Every now and again, we see major airline online shopping portals roll out big mileage bonuses on Apple products, allowing you to easily earn thousands of miles on one purchase. If you're in the market for a new Macbook, iPad, or iPhone, today is your lucky day.
Today only (Monday, Sept. 25), you can earn up to 6x airline miles per dollar spent on many Apple products through a handful of popular airline portals. That's up from the typical 1x return, which makes this a great opportunity to pull the trigger and pile up some miles if you've been eyeing some Apple gear – especially if you need to buy a MacBook or an iPad.
This promotion is a bit different because exactly how many bonus miles you can earn hinges on what you're buying:
- You'll earn 6x miles per dollar if you purchase a Mac or iPad
- You'll earn 3x miles on most other Apple purchases
- Or 2x miles per dollar on iPhones or Apple Watches
No matter which airline shopping portal you click through, that's what you'll earn:
- Earn up to 6x miles per dollar spent with Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan
- Earn up to 6x miles per dollar spent with American AAdvantage
- Earn up to 6x miles per dollar spent with Delta SkyMiles
- Earn up to 6x miles per dollar spent with United MileagePlus
Earning these miles on your purchase is simple: Just click through one of these portal links before checking out. You can use any credit card you'd like for the purchase and still earn these bonus miles, so consider a credit card that gets you purchase protection – or one where a big purchase will help you responsibly meet minimum spend to earn an even bigger welcome bonus!
A few items won't qualify for bonus miles, including the new iPhone 15 models, Apple Watch Series 9, Apple Watch Ultra 2, Apple Vision Pro, Apple Pro Display XDR, Apple Developer Programs, AppleCare+ monthly subscriptions, or gift cards. Additional costs for shipping or gift wrapping won't earn miles, either.
This isn't the biggest bonus we've seen at Apple, but earning 6x miles on Mac computers or iPads is still solid if you're in the market for some new tech. That means buying a new MacBook Air for $1,299 today would net you 7,794 miles, which is a pretty stellar return.
Depending on your travel plans and what miles you've already got, earning either Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan miles or American AAdvantage miles would vault to the top of our list. These miles can be incredibly valuable for booking partner airlines. And they're easier to keep earning – especially with an easy path to pile up 100,000 AAdvantage miles.
How Do I Sign Up For the Shopping Portals?
If you are not currently a member, you will first need to create a frequent flyer account with any of the airline programs listed above. From there, you can then log in to the shopping portal of your choice and click through the Apple links to complete your purchase on Apple's website.
There is no cost to join these programs and the miles you earn are in addition to any miles you would be earning on the credit card used for payment. These are some of the easiest miles you can earn, especially if you have shopping to do at Apple.
Apple products aren't cheap and rarely go on sale, so taking advantage of increased portal bonuses is a good way to get rewarded if you are going to shop there.
Use Cashback Monitor
One of the first places I always visit before making any purchase online is cashbackmonitor.com.
This site gives you a look at what all the major shopping portals are offering for spending bonuses by retailer. CashbackMonitor is updated in real time, so it is always a great resource for current portal bonuses. As you can see, all of these increased portal bonuses are already reflected. Read our guide to using CashbackMonitor.com.
Thrifty Tip: You can shop online at apple.com to get your portal bonus and select in-store pickup at checkout. This will allow you to earn the bonus and get your products immediately if you don't want to wait for shipping.
Bottom Line
Online shopping portals are a great way to earn additional miles for spending you are going to do anyhow. Apple products aren't cheap, but if you are going to purchase them anyhow, this is a great opportunity to do it and get some bonus points.
This promotion is only good today, Monday, Sept. 25. So don’t wait to take advantage!