Getting the Most Miles and Points For Mother's Day Gifts
Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.
Mother's Day falls on May 11 this year (less than two weeks away), and if you still haven't purchased a present for Mom, don't worry. The TPG list we put together last year has great gift ideas for the traveling mom in your life, along with several ways you can maximize the points you earn on purchases.
As usual, one of the best ways to earn points through Mother's Day purchases is through shopping portals. Many vendors like FTD.com that sell flowers and gifts for mom will contract with shopping portals to offer a lot of bonus points per dollar spent on purchases - and many offer Mother's Day-specific bonuses that are higher than usual. Below is a roundup of the major portals.
- Air Canada: Aeroplan EStore
- Alaska: Mileage Plan Shopping
- American: AAdvantageEshopping.com
- Amtrak: Amtrak Guest Rewards
- Barclaycard: Barclaycard Rewards Boost
- British Airways: BA Miles Estore
- Chase: Ultimate Rewards Shopping
- Choice Rewards: Choice Privileges Mall
- Delta: Skymilesshopping.com
- Discover: ShopDiscover
- Frontier: Early Returns Mall
- Hawaiian Airlines: Hawaiian Airlines eMarket
- Hilton HHonors: Hilton HHonors Shop to Earn Mall
- IHG Rewards Shopping: Rewards Club Offers
- Marriott Rewards: Shop My Way
- Mastercard: Mastercard Marketplace
- Southwest: Rapid Rewards Shopping
- United: Mileageplusshopping.com
- US Airways: Dividend Miles Shopping Mall
- Virgin Atlantic: ShopsAway
- Visa: Visa Offers (these are discounts not points-earning)
Before shopping, I always check EVReward first because it generally has an accurate picture of the bonuses being offered, but it’s not always complete, so if you find that a merchant is offering bonuses through one or several shopping portals but not the credit card, airline or hotel one you’re looking to accrue points in, it’s still worth double checking your preferred portal first before buying through another.
Here I've listed bonuses at three major flower/gift distributors, and further down some individual portals and bonuses on some vendors that would also have some great gift ideas for mom, like jewelry, flowers and more.
Bonuses By Merchant
FTD.com
FTD.com is a flowers and gifts vendor with a variety of choices in a lot of different price ranges. It also has some of the best offers out there for shopping portals, up to the 35 miles per dollar range. Note: always price check, especially with local vendors that may be cheaper. In general, flowers can be a waste (depending on how you look at it), but if you're going with a major retailer you can bank tons of miles and points.
- American Airlines: 30 miles per dollar
- Delta SkyMiles: 35 skymiles per dollar
- Hilton HHonors: 7 points per dollar plus 3,000 bonus points per purchase
- Marriott Rewards: 15 points per dollar
- Ultimate Rewards: 10 points per dollar
- United Airlines: 30 miles per dollar
Delta has the the highest absolute bonus, however I value my American Airlines miles more, so in this case I would probably choose AA at 30 points per dollar.
ProFlowers
ProFlowers.com is a vendor that offers flowers, chocolate, perfume and other gifts. They have a grand selection of chocolate covered strawberries which any mother would love.
- American Airlines: 9.0 miles per dollar
- Barclay Card Rewards Boost: 10 points per dollar
- Hawaiian Airlines: 6.0 miles per dollar
- Marriott Rewards: 14.0 points per dollar
- Ultimate Rewards: 15.0 points per dollar
If I were to purchase from ProFlowers, I would clearly choose the Ultimate Rewards points option. Not only can you transfer them to British Airways, Korean Air, Southwest, Virgin Atlantic and United, as well as Hyatt, IHG Rewards, Marriott/Ritz-Carlton and Amtrak, but you can also use Ultimate Rewards’ Pay With Points to pay for travel outright at a rate of 1.25 cents per point if you have the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card, Ink Bold or Ink plus, so you’re getting at least an 18.75% return on your spending.
GiftBaskets.com
GiftBaskets.com is a distributor that offers gift baskets for any occasion. Mother's Day options include gift baskets with tea, body products, chocolate, cookies, soaps and more.
- American Airlines: 4.0 miles per dollar
- Amtrak: 7.0 points per dollar
- Delta SkyMiles: 3.0 skymiles per dollar
- Hawaiian Airlines: 9.5 miles per dollar
- Hilton HHonors: 7.0 points per dollar
- Southwest: 4.0 points per dollar
Hawaiian is the winner here, but American and Southwest are also good options. Check out our series on maximizing Hawaiian miles, like this one on their numerous partners.
1-800-FLOWERS
1-800 FLOWERS.com is one of the most popular online flower services, but they offer other gift options as well.
- American Airlines: 8.0 miles per dollar
- Amtrak: 25 points per dollar
- Barclaycard Rewards Boost: 9 points per dollar
- Marriott Rewards: 14.0 points per dollar
- Southwest: 30 points per dollar (Promo Code RR51)
This is a great opportunity for Amtrak Rewards members to maximize, as this is a huge amount of points per dollar spent. Check out this post on maximizing Amtrak redemptions.
Bonuses By Shopping Portal
If you would rather accrue a certain kind of mile or point for your purchases, it's a good idea to check through your preferred airline or hotel or credit card's shopping portal directly for special Mother's Day deals since many of them offer special bonuses specifically geared to the holiday - and there are bound to be more as May 11 approaches.
American Airlines
American’s AAdvantage eShopping special Mother's Day offers are:
- 1-800 Flowers: 8 miles per dollar
- Elizabeth Arden: 6 miles per dollar
- FTD.com: 30 miles per dollar
- ProFlowers: 9 miles per dollar
- Shari's Berries: 9 miles per dollar
- Teleflora: 9 miles per dollar
Barclaycard Rewards Boost
The Barclaycard Rewards Boost portal offers some deals for Mother's Day shopping:
- 1-800 Flowers: 9 points per dollar
- Cherry Moon Farms: 10 points per dollar
- My Jewelry Box: 6 points per dollar
- ProFlowers: 10 points per dollar
- Red Envelope: 6 points per dollar
- Shari's Berries: 10 points per dollar
- Teleflora: 10 points per dollar
Delta
Delta's Skymiles shopping has a few Mother's Day specials, with FTD as the clear winner:
- Elizabeth Arden: 4 miles per dollar
- FTD.com : 35 miles per dollar
- Harry & David: 4 miles per dollar
- Perfumania: 3 miles per dollar
Southwest
Southwest's Rapid Rewards shopping Mother's Day offers include:
- Cherry Moon Farms: 7 points per dollar
- David Yurman: 4 points per dollar
- Macys: 10 points per dollar
- Personal Creations: 6 points per dollar
- Red Envelope: 8 points per dollar
- Spa Week: 4 points per dollar
- Shari's Berries: 7 points per dollar
United
United MileagePlus Shopping has Mother's Day offers available:
- Elizabeth Arden: 4 miles per dollar
- FTD.com: 30 miles per dollar
- Neiman Marcus: 3 miles per dollar
- Perfumania: 3 miles per dollar
- Zagat Wine: 4 miles per dollar
US Airways
US Airways' Dividend Miles Storefront is offering the following Mother's Day bonuses:
- JC Penney: 4 miles per dollar
- Red Envelope: 3 miles per dollar
- ULTA Beauty: 2 miles per dollar
- Macys: 2 miles per dollar
Ultimate Rewards
Ultimate Rewards has some Mother's Day specials as well:
- Teleflora: 10 points per dollar
- Elizabeth Arden: 7 points per dollar
- The Body Shop: 6 points per dollar
- Harry & David: 7 points per dollar
- HSN.com: 5 points per dollar
- Nordstrom.com: 6 points per dollar
The best advice is to simply do your research ahead of time. Check out the shopping portal of your choice to find what specials are advertised, or if you already have a particular merchant in mind, search for them on EVRewards to see where you can get the best spending bonus before making your purchase.
Finally, make sure to check the expiration date of each deal. Some expire on the May 9 or even earlier, and some expire on May 11. Shop early to avoid missing out on the best deals.
Happy Mother's Day!
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