When it rains it pours: ending the first quarter on a high note

Earlier this month I’d started to notice that some of the promotions that had popped up fairly regularly in the past hadn’t shown up recently. No sooner did I wonder whether we were in for some dramatic shift in the rewards landscape…than the promotions reappeared. Here’s a quick rundown.

$10 off Office Depot/OfficeMax Visa gift card purchases of $300 or more

This promotion has taken many forms over the years, but it’s always worth cleaning out your local stores if you have a Chase Ink Plus or Ink Cash card earning 5 Ultimate Rewards points per dollar at office supply stores. In previous years, this was stackable with eBates in-store cashback, making the deal even sweeter, but Office Depot/OfficeMax are not currently available for in-store cashback with eBates.

The current promotion runs through March 16, 2019.

3x fuel points on Visa gift card purchases at Giant, Stop&Shop, and Martin’s

Between March 15 and 21, 2019, Visa gift card purchases at Giant and their related brands will earn 3 fuel points per dollar spent on Visa gift card purchases, which usually do not earn fuel rewards.

The various Giant-related brands handle fuel rewards quite differently, so the value of this promotion depends on where you live, how much you drive, and how many friends you have to share your fuel rewards with.

Personally, I don’t own a car and typically only drive when on vacation, and I’ve recently run into trouble trying to redeem my fuel rewards points at Shell stations outside my “home” region. Since I spend maybe $200 on gas per year, this doesn’t bother me much, but if you are planning to hit this promotion hard make sure you understand how your local grocery affiliate and gas stations handle fuel rewards.

Don’t sleep on first quarter bonus earning

Don’t forget about any 5% bonus earning cards you haven’t maximized this quarter. For example, I hold two Chase Freedom cards earning 5 Ultimate Rewards points per dollar spent at drugstores this quarter, but I still haven’t actually done the spend simply because I’ve been putting off thinking about liquidation strategies. If you’re like me, you should get your act together, figure out a liquidation strategy, and go max out your bonus earning. When you do, make sure you’re maximizing third-party rewards as well.

The Discover it grocery store bonus category is even easier to maximize (and stack next week with fuel rewards for folks with access to Giant-affiliated brands!), so if you’ve been using that as an excuse to put it off, well, you’re out of excuses!

Bonus: register for hotel promotions

I’m a little bit lazy about keeping it updated, but I also don’t bombard you with pop-ups every time you open the page, so be sure to check out my Hotel Promotions page to make sure you’re not missing out on any rewards for the hotel stays you’re already paying for.

Hilton, Marriott, Hyatt, and IHG all currently have promotions open for registration.