Plink Archives - Travel With Miles

How I made 16,000 points and $215 on Black Friday shopping

Note: We are in the middle of a contest to give away two round trip plane tickets to The BPM Festival in January. Make sure you have gotten your entries in!

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Black Friday is a crazy time of year for promotions and this year was no exception. I thought it might be interesting to share some of the deals that I came across for Black Friday and took advantage of.

Earlier in the week, Amazon had a promo on the Nexus 7 32 GB tablets that I like to buy for resale for $239.99 including free shipping and no tax. I had a bunch of Amazon gift cards I had gotten from Plink so this was a perfect way to turn those gift cards into cash when I resell that same tablet in my Amazon store for $269 after the Black Friday sales are over!

Then on Wednesday, I got an email from Staples with a $50 off coupon for any tablet so I ordered another of the Nexus 7 32 GB for $269-$50 = $219. I had to pay tax on this one so my total cost was $234.33. If you read my article on Shopping Portals for Mega Miles, you know that I always get extra miles by starting at a portal. This time I used UPromise for an extra 5% back in cash. Staples also has a rewards program where I get another 5% back in Staples bucks to use towards a future purchase. I also get Plink Points for Staples so will get another $3 back. I used my Ink Bold card to pay for it which gives me 5 Ultimate Rewards points per dollar spent. This makes my net cost $210.09 plus I get 1174 Ultimate Rewards points. I will resell this for around $269 through my Amazon store.

The last deal I was really happy about. OfficeMax was offering a promo where you could buy a $200 gift card for $180. Since there is a $6.95 activation fee, this means you would make $13.05 on the card after the promo. And since I was going to use my Chase Ink Bold Card, I would get 5 Ultimate Reward points per dollar since it is an office supply store. I got there shortly after they opened at 8 PM on Thanksgiving (we did a Thanksgiving lunch instead of a dinner so I was free). They had them right up front when I asked about them and they told me “You can buy two per transaction but there is no limit on the number of transactions.” What!?! OK, I will take them all then!

Each of those is two $200 gift cards. So I ended up with 16 $200 gift cards for a total of $3200 in cards for a total cost of $2984. Since I used my Ink Bold, I will get another 15,000 Ultimate Rewards on top of making $215! Gotta love it! If you read my article about Spending Money without Spending Money you know I can use my Bluebird account to take these gift cards and immediately pay off the Ink Bold card I just used to charge it!

I am not sure if there is anything else I will be buying this weekend, but I wanted to share these deals with you so you could get some ideas on how you can make extra miles too! How did you make miles on Black Friday?

How to use Plink to automatically make extra money when you shop.

One thing I love about the points and miles world is it is always changing. There is always a new way popping up to make extra miles, points or cash. Plink is one of those things that I just found out about recently, but one that has already made me an extra $1500 since I found out about it! If you want to see a few examples click here to see deals where I used Plink. Today I am going to show you exactly how to sign up for Plink and use it the first time.

How does Plink work?

When you make purchases you get “Plink Points”. The rate varies by Merchant and amount of purchase.
When you have saved up enough Plink points you can redeem them for gift cards at places such as Amazon.com and Walmart.

An example:

Plink is currently offering the following points when you shop at Staples.

If you make two $60 purchases at Staples (or one $120 purchase but have them run the credit or debit card two times for $60 each) then you will receive 600 Plink Points.

You can then take 500 of those Plink points and redeem it for a $5 Amazon.com card.

They will email you an e-gift code that you can use right away! It’s that easy!

But I don’t shop at Staples?

Since it is a new service, they have a rotating selection of merchants. My favorites are Sears, K-Mart, Burger King, Quiznos, Outback Steakhouse, and Advance Auto Parts.

What do I need to make extra money with Plink?

A credit or debit card that you have signed up for online access.

That’s it! Plink uses the same networks that megasites like Mint.com and Intuit use so you can feel secure since you have to give them your banking login information so they can track your purchases.

To get started, head over to plink.com and sign up for an account. You can use your FB or Twitter if you don’t want to create a separate account. I like to keep my accounts independent so I used the email option.

Once you are logged in, it will prompt you to add a bank card. This can be a credit card or a debit card but you can only add one that will be tracked. As I mentioned this site uses the same security that Mint.com and many other large financial data companies use so I don’t worry about my identity getting stolen or anything.

After you put in your debit or credit card name, you will be prompted for your banking login (Don’t freak out about this! It’s safe! 🙂 )

You will then be taken to “Your Wallet” which initially has 3 slots for different merchants. You can click on the merchants to the right to see the details of each one and add them to your wallet. You can get extra wallet slots by things like downloading their mobile app or other ways.And that’s all to get signed up! Then you just charge like you normally do and watch the Plink points roll in. Since they retrieve your transactions automatically there is nothing left to do. So when you buy that #4 at Burger King, you will automatically be getting 70 cents back that you can use for Amazon.com gift cards! They also have a mobile app where you can “Check In” to the location you used on social networking for an extra 5 plink points.

So what are you waiting for? Sign up now with Plink and make some extra money with no hassles!

Have you liked TravelWithMiles on Facebook yet or followed us on Twitter? Make sure to do it today so you don’t miss any of our great deals to travel the world!

How I made 1800 United Miles from $75 in online shopping. Debit cards OK!

Check your email for one from United Mileage Plus Shopping titled “Earn 1,500 miles simply by shopping”. If you have it like I did then you have been targeted for a special promotion for extra miles. This promotion is only open to those who received the email. If you didn’t receive the email, sign up for mileage plus shopping so you can get the next one! The promotion gives you 500 United miles after you make a $25 purchase, then 1000 miles when you make two more purchases totaling $50 more. This ends up being 24 Miles per dollar on these purchases which is pretty awesome! All of the purchases have to be made by November 11, 2013. Here is how I am going to maximize it:

Click through the United Mileage Plus Shopping page to K-Mart and buy one physical $25 gift card using my Chase Sapphire Preferred that I have registered with Plink. You can use your debit card if you don’t have a miles earning card yet. This will give me 25 UR points for the purchase plus 100 United Miles for the 4 miles per dollar plus 500 Miles for the first bonus plus $1.25 in Plink points.
One day later I will buy two physical $25 Kmart gift cards in separate transactions, again with my Chase Sapphire Preferred. For each purchase this will give me 25 UR Miles, 75 United Miles, and $1.25 in Plink points. I will also get the 1000 bonus United Miles.
Keep in mind that you can do this even if you only have a debit card and still get the 1800 United Miles and the Plink points.

This means I will receive a total of 1800 United Miles, 75 UR Points and $3.75 in Plink points for $75 in purchases. I will receive even more miles and points when I use the gift cards at Sears or K-Mart. What a deal! I love this game!

Feel free to comment on this post if you have any questions and don’t forget to Like us on Facebook and Follow us on Twitter!

1800 Delta Skymiles with a total of $100 in online purchases. No Credit needed!

Check your email for one from Delta Skymiles Shopping titled “Member Exclusive! Make 1,500 Bonus Miles When You Shop Three Times”. If you have it like I did then you have been targeted for a special promotion for extra miles. This promotion is only open to those who received the email. The promotion gives you 500 Skymiles after you make a $50 purchase, then 1000 Skymiles when you make two more purchases totaling $50 more. All of the purchases have to be made by November 4, 2013. Here is how I am going to maximize it:

Click through the Delta Skymiles Shopping page to Sears and buy one physical $50 Sears gift card using my Chase Ink Bold that I have registered with Plink (with K-Mart chosen as one of my wallet entries since Sears issues their gift cards from K-Mart). This will give me 50 UR points for the purchase plus 150 Skymiles for the 3 miles per dollar plus 500 Skymiles for the first bonus plus $3 in Plink points.
One day later I will buy two physical $25 Sears gift cards in separate transactions, again with my Ink Bold. For each purchase this will give me 25 UR Miles,75 Skymiles, and $1.25 in Plink points. I will also get the 1000 bonus Delta Skymiles.
Keep in mind that you can do this even if you only have a debit card and still get the 1800 Delta Skymiles and the Plink points.

This means I will receive a total of 1800 Delta Skymiles, 100 UR Points and $5.50 in Plink points for $100 in purchases. I will receive even more miles and points when I use the gift cards at Sears. What a deal! I love this game!

Feel free to comment on this post if you have any questions and don’t forget to Like us on Facebook and Follow us on Twitter!

Make 1565 UR Points, $35 in gift cards, when you buy $300 in gift cards at Staples. Or more!

Staples is having a promotion this week where if you buy $300 in Mastercard Gift cards, they will mail you a $20 gift card for Staples.

If you buy a $200 GC for $206.95 and a $100 GC for $105.95, you will have a total cost of $312.90. If you charge this using your Ink Bold card you will get 5X Ultimate Rewards Points or 1570 points and they will mail you a $20 Staples gift card. This would give you a total of $320 in gift cards and 1570 UR points for a cost of $312.90. If you can’t find the $200 gift cards you can do 3 $100 gift cards for a total cost of $317.85 instead and still make money.

But wait, you can make more with Plink!

Staples is a Plink vendor that is currently offering 300 Plink points (worth $3 in gift cards) for each $60 purchase.

So to maximize the Plink points when they have you rung up, tell the cashier you want to pay with multiple credit cards. On the first charge, put $60 and use the card you have linked with your Plink account. Then do the same thing 4 more times, putting the final balance on the 5th charge. So you will have charges of $60, 60, 60, 60, and then $72.90. This will get you $15 worth of Plink points that you can use for Walmart or Amazon gift cards. If you check in to Staples as well using the Plink mobile app, you will get another 25 points (5 points for each transaction).

But wait, you can make more with American Express Sync!

American Express currently has a sync promotion for Staples where if you spend $75, they will give you a $25 credit back to your card you use.

Since I have my SPG Business American Express, I can use this card to make this deal even sweeter! If you are not familiar with the Amex Sync program, check out this article we did on how it works.

So if you have an Ink Bold card as well as a Amex, this is how the deal could work out.

Buy a $200 MC GC and a $100 MC GC for $312.90
Charge the first $75 on your Amex card after you have registered for the Staples Sync offer.
Split the remaining balance into multiple charges on your Ink Bold card of $60, $60, $60, and $57.90.
You will end up with 1190 UR points, a $20 staples gift card, $300 in MC GCs, $10.25 in Plink gift cards, and a $25 Amex statement credit for a total cost of $312.90.

Wow! What a great deal! But this deal ends today 10/19/2013 so head to Staples now!

Edit: When I went to Staples to buy the cards, I decided to get two $200 gift cards since I could get another 500 UR points for just another $1 paid. I also split my payment up $75 on the Amex then made four payments of $60 and one of $98.90. This will give me $15 in Plink earnings, $400 in gift cards, $25 in Amex Credit, a $20 gift card, 50 SPG points, 1695 UR Points for a cost of $413.90. Not bad!

Awesome Deal Alert! Get 12 American AAdvantage Miles per $ spent at Sears through October 12.

I guess Sears has opened up their marketing budget because another great offer for miles has come up, this time with American Airlines AAdvantage Shopping Portal. This deal for 12 Miles per dollar through 10/12/13 is pretty much identical to the United one from two days ago so rather than cutting and pasting everything I would suggest you just read that deal for the details. Here is a summary though if you have never done this before and want to get started earning boatloads of miles!

What to do if you have never done anything with Sears, American Airlines, or Plink before?

If you want to get started here are the steps to take.

Sign up for a free American Airlines AAdvantage frequent flyer account. This is the account you will get the miles deposited to.
Log into your AAdvantage Shopping account using the frequent flyer number and password you just created.
Sign up for a free Plink account. Add Sears and KMart to your “wallet” once you have your account set up and download the mobile Plink app.
Sign up with Shop Your Way Rewards to get an extra 1% back to use at Sears or K-Mart. This link will sign you up with me as your personal shopper and I will get 1% too!
Click on the Sears link from AAdvantage Shopping which will take you to Sears’ web site.
Start with just one $50 physical gift card purchase if you want so you can see how the process works. Make multiple $50 orders if you want more miles. Make sure to use the credit or debit card you registered with Plink.
When you receive the gift card, go back through AAdvantage Shopping again and buy something you need at Sears (they sell a ton of stuff).
Then next time you will have all the accounts set up so you can swing for the fences and get a ton of miles!

Feel free to comment on this post if you have any questions and don’t forget to Like us on Facebook and Follow us on Twitter!

Awesome Deal Alert! 12-16X Miles at Sears via United Mileageplus Shopping

Sears occasionally has some awesome promotions such as when I made 264,000 Ultimate Rewards points and $1000 with Sears and when I received 189,000 Southwest points and the companion pass via online shopping. This is one of those times!

For today and tomorrow you can get 12 United Miles per $ that you spend on Sears.com. If you have the United Explorer card, the rate goes up to an amazing 16 Miles per $! Now even though the terms and conditions say gift cards don’t apply, in my experience as long as you order the physical gift cards the miles will still be awarded. Read this recent post of ours about maximizing sears purchases by quadruple dipping using Plink for bonus points you can redeem for giftcards.

The way to maximize this is to buy the physical gift cards today using a Plink optimized amount of $50 per gift card. Since the gift cards purchased at Sears are issued by KMart (they have the same parent company), you will need to have KMart in your Plink wallet. By the way I get 100 Plink points (worth $1!) if you sign up for Plink using this link 🙂 so thanks!

So an overview of how this would work if you wanted to get $1000 of gift cards would be.

Buy twenty $50 gift cards in separate transactions each time starting at the Mileage Plus Shopping Portal
For each purchase, you would get 12X$50 = 600 united miles and 300 Plink points.
So if you bought 20 gift cards you would get 12,000 United Miles and 6,000 Plink points (worth $60 in gift cards).
This is in addition to whatever miles or points you would get from the credit card you use.
Once you get the gift cards you can go back through the shopping portal again and will get more miles when you use the cards for merchandise!

So what to do with the gift cards if you don’t actually need anything from Sears? What I do is buy and sell tablet PCs. I can usually buy and sell them for about the same amount. I have had really good luck with the new Nexus 7 model from Asus.

Read this post for an example of how I bought and sold tablets without losing much and scored a bunch of miles!. Once you buy and sell enough with Sears you can become a Platinum member in their Shop Your Way Rewards program and get an extra 15% if you buy on the right days.

What to do if you have never done anything before?

If you want to get started here are the steps to take.

Sign up for a free United Mileage Plus frequent flyer account. This is the account you will get the miles deposited to.
Log into your Mileage Plus Shopping account using the frequent flyer number and PIN you just created.
Sign up for a free Plink account. Add Sears and KMart to your “wallet” once you have your account set up and download their mobile app.
Then follow the guidance above to get started. Start with just one $50 purchase if you want so you can see how the process works and buy something you need at Sears (they sell a ton of stuff). Then next time you will have all the accounts set up so you can swing for the fences and get a ton of miles!

Feel free to comment on this post if you have any questions and don’t forget to Like us on Facebook and Follow us on Twitter!

Get paid for getting miles with Plink and Gap. Really!

We talked a bit about Plink in our Quadruple Dipping at Sears article, and there are having another promotion right now that is pretty sweet. Plink is a rewards program that gives you “Plink Points” for making purchases at certain merchants over a certain dollar amount (for example, 250 Plink points for a $25 purchase at 7-11). You can then redeem those Plink points for a variety of gift certificates such as Amazon.com at a rate of $1 / 100 Plink points. They will email you the Amazon gift certificates right away.

Through Sunday, September 8, 2013 Plink is having a promotion where they double their normal rate of 1200 Plink Points / $100 purchase at The Gap clothing store.

This means you will get 2400 Plink points for every $100 you spend. 2400 Plink points has a value of $24 when redeemed for gift cards. Here is how the deal would work:

Start with a points earning card such as the Starwood Preferred Guest Business Amex which gives 1 Starpoint / $1 spent.
Go to your local Gap store and make 10 separate purchases of $100 gift cards.
For these purchases you will get 24,000 Plink points which you can redeem for $240 worth of Amazon.com gift cards.
If you “Check In” using the Plink mobile app after your purchase, you will get an additional 5 Plink points per purchase (every bit helps!)
You will now have $1000 in Gap gift cards which you can sell to a site such as ABC Gift Cards for either $810 in a check or $850 if you can use Amazon.com gift cards.

So for spending $1000, you end up with $240 in Amazon.com gift cards plus an $810 check, and 1000 Starpoints. That’s a $50 profit for earning 1000 miles (Starpoints in my example)!

What a deal!

Quadruple Dipping at Sears for up to 47% off everything, even sale stuff!

Warning: This is an advanced post, but don’t be scared! Just try to understand it step by step. The savings are worth the trouble!

A unique opportunity has presented itself for the next few days that I wanted to share with you. By combining the following, you can save up 31-45% off every single thing that Sears sells:

Plink is having a sale until August 25, where for every $50 you spend at K-Mart, you get 600 Plink points which can be redeemed for $6 in Amazon.com gift certificates (or others). Sears.com gift card purchases get billed as K-Mart which works for this special. I have used this site for the past few months and it has been reliable.
AAdvantage Shopping through August 17, 2013 is offering 9 AAdvantage miles per dollar spent which also works if you order physical gift cards.
Once you get the gift cards, if you have a Discover It® Card (like the Discover It card we told you about last week), you can go back to Sears using the ShopDiscover Portal and get 10% cashback.
You can get an additional 1-15% by signing up for sears Shop Your Way Rewards and shopping on the right day. You can get 1% all the time, but if you are a VIP you can get up to 15% on one day a quarter.

For those people who aren’t really into this it might seem a bit confusing so here is an example.

Start at AAdvantageshopping.com and use the credit card you have registered with Plink to buy a $50 physical gift card. You will get $50*9=450 AAdvantage Miles and 600 Plink points.

Then log into your ShopDiscover account and click back through to Sears to earn 10% on whatever you buy. Assuming you buy something that is $50, you will get another $5 from Discover. By putting your shopyourwayrewards number in when you purchase, you will get another 1%-15% depending on your VIP level.

So for every $50 gift card you buy, you will end up with:

450 AAdvantage miles (worth at least $5)
600 Plink points (worth $6)
$5 in Discover cashback
1%-15% in ShopYourWayRewards points.

This adds up to 32-47% off anything Sears sells!

So if you wanted to buy a $1000 TV, you could buy twenty $50 gift cards in separate transactions and end up with 9000 AAdvantage miles, $120 worth of Plink Points, $100 in Discover Cashback, and $10-$150 in ShopYourWayRewards points.

Awesome, huh? Act fact though because this perfect storm only lasts until tomorrow. You can replace Step 2 with the cashback from Discover though until August 25th if you would rather have cash than AAdvantage miles.

Feel free to comment if you have any questions and I will try to answer them!