Don’t ignore targeted credit card offers

I recently saved $20 off my car insurance bill and $15 off gas, groceries and a Halloween costume thanks to targeted credit card promotions. Take my experience as your reminder to regularly review communications from your card issuer. Sometimes issuers alert cardholders to these deals via email, paper statements or through its mobile app.

For example, one of my brothers forwarded me an email he received regarding his Citi Double Cash® Card. It offered an invitation to enroll (in this case, that just means “opt in”) and get an extra 5 percent cash back (up to $25) on eligible restaurant, grocery, gas, drugstore and mass transit purchases.

Other promotions can also be lucrative and are readily available via programs such as Amex Offers, Chase Offers and My Wells Fargo Deals.

In some respects, all of these deals are hiding in plain sight. Amidst the hustle and bustle of life, you could easily miss an email or forget to log into your card issuer’s website or mobile app to hunt for deals. But it can be well worth it if you remember to follow through.

To date, I’ve saved $400 via Amex Offers. And with the holidays coming up, I’m keeping it in mind to check for more deals frequently. These deals are a form of direct response marketing. Brands partner with Amex to offer digital coupons that cardholders can add to their cards with a simple click in the mobile app or on American Express’ website. A few current discounts that look especially interesting are:

• Dell: Spend $500 or more and get $100 back (online only)
• Levi’s: Spend $150 or more, get $30 back (online and in-store)
• Warby Parker: Spend $90 or more, get $20 back (online and in-store)
• Paramount+: Spend $12.99 or more, get $12.99 back (up to three times for a grand total up to $38.97; this basically amounts to a three-month free trial)

To participate, you just need to click to activate the deal and then pay with the associated credit card (in my case, the Blue Cash Preferred® Card from American Express).

Have a question about credit cards? E-mail me at ted.rossman@bankrate.com and I’d be happy to help.

Often the promotions are more general, such as the insurance offer I mentioned (10 percent cash back on any insurance bill, up to $20 in rewards) and the one I used at a grocery store, a gas station and a Halloween costume store ($5 back, up to three times, when spending $50 or more using Apple Pay).

But general or specific, the offers can add up.

For instance, I have some compelling Chase Offers for my Chase Freedom Flex®* card as well. I just signed up for $30 off a Turo car rental of at least $150, 5 percent cash back at SeatGeek (when I spend $50 or more) and 10 percent cash back at Aloft Hotels (when I spend $100 or more). The selection of “My Wells Fargo Deals” on my Wells Fargo Active Cash® Card includes a similar set of merchants.

Stacking discounts

My favorite way to utilize these targeted offers is to stack them with other discounts. For example, you can combine a store promotion with an Amex Offer, your normal credit card rewards and a cash back app such as Rakuten. That represents up to four ways to save on the same purchase.

Here’s an example of how that works:

The Amex Offer gives $30 back after spending $150 or more at Levi’s. My Blue Cash Preferred Card gives a standard 1 percent back on that type of transaction. Rakuten would tack on an additional 2 percent cash back. And the real crown jewel is that Levi’s is currently offering $100 off purchases of $250 or more on its website.

In this exercise, $250 of merchandise would ring up for approximately $150 (an order of this size qualifies for free shipping and I’ll omit sales tax for simplicity’s sake and because it varies from place to place). From there, the Amex Offer takes $30 off, the regular credit card rewards equal $1.50 off and the Rakuten promotion is worth another $3 off. Adding all of that up ($100 + $30 + $1.50 + $3) equals $134.50 in savings. In other words, I’d only pay $115.50 for $250 worth of merchandise. That’s a pretty sweet deal! Deals — with an “s” on the end — really. This kind of thing can certainly add up at scale. 

Consider the savings if you practice these strategies on all the purchases you make over the holiday season — or better yet, for the entire year.

The bottom line

Targeted credit card discounts can be a nice way to get some extra bang for your buck — as long as you remember to opt in and pay with the right card. Multiply your savings by combining these deals with other smart shopping strategies.

*The information about the Chase Freedom Flex® has been collected independently by Bankrate.com. The card details have not been reviewed or approved by the card issuer.