Want to ‘Stack’ Credit Card Rewards? These Tools Can Help

Paper coupons clipped from the Sunday paper are one tool for trimming costs, but you’re probably leaving money on the table if that’s your only strategy.

If you’re willing to migrate from the analog to the digital, you’ll find a host of websites, apps and browser extensions that can help you score deep discounts on a variety of goods and services.

Even if something is listed as full price, you can generate your own savings by “stacking” rewards.

Here are the top tools we recommend.

What they are: Card-linked offers are digital limited-time offers — typically in the form of discounts, extra rewards and coupons — that you can add to your credit card.

1. Log in to your credit card account, and navigate to the card-linked offers. Different issuers have different names for these deals. Chase calls them “Chase Offers.” U.S. Bank dubs them “cash-back deals.” 

2. Click on a deal to activate it. There’s no penalty for not using an activated offer, so feel free to select as many deals as you want.

3. Shop as you normally would. The savings (often in the form of a statement credit) or bonus rewards will appear in your account automatically, though time frames vary.

• To receive your cash back, you must adhere to the terms of the card-linked offers. Just like paper coupons, card-linked offers often have expiration dates. Other offers have minimum spending requirements. And again, the discount or bonus rewards may not be instantaneous.

What they are: Also called bonus malls, shopping portals are online stores offered through your card’s issuer.

1. Log in to your credit card account, and navigate to the bonus mall. For example, Chase cardholders will go to the “Shop with Chase” portal.

2. Click on an offer, which might be in the form of bonus points or a discount. You may see something like: “Earn 3 points for every $1 spent at PetSmart.”

3. After clicking on the offer, you’ll be taken to the retailer’s website. Shop as you normally would, and pay with the credit card issued by the bank that operates the bonus mall.

4. For extra savings, combine a card-linked offer with a discount in the shopping mall.

• If you don’t access the retailer through the bonus mall first, you won’t earn the extra points. 

• Gift card purchases are often ineligible for extra discounts or bonus points.

• Bonus mall offers usually can’t be combined with other coupons.

What it is: Rakuten is a cash-back website with deals at over 3,500 retailers, as of this writing. There’s also an app and browser extension.

1. Sign up for a Rakuten account.

2. From the Rakuten website or app, click on any offer you want to use. Doing so will take you to the retailer’s website. Shop as you normally would.

3. If you’re using the browser extension, you can go to the retailer’s website first, instead of Rakuten.com. If that merchant has an offer on Rakuten, the browser extension will then show you a pop-up notification informing you of the cash-back amount. Click on the offer to activate it, then shop as you normally would. 

• It can take anywhere from 20 to 100 days for your cash back to be confirmed after you make a purchase, and 45 to 120 days for travel cash back after booking.

• If you opt to receive cash back via PayPal, check or Membership Rewards, you’ll need to wait every three months for a payout. Rakuten issues payments on Feb. 15, May 15, Aug. 15 and Nov. 15 of each year.

• You need a balance of $5 to redeem for e-gift cards and at least $5.01 for everything else

What it is: Similar to Rakuten, TopCashback is a cash-back website featuring deals from more than 7,000 retailers, as of this writing. TopCashback has its own app and browser extension as well.

1. Create a TopCashback account.

2. From the TopCashback website or app, click the pink “Get Cash Back” button,” which will take you to the retailer’s website. Shop as you normally would.

3. If you’re using the browser extension, you can go to the retailer’s website first. If that merchant has an offer on TopCashback, you’ll see a pop-up notification informing you of the cash-back amount. Click on the offer to activate it, then shop as you normally would.

4. Receive your cash back as a deposit to a bank account, PayPal account, or as a gift card. You can also choose to donate your earnings to charity. 

• You’ll see any cash back you earn within seven days of making your purchase, but you won’t be able to access the money immediately. Payouts happen only once the retailer’s return period is over, and after the retailer has paid TopCashback its share of commission for your purchase. This process can take up to six weeks. 

What it is: Upside is a cash-back app that features deals on gas/convenience stores, groceries and restaurants.

1. Download the Upside app, then create an account.

2. Once inside the app, tap the “Claim” button on an offer you want to use. (If you decide you don’t want that offer, you can unclaim it.)

3. Pay for your purchase with the card that’s linked to your Upside digital wallet or with the Upside app. You can link multiple cards and set one as your default.

4. Once the merchant has verified the purchase, your cash back will appear in your account. Then, you can receive your cash back as a deposit to a bank account, PayPal account, or as a gift card. There is technically no minimum redemption amount, but some terms apply. See below.

• Once you claim an offer, you have a limited amount of time to use it: four hours for gas stations and restaurants, and 24 hours for grocery stores. If you don’t use your offer within the allotted time frame, it will expire.

• Certain purchases including gift cards, lottery tickets, tobacco products and alcohol bought at a gas station never earn cash back. 

• Upside may charge a $1 fee for redeeming less than $15. However, that fee is waived for PayPal and bank deposits if you’ve referred one person to the Upside app, and that person is an active user. 

• It may take up to 10 days for an offer to be processed and up to seven business days to receive your cash, depending on how you choose to receive it. 

• Some offers let you redeem rewards instantaneously. These offers are flagged with a “Pay with Upside” badge. 

What it is: Fetch is a cash-back app that lets you earn gift cards from grocery, gas station, shopping and restaurant receipts. There’s also a Fetch browser extension.

1. Shop online or in-store as usual.

2. Take a picture of your physical receipt. To upload digital receipts from online purchases, link your email account that contains that receipt with your Fetch account. Every valid receipt earns at least 25 points. Earn more points by purchasing certain brands at specific stores that have “Points Boosts.” For example, you could earn 1,000 points for buying a specific shampoo brand from a specific retailer. 

3. You can also earn additional points by playing games within the app and by referring friends to Fetch. 

4. Redeem your points for gift cards. Points vary depending on the gift card and gift card amount. 

• Physical receipts must be uploaded within 14 days of the purchase date listed on them, and you can snap only 35 receipts within a seven-day period.

• Receipts from the following types of merchants are not scannable on Fetch and won’t be rewarded: return receipts; utility and medical bills or invoices; prescription refill slips; movie, concert and other experience tickets; airline tickets and baggage receipt tags; ATM and wire transfer transactions; and takeout receipts that don’t detail where they are from. 

• You can redeem rewards for gift cards, Fetch merchandise and as a donation to charity. Note that most of these redemption options require at least 3,000 points.

• If your account is not active for 90 days, your points will expire.

• Unlike many of these other options, Fetch offers points instead of actual cash back, and those points have relatively low individual value. For instance, you’d need 12,500 Fetch points for a $10 Amazon gift card.

What it is: Like Fetch, Ibotta is a receipt-snapping app that helps you earn cash back, primarily on groceries. Ibotta also has its own browser extension and shopping portal.

2. Before shopping, choose the retailer where you plan to shop. 

3. Add offers by clicking the green icon. Some offers require you to complete a brief activity before they’ll be added to your account. Be sure to add all offers that you think you may use in your upcoming shopping trip. Note that you can’t earn cash back for a purchase if an offer is inactive. 

4. After shopping, upload a picture of your receipt into the Ibotta app. If you’ve linked your store loyalty account within the Ibotta app, you don’t have to upload receipts. 

5. Withdraw rewards once you have at least $20. You may transfer cash back into a bank or PayPal account, or you can purchase a gift card. Some gift cards have a $25 minimum redemption amount. 

• Receipts must be uploaded within seven days of the purchase date. 

• Some offers have expiration dates.

• Some offers have purchase requirements. For example, you might have to buy two boxes of cereal to claim an offer.

• You must wait at least seven days after redeeming your first offer or purchasing a gift card before you can get your cash back, which may take up to five days to receive.

What they are: Browser extensions are plug-ins that you download onto a web browser. They scan databases to find discount codes and coupons, then apply them to your purchase before you check out. Popular browser extensions include Honey and Capital One Shopping. As noted earlier, Rakuten, TopCashback, Ibotta and Fetch have their own browser extensions, too.

1. Download the browser extension.

2. Shop online as you normally would. 

3. Each browser extension works differently. Some like Rakuten present you with a single offer such as 10% cash back; Capital One Shopping and others input multiple promo codes at checkout to see whether any will save you money. 

• Browser extensions sometimes won’t find a valid promo code. 

• Adding multiple extensions to a browser can affect the browser’s performance.

What they are: Dining rewards programs are usually affiliated with a hotel or airline brand and let you earn rewards for dining, which can include takeout and delivery. (Some airlines have similar online shopping programs that work the same way for specific retailers.)

1. Create an account with the dining program. 

2. Link a credit card to your dining program account.

3. Use that card to pay for your food. 

4. Rewards are automatically added to your account without you having to activate an offer or upload a receipt. 

• Some restaurants have blackout dates on which you can’t earn rewards. 

• You can’t link one credit card to multiple dining rewards programs at once. 

What it is: Mostly geared toward renters, Bilt Rewards is a loyalty program that allows you to earn points for rent payments, dining and travel, among other things.

2. With or without the card, you can earn Bilt points by paying rent; booking travel in the Bilt Travel Portal; taking Lyft rides; eating at Neighborhood Dining restaurants; taking select fitness classes; and shopping at Walgreens. 

3. Redeem rewards in a variety of ways. Popular redemptions include using Bilt points to lower your rent payment, or transferring them to one of Bilt’s travel partners.