I love earning miles with day to day activities, especially for things I would do anyway. I’ve had my eye on a nice outdoor grill but was hesitant to pull the trigger, that is until I could earn miles. So when I had accumulated enough Lowes gift cards from Birthday, Christmas presents and other gifts, I instantly started looking for the best ways to buy the grill and earn the most miles and points possible with little effort.
I have to credit my fellow Boarding Area blogger The Frequent Miler for continuing to highlight the many opportunities to earn miles through the use of gift cards. I’m always amazed at some of the ‘inovative’ ways he uses gift cards to earn miles. The method I used was more conventional but still illustrates a great way to use gift cards to earn extra miles with minimal effort.
Purchase Process
After saving enough gift cards for a purchase, I logged into my Ultimate Rewards account (thanks to my Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card) and used $602.30 towards the purchase of a new Weber outdoor grill.
I first called the Lowes store prior to placing the order to ensure they had the grill in stock and available for pick up. Then I placed the order online and paid with a mix of gift cards and a credit card. I was even able to apply a 10% off Lowes coupon I received for a recent move. After placing the order I called the store and asked for them to assemble the grill and have it ready at the desired time.
Results
Lowes was offering three UR points per dollar at the time of my purchase. I earned 2,997 Chase Ultimate Rewards points for a transaction that I would have otherwise completed in the store. Not exactly the most economical purchase but I was glad to at least earn some UR points during the process.
Bottom Line
Overall it was a very simple process to redeem gift cards through the Chase Ultimate Rewards shopping mall online. I earned 2,997 points that can be transferred to United, Hyatt and a number of other partners. In addition, I’ll earn additional points since I put the balance left after gift cards on my Chase Sapphire card.
You have got to love the shopping portal earning opportunities.
About The Weekly Flyer
The Weekly Flyer writes about travel from a business traveler perspective. He travels the world every week accumulating points and miles along the way.
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Thanks for the shout out! It looks like you actually earned 5 points per dollar, not three. Is that right? It’s great to learn that purchases at Lowes using gift cards results in UR points! A few merchants won’t give points when you use a gift card (Barnes and Noble, for example).
Hi Frequent Miler – The final bill was higher than the gift cards used. It worked out to 3 points per dollar.
I was very happy to hear you could 1) use gift cards at lowes 2) combine with a coupon and 3) select option for in store pick up.
i never knew you could have the store assemble it for you for free? interseted to hear the details
Hi SM master – A typical outdoor grill comes in about a thousand pieces (lot literally but sure feels like it). Lowes will assemble the grill for you before you pick it up. When I called and asked if they could assemble it they said “sure” it will be ready in 1 hour. I brought it home, connected the gas, and it worked the first try. I’m not sure I could say it would have worked if I put it together.
Hope that helps.