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 or iPhone, today is your lucky day.
Today only (Monday, Jan. 23), you can earn up to 4x 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.
You can…
- Earn 4x miles per dollar spent with American AAdvantage
- Earn 4x miles per dollar spent with Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan
- Earn 4x miles per dollar spent with United MileagePlus
- Earn 3x miles per dollar spent with JetBlue TrueBlue
- Earn 2x miles per dollar spent with Delta SkyMiles
- Earn 2x miles per dollar spent with Southwest Rapid Rewards
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 Apple HomePod (2nd Gen), MacBook Pro 14-inch and 16-inch, Mac mini, iPhone 14 Pro, iPhone 14 Pro Max, Apple Pro Display XDR, Apple Developer Programs, AppleCare+ monthly subscription, or gift cards. Additional costs for shipping or gif wrapping won't earn miles, either.
At 4x bonus miles, this isn't the biggest bonus we've ever seen on Apple purchases … but it's in line with some of the best bonuses we've seen in recent years. Which mileage program is best for you to go through to earn a bonus depends on which miles you've already got – and what travel you might be working toward.
Depending on your travel plans and what miles you've already got, earning 4x of 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 with a massive 70,000-mile offer on the Alaska Airlines Visa® Credit Card or an easy path to pile up 110,000 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 good through today, Monday, Jan. 23, so don’t wait to take advantage!