After a recent reader question about earning bonus points from the Ultimate Rewards Mall using gift cards, I thought I would share another experiences earning points while using gift cards at a points mall. This time I was able to earn bonus Delta Skymiles while using Macy’s Gift Cards to make an online purchase.
Macy’s Gift cards were burning a hole in my pocket when I got back from my honeymoon in Mauritius. While we got many physical gifts before leaving, there was also an abundance of gift cards to various retailers that we set out to use on purchases for household items.
After looking around and reading about options, I turned to the Delta Skymiles mall after reading a rumor that you could earn points if you used gift cards to purchase items on various sites. Seeing that Macy’s had a 2 points per dollar bonus on Skymiles Shopping, I decided to give it a chance.
The item we wanted to purchase was a little over $100, which was easily covered by a gift card.
After entering my Skymiles number and clicking on the sign in button, I was whisked off to macys.com.
I went through the normal shopping process and submitted my order, paying for it with a single Macy’s branded gift card. The purchase arrived promptly as expected, but what about the miles?
Sure enough, the miles posted to my account in no time, and I received 216 sky miles for my trouble.
While this may not seem like a lot of miles, earning 216 miles for something you were already going to purchase is a great deal. One simple step added to my process and miles were earned. This is especially nice since gift cards don’t normally earn points.
Why Did I Choose the Delta Mall vs. Others?
You may be wondering why I chose Delta’s mall and not others. I chose this for two reasons:
- I had read previously that Delta Skymiles Mall was good about giving miles credit for gift card purchases. This doesn’t surprise me given Delta’s IT systems always breaking.
- I am fine with banking miles to my Delta account, since I have a few trips planned and these miles are a good currency for me right now.
So there you have it. It is possible to earn Skymiles while making a purchase on a gift card. Maybe the Delta Macy’s reward of 2 points/dollar isn’t as appealing as the 5 points/dollar at Macys currently offered by the Ultimate Rewards mall, but I liked my chances of receiving the bonus miles better from the Delta site.
What has been your experience with rewards malls? Any luck with these types of purchases?
