I got the Citi Rewards+ just to receive 10% back on my spent points, but I don’t really use it otherwise; it stays in the sock drawer. I only make purchases with it when there’s a valuable merchant offer.
I can accumulate numerous Membership Rewards (MR) points on Amex by utilizing the Rakuten shopping extension, converting cashback into Amex MR points. Some purchases, like NordVPN, often offer 100% cashback, allowing you to potentially come out ahead if you use the points wisely.
Additionally, I buy store gift cards from retailers where I wouldn’t usually earn many points but do earn more points from another store. For example, I recently discovered Pepper Rewards because they had an Amex merchant offer. Since my Amex Business Gold card earns 4x on that store, I can purchase gift cards to places like the movie theater where I don’t have an effective card to use. Previously, I’d buy such gift cards on Amazon using my Prime card to earn 5% back on purchases.
If you have the Upromise Barclays Mastercard and buy gift cards on MyGiftCardsPlus, you can get some solid cashback:
You’ll need to register or log into MyGiftCardsPlus.com, then pay for gift cards using your Upromise World Mastercard. You can earn the following cashback bonuses on purchases made within a calendar month:
$10 cashback bonus on purchases between $50.00 and $149.99.
$20 cashback bonus on purchases of $150+ (and a $25 cashback bonus in November and December).
Adding the 1.25% or 1.529% cashback plus the Swagbucks you earn makes this card, along with the Rewards+ and USBAR, some of the best cards to keep in the sock drawer.