You’ve probably heard about SYWR (shop your way) rewards portal and various promos it runs on a regular basis. Just today Doctorofcredit had a post on one such deal. Until 3/12 you can earn $10 back in points after spending $25.
It doesn’t say that any specific stores are excluded, so that’s a plus. I’ve been playing around with SYWR for few months and figured it’s time to put together a short post highlighting why it’s a no-brainer to take advantage of this type of promos.
Raise angle
I’m not a huge fan of shopping just for the points’ sake, but I do regularly buy discounted gift cards from third-party resellers. Mostly, I’m talking about McDonalds, Walmart and other places I frequent on a regular basis. Raise store is listed on SYWR website. So it’s an easy way to kill two birds with one stone.
Usually, they have decent discounts anyway. But even if their rate is few percentage points higher than other stores, I will more than make up for the difference via promos from SYWR. Plus, you also earn 8 points per dollar on Raise purchases, which is on top of the avalanche of points you’ll get from promotions. How quickly do the points add up? You be the judge. Here is my recent purchase from Raise:
I had to spend $10 by shopping through SYWR, so I just got a small gift card via Raise. In exchange, I got 10,000 points, worth $10 towards certain purchases made through SYWR portal.
Redemption process
You can easily see points’ balance in your profile:
Surprise points are tied to specific categories where you have to spend a certain amount of money before the discount kicks in. It could be worth investigating, but I don’t usually bother. I’m interested in points balance on the left. Those can be redeemed as a straight credit towards purchase, no minimum.
Click on “redeem” and you will see various categories. I will warn you ahead of time, it’s a bit of a maze and you may have to poke around till you find something worthwhile. But the deals are definitely there. For example, I needed some drinking glasses, so I ordered them via SYWR portal from Kmart. I did have to pick them up in store, but we were going there anyway.
I got 6 glasses for 6,840 points total, which is pretty good. I like them so far. You can also order clothes items and when you reach a certain threshold, the shipping is free. Once again, there are many possibilities, and prices are what you would find in a regular store. Here is just one example:
I got a bathing suit top for $15, which is a good deal. I also bought Cera Ve cream (great brand if you have sensitive skin like I do). So, there are many ways to put your points to good use.
Be aware, they do expire, so I recommend you redeem them as soon as they hit your account so you don’t forget about them. That being said, SYWR portal does send out a notification when your points are about to expire, which is a plus.
Bottom line
While SYWR portal doesn’t give straight cash back, to me this deal is superior for getting cheap everyday items. Definitely keep an eye on it, especially if you regularly buy discounted gift cards through Raise.
Click here to view various credit cards and available sign-up bonuses
Author: Leana
Leana is the founder of Miles For Family. She enjoys beach vacations and visiting her family in Europe. Originally from Belarus, Leana resides in central Florida with her husband and two children.
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