of sign-up bonus.

For example, at the time of this article they were offering 1,000 bonus miles after you spend $25 in your first 30 days.

However, I’ve seen better intro offers like earning 3,000 miles when you spend $25 and make a few additional visits to locations. Thus, you might want to consider waiting around for a lucrative sign-up bonus.

AAdvantage Dining
AAdvantage Dining sign-up bonus.

Only one card with each dining program

Note that since AAdvantage Dining is a part of the Rewards Network, you can only have a credit card or debit card linked to one program.

So let’s say you already have your credit card linked to United’s program. When you add that same credit card to the AAdvantage program, it will no longer earn you miles for United.

However, you can register up to 5 cards for an individual at any time.

How many miles do you earn with the AAdvantage Dining program?

You earn rate depends on whether or not you opt in to receive emails and also on how many restaurants you eat at.

Here are the earning rates:

  • Members earn 1 AAdvantage mile per $2 spent if you elect to not receive email communications
  • Online Members earn 3 AAdvantage miles per $1 spent if you elect to receive email communications
  • VIP Members earn 5 AAdvantage miles per $1 spent if you elect to receive email communications AND have 12 or more qualified dining transactions in a calendar year.
Bonus-earning tiers.

Earning 3 AA miles per dollar spent on dining is a good and while I dread some signing up for some listservs, earning extra on dining could have you on your way towards some worthwhile redemptions like first class on domestic flights.

Do I need to complete reviews of the restaurant?

Very important: Completing a review after a restaurant visit is required in order for you to receive American Airlines AAdvantage bonus miles.

These reviews only take a minute to complete.

A few days after you visit an eligible restaurant, you’ll receive an email with a link to complete a review. (Review submission forms can also be accessed via your Account Center.) Complete the review ASAP since they usually require it to be done within a state time period (e.g., 30 days).

I try to have a little fun with the reviews but also strive to a be a bit helpful when leaving my thoughts. You can check out their content guidelines for more details on the reviews.

Who sees the reviews?

The reviews will be seen by the restaurants and if you choose, they can also be seen by other AAdvantage Dining members. These people will only see your initials though, so your identity will not be revealed beyond that.

What are the AAdvantage Dining program locations?

You’ll find all sorts of different dining establishments in the AAdvantage dining program. While searching for venues, I’ve seen fast food joints, local hot spots, large chain restaurants, and even bars and lounges pop up. It all depends on your location.

That link will take you to the Advanced Search feature which will allow you to sort locations by distance from you (search “near me”) and also allow you to filter them according to all sorts of criteria like establishment type (bar, restaurant, etc.), price, dress code, and cuisine.

AAdvantage Dining program filters.

You should note that some restaurants don’t allow you to earn points on certain days of the week, limit the number of restaurant visits per month, or put a limit on the total points you can earn. 

You can see which days these establishments are not offering rewards when you search because you’ll see a red X. Notice that when the search results populate you can also view them by a Map View, sort out new locations, and even see places you might like. Some people also enjoy using the “favorites” feature to keep track of places they enjoy.

A red X = no rewards available that day.

Tip: You can use a search filter so that you only see restaurants that are offering earning opportunities on the day you search by checking the “Rewards Available Today” or clicking “Hide locations not offering Rewards today.”

Once you click on an establishment, you’ll see more specific details for that venue. This is where you can check the reviews and also see details like maximum amount of visits or spending allowed for bonus earning.

When do the AAdvantage Dining miles show up?

AAdvantage miles will appear in your AAdvantage Dining account as soon as the transaction is registered by the restaurant, usually within 5 days. However, it can take up to 6–8 weeks for the miles earned through AAdvantage Dining to appear in your AAdvantage account.

Keep AA miles from expiring

One of the greatest perks of these dining portals is that they reset the clock on the expiration date of your miles with that respective airline. So if your AA miles are set to expire soon, this can be one of the easiest ways to keep them from expiring. 

Does membership expire?

  • Yes, but only after 36 consecutive months of no dining activity with your registered credit or debit card.

Getting the most out of AAdvantage Dining

When you log in to your Account Center, you’ll see different tabs that will allow you to modify your account settings. This is where you will need to go to change or update your credit card information. It’s also where you can select your dining preferences and even input your birthday to get special deals.

And most importantly, this is where you will monitor your rewards activity to make sure that your rewards post after a dining experience.

What happens if the miles don’t show up?

I’ve always had my miles show up after dining but in the event that they don’t, you just need to contact AAdvantage Dining.

If it has been more than 10 days since you visited the establishment, there’s a form in the Account Center that you find which will allow to submit your inquiry for missing miles.

Send in an inquiry for missing miles.

You’ll  need to keep track of the name of the establishment, the city/state, the date of your visit, amount spent, and supply the last four digits of the credit card that you used. This is one reason it can be helpful to keep track of your receipts when you dine at AAdvantage Dining establishments.

  • Members and Online Members can call AAdvantage DiningSM Member Services at 800–479–5981, or email us at aa@rewardsnetwork.com.
  • VIP Members have their own special hotline: 866–638–6906

Final word

The AAdvantage Dining program is a great way to boost your mileage balance and to reset the clock on your miles so that they don’t expire. It’s incredibly easy to use and I recommend it for anyone who is trying to earn additional AAdvantage miles.