The best ways to earn and redeem travel points on Black Friday

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Black Friday is one of my favorite "holidays" of the year. Because while it's a great time to snag a deal, it's also the perfect opportunity to boost (or even use) your points and miles.

With just a little bit of effort, you can easily rack up extra rewards on your purchases, or even save money simply by redeeming points at the right moment. Here are my top tips for earning and burning your points and miles this Black Friday and Cyber Monday.

While it's always great to find a deal, the real excitement comes when you can stack your savings. And during Black Friday, it's easy to stack savings on Amazon travel purchases, such as a suitcase, packing cube, neck pillow, or the must-have AirTags (which are also pricing out at an all-time low).

In fact, you can often save money on Amazon simply by using your credit card points. With as little as a single point, you can save as much as 40% off your purchase.

You can learn more about these targeted offers in our guide, but here's a recap of the offers we're seeing right now:

• American Express: Get up to 40% off when paying with American Express Membership Rewards points, up to a $60 maximum discount
• American Express: Get up to 30% off when paying with Blue Cash Reward Dollars, up to a $30 maximum discount
• American Express: Add an Amex card to your account and receive a $15 promotional credit after spending $15.01. Use promotion code: AMEXQ4ABC15
• Discover: Get up to 40% off when paying with Discover cash back, up to a $50 maximum discount

Many Amazon deals are limited to just those with an Amazon Prime membership. But if you're not yet an Amazon Prime member, you can enroll in a free 30-day trial and still reap the Prime savings. Or, if you're a student or young adult (18-24 years old), you can get 50% off the membership cost.

If you have a card that earns American Express Membership Rewards points, such as the American Express Platinum Card®, you can take advantage of many money-saving and points-earning deals through targeted Amex Offers.

Sign into your Amex account online or via the app to look through your available offers. You'll need to add an offer to your card to reap its benefits.

With Black Friday right around the corner, these offers can be a great way to earn extra rewards. For example, there's currently an Amex Offer where you can earn up to 25,000 bonus American Express points at Dell.com — 1 additional point earned for every dollar spent through the end of the year.

Just remember that if you have multiple Amex credit cards, once an offer is added to a card, it will disappear from the rest of your Amex cards.

Additionally, if you have the CardPointers app, many Amex Offers can automatically add to your eligible credit cards, saving you time during Black Friday. It might even surprise you with some unexpected bonus points or cash back.

Learn more about CardPointers here.

If you're making any online purchases, make sure to go through a shopping portal first. The biggest shopping portals feature thousands of online merchants, such as Macy's, Best Buy, and Marriott, and earn extra points, miles, or cash back on purchases made at those retailers.

How does this work? Let's say you're planning to make a $200 purchase at Macy's website. Portal offers change daily, but right now, the Southwest shopping portal is offering 3 points per dollar spent.

So if you start at the Southwest portal, click through to Macy's, and make your purchase that way, you'll earn an extra 600 Southwest points. That's on top of any rewards you'll also earn with your credit card.

Here's a list of the most popular airline shopping portals:

• Alaska Atmos Rewards Shopping (formerly MileagePlan shopping)
• American AAdvantage eShopping
• British Airways Avios Shopping
• Delta SkyMiles Shopping
• Southwest Rapid Rewards Shopping
• United MileagePlus Shopping

If you don't want to earn airline miles, there are also many other types of shopping portals. If you have a Chase Ultimate Rewards credit card, you can use the Chase shopping portal and earn extra Chase points.

Or, if you prefer cash back, Rakuten is a great option, especially due to its partnership with both American Express and Bilt, allowing you to earn points in either program. Plus, new Rakuten members can currently earn a $50 bonus after making a qualifying purchase through the portal.

As you would at any other time of the year, make sure to use a credit card that earns the most rewards on your Black Friday purchases. Points earned can add up quickly, getting you that free flight sooner than you might think.

Here are some of our favorite credit cards to use during Black Friday:

• Chase Sapphire Reserve®: Earn 4x Chase Ultimate Rewards points on all flights or hotels booked direct (or 8x points on all purchases through Chase Travel, including The Edit).
• Chase Freedom Unlimited: Earn 5% cash back, up to $1,500 in combined purchases at Old Navy, department stores, and Chase Travel. And, just for the month of December, PayPal purchases are also included.
• Blue Cash Everyday® Card from American Express: Earn 3% cash back at select U.S. department stores.
• Discover it® Cash Back Credit Card: Earn 5% cash back, up to $1,500 in combined purchases at Amazon.com and at Drug Stores between October 1st and December 31st, 2025 (must activate prior to purchases).
• Amazon Prime Visa: Earn 5% cash back on all Amazon purchases (must be a Prime member). Or, when selecting "No-Rush Delivery", can earn 7% cash back on eligible items between November 27 and December 2.

Black Friday serves as a great way to not only snag a deal, but to maximize your points and miles potential. Taking advantage of these offers is extremely easy, and can truly allow you to grow your rewards, or save a nice chunk of money.

Want more ways to maximize rewards through the rest of the season? Check out our full guide to holiday shopping strategies.