I Ordered a Car on Ebay and Learned my Lesson

I Ordered a Car on Ebay and Learned my Lesson

Just about a year ago my 'baby' girl was winding down her Senior year of high school. The precedent had been set with her siblings for a new (to them) car right around HS graduation. She had lofty aspirations to go way off to college and was in the midst of her methodical plan to become a dentist. So I felt an even greater obligation to balance an auto she likes with what's most reliable with a wow factor, all within my budget. After months of test drives, internet searches and weekend road trips I settled my search on a BMW X3.

Now I realized right away that my internet searches were going to take me far, far from northeast Arkansas to find the price/mileage/year with which I was comfortable.  Factor in that her only real request was that it be a dark grey and the search was on. I had Cars.com, usedcars.com, autotrader.com and every other app I could find on my phone to search and request info while in the field. I decided early on I would only inquire with dealers and avoid any 'By Owner' listings. I figured I just had more recourse for problems this way.

I found one at a BMW dealership in Miami. Now anyone that know me knows I was all about a trip to south Florida and if I had to spend a few days there to complete the paperwork before driving home then so be it! I've got the miles  and points routine on this trip down pat. I negotiated over the course of a few days with a very professional salesman. Never leaving any stone unturned I had even gotten approval to pay a $5K down payment with a credit card. Always looking for the points & miles.

In the meantime I kept coming back to a saved listing 'By Owner' I had found on autotrader.com. It was just like the one I was negotiating on in Miami but I had no idea where in the country it was. It just kept calling to me. So on Wednesday morning, despite my own self-imposed rule, I submitted a request for the owner to contact me.

All day Wednesday no response. None overnight. Zilch on Thursday. Nothing that night either. I just figured it had already been sold.

Friday evening I'm searching eBay and I come across a listing there for the same car. It has to be. The pictures are the same. It's a 'Buy It Now' listing that ends Tuesday at 11 am. Why hasn't this guy returned my inquiry from autotrader? I decide to send a message via eBay and inquire. No response that night. Nothing when I get up Saturday. I'm just wishing I could find out something before I buy at Miami.

Saturday afternoon a receive a simple text with a northern Florida area code: "Out of the country, will call Sunday night."

Out of the country? You've got to be kidding me. My sensible untrusting, realistic negative nature overcomes me. We are talking about Ebay here, the world's largest platform for scams and cons, right? This person has been unresponsive and now this is all they have to say? I mean come on. Do they really expect someone to click the 'Buy It Now' button on an auto at this price and not even answer any questions because they're out of the country? No, they're not going to call me. I suppose some sucker might fall for this but it won't be me!

Sunday night at 8 pm my phone rings. Same north Florida Number. I decide to answer to see just where this goes. The man calling me is speaking fluent English but has a definite accent. Now Kim & I have been blessed to get to travel quite a bit and I always enjoy identifying accents wherever I go but I can't put my my finger on this one. It's not Spanish......but it's similar. . . but I can't place it. He tells me his name but I didn't catch it. 

He proceeds to tell me all about the car. Its pristine. All servicing performed by dealer and he has the records. Low miles. Loaded with options. Still smells new inside. Brand new tires. Everything a buyer could ever want! I was just waiting for him to tell me his elderly grandmother only drove it to church on Sunday. 

I inquire about the title. He says he doesn't have it but will send his wife this week to pick up the e-Title. Says this is a new thing in Florida. 

Um-hum.

At this point I'm ready to get off the phone. Ive heard more than enough for this sensible untrusting, realistic negative country boy. I ask the one remaining question he hadn't already covered from my check list that I had asked about every single car: "Has anyone smoked in this car? It's a big deal to my wife and if so just let me know and I won't waste any more of your time."

His response: "If you saw what my wife and I see you would know we would never smoke. We are dentists."

Ah hahh! If you're dentists then there should be a way for me to find some semblance of a trace of you on the internet. I calmly ask for his name again. I even ask him to spell it for me. I can't wait to get off the phone now to see about this so-called dentist from Gainesville.

As soon as I hang up my wife asks what I found out. I tell her about my conversation while I'm googling.

Wait . . . Wait a minute. 

Humm. 

Well I'll be.. . .. .

Who would've thought that???

Not only is my search showing him to be a dentist but......he's the Graduate Program Director at the University of Florida? And he lectures around the world about Periodontology? And his online speaking schedule shows him as having been (gulp) in South America this week? And I guess being a native of Brazil would explain his Portuguese accent? Oh yeah, and his wife specializes in Endodonics at University of Florida.

Taking way too much enjoyment in my baffled state, my wife starts lecturing me "it's providence, it's providence" as I walk around the house. 

I google State of Florida automobile titles and turns out they do things a little different than here in Arkansas. Turns out e-Titles are real thing. Huh. 

I've got to rethink this whole scenario. What am I missing? My wife who always looks for the good in people is chastising me on how I need to be more trusting of people. 

I'm weighing the probability of a stolen identity on eBay.

First thing Monday morning I call my banker to run this e-title thing by her. It's a first for her too but after checking she believes it legit.

All day Monday I waffle on what to do here. Around noon the hi-res Dropbox pics he had promised come through. Wow! It really does look pristine. 

Monday night I work up an offer and send it to him through messaging on Ebay. Price, when, where, how, etc. The offer is good if he doesn't sell to someone else before the Ebay listing expires. If he wants to sell to me we will do this deal man to man, not on Ebay. Otherwise I'll just go with the Miami listing. He calls me shortly after the listing expires Tuesday and we agree to a deal. The rest of the week the deal is hashed out. My loan papers prepared. E-Title forwarded over. Everything is set. I'll fly to Gainesville early Monday morning on 12,500 American miles. Uber over to his office and make the deal. I'll book a hotel room from the road thru Rocketmiles.com based on how far along I've traveled on drive home. Everything is set to get my daughters' X3.

Then late Sunday night he needs to change the plan. Turns out he can't get away from his office to meet me. Says I shouldn't bother coming to his office. Wants to change the meeting place. Deal can be made at the airport. Says he will send his wife instead to close the deal. 

This is what my sensible untrusting, realistic negative mind has to pour over all night as I toss & turn before my early flight. I recall the instructions on Ebay to NEVER deal with buyers or sellers outside of the Ebay platform. But wait. . . didn't I contact him outside Ebay first?? And aren't  security cameras like EVERYWHERE at airports??   And now he's sending his wife?? If this IS a scam he's got to be the worst artist ever.

Kathleen, who I did meet meet, was as sweet and kind a person as I have ever met.  In the 30 minutes or so at the airport while closing the deal she and her sister, who tagged along, showed to be genuinely classy people. Polite, courteous and helpful. They even showed up with signs with my name to greet me exiting the secure area just to have fun with the experience. 

Rodrigo, who I didn't get to meet in person, proved to be a man of integrity and character. Heck, he even had the X3 cleaned and a full tank of gas so I could get on my way quickly. HE was giving ME the benefit of the doubt at every turn in the encounter.

And while I don't envision a scenario where our paths will ever cross again, I genuinely hope they do. I now know  a couple in Gainesville who I consider friends. 

My wife sent me a text shortly after I drove away from the airport. "See, there are good people in the world everywhere. You should just give more a chance.  :) ". 

I bought a car on Ebay and I learned some lessons. :)

Home Remodel for Holidays Yields ~13,500 Points

My wife has been on a 'get new carpet & flooring' kick for quite some time. I have cycled through my excuses reasons multiple times the past few years on why we should wait to undertake this project. However, in November I realized I should step up and lead this project before I came home and found I was watching entirely from the sidelines (see: wife is buying on impulse).

Selecting carpet, tile and flooring that made our home attractive (see: keep wife happy) was my primary goal. Being a points enthusiast also meant I simply couldn't let this opportunity pass by without seeing what I could accomplish. Now, had all decisions been up to me I am confident I could have increased the accumulation of points and miles. I was, however, stuck in that no man's land of waiting on crucial decisions for shades of paint. . . .and tons of carpet board samples . . . and input from third parties . . . but I digress.

I determined on the front end I would buy materials only from sources I can reorder from; so no close-outs, discontinued colors, etc. And except for laying the carpet, some family members and I performed all the work.

Within this framework I formulated the following strategy to accumulate miles & points for as few dollars as possible.

- Use available American Express sync offers for Lowes.
A new offer came out in early November for spend $50 and receive $10 statement credit. I bought seven $50 Lowes gift cards. This gave me a 20% discount on $350 worth of materials purchases.

- Buy Lowes gift cards at Kroger when offering 4X Fuel Rewards.
Kroger offered 4X fuel rewards at an opportune time. I purchased ten $50 Lowe's gift cards from Kroger. If you are familiar with their fuel rewards program you will see how I saved $70. This gave me a 14% discount on another $500 worth of materials.

- Shop through shopping portals.
November is a GREAT month for online shopping. American, United, Southwest and Delta all had cumulative spend bonuses leading up to Thanksgiving. I kept track of my online shopping amounts through each portal and would spend just enough to clear a spend level. For example, Southwest offered bonuses of 500 for $150, 1000 for $500 and 3000 for $1000. So here, once I cleared $1000 total spend I moved on to different shopping portal.

- Use the MileagePlusX app.
There is no way that I could figure out to order carpet or custom order paint online and utilize shopping portals. I would have to make these purchases at the store. I could, however, pay for these purchases in store with instant electronic gift cards from MileagePlus X app. Additionally, by purchasing these items in store I was able to save 15% on paint purchases being a Lowes for Pros member and received an additional 5% off the carpet installation AND take of advantage of their free carpet installation promotion.

Now it's March and the shopping portal points and bonuses have posted. Our remodel earned the following points & miles.
(Keep in mind other holiday spending was interspersed in the shopping portals so I had to apportion the amount of cumulative spend bonuses to the dollars spent for the remodeling purchases.)

-Southwest Rapid Rewards.           5,738
-American Airline miles.               1,022
-Delta Skymiles.                               185
-United miles.                                2,086
- AmEx Membership Rewards.     4,338
-Starwood points.                             100

Total.                                             13,469

Our remodeling bill from Lowes was $2738.01. Remove $70 for AmEx credits and $70 for Kroger fuel savings and our final total was $2598.01. Considering the square footage of new flooring, new carpet, rooms repainted and new tile around fire place I am satisfied with the price.

Ways I could have made the deal better:

- I should have added the AmEx sync offers to all of our AmEx cards. Sync offers can be added to authorized user cards as well as primary cards. When the offer first came out I added the offer to some cards but when I got around to adding to the others the offer was no longer available.

- I could have purchased another $500 in Lowes gift cards at Kroger. This would have been another 14% savings on $500 spend. There was time to realize another $70 saved before fuel points were lost. However, the timing didn't work out. While my wife was waiting for some of that crucial 3rd party input on carpet the 4X offer ended. I sure didn't want to have money tied up in Lowes cards I didn't immediately need.

-I could have applied for a Lowes Consumer Credit Card for 5% off. This would have helped on $1888.01 of my spend. However, this would have required another hard credit pull and I'm looking to get back under the Chase 5/24 rule in early 2017.

- I could have had my Mileage Plus X app linked to a more rewarding credit card. I was experimenting some here and what I had hoped for didn't materialize. Oh well, that's part of the challenge.

These were my strategies for accumulating miles & points for our remodel. If you have some successful strategies then let me know. I would love to hear from you!

f you feel you benefit from this blog and are considering applying for a credit card please email me at 4points2miles@gmail.com for  an application link. I will send what I believe to be the best sign up bonus currently available, regardless of whether or not I will receive a referral bonus. Thanks!

How to Maximize Value with Southwest Airlines

Ways to Maximize Value with Southwest Airlines

Southwest is a low cost carrier that can offer a lot to value seeking customers. I am definitely one of those. The majority of the flights I take are domestic and usually my wife is flying with me. So Southwest's domestic flight schedule, along with select Caribbean and Mexican destinations, usually meets my needs.

Southwest began service in MEM around the time Delta ceased using it as a hub. Their presence in MEM has continued to grow. With a limited number of airlines servicing MEM and few non-stop destinations available from all carriers combined, Southwest has filled a void quite nicely in my view.

So here are the advantages of and ways I try to maximize flying Southwest:

- I always book my flights with points. Rapid Reward points can be accumulated through Chase personal & business co-branded credit cards, spending on those credit cards, the Rapid Rewards shopping portal, Rapid Rewards dining program, using Rapid Rewards partners.. . . the list goes on and on.

- I maintain a Companion Pass. With this great perk my wife can fly anywhere, anytime with me and only have to pay the flight taxes, which for one-way domestic flights are $5.60. I first obtained one in 2014 and recently had it extended through December 31, 2018.

- Once my flight is booked I add my wife with the Add Companion option. I can Add Companion to my flight online if
                    1) my flight is a paid flight
                    2) I book my flight with points from my Rapid Rewards points
                    3) My flight is booked with points from my wife's Rapid Rewards account
                    4) My flight is booked with points from any of my childrens' or friends' Rapid Rewards account

- I always book flights one way. There is no cash or point discount for booking round trip over one-way flights. If I have a future round trip booked and the outbound price/points drops but the return price/points rises then canceling and rebooking will not SAVE me any money /points because I would have to cancel both ways to rebook. Booking one way WILL allow you to take advantage of price/point drops.

- I cancel and re-book flights when the price/point drops. When I see a new sale announced this reminds me to check my booked flights against the current price/points. If current the price/points is lower then I cancel existing reservation and rebook.

- I only book Wanna Get Away fares. Southwest flights only have one cabin so in my opinion the very limited perks of booking Anytime or Business fares eliminates those rates.

- Southwest allows 2 checked bags per passenger at no charge. This is valuable by itself.

- I use Airline Travel Credits from credit cards with those perks to purchase $50 Southwest gift cards.  This amount has always triggered statement reimbursement for me. I use these gift cards to pay the taxes when I book new flights.

- I rarely pay for Early Bird Check In. I check in online exactly 24 hours before flight departure. If you have never flown Southwest, the entire plane is open seating.  First come, first serve. No first class cabin. So, they have a number system that requires lining up before boarding. Better positions are obtained by booking Business or Anytime fares, having A-list status, paying $15 for Early Bird Check In or checking in online EXACTLY 24 hours prior to departure. So if you haven't paid for a reserved place in the boarding line then every second counts once Check In goes live. I understand this boarding/seating system freaks some out but I can only recall one flght segment over the years when I wasn't seated next to my companion.

This approach has allowed me and my wife to fly Southwest for pennies on the dollar for the past few years.

Thats why I agree it is the Luv Airline.

f you feel you benefit from this blog and are considering applying for a credit card please email me at 4points2miles@gmail.com for  an application link. I will send what I believe to be the best sign up bonus currently available, regardless of whether or not I will receive a referral bonus. Thanks!

Renewing My Southwest Companion Pass for Next 2 Years Works Out Anyway!

Renewing My Southwest Companion Pass 

for Next 2 Years Works Out

The new year rolled in with my plans in place to extend my Southwest Companion Pass through the end of 2018. I first obtained a Companion Pass in 2014. My companion and I have really enjoyed the phenomenal benefits ever since and extending it topped my points & miles 'to do' list.

Companion Pass refresher,

-  Designate one person to fly with you unlimited times in same class per Companion Pass terms and only pay the taxes.

- To qualify, either fly 100 paid segments or earn 110,000 qualifying Rapid Rewards point in a calendar year

- Once earned, Companion Pass is valid for the remainder of current year and all of the following year. 

- My flight can be a paid flight OR booked with points. Companion only pays flight taxes.

I qualified via the points route.

In the past Southwest Rapid Rewards rules have allowed several strategies for accumulating 110,000 points. My plan this time involved transferring 120,000 points to Rapid Rewards from my Marriott Rewards account by means of obtaining a Hotel + Air Package, option 3. This package will give me 7 nights in a Marriott hotel AND enough Rapid Rewards points to quickly re-qualify for the Companion Pass. I had already researched Marriott properties and their categories and decided to go with a  Category 7 Marriott 7 night Air & Travel Package for 330,000 Marriott Rewards points. 

However, even the best laid plans can go awry. News broke on The Points Guy that Southwest had changed their rules and no longer allowed hotel point transfers to count toward Companion Pass qualification. Then in a twist 4 days later Southwest changed their policy again to allow partner points transfers to count toward Companion Pass qualification until March 31, 2017. After that, point transfers will not count for qualification.

Not wanting to chance Southwest changing the rules again, I called Marriott and booked my Category 7 Marriott 7 night Air & Travel Package as soon as I heard. The points were deducted from my Marriott Rewards account immediately and what I actually received from Marriott was an E-Certificate for a 7 Night Travel Package for any Category 7 Hotel.

The Marriott phone rep told me the 120,000 points would take 2-3 days to show up in my Rapid Rewards account.

Two days later I checked my Southwest Rapid Rewards account and the Marriott 120,000 point transfer had posted. From previous experience I knew it would take a few more days for Southwest to process and allow me to activate/designate my Companion online. Wednesday morning I received an email confirming Companion Pass qualification. I logged onto my Rapid Rewards account and added my wife as companion.

Next, I went through each of the six upcoming flights I already had booked with points on Southwest for myself and used the Add Companion option to add my wife. With each of her fights I only had to pay the taxes. For domestic flights this tax is $5.60 per flight. I paid the taxes using a $100 Southwest e-Gift Card I had purchased with the $200 annual airline credit on my AmEx Platinum Business card.

Reminders & personal guidelines when booking on Southwest:

- I always book my flight with Rapid Reward points.

- I book my companion with the Add Companion option ala the Companion Pass

- I always book One Way flights. 

- When Southwest announces a fare sale I check to see if I can re-book for fewer points. Every point counts!

- I pay the taxes with Southwest Gift Cards I purchase using airline travel reimbursement credits.

- 2 checked bags/person at no charge

- Flights can be cancelled up to 10 minutes before departure without penalty.

So if you have a stash of Marriott or Starwood points and can benefit from a Companion Pass don't delay! You have until March 31, 2017 to use this avenue to earn a Companion Pass.

If you feel you benefit from this blog and are considering applying for a credit card please email me at 4points2miles@gmail.com for  an application link. I will send what I believe to be the best sign up bonus currently available, regardless of whether or not I will receive a referral bonus. Thanks!

1000 Bonus Miles For You!

1000 Bonus Miles for You in Your Choice of 14 Airlines!

Rocketmiles, an online hotel booking service, is currently offering a bonus of 1000 miles to be deposited into the airline frequent flyer program of your choice. You can sign up for the bonus at this link:

                                           https://www.rocketmiles.com/refer/timjwilkins


How to receive your 1000 mile bonus:

- Sign up for the bonus using the link above
- Create your online account with Rocketmiles
- Use Rocketmiles to book a hotel/resort stay
- After your completed, paid stay you will receive your 1000 bonus miles in addition to Rocketmiles already large mileage awards.

They are affiliated with 14 different airlines so finding a frequent flyer program you like should not be a problem.

So where will you be traveling soon? Upcoming business trip? Fall vacation? Holiday plans?

Having used Rocketmiles in the past I have found that their selection of different hotels/resorts can be small in numbers when I perform a search but they are usually nice properties and competitive in price. Their website claims they "pay the same rates for the best hotels. Refundable rates available." They also tend to have more properties in cities and resort areas. I have also noticed that sometimes different hotels appear on a particular destination search when I select different airline programs on the search engine.

Rocketmile's normal miles per stay is also very generous. Looking ahead to Labor Day weekend I searched and found a room at Sandestin Beach Resort for 3 nights for $425.08 total plus $54.65 resort fee ( a common surcharge in this area) for $479.73 for the 3 nights. You will earn 3000 points for the stay plus 1000 bonus points for the referal bonus for 4000 total miles from Rocketmiles. AND.....don't forget to pay with your points earning credit card to keep adding on.

A check in the Big Easy for Labor Day weekend shows the Hyatt Regency New Orleans for $450.28. 3000 Rocketmiles earned for the stay plus 1000 bonus miles for signing up with the referral link yields 4000 miles into the airline account of your choice. And, again, use your maximum points earning credit card for the charges. Sometimes you are able to triple dip and earn rewards points from the loyalty program of the hotel chain you are staying at, although it is hit or miss when booking through sites such as Rocketmiles. So, upon check in try giving your Hyatt Gold Passport number!

Even if you don't plan to travel Labor Day weekend, signing up for the bonus and creating an online account with Rocketmiles for when you do need to make plans for travel makes sense for points & miles collectors!

Sign up for your Rocketmiles 1000 Point Bonus at this link:

  https://www.rocketmiles.com/refer/timjwilkins

If and when you read about something on Points2Miles, and a link is provided to sign up or apply, and you decide to go for it we would appreciate you using our link so that we get a small referral point/mile bonus. Feel free to e-mail 4Points2Miles@gmail.com anytime you have questions. This is not a for-profit blog. Just passing along tips to anyone who is interested. Thanks!

There's More Than One Reason to Celebrate Back to School!

There's More Than One Reason to Celebrate Back to School!

It's August and all across the country people are either celebrating (see: parents of young kids trapped at home) or bemoaning (see:teachers as well as students) that time known as Back To School. Now personally I'm ok with it as my two oldest are college age and the two at home are in high school so I have mixed feelings on that topic.

However, aside from that it signals to me that College Football is coming up fast, that the Cardinals will be playing for another October ticket, that on a local level an exciting season of high school volleyball is about to kick off and . . . . .

Bonus Points & Miles will be ripe for the picking on shopping portals!

Retailers will be jausting for your dollar and they will increase their point/miles per $ offers across many channels.

Many retailers will briefly increase their points/miles per $ offers. With a quick check today I see where JCPenny is at 10 pts/$ and Saks Fifth Avenue at 9 pts/$ shopping thru Chase Ultimate Rewards.

US Airways Dividend Miles Storefront has Dell Consumer doubling their offer from 2 to 4 miles/$.

Shop My Way by Mariott portal has nice offers on two websites that offer college textbooks:   Neebo at 7pts/$ and Bookrenter.com at 6 pts/ $.

Some shopping portals offer additional bonuses for your cumulative purchases for a limited time. Southwest's Rapid Rewards offers up to 1000 bonus points for $600+ cumulative spending.

Delta's Skymiles Shopping is also offering 1000 bonus miles for $600+ in cumulative spending.

So if you are wanting to begin actively pursuing points & miles for travel, take this opportunity to assess what foreseeable expenditures you have, formulate a plan to order things you know you will need to purchase and see if you can work a plan to order your items to make a shopping portal bonus work for you.

Last year I went with Skymiles Shopping portal. Their "fine print" was a little different then and there was a greater opportunity to accumulate cumulative bonus miles. Regardless, I formulated my plan and in late fall my Skymiles bonus of 3500 points was deposited.

Another reason to enjoy Back to School and its wasn't even what you were thinking, now was it?

Make YOUR plan:
-You could be earning points/miles with your Credit Card.
-You could be earning points/miles from the retailer of your choice by shopping through the online portal you choose.
-You could be earning points/miles from the shopping portal as a bonus for your cumulative purchases.

All of these points & miles for the same order. And it can all be for items you are going to purchase anyway!

Stop flushing those Points & Miles down the toilet!

Stop flushing YOUR Points & Miles down the toilet!

Each and every day you are consuming products which could earn points and miles for your future trip. Are you maximizing those opportunities? Everyday products such as toilet paper, toothpaste, Pledge cleaner, deodorant, all manner of make up products, trash bags. . . .the list is endless.

Ok, so you say "but I've stopped using that no points/no rewards debit card linked to my checking account that I was so attached to and started using my new credit card which earns a point/mile for all other purchases when I shop for my household products." Well, that's a start, but you can do so much better, really!

It's time for another round of household products purchases here in our home. So, a text has been sent out to all the kids (they're all teenagers=primary means of communication) asking what items they need. They know if they want it to text their list back now. I like to purchase these items online and purchase from several different locations depending upon their current offers and today my source of choice is Drugstore.com.

I like Drugstore.com for a variety of reasons:

- Generally they offer the most points per $ for these items through online shopping portals

- They frequently offer Coupons on the items I'm going to order anyway and all I have to do is click to receive that $1.00 off or that Buy 2 Get 1 Free offer in the item description.

- Here in our little flyover middle America state they don't charge sales tax. I'm not sure if they do in other states. Regardless, thats a savings of 9% plus right there.

- Shipping is FREE for orders over $35. And trust me, meeting that minimum is NEVER an issue around here.

- Each order earns Drugstore.com Dollars. Thats 5% on your order back as a credit for a future order. You can redeem your Drugstore.com Dollars at end of each quarter for a period of 1 month. 

So I have our order list ready. Now I check the various Airline/Hotel/Credit Card shopping portals to see who has the best offer for Drugstore.com. I could use Southwest Rapid Rewards which has a back to school bonus going on now, Delta Skymiles which has BTS bonus too, Mariott Shop My Way Rewards, Chase Ultimate Rewards. . . .  .and so many other options.  I choose to go through my Barclays Rewards Boost portal, made available to me since I have a Barclays Arrival+ World Elite Mastercard, which today offers 4 points/$ today as I want to add to my Barclays Arrival Miles.

I click through the Shop Now button which takes me to Drugstore.com where I log onto my account and select the items we need to order. Once I have my selections completed I scroll down to the bottom of my order where you can find my order total, free shipping, coupons utilized today, and Drugstore.com Dollars earned which are redeemable in October.

Now that it's time to checkout I consider what credit card to use. Just because I'm using the Barclays Rewards Boost shopping portal doesn't mean I have to use any of my Barclays credit cards, because I don't.  You can still use any credit card of choice for your purchase. So, what will be my optimum earning credit card to use here? 

Here is an opportune time to use a credit card that earns 3X points at drugstores like a Citi Hilton HHonors Visa or Hilton HHonors Surpass card from American Express or a credit card with a rotating quarterly bonus which often includes a drugstore category.

So lets look at this now:

Old way to purchase household items is $77 x 1 pt/$ = 77 points 

New Way to purchase household items is

Barclays Arrival Points shopping at Drugstore.com  $77 x 4 pts/$ =  308 pts

Hilton HHonors Points paying at Drugstore.com       $77 x 3 pts/$ =  231 pts

Total Points earned for future travel for your $77 purchase = 539 points! 

All while potentially saving money, saving sales tax, no shipping charge and getting a 5% credit on a future order!

So in a few days on my Barclays Rewards Boost statement I will find 308 points earned in the Points Earned column of my statement. See statement below for how an order I placed a few weeks ago for household items earned 422 Barclays Arrival Miles.

Here's the point. All these extra points can be yours just for changing the way you purchase the items you use every day and are going to buy anyway and be deposited into your Points & Miles accounts.

Stop! Don't flush those extra 462 points down the toilet! They are yours to collect!

If and when you read about something on Points2Miles, and a link is provided to sign up or apply, and you decide to go for it we would appreciate you using our link so that we get a small referral point/mile bonus. Feel free to e-mail 4Points2Miles@gmail.com anytime you have questions. This is not a for-profit blog. Just passing along tips to anyone who is interested. Thanks!