Earning rewards is the best way to travel for less, by far. And it’s so easy to earn so many more rewards than you are earning right now. So many people sadly think rewards aren’t worth the effort, but it’s kind of normal to think that when you think rewards are just the terrible 1% back you get with a retail reward program. It’s so much better than that.
I can guarantee you can earn so many more rewards than you are earning right now, so easily.
We’re creating a lot more travel rewards content, and this post is another one to give you an introduction to the basics.
Here are the ways to earn more rewards.
Overview of how to earn more rewards
To be clear, you should never earn just a terrible 1%-2% back like so many people sadly settle for (because they just don’t know they can get more). Again, it’s so easy if you know how.
You should aim to get 15%+ back on all your spending — which is easy for almost all travelers if they follow our tips.
There are 3 main ways to earn more rewards:
- Earn with credit cards
- Earn with rewards programs directly
- Earn with online shopping portals
The first one is the most important, by far. If you want to invest as little time as possible while getting the best return, just focus on credit cards.
But if you want to absolutely maximize your rewards, all you need to do is maximize all 3 as much as possible. And I’ll show you exactly how.
All 3 ways to earn include a few different elements:
- Credit cards
- Earn with welcome bonuses
- Earn with earn rates
- Rewards programs directly
- Earn with promotions
- Earn with base rates
- Earn with online shopping portals
- Earn with promotions
- Earn with base rates
The key is really stacking all these together to get an incredibly higher return on your spending!
Here are more details about every way to earn rewards.
Earn with credit cards
This is THE MOST IMPORTANT PART. By far.
Stop fearing credit. Not using credit cards is not savvy at all; all you have to do is pay everything on time and you’ll never pay a cent in interest. And you’ll get insurance protections and many credit card benefits, like the no foreign transaction fee benefit, the free checked bag benefit, or the free access to VIP airport lounges benefit.
Earn with credit card welcome bonuses
This is the most important part of the most important part.
Welcome bonuses give you 10%-15% back on thousands of dollars of your spending at a time. Getting more credit cards also improves your credit score, contrary to the very common and very wrong myth — as long as you follow the 3 simple rules.
Welcome bonuses really are the key. Banks offer huge welcome bonuses and you really need to stop missing out. I’ve earned over $25,000 in rewards since I started in the wonderful world of travel rewards!
For example, you’ll get 82,500 points ($825 for any travel) by unlocking the Scotiabank Gold American Express Card’s increased welcome bonus, which requires just $7,500 in spending. If you were earning just 1%, you’d get just $75 on $7,500… instead you get $825. That’s 11% back!
How to earn more rewards with credit card welcome bonuses:
- Get a huge welcome bonus
- Repeat
It’s the best way to earn more rewards, and it’s the simplest. Just get welcome bonuses. Simple.
Earn with credit card earn rates
Most people overestimate the importance of this part. If you use your spending to unlock welcome bonuses (like you should if you want to maximize), you don’t need to worry too much about earn rates.
But at the very least, you should earn 5% on almost everything when you’re not using your spending to unlock welcome bonuses, thanks to multiplier rates (sometimes called accelerator rates or category bonuses).
Yes, a few amazing cards have earn rates of 5% to ≈ 7.5% at grocery stores. So with the gift card trick, you should get at least 5% to ≈ 7.5% at 100+ other non-grocery retailers by buying their gift cards at grocery stores. For everywhere else, you earn ≈ 3.5% to ≈ 6% with the similar prepaid card trick.
However, you lose the free extended warranty for what you buy if you don’t pay with your credit card. So if you need the free warranty, outside of grocery stores, make sure to have a card that earns more than 1% as a base earn rate. We’ll add that section to our credit card ranking soon.
How to earn more rewards with credit card earn rates:
- Get a card with a 5% earn rate
- Use the gift cards trick and prepaid cards trick
Everyone should always have at least 1 card with a 5%+ earn rate.
Earn with rewards programs directly
This isn’t as fast, but it’s still free rewards. So always take them.
Almost all merchants you deal with have their own rewards program, whether it’s a retailer or a travel provider. It takes 30 seconds to create a free account and start earning a bit more than just your credit card rewards.
Earn with reward programs promotions
This is the most lucrative way to earn with reward programs directly, but it’s the one most people don’t pay any attention to.
Most reward programs offer promotions and special offers throughout the year, like earning 30% or 50% more points (or getting discounts, which is the same principle). Timing your purchases and bookings with those promos is really easy and can definitely be worth it.
But it does require investing a lot more time than just getting cards with huge welcome bonuses and using them for all your spending (and you’ll earn a lot less than with welcome bonuses, too).
We’ve started covering more of these promos and we’ll have more, to make it easy for you to open 1 newsletter every week and see all the promos instead of having to constantly look at all reward programs.
How to earn more rewards with reward program promotions:
- Sign up for our free travel rewards newsletter
- Buy and book when there are promotions
Think of it as extreme couponing, but with a lot more potential.
Earn with reward programs base rates
Many reward programs offer you a base earn rate, meaning you earn a certain amount of rewards for every dollar you spend.
If so, it’s a slow way to earn, but it’s as easy as showing your membership card at checkout or entering your membership number online.
More and more retail programs are moving towards personalized offers and promotions instead of a base earn rate, but travel programs tend to still offer a base earn rate on every dollar spent.
For example, you earn 10% back on every hotel on Hotels.com and a set amount on every flight with most airlines, but there’s no longer a base earn rate with most grocery store reward programs.
How to earn more rewards with reward program base rates:
- Create a free account for every program
- Always show your membership card/enter your number
It’s so effortless that you shouldn’t miss out on these rewards, however small they may be.
Earn with online shopping portals
This is the least-known of the 3 ways, but it’s so easy and there’s really no reason not to use it. First, it’s 2024 so for convenience and price, you should buy everything you can online.
It’s simple: you click through online shopping portals to buy on 700+ websites you already know. That gives you bonus rewards, in addition to the rewards you earn with your credit card and with the reward programs directly!
Earn with online shopping portal promotions
Again, promotions make it faster to earn. For example, instead of 1% back, sometimes shopping portals give you 10% back! That’s how huge the difference can be.
Just like everything in the world of travel, planning well is the way to get the best value! For all the things you buy online (including travel), plan your purchases ahead and try to time them when there are huge promotions, instead of buying impulsively or at the last minute.
There are frequent promotions for the 5 main online shopping portals for Canadians: Rakuten (cash back — $30 welcome bonus with our link), Aeroplan eStore (Aeroplan points), AIR MILES Shops (AIR MILES Miles), RBC Avion (Avion points), and British Airways (Avios points).
We’ll also cover these promotions more regularly in our free newsletter specifically for travel rewards.
How to earn more rewards with online shopping portal promotions:
- Sign up for our free travel rewards newsletter
- Buy and book when there are promotions
It’s definitely worth keeping all your big purchases and bookings for when these promotions are live.
Earn with online shopping portal base rates
At the very least, take 10 seconds to make a few extra clicks through a portal for everything you buy, even if you don’t want to wait for a promotion.
It’ll probably give you just 1% or 2%, but still… it’s the easiest 1% or 2% imaginable. We’ll soon update our ultimate guide to online shopping portals.
If there are no promotions, one way to maximize is at least compare the earn rates on the 5 main online shopping portals for Canadians mentioned above, as it can vary greatly from one to the other.
For example, buying clothes at Old Navy can give you 1% via Rakuten, or ≈ 3% via the Aeroplan eStore. Or the opposite. These rates vary somewhat throughout the year, so like everything in travel, just take the time to compare if you want to get the best value.
How to earn more rewards with online shopping portal base rates:
- Create a free account for every portal
- Use them when you buy or book anything
Again, a bonus of 1% on everything seems tiny, but some people sadly only get 1% total so using an online shopping portal gives them 100% more rewards.
Learning how to travel for less
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Summary
Earning travel rewards is a game-changer for any traveler looking to maximize their spending. By leveraging credit card welcome bonuses, rewards programs, and online shopping portals, you can significantly increase the amount of rewards you earn. Remember, it’s all about knowing where to look and taking advantage of the opportunities available.
What would you like to know about how to maximize travel rewards? Tell us in the comments below.
See the flight deals we spot: Cheap flights
Discover free travel with rewards: Travel rewards
Explore awesome destinations: Travel inspiration
Learn pro tricks: Travel tips
Featured image: Praia da Lagoa, Brazil (photo credit: Bruno da Silva)
